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52 Week Bible Reading Plan

Ezekiel 13

1

The word of the LORD came to me:

2

"Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out of their own imagination: `Hear the word of the LORD!

3

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!

4

Your prophets, O Israel, are like jackals among ruins.

5

You have not gone up to the breaks in the wall to repair it for the house of Israel so that it will stand firm in the battle on the day of the LORD.

6

Their visions are false and their divinations a lie. They say, "The LORD declares," when the LORD has not sent them; yet they expect their words to be fulfilled.

7

Have you not seen false visions and uttered lying divinations when you say, "The LORD declares," though I have not spoken?

8

"`Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign LORD.

9

My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of the house of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.

10

"`Because they lead my people astray, saying, "Peace," when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash,

11

therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth.

12

When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, "Where is the whitewash you covered it with?"

13

"`Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury.

14

I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the LORD.

15

So I will spend my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, "The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it,

16

those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign LORD."'

17

"Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them

18

and say, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own?

19

You have profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live.

20

"`Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against your magic charms with which you ensnare people like birds and I will tear them from your arms; I will set free the people that you ensnare like birds.

21

I will tear off your veils and save my people from your hands, and they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

22

Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives,

23

therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the LORD.'"

Ezekiel 14

1

Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me.

2

Then the word of the LORD came to me:

3

"Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?

4

Therefore speak to them and tell them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When any Israelite sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet, I the LORD will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry.

5

I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.'

6

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!

7

"`When any Israelite or any alien living in Israel separates himself from me and sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet to inquire of me, I the LORD will answer him myself.

8

I will set my face against that man and make him an example and a byword. I will cut him off from my people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

9

"`And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the LORD have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel.

10

They will bear their guilt--the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him.

11

Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

12

The word of the LORD came to me:

13

"Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals,

14

even if these three men--Noah, Daniel and Job--were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD.

15

"Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts,

16

as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.

17

"Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, `Let the sword pass throughout the land,' and I kill its men and their animals,

18

as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.

19

"Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath upon it through bloodshed, killing its men and their animals,

20

as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.

21

"For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments--sword and famine and wild beasts and plague--to kill its men and their animals!

22

Yet there will be some survivors--sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem--every disaster I have brought upon it.

23

You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign LORD."

Ezekiel 15

1

The word of the LORD came to me:

2

"Son of man, how is the wood of a vine better than that of a branch on any of the trees in the forest?

3

Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on?

4

And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything?

5

If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?

6

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem.

7

I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the LORD.

8

I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign LORD."

Ezekiel 16

1

The word of the LORD came to me:

2

"Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices

3

and say, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.

4

On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths.

5

No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.

6

"`Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, "Live!"

7

I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were naked and bare.

8

"`Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine.

9

"`I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you.

10

I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments.

11

I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck,

12

and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head.

13

So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen.

14

And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.

15

"`But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his.

16

You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. Such things should not happen, nor should they ever occur.

17

You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them.

18

And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them.

19

Also the food I provided for you--the fine flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat--you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign LORD.

20

"`And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough?

21

You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols.

22

In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.

23

"`Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign LORD. In addition to all your other wickedness,

24

you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square.

25

At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, offering your body with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by.

26

You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your lustful neighbors, and provoked me to anger with your increasing promiscuity.

27

So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory; I gave you over to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were shocked by your lewd conduct.

28

You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians too, because you were insatiable; and even after that, you still were not satisfied.

29

Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia, a land of merchants, but even with this you were not satisfied.

30

"`How weak-willed you are, declares the Sovereign LORD, when you do all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute!

31

When you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

32

"`You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband!

33

Every prostitute receives a fee, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.

34

So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.

35

"`Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!

36

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children's blood,

37

therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see all your nakedness.

38

I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring upon you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger.

39

Then I will hand you over to your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you naked and bare.

40

They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords.

41

They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women. I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers.

42

Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.

43

"`Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will surely bring down on your head what you have done, declares the Sovereign LORD. Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable practices?

44

"`Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: "Like mother, like daughter."

45

You are a true daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and her children; and you are a true sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.

46

Your older sister was Samaria, who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom.

47

You not only walked in their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they.

48

As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.

49

"`Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.

50

They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

51

Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done.

52

Bear your disgrace, for you have furnished some justification for your sisters. Because your sins were more vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you. So then, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.

53

"`However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters, and your fortunes along with them,

54

so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort.

55

And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your daughters will return to what you were before.

56

You would not even mention your sister Sodom in the day of your pride,

57

before your wickedness was uncovered. Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines--all those around you who despise you.

58

You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices, declares the LORD.

59

"`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant.

60

Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.

61

Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both those who are older than you and those who are younger. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on the basis of my covenant with you.

62

So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD.

63

Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign LORD.'"

Ezekiel 17

1

The word of the LORD came to me:

2

"Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell the house of Israel a parable.

3

Say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: A great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon. Taking hold of the top of a cedar,

4

he broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted it in a city of traders.

5

"`He took some of the seed of your land and put it in fertile soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water,

6

and it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out leafy boughs.

7

"`But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage. The vine now sent out its roots toward him from the plot where it was planted and stretched out its branches to him for water.

8

It had been planted in good soil by abundant water so that it would produce branches, bear fruit and become a splendid vine.'

9

"Say to them, `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Will it thrive? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers? All its new growth will wither. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by the roots.

10

Even if it is transplanted, will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it--wither away in the plot where it grew?'"

11

Then the word of the LORD came to me:

12

"Say to this rebellious house, `Do you not know what these things mean?' Say to them: `The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles, bringing them back with him to Babylon.

13

Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, putting him under oath. He also carried away the leading men of the land,

14

so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty.

15

But the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?

16

"`As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, he shall die in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke.

17

Pharaoh with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives.

18

He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.

19

"`Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: As surely as I live, I will bring down on his head my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke.

20

I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there because he was unfaithful to me.

21

All his fleeing troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken.

22

"`This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

23

On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches.

24

All the trees of the field will know that I the LORD bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. "`I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.'"

Ezekiel 18

1

The word of the LORD came to me:

2

"What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: "`The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'?

3

"As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.

4

For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son--both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die.

5

"Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is just and right.

6

He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor's wife or lie with a woman during her period.

7

He does not oppress anyone, but returns what he took in pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked.

8

He does not lend at usury or take excessive interest. He withholds his hand from doing wrong and judges fairly between man and man.

9

He follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws. That man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Sovereign LORD.

10

"Suppose he has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these other things

11

(though the father has done none of them): "He eats at the mountain shrines. He defiles his neighbor's wife.

12

He oppresses the poor and needy. He commits robbery. He does not return what he took in pledge. He looks to the idols. He does detestable things.

13

He lends at usury and takes excessive interest. Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he will surely be put to death and his blood will be on his own head.

14

"But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things:

15

"He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor's wife.

16

He does not oppress anyone or require a pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked.

17

He withholds his hand from sin and takes no usury or excessive interest. He keeps my laws and follows my decrees. He will not die for his father's sin; he will surely live.

18

But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people.

19

"Yet you ask, `Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live.

20

The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.

21

"But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.

22

None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live.

23

Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

24

"But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die.

25

"Yet you say, `The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

26

If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die.

27

But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.

28

Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die.

29

Yet the house of Israel says, `The way of the Lord is not just.' Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?

30

"Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.

31

Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel?

32

For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

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