1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2“Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel 3and tell her that this is what the Lord says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. 4Because I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north. 5Then all flesh will know that I, the Lord, have taken My sword from its sheath, not to return it again.’

6 But you, son of man, groan! Groan before their eyes with a broken heart and bitter grief. 7And when they ask, ‘Why are you groaning?’ you are to say, ‘Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.’ Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD.”

8 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9“Son of man, prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord says:

18 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 19“Now you, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost where the road branches off to each city. 20Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.

21 For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver.

22 In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall. 23It will seem like a false omen to the eyes of those who have sworn allegiance to him, but it will draw attention to their guilt and take them captive.

24 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have drawn attention to your guilt, exposing your transgressions, so that your sins are revealed in all your deeds — because you have come to remembrance — you shall be taken in hand.

26 This is what the Lord GOD says:

28 Now prophesy, son of man, and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says concerning the Ammonites and their contempt:

1 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2“As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations 3and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O city who brings her own doom by shedding blood within her walls and making idols to defile herself, 4you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands. 5Those near and far will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil.

6 See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood. 7Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.

8 You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. 9Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency.

10In you they have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers; in you they violate women during their menstrual impurity. 11One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.

12In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.

13 Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst. 14Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will act. 15I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you throughout the lands; I will purge your uncleanness. 16And when you have defiled yourself in the eyes of the nations, then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

17 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver.

19 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem. 20Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you.

21 Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted within the city. 22As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have poured out My wrath upon you.’”

23 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 24“Son of man, say to her, ‘In the day of indignation, you are a land that has not been cleansed, upon which no rain has fallen.’

25 The conspiracy of the princes in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.

26 Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

27 Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.

28 Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the Lord has not spoken.

29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.

30 I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one. 31So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

1 For the law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. It can never, by the same sacrifices offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship . 2If it could, would not the offerings have ceased? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt the guilt of their sins.

3 Instead, those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said:

8 In the passage above He says, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor did You delight in them” (although they are offered according to the law). 9Then He adds, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first to establish the second. 10And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 Day after day every priest stands to minister and to offer again and again the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when this Priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. 13Since that time, He waits for His enemies to be made a footstool for His feet, 14because by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified.

15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First He says:

17 Then He adds: