Bible in a Year · Day 260 of 365
Today’s reading: Ezekiel 17–20 (4 chapters)
Read the passage below, or open your own Bible and follow along. The text here is the World English Bible, a public-domain translation, printed in full so the day’s reading is all on one page.
About Ezekiel
Ezekiel was a priest taken to Babylon, and his book is full of visions that are hard to picture and hard to forget. He sees the glory of God by a river, then watches that glory leave the temple, and later watches it return. He acts out the siege, lies on his side for weeks, and shaves his head as signs for a people who will not listen. The book also holds the valley of dry bones and the promise of a new heart of flesh. Much of it is dated, which gives the reader a timeline through the exile.
What to watch for. Watch the movement of God's glory, out of the temple and back again, and notice how the promise of a new heart in chapter 36 answers the diagnosis of chapter 36. Read the dry bones as a promise to people who think they are finished.
Ezekiel 17
1Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, tell a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel; 3and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “A great eagle with great wings and long feathers, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar. 4He cropped off the topmost of its young twigs, and carried it to a land of traffic. He planted it in a city of merchants. 5“‘“He also took some of the seed of the land, and planted it in fruitful soil. He placed it beside many waters. He set it as a willow tree.
6It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him. So it became a vine, produced branches, and shot out sprigs. 7“‘“There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers. Behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and shot out its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it. 8It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might produce branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a good vine.”’ 9“Say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Will it prosper? Won’t he pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? Not by a strong arm or many people can it be raised from its roots. 10Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? Won’t it utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It will wither in the beds where it grew.”’”
11Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 12“Say now to the rebellious house, ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king, and its princes, and brought them to him to Babylon. 13He took some of the royal offspring, and made a covenant with him. He also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land; 14that the kingdom might be brought low, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. 15But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the covenant, and still escape?
16“‘As I live,’ says the Lord Yahweh, ‘surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the middle of Babylon he will die. 17Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons. 18For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things. He won’t escape. 19“Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘As I live, surely my oath that he has despised, and my covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it on his own head. 20I will spread my net on him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me.
21All his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it.’ 22“Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘I will also take some of the lofty top of the cedar, and will plant it. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23I will plant it in the mountain of the height of Israel; and it will produce boughs, and bear fruit, and be a good cedar. Birds of every kind will dwell in the shade of its branches. 24All the trees of the field will know that I, Yahweh, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish. I, Yahweh, have spoken and have done it.’”
Ezekiel 18
1Yahweh’s word came to me again, saying, 2“What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? 3“As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “you shall not use this proverb any more in Israel. 4Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins, he shall die. 5“But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right,
6and has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his neighbor’s wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity, 7and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment; 8he who has not lent on interest, neither has taken any increase, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man, 9has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live,” says the Lord Yahweh. 10“If he fathers a son who is a robber who sheds blood, and who does any one of these things,
11or who does not do any of those things, but even has eaten at the mountain shrines, and defiled his neighbor’s wife, 12has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed abomination, 13has lent on interest, and has taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations. He shall surely die. His blood shall be on him. 14“Now, behold, if he fathers a son, who sees all his father’s sins, which he has done, and fears, and does not such like; 15who has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his neighbor’s wife,
16neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge, neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment; 17who has withdrawn his hand from the poor, who has not received interest nor increase, has executed my ordinances, has walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. 18As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity. 19“Yet you say, ‘Why doesn’t the son bear the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live. 20The soul who sins, he shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him.
21“But if the wicked turns from all his sins that he has committed, and keeps all my statutes, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live. He shall not die. 22None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him. In his righteousness that he has done, he shall live. 23Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” says the Lord Yahweh; “and not rather that he should return from his way, and live? 24“But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered. In his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them he shall die. 25“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not equal.’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren’t your ways unequal?
26When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done shall he die. 27Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die. 29Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ House of Israel, aren’t my ways fair? Aren’t your ways unfair? 30“Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
31Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel? 32For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Therefore turn yourselves, and live!
Ezekiel 19
1“Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2and say, ‘What was your mother? A lioness. She couched among lions, in the middle of the young lions she nourished her cubs. 3She brought up one of her cubs. He became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey. He devoured men. 4The nations also heard of him. He was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. 5“‘Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her cubs, and made him a young lion.
6He went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey. He devoured men. 7He knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, with its fullness, because of the noise of his roaring. 8Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him. He was taken in their pit. 9They put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel. 10“‘Your mother was like a vine, in your blood, planted by the waters. It was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.
11It had strong rods for the scepters of those who bore rule, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches. 12But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong rods were broken off and withered. The fire consumed them. 13Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. 14Fire has gone out of the rods of its branches. It has devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a scepter to rule.’ This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.”
Ezekiel 20
1In the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh, and sat before me. 2Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 3“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I will not be inquired of by you.”’ 4“Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers; 5and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, ‘I am Yahweh your God;’
6in that day I swore to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands. 7I said to them, ‘Each of you throw away the abominations of his eyes, and don’t defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.’ 8“‘“But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me. They didn’t all throw away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the middle of the land of Egypt. 9But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them, in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10So I caused them to go out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.
11I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them. 12Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them. 13“‘“But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They didn’t walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keeps, he shall live in them. They greatly profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out. 15Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
16because they rejected my ordinances, and didn’t walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. 17Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn’t destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness. 18I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Don’t walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols. 19I am Yahweh your God. Walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them; 20and make my Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. ’
21“‘“But the children rebelled against me. They didn’t walk in my statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them. They profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. 22Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out. 23Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; 24because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols. 25Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live;
26and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused all that opens the womb to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Yahweh.”’ 27“Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “In this moreover your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. 28For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering; there also they made their pleasant aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings. 29Then I said to them, ‘What does the high place where you go mean?’ So its name is called Bamah to this day. ”’ 30“Therefore tell the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Do you pollute yourselves in the way of your fathers? Do you play the prostitute after their abominations?
31When you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to this day? Shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you! 32“‘“That which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in that you say, ‘We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.’ 33As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, I will be king over you. 34I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out. 35I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
36Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you,” says the Lord Yahweh. 37“I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me. I will bring them out of the land where they live, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.” 39“‘As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Go, everyone serve his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me; but you shall no more profane my holy name with your gifts, and with your idols. 40For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel,” says the Lord Yahweh, “there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land. There I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.
41As a pleasant aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations. 42You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers. 43There you shall remember your ways, and all your doings, in which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed. 44You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have dealt with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, you house of Israel,” says the Lord Yahweh.’” 45Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
46“Son of man, set your face toward the south, and preach toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South; 47and tell the forest of the South, ‘Hear Yahweh’s word: Thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned thereby. 48All flesh shall see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.”’” 49Then I said, “Ah Lord Yahweh! they say of me, ‘Isn’t he a speaker of parables?’”
Next · Day 261: Ezekiel 21–23 →
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), a public-domain translation. Day numbering follows the calendar year; you can start at Day 1 on any date.
