Great Is Your Faithfulness
3 kI am the man who has seen affliction
under the lrod of his wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me
minto darkness without any light;
3 surely against me he turns his hand
again and again the whole day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
nhe has broken my bones;
5 ohe has besieged and enveloped me
with pbitterness and tribulation;
6 qhe has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.
7 rHe has walled me about so that sI cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
8 though tI call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
9 rhe has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.
10 uHe is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
11 vhe turned aside my steps and utore me to pieces;
whe has made me desolate;
12 xhe bent his bow yand set me
as a target for his arrow.
13 He drove into my kidneys
zthe arrows of his quiver;
14 aI have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
bthe object of their taunts all day long.
15 cHe has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with dwormwood.
16 eHe has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and fmade me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness1 is;
18 gso I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord.”
19 hRemember my affliction and my wanderings,
20 My soul continually remembers it
jand is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and ktherefore I have hope:
22 lThe steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;2
lhis mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new mevery morning;
ngreat is your faithfulness.
24 o“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
k“therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who pwait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 qIt is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
27 rIt is good for a man that he bear
the yoke sin his youth.
28 Let him tsit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
29 ulet him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
30 vlet him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.
31 wFor the Lord will not
cast off forever,
32 but, though he xcause grief, yhe will have compassion
zaccording to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 afor he does not afflict from his heart
or bgrieve the children of men.
34 To crush underfoot
all cthe prisoners of the earth,
35 dto deny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
36 to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
dthe Lord does not approve.
37 eWho has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
38 fIs it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
39 gWhy should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?
40 Let us test and examine our ways,
hand return to the Lord!
41 iLet us lift up our hearts and hands
to God in heaven:
42 j“We have transgressed and krebelled,
and you have not forgiven.
43 “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
lkilling without pity;
44 myou have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
45 nYou have made us scum and garbage
among the peoples.
46 o“All our enemies
open their mouths against us;
47 ppanic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and qdestruction;
48 rmy eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49 r“My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
50 suntil the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees;
51 my eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the daughters of my city.
52 t“I have been hunted ulike a bird
by those who were my enemies vwithout cause;
53 wthey flung me alive into the pit
xand cast stones on me;
54 ywater closed over my head;
I said, z‘I am lost.’
55 a“I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
56 byou heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
57 cYou came near when I called on you;
you said, d‘Do not fear!’
58 “You have etaken up my cause, fO Lord;
you have eredeemed my life.
59 You have seen the wrong done to me, gO Lord;
judge my cause.
60 You have seen all their vengeance,
all htheir plots against me.
61 i“You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all htheir plots against me.
62 The lips and thoughts jof my assailants
are against me all the day long.
63 kBehold their sitting and their rising;
lI am the object of their taunts.
64 m“You will repay them,3 O Lord,
naccording to the work of their hands.
65 You will give them4 dullness of heart;
your curse will be5 on them.
The Holy Stones Lie Scattered
4 qHow the gold has grown dim,
how the pure gold is changed!
The holy stones lie scattered
rat the head of every street.
2 The precious sons of Zion,
worth their weight in sfine gold,
how they are regarded as tearthen pots,
the work of a potter’s hands!
3 Even jackals offer the breast;
they nurse their young;
but the daughter of my people has become cruel,
like the ostriches in the wilderness.
4 The tongue of the nursing infant usticks
to the roof of its mouth for thirst;
vthe children beg for food,
but no one gives to them.
5 Those who once feasted on delicacies
perish in the streets;
wthose who were brought up in purple
embrace ash heaps.
6 xFor the chastisement1 of the daughter of my people has been greater
than the punishment2 of Sodom,
ywhich was overthrown in a moment,
and no hands were wrung for her.3
7 Her princes were purer than snow,
whiter than milk;
their bodies were more ruddy than coral,
8 zNow their face is blacker than soot;
they are not recognized in the streets;
their skin has shriveled on their bones;
it has become as dry as wood.
9 Happier were the victims of the sword
than the victims of hunger,
who wasted away, pierced
by lack of the fruits of the field.
10 aThe hands of bcompassionate women
chave boiled their own children;
dthey became their food
during the destruction of the daughter of my people.
11 eThe Lord gave full vent to his wrath;
he poured out his hot anger,
and fhe kindled a fire in Zion
that consumed its foundations.
12 gThe kings of the earth did not believe,
nor any of the inhabitants of the world,
that foe or enemy could enter
the gates of Jerusalem.
13 This was for hthe sins of her prophets
and hthe iniquities of her priests,
who shed in the midst of her
the blood of the righteous.
14 iThey wandered, blind, through the streets;
they were so defiled with blood
jthat no one was able to touch
their garments.
15 “Away! kUnclean!” people cried at them.
“Away! Away! Do not touch!”
So they became fugitives and wanderers;
people said among the nations,
“They shall stay with us no longer.”
16 lThe Lord himself6 has scattered them;
he will regard them no more;
mno honor was shown to the priests,
nno favor to the elders.
17 oOur eyes failed, ever watching
ovainly for help;
in our watching we watched
for pa nation which could not save.
18 qThey dogged our steps
so that we could not walk in our streets;
rour end drew near; our days were numbered,
for our end had come.
19 Our pursuers were sswifter
than the eagles in the heavens;
they chased us on the mountains;
they lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
20 tThe breath of our nostrils, uthe Lord’s anointed,
was captured vin their pits,
of whom we said, w“Under his shadow
we shall live among the nations.”
21 xRejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom,
you who dwell in ythe land of Uz;
but to you also zthe cup shall pass;
you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
22 aThe punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished;
he will keep you in exile no longer;7
but byour iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish;
he will uncover your sins.
Restore Us to Yourself, O Lord
5 cRemember, O Lord, what has befallen us;
look, and see dour disgrace!
2 eOur inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.
3 We have become orphans, fatherless;
our mothers are like widows.
4 We must pay for the water we drink;
the wood we get must be bought.
5 fOur pursuers are at our necks;
we are weary; we are given no rest.
6 We have given the hand to gEgypt, and to gAssyria,
to get bread enough.
7 Our fathers sinned, and are no more;
hand we bear their iniquities.
8 iSlaves rule over us;
there is none to deliver us from their hand.
9 jWe get our bread at the peril of our lives,
because of the sword in the wilderness.
10 kOur skin is hot as an oven
with lthe burning heat of famine.
11 Women are raped in Zion,
young women in the towns of Judah.
12 mPrinces are hung up by their hands;
nno respect is shown to the elders.
13 Young men are compelled to ogrind at the mill,
and boys stagger punder loads of wood.
14 nThe old men have left the city gate,
the young men qtheir music.
15 qThe joy of our hearts has ceased;
rour dancing has been turned to mourning.
16 sThe crown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned!
17 For this tour heart has become sick,
for these things uour eyes have grown dim,
18 for Mount Zion which lies desolate;
vjackals prowl over it.
19 wBut you, O Lord, reign forever;
your throne endures to all generations.
20 xWhy do you forget us forever,
why do you forsake us for so many days?
21 yRestore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
Renew our days as of old—
22 zunless you have utterly rejected us,
and you remain exceedingly angry with us.
Ezekiel
Ezekiel in Babylon
1 aIn the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by bthe Chebar canal, cthe heavens were opened, and I saw dvisions of God.1 2 On the fifth day of the month (it was ethe fifth year of fthe exile of King Jehoiachin), 3 the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel gthe priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by bthe Chebar canal, and hthe hand of the Lord was upon him there.
The Glory of the Lord
4 As I looked, behold, ia stormy wind came jout of the north, and a great cloud, with kbrightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, las it were gleaming metal.2 5 And from the midst of it came the likeness of mfour living creatures. nAnd this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, 6 obut each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. 7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled plike burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings qon their four sides rthey had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: 9 their wings touched one another. sEach one of them went straight forward, qwithout turning as they went. 10 As for the likeness of their faces, teach had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. 11 Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while utwo covered their bodies. 12 sAnd each went straight forward. vWherever the spirit3 would go, they went, without turning as they went. 13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was wlike burning coals of fire, wlike the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. xAnd the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14 And the living creatures ydarted to and fro, zlike the appearance of a flash of lightning.
15 aNow as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.4 16 aAs for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like bthe gleaming of beryl. cAnd the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. 17 dWhen they went, they went ein any of their four directions5 fwithout turning as they went. 18 And their rims were tall and awesome, gand the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. 19 hAnd when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; iand when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. 20 jWherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, jfor the spirit of the living creatures6 was in the wheels. 21 hWhen those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; iand when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, jfor the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22 Over the heads of the living creatures there was kthe likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring lcrystal, spread out above their heads. 23 And under the expanse their wings were mstretched out straight, one toward another. nAnd each creature had two wings covering its body. 24 And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings olike the sound of many waters, like pthe sound of the qAlmighty, a sound of tumult rlike the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings. 25 And there came a voice from above sthe expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.
26 And above the expanse over their heads there was tthe likeness of a throne, tin appearance ulike sapphire;7 and seated above the likeness of a throne was va likeness with a human appearance. 27 And wupward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were xgleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and ythere was brightness around him.8 28 Like the appearance of zthe bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
Such was the appearance of the likeness of athe glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, bI fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Ezekiel’s Call
2 And he said to me, c“Son of man,1 dstand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 And as he spoke to me, ethe Spirit entered into me and fset me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. 3 And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to gnations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. hThey and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants also are iimpudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ 5 And jwhether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are ga rebellious house) kthey will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, lbe not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, mthough briers and thorns are with you and you sit on nscorpions.2 Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 And you shall speak my words to them, jwhether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.
8 “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. oBe not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and peat what I give you.” 9 And when I looked, behold, qa hand was stretched out to me, and behold, ra scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing son the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.