Israel’s Shedding of Blood

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “And you, ^yson of man, ^zwill you judge, will you judge ^athe bloody city? ^bThen declare to her all her abominations. 3 You shall say, Thus says the Lord God: A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that ^cher time may come, and that makes idols to defile herself! 4 You have become guilty ^aby the blood that you have shed, and defiled by the idols that you have made, and you have brought ^cyour days near, the appointed time of¹ your years has come. ^dTherefore I have made you a reproach to the nations, and a mockery to all the countries. 5 Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you; ^eyour name is defiled; ^fyou are full of tumult.

6 “Behold, ^gthe princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother ^hare treated with contempt in you; the sojourner ⁱsuffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow ⁱare wronged in you. 8 ^jYou have despised my holy things and ^kprofaned my Sabbaths. 9 ^lThere are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you ^mwho eat on the mountains; ⁿthey commit lewdness in your midst. 10 In you ^omen uncover their fathers’ nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11 ^pOne commits abomination with his neighbor’s wife; ^qanother lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; ^ranother in you violates his sister, his father’s daughter. 12 In you ^sthey take bribes to shed blood; ^tyou take interest and profit² and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but ^ume you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.

13 “Behold, ^vI strike my hand at ^wthe dishonest gain that you have made, and at ^xthe blood that has been in your midst. 14 ^yCan your courage endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? ^zI the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. 15 ^aI will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and ^bI will consume your uncleanness out of you. 16 And ^cyou shall be profaned by your own doing ^din the sight of the nations, ^eand you shall know that I am the Lord.”

17 And the word of the Lord came to me: 18 ^f“Son of man, the house of Israel has become ^gdross to me; all of them are ^hbronze and tin and iron and lead in the furnace; they are ⁱdross of silver. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As one gathers silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin into a furnace, ^jto blow the fire on it in order to melt it, so I will gather you ^kin my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you. 21 I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in the midst of it. 22 As silver is melted in a furnace, so you shall be melted in the midst of it, and you shall know that I am the Lord; ^lI have poured out my wrath upon you.”

23 And the word of the Lord came to me: 24 “Son of man, say to her, You are a land that is ^mnot cleansed ⁿor rained upon in the day of indignation. 25 ^oThe conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is ^plike a roaring lion ^qtearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. 26 ^rHer priests ^shave done violence to my law and ^thave profaned my holy things. ^uThey have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and ^vthey have disregarded my Sabbaths, ^wso that I am profaned among them. 27 ^xHer princes in her midst are like wolves ^ytearing the prey, ^zshedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. 28 And ^aher prophets have smeared whitewash for them, ^bseeing false visions and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the Lord has not spoken. 29 The people of the land ^chave practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy, and ^chave extorted from the sojourner without justice. 30 ^dAnd I sought for a man among them ^ewho should build up the wall ^eand stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none. 31 Therefore ^fI have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned ^gtheir way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”

Oholah and Oholibah

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^h“Son of man, there were ⁱtwo women, the daughters of one mother. 3 ^jThey played the whore in Egypt; ^jthey played the whore ^kin their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms³ handled. 4 Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. ^lThey became mine, and they ^mbore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is ⁿSamaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem.

5 “Oholah played the whore ^owhile she was mine, and ^pshe lusted after her lovers ^qthe Assyrians, warriors 6 clothed in purple, ^rgovernors and commanders, ^sall of them desirable young men, ^thorsemen riding on horses. 7 She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted. 8 She did not give up her whoring ^uthat she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her. 9 Therefore ^vI delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10 ^wThese uncovered her nakedness; ^xthey seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became ^ya byword among women, ^zwhen judgment had been executed on her.

11 ^a“Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became ^bmore corrupt than her sister⁴ in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, ^sall of them desirable young men. 13 And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. 14 But she carried her whoring further. She saw men ^cportrayed on the wall, the ^dimages of ^ethe Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, 15 wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. 16 When she saw them, she lusted after them and ^fsent messengers to them ^ein Chaldea. 17 And the Babylonians came to her ^ginto the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, ^hshe turned from them in disgust. 18 When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. 19 Yet she increased her whoring, ⁱremembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt 20 and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. 21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed⁵ your young breasts.”

22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers ^hfrom whom you turned in disgust, ^jand I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, ^kPekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, ^ldesirable young men, ^lgovernors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24 And they shall come against you from the north⁶ with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. ^mThey shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and ⁿI will commit the judgment to them, and ^othey shall judge you according to their judgments. 25 And I will direct my jealousy against you, ^pthat they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. ^qThey shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. 26 ^rThey shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. 27 ^sThus I will put an end to your lewdness and ^tyour whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.

28 “For thus says the Lord God: ^uBehold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, ^vinto the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, 29 and ^wthey shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor ^xand leave you naked and bare, and ^ythe nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring 30 have brought this upon you, because ^zyou played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have gone the way of your sister; ^atherefore I will give ^bher cup into your hand. 32 Thus says the Lord God:

for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. 35 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because ^fyou have forgotten me and ^gcast me behind your back, you yourself ^hmust bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”

36 The Lord said to me: ⁱ“Son of man, ^jwill you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Declare to them their abominations. 37 For ^kthey have committed adultery, ^land blood is on their hands. With their idols they have committed adultery, and they have even ^moffered up⁷ to them for food the children whom they had borne to me. 38 Moreover, this they have done to me: ⁿthey have defiled my sanctuary on the same day and ^oprofaned my Sabbaths. 39 For when ^pthey had slaughtered their children in sacrifice to their idols, on the same day ^qthey came into my sanctuary to profane it. And behold, ^rthis is what they did in my house. 40 They even sent for men to come from afar, ^sto whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came. For them you bathed yourself, ^tpainted your eyes, ^uand adorned yourself with ornaments. 41 You sat on ^va stately couch, with a table spread before it ^won which you had placed my incense and ^xmy oil. 42 The ^ysound of a carefree multitude was with her; and with men of the common sort, drunkards⁸ were brought from the wilderness; and they put ^zbracelets on the hands of the women, and ^abeautiful crowns on their heads.

43 “Then I said of her who was worn out by adultery, ‘Now they will continue to use her for a whore, even her!’⁹ 44 For they have gone in to her, as men go in to a prostitute. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, lewd women! 45 But righteous men ^bshall pass judgment on them with the sentence of adulteresses, and with the sentence of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.”

46 For thus says the Lord God: ^c“Bring up a vast host against them, and make them ^dan object of terror and ^ea plunder. 47 ^fAnd the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. ^gThey shall kill their sons and their daughters, and ^hburn up their houses. 48 ⁱThus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. 49 And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and ^jyou shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and ^kyou shall know that I am the Lord God.”

Greeting

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of ^athe Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to ^bthe foreknowledge of God the Father, ^cin the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and ^dfor sprinkling with his blood:

May ^egrace and ^fpeace be multiplied to you.

Born Again to a Living Hope

3 ^gBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! ^hAccording to his great mercy, ⁱhe has caused us to be born again to a living hope ^jthrough the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to ^kan inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and ^lunfading, ^mkept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded ⁿthrough faith for a salvation ^oready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by ^pvarious trials, 7 so that ^qthe tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes ^rthough it is tested by ^sfire—may be found to result in ^tpraise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 ^uThough you have not seen him, you love him. ^vThough you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining ^wthe outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, ^xthe prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring ^ywhat person or time^{1 z}the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating ^awhen he predicted ^bthe sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 ^cIt was revealed to them that ^dthey were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you ^eby the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, ^fthings into which angels long to look.

Called to Be Holy

13 Therefore, ^gpreparing your minds for action,² and ^hbeing sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, ⁱdo not be conformed to the passions ^jof your former ignorance, 15 but ^kas he who called you is holy, you also be holy ^lin all your conduct, 16 since it is written, ^m“You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you ⁿcall on him as Father who ^ojudges ^pimpartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves ^qwith fear throughout the time of your exile, 18 knowing that you ^rwere ransomed from ^sthe futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but ^twith the precious blood of Christ, like that of ^ua lamb ^vwithout blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but ^wwas made manifest ^xin the last times for the sake of you 21 ^ywho through him are believers in God, ^zwho raised him from the dead and ^agave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for ^ba sincere brotherly love, ^clove one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 ^dsince you have been born again, ^enot of perishable seed but of imperishable, through ^fthe living and abiding word of God; 24 for

And this word ⁱis the good news that was preached to you.