Ezekiel 8–10; Hebrews 13

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Ezekiel 8–10

Abominations in the Temple

dIn the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, eas I sat in my house, with fthe elders of Judah sitting before me, gthe hand of the Lord God fell upon me there. Then I looked, and behold, ha form that had the appearance of a man.1 hBelow what appeared to be his waist was fire, and above his waist was something like the appearance of brightness, like igleaming metal.2 He jput out the form of a hand and took me by a lock of my head, and the Spirit lifted me up kbetween earth and heaven and lbrought me in mvisions of God to Jerusalem, nto the entrance of the gateway of the inner court that faces north, owhere was the seat of the pimage of jealousy, qwhich provokes to jealousy. And behold, rthe glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw sin the valley.

Then he said to me, tSon of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of uthe altar gate, in the entrance, was this pimage of jealousy. And he said to me, Son of man, vdo you see what they are doing, wthe great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, xto drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.

And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, Son of man, ydig in the wall. So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. And he said to me, Go in, and see zthe vile abominations that they are committing here. 10 So I went in and saw. And there, aengraved on the wall all around, was bevery form of ccreeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. 11 And before them stood dseventy men of ethe elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of fShaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and gthe smoke of the cloud of incense went up. 12 Then he said to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing hin the dark, each iin his room of pictures? For they say, jThe Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land. 13 He said also to me, kYou will see still greater abominations that they commit.

14 Then he brought me to lthe entrance of the north gate of the house of the Lord, and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then he said to me, Have you seen this, O tson of man? kYou will see still greater abominations than these.

16 And he brought me into mthe inner court of the house of the Lord. And behold, at the entrance of the temple of the Lord, nbetween the oporch and pthe altar, were about twenty-five men, qwith their backs to the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east, worshiping rthe sun toward the east. 17 Then he said to me, Have you seen this, O sson of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit tthe abominations that they commit here, that uthey should fill the land with violence and vprovoke me still further to anger? Behold, they put the branch to their3 nose. 18 Therefore wI will act in wrath. xMy eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. yAnd though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.

Idolaters Killed

Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, Bring near the executioners of the city, zeach with his destroying weapon in his hand. And behold, six men came from the direction of athe upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was ba man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside cthe bronze altar.

Now dthe glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to ethe threshold of the house. And he called to bthe man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. And the Lord said to him, Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and fput a mark on the foreheads of the men who gsigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it. And to hthe others he said in my hearing, Pass through the city after him, and strike. iYour eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. jKill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but ktouch no one on whom is the mark. And lbegin at my sanctuary. So they began with the elders who were before the house. Then he said to them, mDefile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out. So they went out and struck in the city. And while they were striking, and I was left alone, nI fell upon my face, and cried, oAh, Lord God! pWill you destroy all the remnant of Israel qin the outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?

Then he said to me, rThe guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. sThe land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For tthey say, The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see. 10 As for me, umy eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; vI will bring their deeds upon their heads.

11 And behold, wthe man clothed in linen, with the writing case at his waist, brought back word, saying, I have done as you commanded me.

The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple

Then I looked, and behold, xon the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something ylike a sapphire,4 in appearance like a throne. And he said to zthe man clothed in linen, Go in among athe whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with bburning coals from between the cherubim, and cscatter them over the city.

And he went in dbefore my eyes. Now the cherubim were standing eon the south side of the house, when the man went in, and fa cloud filled gthe inner court. And hthe glory of the Lord iwent up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house fwas filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with jthe brightness of the glory of the Lord. And kthe sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, klike the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

And when he commanded lthe man clothed in linen, mTake fire from between nthe whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, he went in and stood beside a wheel. And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. The cherubim appeared to have othe form of a human hand under their wings.

pAnd I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and qthe appearance of the wheels was rlike sparkling sberyl. 10 And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. 11 tWhen they went, they went in any of their four directions5 uwithout turning as they went, vbut in whatever direction the front wheel6 faced, the others followed without turning as they went. 12 wAnd their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings,7 and the wheels were full of eyes all aroundthe wheels that the four of them had. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing nthe whirling wheels. 14 xAnd every one had four faces: ythe first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was za human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

15 aAnd the cherubim mounted up. These were bthe living creatures that I saw by cthe Chebar canal. 16 dAnd when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And dwhen the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. 17 eWhen they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures8 was in them.

18 fThen gthe glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19 hAnd the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth ibefore my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the jeast gate of the house of the Lord, and kthe glory of the God of Israel was over them.

20 lThese were the living creatures that I saw munderneath the God of Israel by nthe Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 oEach had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings pthe likeness of human hands. 22 qAnd as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. rEach one of them went straight forward.


Hebrews 13

Sacrifices Pleasing to God

Let ubrotherly love continue. vDo not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby wsome have entertained angels unawares. xRemember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. yLet marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge zthe sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life afree from love of money, and bbe content with what you have, for he has said, cI will never leave you nor forsake you. So we can confidently say,

dThe Lord is my helper;

eI will not fear;

what can man do to me?

Remember fyour leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and gimitate their faith. Jesus Christ is hthe same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be iled away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, jnot by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. 10 We have an altar kfrom which those who serve the tent1 have no right to eat. 11 For lthe bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned moutside the camp. 12 So Jesus also nsuffered ooutside the gate in order to sanctify the people pthrough his own blood. 13 Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear qthe reproach he endured. 14 For rhere we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. 15 sThrough him then let us continually offer up ta sacrifice of praise to God, that is, uthe fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and vto share what you have, for such wsacrifices are pleasing to God.

17 Obey xyour leaders and submit to them, yfor they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to zgive an account. aLet them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

18 bPray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order cthat I may be restored to you the sooner.

Benediction

20 Now dmay the God of peace ewho brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, fthe great shepherd of the sheep, by gthe blood of the eternal covenant, 21 hequip you with everything good that you may do his will, iworking in us2 that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, jto whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

22 I appeal to you, brothers,3 bear with my word of exhortation, for kI have written to you briefly. 23 You should know that lour brother Timothy has been released, with whom I shall see you if he comes soon. 24 Greet all myour leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings. 25 nGrace be with all of you.