Judah’s Captivity Symbolized

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^j“Son of man, you dwell in the midst of ^ka rebellious house, ^lwho have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are ^ka rebellious house. 3 As for you, son of man, prepare for yourself ^man exile’s baggage, and go into exile by day ⁿin their sight. You shall go like an exile from your place to another place ⁿin their sight. ^oPerhaps they will understand, though¹ they are a rebellious house. 4 You shall bring out your baggage by day in their sight, as baggage for exile, and you shall go out yourself ^pat evening in their sight, as those do who must go into exile. 5 In their sight ^qdig through the wall, and bring your baggage out through it. 6 In their sight you shall lift the baggage upon your shoulder and carry it out at dusk. You shall cover your face that you may not see the land, for I have made you ^ra sign for the house of Israel.”

7 ^sAnd I did as I was commanded. ^tI brought out my baggage by day, as baggage for exile, and in the evening I dug through the wall with my own hands. I brought out my baggage at dusk, carrying it on my shoulder in their sight.

8 In the morning the word of the Lord came to me: 9 ^u“Son of man, has not the house of Israel, ^vthe rebellious house, said to you, ^w‘What are you doing?’ 10 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: This oracle concerns^{2 x}the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are in it.’³ 11 Say, ^y‘I am a sign for you: ^zas I have done, so shall it be done to them. They shall go into exile, into captivity.’ 12 ^aAnd the prince who is among them shall lift his baggage upon his shoulder at dusk, and shall go out. ^bThey shall dig through the wall to bring him out through it. ^cHe shall cover his face, that he may not see the land with his eyes. 13 ^dAnd I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. And ^eI will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans, ^eyet he shall not see it, and he shall die there. 14 ^fAnd I will scatter toward every wind all who are around him, his helpers and all his troops, ^gand I will unsheathe the sword after them. 15 ^hAnd they shall know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them among the countries. 16 ⁱBut I will let a few of them escape from the sword, from famine and pestilence, that they may declare all their abominations among the nations where they go, ^jand may know that I am the Lord.”

17 And the word of the Lord came to me: 18 ^k“Son of man, ^leat your bread with quaking, and drink water with trembling and with anxiety. 19 And say to the people of the land, Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: ^mThey shall eat their bread with anxiety, ^mand drink water in dismay. In this way ⁿher land will be stripped of all it contains, ^oon account of the violence of all those who dwell in it. 20 ^pAnd the inhabited cities shall be laid waste, and the land shall become a desolation; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

21 And the word of the Lord came to me: 22 “Son of man, ^qwhat is this proverb that you⁴ have about the land of Israel, saying, ^r‘The days grow long, and every vision comes to nothing’? 23 Tell them therefore, ‘Thus says the Lord God: I will put an end to this proverb, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel.’ But say to them, ^sThe days are near, and the fulfillment⁵ of every vision. 24 ^tFor there shall be no more any ^ufalse vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25 For I am the Lord; I will speak ^vthe word that I will speak, and it will be performed. ^wIt will no longer be delayed, but in your days, ^xO rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord God.”

26 And the word of the Lord came to me: 27 “Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, ^y‘The vision that he sees is ^zfor many days from now, and he prophesies of times far off.’ 28 Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord God: ^wNone of my words will be delayed any longer, ^vbut the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God.”

False Prophets Condemned

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 ^a“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those ^bwho prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ 3 Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. 5 ^cYou have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord. 6 ^dThey have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the Lord,’ ^ewhen the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. 7 Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, ^fwhenever you have said, ‘Declares the Lord,’ although I have not spoken?”

8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, ^gI am against you, declares the Lord God. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, ^hnor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, ⁱnor shall they enter the land of Israel. ^jAnd you shall know that I am the Lord God. 10 Precisely because they have misled my people, ^ksaying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when the people build a wall, ^lthese prophets smear it with whitewash,⁶ 11 say to those who smear it with whitewash that it shall fall! ^mThere will be a deluge of rain, and you, O great hailstones, will fall, and a stormy wind break out. 12 And when the wall falls, will it not be said to you, ‘Where is the coating with which you smeared it?’ 13 Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^mI will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, ^mand there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end. 14 And I will break down the wall that you have smeared with whitewash, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you shall perish in the midst of it, ⁿand you shall know that I am the Lord. 15 Thus will I spend my wrath upon the wall and upon those who have smeared it with whitewash, and I will say to you, The wall is no more, nor those who smeared it, 16 the prophets of Israel who prophesied concerning Jerusalem ^kand saw visions of peace for her, when there was no peace, declares the Lord God.

17 “And you, son of man, ^oset your face against ^pthe daughters of your people, ^qwho prophesy out of their own hearts. Prophesy against them 18 and say, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women ^rwho sew magic bands upon all wrists, and ^smake veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in ^tthe hunt for souls! Will you hunt down souls belonging to my people and keep your own souls alive? 19 You have profaned me among my people ^ufor handfuls of barley ^vand for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die and keeping alive souls who should not live, by your lying to my people, who listen to lies.

20 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^wI am against ^xyour magic bands with which you hunt the souls like birds, and I will tear them from your arms, and I will let the souls whom you hunt go free, the souls like birds. 21 Your veils also I will tear off and ^ydeliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand as prey, ^zand you shall know that I am the Lord. 22 ^aBecause you have disheartened the righteous falsely, although I have not grieved him, and ^byou have encouraged the wicked, that ^che should not turn from his evil way to save his life, 23 ^dtherefore you shall no more see false visions nor practice divination. I will deliver my people out of your hand. And you shall know that I am the Lord.”

Nun

Unity in the Body of Christ

1 I therefore, ^ma prisoner for the Lord, urge you to ⁿwalk in a manner worthy of ^othe calling to which you have been called, 2 with all ^phumility and ^qgentleness, with ^rpatience, ^sbearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in ^tthe bond of peace. 4 There is ^uone body and ^vone Spirit—just as you were called to the one ^whope that belongs to your call— 5 ^xone Lord, ^yone faith, ^zone baptism, 6 ^aone God and Father of all, ^bwho is over all and through all and in all. 7 But ^cgrace was given ^dto each one of us ^eaccording to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,

9 (^hIn saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into ⁱthe lower regions, the earth?² 10 He who descended is the one who also ^jascended ^kfar above all the heavens, that he might ^lfill all things.) 11 And ^mhe gave the ⁿapostles, the prophets, the ^oevangelists, the ^pshepherds³ and teachers,⁴ 12 ^qto equip the saints for the work of ministry, for ^rbuilding up ^sthe body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to ^tthe unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, ^uto mature manhood,⁵ to the measure of the stature of ^vthe fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, ^wtossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in ^xdeceitful schemes. 15 Rather, ^yspeaking the truth in love, we are to ^zgrow up in every way into him who is ^athe head, into Christ, 16 ^bfrom whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, ^cwhen each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

The New Life

17 Now this I say and ^dtestify in the Lord, ^ethat you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, ^fin the futility of their minds. 18 They ^gare darkened in their understanding, ^halienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to ⁱtheir hardness of heart. 19 They ^jhave become callous and ^khave given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you ^llearned Christ!— 21 assuming that ^myou have heard about him and ⁿwere taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to ^oput off ^pyour old self,⁶ which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through ^qdeceitful desires, 23 and ^rto be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on ^sthe new self, ^tcreated after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you ^uspeak the truth with his neighbor, for ^vwe are members one of another. 26 ^wBe angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and ^xgive no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather ^ylet him labor, ^zdoing honest work with his own hands, so ^athat he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 ^bLet no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give ^cgrace to those who hear. 30 And ^ddo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ^eby whom you were sealed for the day of ^fredemption. 31 ^gLet all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 ^hBe kind to one another, tenderhearted, ⁱforgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.