Bible Reading
December 1
The World English Bible
Dec. 1
Ezekiel 17-20
Eze 17:1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze 17:2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;
Eze 17:3 and 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:
Eze 17:4 he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs of it, and carried it to a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.
Eze 17:5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow tree.
Eze 17:6 It 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, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
Eze 17:7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and behold, this vine did bend its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it.
Eze 17:8 It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.
Eze 17:9 Say you, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? and not by a strong arm or much people can it be raised from its roots.
Eze 17:10 Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? it shall wither in the beds where it grew.
Eze 17:11 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze 17:12 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:
Eze 17:13 and he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;
Eze 17:14 that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.
Eze 17:15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape who does such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?
Eze 17:16 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 midst of Babylon he shall die.
Eze 17:17 Neither 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.
Eze 17:18 For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape.
Eze 17:19 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.
Eze 17:20 I 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.
Eze 17:21 All his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
Eze 17:22 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set 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:
Eze 17:23 in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell.
Eze 17:24 All the trees of the field shall 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.
Eze 18:1 The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,
Eze 18:2 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?
Eze 18:3 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, you shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
Eze 18:4 Behold, 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.
Eze 18:5 But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right,
Eze 18:6 and 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,
Eze 18:7 and 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;
Eze 18:8 he who has not given forth on interest, neither has taken any increase, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man,
Eze 18:9 has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, says the Lord Yahweh.
Eze 18:10 If he fathers a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and who does any one of these things,
Eze 18:11 and who does not any of those duties, but even has eaten on the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife,
Eze 18:12 has 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,
Eze 18:13 has given forth 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.
Eze 18:14 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;
Eze 18:15 who 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,
Eze 18:16 neither 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;
Eze 18:17 who 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.
Eze 18:18 As 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.
Eze 18:19 Yet say you, Why does not 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.
Eze 18:20 The 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.
Eze 18:21 But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
Eze 18:22 None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him: in his righteousness that he has done he shall live.
Eze 18:23 Have 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?
Eze 18:24 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 shall he die.
Eze 18:25 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?
Eze 18:26 When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done shall he die.
Eze 18:27 Again, 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.
Eze 18:28 Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
Eze 18:29 Yet says the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
Eze 18:30 Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, says the Lord Yahweh. Return you, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
Eze 18:31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?
Eze 18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, says the Lord Yahweh: therefore turn yourselves, and live.
Eze 19:1 Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
Eze 19:2 and say, What was your mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her cubs.
Eze 19:3 She brought up one of her cubs: he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.
Eze 19:4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
Eze 19:5 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.
Eze 19:6 He went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.
Eze 19:7 He knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and its fullness, because of the noise of his roaring.
Eze 19:8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.
Eze 19:9 They 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.
Eze 19:10 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.
Eze 19:11 It 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.
Eze 19:12 But 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.
Eze 19:13 Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.
Eze 19:14 Fire is 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.
Eze 20:1 It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh, and sat before me.
Eze 20:2 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze 20:3 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.
Eze 20:4 Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers;
Eze 20:5 and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the seed 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;
Eze 20:6 in that day I swore to them, to bring them forth 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.
Eze 20:7 I said to them, Cast you away every man the abominations of his eyes, and don't defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.
Eze 20:8 But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me; they did not every man cast 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 midst of the land of Egypt.
Eze 20:9 But 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 forth out of the land of Egypt.
Eze 20:10 So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.
Eze 20:11 I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which if a man does, he shall live in them.
Eze 20:12 Moreover 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.
Eze 20:13 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 keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them.
Eze 20:14 But 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.
Eze 20:15 Moreover 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;
Eze 20:16 because they rejected my ordinances, and didn't walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
Eze 20:17 Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn't destroy them, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.
Eze 20:18 I said to their children in the wilderness, Don't you walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
Eze 20:19 I am Yahweh your God: walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them;
Eze 20:20 and make my Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.
Eze 20:21 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.
Eze 20:22 Nevertheless 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 forth.
Eze 20:23 Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries;
Eze 20:24 because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.
Eze 20:25 Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live;
Eze 20:26 and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Yahweh.
Eze 20:27 Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.
Eze 20:28 For 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.
Eze 20:29 Then I said to them, What means the high place whereunto you go? So its name is called Bamah to this day.
Eze 20:30 Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Do you pollute yourselves after the manner of your fathers? and play you the prostitute after their abominations?
Eze 20:31 and when 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? and 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;
Eze 20:32 and 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.
Eze 20:33 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you:
Eze 20:34 and I 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;
Eze 20:35 and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.
Eze 20:36 Like 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.
Eze 20:37 I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;
Eze 20:38 and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who disobey against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Eze 20:39 As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Go you, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols.
Eze 20:40 For 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 will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your offerings, with all your holy things.
Eze 20:41 As a pleasant aroma will I 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.
Eze 20:42 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your fathers.
Eze 20:43 There 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.
Eze 20:44 You 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.
Eze 20:45 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze 20:46 Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South;
Eze 20:47 and tell the forest of the South, Hear the word of Yahweh: 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 burnt thereby.
Eze 20:48 All flesh shall see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.
Eze 20:49 Then said I, Ah Lord Yahweh! they say of me, Isn't he a speaker of parables?
Dec. 1
James 4
Jas 4:1 Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don't they come from your pleasures that war in your members?
Jas 4:2 You lust, and don't have. You kill, covet, and can't obtain. You fight and make war. You don't have, because you don't ask.
Jas 4:3 You ask, and don't receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.
Jas 4:4 You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Jas 4:5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously"?
Jas 4:6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
Jas 4:7 Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Jas 4:9 Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Jas 4:11 Don't speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge.
Jas 4:12 Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?
Jas 4:13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow let's go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit."
Jas 4:14 Whereas you don't know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.
Jas 4:15 For you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that."
Jas 4:16 But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.
Jas 4:17 To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it is sin.
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