The Living Bible (269 page)

Ezekiel
35

Again a message came from the Lord. He said:

    
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 “Son of dust, face toward Mount Seir and prophesy against the people saying,
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 ‘The Lord God says: I am against you, and I will smash you with my fist and utterly destroy you.
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 Because you hate my people Israel, I will demolish your cities and make you desolate, and then you shall know I am the Lord. You butchered my people when they were helpless, when I had punished them for all their sins.
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 As I live, the Lord God says, since you enjoy blood so much, I will give you a blood bath—your turn has come!
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 I will utterly wipe out the people of Mount Seir, killing off all those who try to escape and all those who return.
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 I will fill your mountains with the dead—your hills, your valleys, and your rivers will be filled with those the sword has killed.
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 Never again will you revive. You will be abandoned forever; your cities will never be rebuilt. Then you shall know I am the Lord.

    
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 “‘For you said, “Both Israel and Judah shall be mine. We will take possession of them. What do we care that God is there!”
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 Therefore as I live, the Lord God says, I will pay back your angry deeds with mine—I will punish you for all your acts of envy and of hate. And I will honor my name in Israel by what I do to you.
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 And you shall know that I have heard each evil word you spoke against the Lord, saying, “His people are helpless; they are food for us to eat!”
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 Saying that, you boasted great words against the Lord. And I have heard them all!

    
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 “‘The whole world will rejoice when I make you desolate.
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 You rejoiced at Israel’s fearful fate. Now I will rejoice at yours! You will be wiped out, O people of Mount Seir and all who live in Edom! And then you will know I am the Lord!’

Ezekiel
36

“Son of dust, prophesy to Israel’s mountains. Tell them: ‘Listen to this message from the Lord.

    
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 “‘Your enemies have sneered at you and claimed your ancient heights as theirs;
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 they have destroyed you on every side and sent you away as slaves to many lands. You are mocked and slandered.
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 Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. He says to the hills and mountains, dales and valleys, and to the ruined farms and the long-deserted cities, destroyed and mocked by heathen nations all around:
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 My anger is afire against these nations, especially Edom, for grabbing my land with relish, in utter contempt for me, to take it for themselves.’

    
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 “Therefore prophesy and say to the hills and mountains, dales and valleys of Israel: ‘This is what the Lord God says! I am full of fury because you suffered shame before the surrounding nations.
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 Therefore, I have sworn with hand held high that those nations are going to have their turn of being covered with shame,
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 but for Israel good times will return. There will be heavy crops of fruit to prepare for my people’s return—and they will be coming home again soon!
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 See, I am for you, and I will come and help you as you prepare the ground and sow your crops.
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 I will greatly increase your population throughout all Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people.
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 Not only the people, but your flocks and herds will also greatly multiply. O mountains of Israel, again you will be filled with homes. I will do even more for you than I did before. Then you shall know I am the Lord.
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 My people will walk upon you once again, and you will belong to them again; and you will no longer be a place for burning their children on idol altars.’”

    
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 The Lord God says: “Now the other nations taunt you, saying, ‘Israel is a land that devours her people!’
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 But they will not say this anymore. Your birthrate will rise, and your infant mortality rate will drop off sharply,” says the Lord.
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 “No longer will those heathen nations sneer, for you will no longer be a nation of sinners,” the Lord God says.

    
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 Then this further word came to me from the Lord:

    
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 “Son of dust, when the people of Israel were living in their own country, they defiled it by their evil deeds; to me their worship was as foul as filthy rags.
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 They polluted the land with murder and with the worshiping of idols, so I poured out my fury upon them.
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 And I exiled them to many lands; that is how I punished them for the evil way they lived.
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 But when they were scattered out among the nations, then they were a blight upon my holy name because the nations said, ‘These are the people of God and he couldn’t protect them from harm!’
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 I am concerned about my reputation that was ruined by my people throughout the world.

    
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 “Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord God says: I am bringing you back again, but not because you deserve it; I am doing it to protect my holy name, which you tarnished among the nations.
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 I will honor my great name, that you defiled, and the people of the world shall know I am the Lord. I will be honored before their eyes by delivering you from exile among them.
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 For I will bring you back home again to the land of Israel.

    
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 “‘Then it will be as though I had sprinkled clean water on you, for you will be clean—your filthiness will be washed away, your idol worship gone.
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 And I will give you a new heart—I will give you new and right desires—and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love.
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 And I will put my Spirit within you so that you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.

    
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 “‘And you shall live in Israel, the land which I gave your fathers long ago. And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
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 I will cleanse away your sins. I will abolish crop failures and famine.
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 I will give you huge harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines.
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 Then you will remember your past sins and loathe yourselves for all the evils you did.
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 But always remember this: It is not for your own sakes that I will do this, but for mine. O my people Israel, be utterly ashamed of all that you have done!’”

    
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 The Lord God says: “When I cleanse you from your sins, I will bring you home again to Israel, and rebuild the ruins.
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 Acreage will be cultivated again that through the years of exile lay empty as a barren wilderness; all who passed by were shocked to see the extent of ruin in your land.
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 But when I bring you back, they will say, ‘This God-forsaken land has become like Eden’s garden! The ruined cities are rebuilt and walled and filled with people!’
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 Then the nations all around—all those still left—will know that I, the Lord, rebuilt the ruins and planted lush crops in the wilderness. For I, the Lord, have promised it, and I will do it.”

    
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 The Lord God says: “I am ready to hear Israel’s prayers for these blessings and to grant them their requests. Let them but ask, and I will multiply them like the flocks that fill Jerusalem’s streets at the time of sacrifice. The ruined cities will be crowded once more, and everyone will know I am the Lord.”

Ezekiel
37

The power of the Lord was upon me and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley full of old, dry bones that were scattered everywhere across the ground. He led me around among them,
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 and then he said to me:

    
“Son of dust, can these bones become people again?”

    
I replied, “Lord, you alone know the answer to that.”

    
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 Then he told me to speak to the bones and say: “O dry bones, listen to the words of God,
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 for the Lord God says, ‘See! I am going to make you live and breathe again!
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 I will replace the flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you shall live and know I am the Lord.’”

    
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 So I spoke these words from God, just as he told me to; and suddenly there was a rattling noise from all across the valley, and the bones of each body came together and attached to each other as they used to be.
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 Then, as I watched, the muscles and flesh formed over the bones, and skin covered them, but the bodies had no breath.
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 Then he told me to call to the wind and say: “The Lord God says: Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe upon these slain bodies, that they may live again.”
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 So I spoke to the winds as he commanded me, and the bodies began breathing; they lived and stood up—a very great army.

    
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 Then he told me what the vision meant: “These bones,” he said, “represent all the people of Israel. They say: ‘We have become a heap of dried-out bones—all hope is gone.’
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 But tell them, ‘The Lord God says: My people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again and return to the land of Israel.
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 And, then at last, O my people, you will know I am the Lord.
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 I will put my Spirit into you, and you shall live and return home again to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have done just what I promised you.’”

    
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 Again a message from the Lord came to me, saying:

    
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 “Take a stick and carve on it these words: ‘This stick represents Judah and her allied tribes.’ Then take another stick and carve these words on it: ‘This stick represents all the other tribes of Israel.’
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 Now hold them together in your hand as one stick.
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 Tell these people (holding the sticks so they can see what you are doing), the Lord God says: ‘I will take the tribes of Israel and join them to Judah and make them one stick in my hand.’”

    
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 For the Lord God says: “I am gathering the people of Israel from among the nations and bringing them home from around the world to their own land,
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 to unify them into one nation. One king shall be king of them all; no longer shall they be divided into two nations.
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 They shall stop polluting themselves with idols and their other sins, for I will save them from all this foulness. Then they shall truly be my people and I their God.

    
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 “And David, my Servant—the Messiah—shall be their King, their only Shepherd; and they shall obey my laws and all my wishes.
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 They shall live in the land of Israel where their fathers lived, the land I gave my servant Jacob. They and their children after them shall live there, and their grandchildren, for all generations. And my Servant David, their Messiah, shall be their Prince forever.
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 And I will make a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting pact. I will bless them and multiply them and put my Temple among them forever.
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 And I will make my home among them. Yes, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
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 And when my Temple remains among them forever, then the nations will know that I, the Lord, have chosen Israel as my very own.”