Bible Reading Plan

Ezekiel 16

Chapter 16

God's Grace to Unfaithful Jerusalem

¹ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,² "Son of man, ^(C1)make known to Jerusalem her abominations,³ and say, 'This is what the Lord ^(F1)GOD says to Jerusalem: "Your origin and your birth are from the land of the Canaanite; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.⁴ "As for your birth, ^(C1)on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths.⁵ "No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the ^(F1)(C1)open field, ^(F2)for you were abhorred on the day you were born.

⁶ "When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, 'Live!'⁷ "I ^(C1)made you ^(F1)very numerous, like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine jewelry; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare.

⁸ "Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, ^(F1)you were at the time for love; so I ^(C1)spread My ^(F2)garment over you and covered your nakedness. I also ^(C2)swore an oath to you and ^(C3)entered into a covenant with you so that you ^(C4)became Mine," declares the Lord GOD.⁹ "Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you, and ^(C1)anointed you with oil.¹⁰ "I also clothed you with ^(C1)colorfully woven cloth and put sandals of ^(F1)fine leather on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk.¹¹ "I adorned you with jewelry, put ^(C1)bracelets on your wrists, and a ^(C2)necklace around your neck.¹² "I also put a ^(C1)ring in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a ^(C2)beautiful crown on your head.¹³ "So you were adorned with ^(C1)gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk, and colorfully woven cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to ^(C2)royalty.¹⁴ "Then your ^(C1)fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was ^(C2)perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you," declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁵ "But you ^(C1)trusted in your beauty and ^(C2)became unfaithful because of your fame, and you poured out your ^(F1)obscene practices on every passer-by to whom it might be tempting.¹⁶ "You took some of your clothes, made for yourself ^(F1)high places of various colors, and committed prostitution on them, which should not come about nor happen.¹⁷ "You also took your beautiful ^(F1)(C1)jewels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images so that you might commit prostitution with them.¹⁸ "Then you took your colorfully woven cloth and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them.¹⁹ "Also ^(C1)My bread which I gave you, fine flour, oil, and honey with which I fed you, ^(F1)you would offer before them for a soothing aroma; so it happened," declares the Lord GOD.²⁰ "Furthermore, you took your sons and daughters whom you had borne to ^(C1)Me and ^(C2)sacrificed them to ^(F1)idols to be devoured. Were your obscene practices a trivial matter?²¹ "You slaughtered ^(C1)My children and offered them to ^(F1)idols by ^(C2)making them pass through the fire.²² "And besides all your abominations and obscene practices, you did not remember the days of ^(C1)your youth, when you were naked and bare and squirming in your blood.

²³ "Then it came about after all your wickedness ('Woe, woe to you!' declares the Lord GOD),²⁴ that you built yourself a ^(C1)shrine and made yourself a ^(C2)high place in every public square.²⁵ "You built yourself a high place at the beginning of ^(C1)every street and made your beauty abominable, and you spread your legs to every passer-by and multiplied your obscene practice.²⁶ "You also committed prostitution with the Egyptians, your ^(F1)lustful neighbors, and multiplied your obscene practice to ^(C1)provoke Me to anger.²⁷ "So behold, I have stretched out My hand against you and cut back your rations. And I turned you over to the desire of those who hate you, the ^(C1)daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your outrageous conduct.²⁸ "Moreover, you committed prostitution with the ^(C1)Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you committed prostitution with them and still were not satisfied.²⁹ "You also multiplied your obscene practice with the land of merchants, Chaldea; yet even with this you were not satisfied."'"

³⁰ "How ^(C1)feverish is your heart," declares the Lord GOD, "while you do all these things, the action of a ^(F1)(C2)bold prostitute!³¹ "When you built your shrine at the beginning of every street and made your high place in every public square, in ^(C1)spurning a prostitute's fee, you were not like a prostitute.³² "You adulteress wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband!³³ "Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you ^(C1)give your gifts to all your lovers and lavish favors on them so that they will come to you from every direction for your obscene practices.³⁴ "So it is the opposite for you from those women in your obscene practices, in that you are not approached for prostitution, and in the fact that you pay a prostitute's fee, and no fee is paid to you; so you are the opposite."

³⁵ Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD.³⁶ This is what the Lord GOD says: "Because your lewdness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered through your obscene practices with your lovers and with all your detestable ^(C1)idols, and because of the blood of your sons that you gave to ^(F1)idols,³⁷ therefore, behold, I am going to ^(C1)gather all your lovers whom you pleased, all those whom you loved as well as all those whom you ^(C2)hated. So I will gather them against you from every direction and ^(C3)expose your nakedness to them so that they may see all your nakedness.³⁸ "So I will ^(C1)judge you as women who commit adultery or shed blood are judged; and I will bring on you the blood of ^(C2)wrath and jealousy.³⁹ "I will also hand you over to ^(F1)your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, ^(C1)strip you of your clothing, take away your ^(F2)jewels, and will leave you naked and bare.⁴⁰ "They will ^(F1)incite a ^(C1)crowd against you, and they will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.⁴¹ "And they will ^(C1)burn your houses with fire and execute judgments against you in the sight of many women. Then I will ^(C2)put an end to your prostitution, and you will also no longer pay ^(F1)your lovers.⁴² "So I ^(C1)will satisfy My fury against you and My jealousy will leave you, and I will be pacified and ^(C2)no longer be angry.⁴³ "Since you have ^(C1)not remembered the days of your youth but ^(F1)have ^(C2)caused Me unrest by all these things, behold, I in turn will ^(C3)bring your conduct down on your own head," declares the Lord GOD, "so that you will not commit this outrageous sin in addition to all your other abominations.

⁴⁴ "Behold, everyone who quotes ^(C1)proverbs will quote this proverb about you, saying, 'Like ^(F1)mother, like daughter.'⁴⁵ "You are the daughter of your mother, who loathed her husband and children. You are also the ^(C1)sister of your sisters, who ^(C2)loathed their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.⁴⁶ "Now your ^(C1)older sister is Samaria, who lives ^(F1)north of you with her ^(F2)daughters; and your younger sister, who lives ^(F3)south of you, is ^(C2)Sodom with her ^(F2)daughters.⁴⁷ "Yet you have not merely walked in their ways and ^(F1)committed their abominations; but, as if that were ^(C1)too little, you also acted ^(C2)more corruptly in all your conduct than they.⁴⁸ "As I live," declares the Lord GOD, "Sodom, your sister and her daughters have ^(C1)not done as you and your daughters have done!⁴⁹ "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had ^(C1)arrogance, ^(C2)plenty of food, and ^(C3)carefree ease, but she did not ^(F1)help the ^(C4)poor and needy.⁵⁰ "So they were haughty and committed ^(C1)abominations before Me. Therefore I ^(C2)removed them ^(F1)when I saw it.⁵¹ "Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half of your sins, for you have multiplied your abominations more than they. So you have made your sisters appear ^(C1)innocent by all your abominations which you have committed.⁵² "Also, bear your disgrace in that you have ^(F1)made judgment favorable for your sisters. Because of your sins in which you acted ^(C1)more abominably than they, they are more in the right than you. Yes, be also ashamed and bear your disgrace, in that you made your sisters appear innocent.

⁵³ "Nevertheless, I will restore their fortunes, the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters, the fortunes of Samaria and her daughters, and ^(F1)along with them your own fortunes,⁵⁴ so that you will bear your disgrace and feel ^(C1)ashamed for all that you have done when you become ^(C2)a consolation to them.⁵⁵ "Your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, ^(F1)will return to their former state, and you with your daughters will also return to your former state.⁵⁶ "As the name of your sister Sodom was not heard from your lips in your day of pride,⁵⁷ before your ^(C1)wickedness was uncovered, ^(F1)so now you have become the ^(C2)disgrace of the daughters of ^(F2)Edom and of all who are around her, of the daughters of the Philistines—those surrounding you who despise you.⁵⁸ "You have ^(C1)suffered the penalty of your outrageous sin and abominations," the LORD declares.⁵⁹ For this is what the Lord GOD says: "I will also do with you as you have done, you who have ^(C1)despised the oath by breaking the covenant.

The Covenant Remembered

⁶⁰ "Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an ^(C1)everlasting covenant with you.⁶¹ "Then you will ^(C1)remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both your older and your younger; and I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant.⁶² "So I will ^(C1)establish My covenant with you, and you shall ^(C2)know that I am the LORD,⁶³ so that you may ^(C1)remember and be ashamed, and ^(C2)not open your mouth again because of your disgrace, when I have ^(F1)(C3)forgiven you for all that you have done," the Lord GOD declares.

Isaiah 45

Chapter 45

God Uses Cyrus

¹ This is what the LORD says to ^(C1)Cyrus His anointed,
Whom I have taken by the right ^(C2)hand,
To ^(C3)subdue nations before him
And ^(F1)to ^(C4)undo the weapons belt on the waist of kings;
To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:

² "I will go before you and ^(C1)make the ^(F1)rough places smooth;
I will ^(C2)shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron ^(C3)bars.

³ "I will give you the ^(F1)(C1)treasures of darkness
And hidden wealth of secret places,
So that you may know that it is I,
The LORD, the God of Israel, who ^(C2)calls you by your name.

⁴ "For the sake of ^(C1)Jacob My servant,
And Israel My chosen one,
I have also ^(C2)called you by your name;
I have given you a title of honor
Though you have ^(C3)not known Me.

⁵ "I am the LORD, and ^(C1)there is no one else;
^(C2)There is no God except Me.
I will ^(F1)(C3)arm you, though you have not known Me,

⁶ So that ^(C1)people may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is ^(C2)no one besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no one else,

⁷ The One ^(C1)forming light and ^(C2)creating darkness,
Causing ^(F1)well-being and ^(C3)creating disaster;
I am the LORD who does all these things.

God's Supreme Power

⁸ "^(C1)Drip down, heavens, from above,
And let the clouds pour down righteousness;
Let the ^(C2)earth open up and salvation bear fruit,
^(C3)And righteousness sprout with it.
I, the LORD, have created it.

⁹ "Woe to the one who ^(C1)quarrels with ^(F1)his Maker—
A piece of pottery ^(F2)among the other earthenware pottery pieces!
Will the ^(C2)clay say to the ^(F3)potter, 'What are you doing?'
Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'?

¹⁰ "Woe to him who says to a father, 'What are you fathering?'
Or to a woman, 'To what are you ^(F1)giving birth?'"

¹¹ This is what the ^(C1)LORD says, the Holy One of Israel and ^(F1)his ^(C2)Maker:

"^(F2)(C3)Ask Me about the things to come ^(F3)concerning My ^(C4)sons,
And you shall commit to Me ^(C5)the work of My hands.

¹² "It is I who ^(C1)made the earth, and created mankind upon it.
I ^(C2)stretched out the heavens with My hands,
And I ^(F1)ordained ^(C3)all their ^(F2)lights.

¹³ "I have stirred him in ^(C1)righteousness,
And I will ^(C2)make all his ways smooth.
He will ^(C3)build My city and let My exiles go ^(C4)free,
Without any payment or reward," says the LORD of armies.

¹⁴ This is what the LORD says:

"The ^(F1)products of ^(C1)Egypt and the merchandise of ^(F2)(C2)Cush
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will ^(C3)come over to you and will be yours;
They will walk behind you, they will come over in ^(C4)chains
And will ^(C5)bow down to you;
They will plead with you:
'^(F3)(C6)God certainly is ^(F4)with you, and ^(C7)there is no one else,
No other God.'"

¹⁵ Truly, You are a God who ^(C1)hides Himself,
God of Israel, ^(C2)Savior!

¹⁶ They will be ^(C1)put to shame and even humiliated, all of them;
The ^(C2)manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.

¹⁷ Israel has been saved by the LORD
With an ^(C1)everlasting salvation;
You ^(C2)will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity.

¹⁸ For this is what the LORD says, He who ^(C1)created the heavens (He is the God who ^(C2)formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it ^(F1)as a ^(C3)waste place, but formed it to be ^(C4)inhabited):

"I am the LORD, and ^(C5)there is no one else.

¹⁹ "^(C1)I have not spoken in secret,
In ^(F1)some dark land;
I did not say to the ^(F2)(C2)offspring of Jacob,
'^(C3)Seek Me in ^(F3)a wasteland';
I, the LORD, ^(C4)speak righteousness,
^(C5)Declaring things that are right.

²⁰ "^(C1)Gather yourselves and come;
Come together, you survivors of the nations!
^(C2)They have no knowledge,
Who ^(C3)carry around ^(F1)their wooden idol
And ^(C4)pray to a god who cannot save.

²¹ "^(C1)Declare and present your case;
Indeed, let them consult together.
^(C2)Who has announced this long ago?
Who has long since declared it?
Is it not I, the LORD?
And there is ^(C3)no other God besides Me,
A righteous God and a ^(C4)Savior;
There is none except Me.

²² "^(C1)Turn to Me and ^(C2)be saved, all the ends of the earth;
For I am God, and there is no other.

²³ "^(C1)I have sworn by Myself;
The ^(C2)word has gone out from My mouth in righteousness
And will not turn back,
That to Me ^(C3)every knee will bow, every tongue will ^(C4)swear allegiance.

²⁴ "They will say of Me, 'Only ^(C1)in the LORD are righteousness and strength.'
People will come to Him,
And ^(C2)all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.

²⁵ "In the LORD all the offspring of Israel
Will be ^(C1)justified and will ^(C2)boast."

Ephesians 5:21-33