Sep 9 - Ezekiel 17-19
Ezekiel
1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying2"Son of man, propose an enigma and describe a parable to the house of Israel3and you shall say: Thus says the Lord God: A large eagle, with great wings and elongated pinions, full of feathers with many colors, came to Lebanon. And he took the kernel of the cedar4He tore off the summit of its branches, and he transported it to the land of Canaan; he placed it in a city of merchants5And he took from the seed of the land and placed it in the ground for seed, so that it might take firm root above many waters; he placed it at the surface6And when it had germinated, it increased into a more extensive vine, low in height, with its branches facing toward itself. And its roots were underneath it. And so, it became a vine, and sprouted branches, and produced shoots7And there was another large eagle, with great wings and many feathers. And behold, this vine seemed to bend its roots towards him, extending its branches toward him, so that he might irrigate it from the garden of its germination8It had been planted in a good land, above many waters, so that it would produce branches and bear fruit, so that it would become a large vine9Speak: Thus says the Lord God: What if it does not prosper? Should he not pull up its roots, and strip off its fruit, and dry up all the branches that it has produced, and let it wither, though he is without a strong arm and without many people to pull it up by the root10Behold, it has been planted. What if it does not prosper? Should it not be dried up when the burning wind touches it, and should it not wither in the garden of its germination?11And the word of the Lord came to me, saying12"Say to the provoking house: Do you not know what these things signify? Say: Behold, the king of Babylon arrives in Jerusalem. And he will take away its king and princes, and he will lead them away to himself in Babylon13And he will take one from the offspring of the king, and he will strike a pact with him and receive an oath from him. Moreover, he will take away the strong ones of the land14so that it may be a lowly kingdom, and may not lift itself up, and may instead keep his pact and serve it15But, withdrawing from him, he sent messengers to Egypt, so that it would give him horses and many people. Should he who has done these things prosper and obtain safety? And should he who has broken the pact go free16As I live, says the Lord God, in the place of the king, who appointed him as king, whose oath he has made void, and whose pact he has broken, under which he was living with him, in the midst of Babylon, he shall die17And not with a great army, nor with many people will Pharaoh undertake a battle against him, when he will cast up ramparts and build defenses, in order to put to death many souls18For he has despised an oath, in that he broke the pact. And behold, he had given his hand. And so, since he has done all these things, he shall not escape19Because of this, thus says the Lord God: As I live, I will place upon his head the oath that he has spurned and the pact that he has betrayed20And I will spread my net over him, and he will be captured in my dragnet. And I will lead him into Babylon, and I will judge him there for the transgression by which he has despised me21And all his fugitives, with all his procession, will fall by the sword. Then the remainder will be scattered into every wind. And you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken.22Thus says the Lord God: "I myself will take from the kernel of the exalted cedar, and I will establish it. I will tear off a tender twig from the top of its branches, and I will plant it on a mountain, lofty and exalted23On the sublime mountains of Israel, I will plant it. And it shall spring forth in buds and bear fruit, and it shall be a great cedar. And all the birds will live under it, and every bird will make its nest under the shadow of its branches24And all the trees of the regions will know that I, the Lord, have brought low the sublime tree, and have exalted the lowly tree, and have dried up the green tree, and have caused the dry tree to flourish. I, the Lord, have spoken and acted.
1And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:2"Why is it that you circulate among yourselves this parable, as a proverb in the land of Israel, saying: ‘The fathers ate a bitter grape, and the teeth of the sons have been affected.3As I live, says the Lord God, this parable shall no longer be a proverb for you in Israel4Behold, all souls are mine. Just as the soul of the father is mine, so also is the soul of the son. The soul that sins, the same shall die5And if a man is just, and he accomplishes judgment and justice6and if he does not eat upon the mountains, nor lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and if he has not violated the wife of his neighbor, nor approached a menstruating woman7and if he has not grieved any man, but has restored the collateral to the debtor, if he has seized nothing by violence, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment8if he has not lent upon usury, nor taken any increase, if he has averted his hand from iniquity, and has executed true judgment between man and man9if he has walked in my precepts and kept my judgments, so that he acts in accord with truth, then he is just; he shall certainly live, says the Lord God10But if he raises a son who is a robber, who sheds blood, and who does any of these things11(even though he himself does not do any of these things,) and who eats upon the mountains, and who defiles the wife of his neighbor12who grieves the needy and the poor, who seizes with violence, who does not restore the collateral, and who lifts up his eyes to idols, committing abomination13who lends upon usury, and who takes an increase, then shall he live? He shall not live. Since he has done all these detestable things, he shall certainly die. His blood shall be upon him14But if he raises a son, who, seeing all his father’s sins that he has done, is afraid and so does not act in a way similar to him15who does not eat upon the mountains, nor lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and who does not violate the wife of his neighbor16and who has not grieved any man, nor withheld the collateral, nor seized by violence, but instead has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment17who has averted his hand from injuring the poor, who has not taken usury and an overabundance, who has acted according to my judgments and walked in my precepts, then this one shall not die for the iniquity of his father; instead, he shall certainly live18As for his father, because he oppressed and did violence to his brother, and worked evil in the midst of his people, behold, he has died by his own iniquity19And you say, ‘Why has not the son borne the iniquity of the father?’ Clearly, since the son has worked judgment and justice, has observed all my precepts, and has done them, he shall certainly live20The soul that sins, the same shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, and the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son. The justice of the just man shall be upon himself, but the impiety of the impious man shall be upon himself21But if the impious man does penance for all his sins which he has committed, and if he keeps all my precepts, and accomplishes judgment and justice, then he shall certainly live, and he shall not die22I will not remember all his iniquities, which he has worked; by his justice, which he has worked, he shall live23How could it be my will that an impious man should die, says the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways and live24But if a just man turns himself away from his justice, and does iniquity in accord with all the abominations that the impious man so often does, why should he live? All his justices, which he has accomplished, shall not be remembered. By the transgression, in which he has transgressed, and by his sin, in which he has sinned, by these he shall die25And you have said, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Therefore, listen, O house of Israel. How could it be that my way is not fair? And is it not instead your ways that are perverse26For when the just man turns himself away from his justice, and commits iniquity, he shall die by this; by the injustice that he has worked, he shall die27And when the impious man turns himself away from his impiety, which he has done, and accomplishes judgment and justice, he shall cause his own soul to live28For by considering and turning himself away from all his iniquities, which he has worked, he shall certainly live, and he shall not die29And yet the sons of Israel say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ How could it be that my ways are not fair, O house of Israel? And is it not instead your ways that are perverse30Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge each one according to his ways, says the Lord God. Be converted, and do penance for all your iniquities, and then iniquity will not be your ruin31Cast all your transgressions, by which you have transgressed, away from you, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. And then why should you die, O house of Israel32For I do not desire the death of one who dies, says the Lord God. So return and live.
1"And as for you, take up a lament over the leaders of Israel2and you shall say: Why did your mother, the lioness, recline among the male lions, and raise her little ones in the midst of young lions3And she led away one of her little ones, and he became a lion. And he learned to seize prey and to consume men4And the Gentiles heard about him, and they seized him, but not without receiving wounds. And they led him away in chains to the land of Egypt5Then, when she had seen that she was weakened, and that her hope had perished, she took one of her little ones, and appointed him as a lion6And he advanced among the lions, and he became a lion. And he learned to seize prey and to devour men7He learned to make widows, and to lead their citizens into the desert. And the land, with its plenitude, was made desolate by the voice of his roaring8And the Gentiles came together against him, on every side, from the provinces, and they spread their net over him; by their wounds, he was captured9And they put him into a cage; they led him in chains to the king of Babylon. And they cast him into a prison, so that his voice would no longer be heard upon the mountains of Israel10Your mother is like a vine, in your blood, planted by the water; her fruit and her branches have increased because of many waters11And her strong branches were made into scepters for the rulers, and her stature was exalted among the branches. And she saw her own loftiness among the multitude of her branches12But she was uprooted in wrath, and cast upon the ground. And the burning wind dried up her fruit. Her robust branches withered and were dried up. A fire consumed her13And now she has been transplanted into the desert, into a land impassable and dry14And a fire has gone forth from a rod of her branches, which has consumed her fruit. And there is no strong branch in her to become a scepter for the rulers. This is a lamentation, and it shall be a lamentation.