Daily Text and Bible Reading: Wednesday, September 17 [Press play below]

24.1 The word of Jehovah again came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, saying:
24.2 “Son of man, record this date, this very day. The king of Babylon has begun his attack against Jerusalem on this very day.
24.3 And relate a proverb concerning the rebellious house, and say concerning them “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “Put the cooking pot on; put it on the fire and pour water into it.
24.4 Put pieces of meat into it, every good piece, The thigh and the shoulder; fill it with the choicest bones.
24.5 Take the choicest sheep of the flock, and stack the logs all around under the pot. Boil the pieces, and cook the bones inside it.”’
24.6 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, the rusty cooking pot, whose rust has not been removed! Empty it piece by piece; do not cast lots for them.
24.7 For its blood is within it; she poured it out on the bare rock, She did not pour it out on the earth, to cover it over with dust.
24.8 To stir up rage for executing vengeance, I have put her blood on the shining, bare rock So that it may not be covered over.’
24.9 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed! I will pile the wood high.
24.10 Heap on the logs and kindle the fire, Boil the flesh thoroughly, pour out the broth, and let the bones be charred.
24.11 Set the empty pot on the coals to make it hot So that its copper will become red hot. Its uncleanness will melt away within it, and its rust will be consumed.
24.12 It is frustrating and exhausting, For the heavy rust will not come off. Throw it into the fire with its rust!’
24.13 “‘Your uncleanness was due to your obscene conduct. I tried to cleanse you, but you would not become clean from your uncleanness. You will not become clean until my rage against you subsides.
24.14 I myself, Jehovah, have spoken. It will come to pass. I will act without holding back, without sorrow, without regret. They will judge you according to your ways and your dealings,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.”
24.15 And the word of Jehovah again came to me, saying:
24.16 “Son of man, in a single blow I am about to take away your dear one from you. You should not mourn; nor should you weep or shed tears.
24.17 Groan in silence, and do not observe mourning rites for the dead. Bind on your turban, and put on your sandals. You should not cover over the mustache, and do not eat the bread brought to you by others.”
24.18 And I spoke to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening. So I did in the morning just as I had been commanded.
24.19 The people were saying to me: “Will you not tell us what these things you are doing have to do with us?”
24.20 I replied to them: “The word of Jehovah has come to me, saying,
24.21 ‘Tell the house of Israel: “This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says, ‘I am about to profane my sanctuary, the source of your great pride, the thing dear to you and the desire of your heart. Your own sons and daughters whom you left behind will fall by the sword.
24.22 Then you will have to do just as I have done. You will not cover over your mustache, and you will not eat the bread brought to you by others.
24.23 Your turbans will be on your heads and your sandals on your feet. You will not mourn or weep. Instead, you will rot away in your errors, and you will groan to one another.
24.24 Ezekiel has become a sign for you. Just as he has done, you will do. When it happens, you will have to know that I am the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.’”’”
24.25 “And as for you, son of man, on the day that I take away from them their fortress—the beautiful object of their joy, the thing dear to them, their heart’s desire—along with their sons and daughters,
24.26 it will be reported to you by one who has escaped.
24.27 In that day you will open your mouth and speak to the one who escaped, and you will no longer be mute. You will become a sign to them, and they will have to know that I am Jehovah.”
Chapter 25

25.1 The word of Jehovah again came to me, saying:
25.2 “Son of man, turn your face toward the Ammonites, and prophesy against them.
25.3 You must say concerning the Ammonites, ‘Hear the word of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “Because you said ‘Aha!’ against my sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was laid desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into exile,
25.4 therefore I am giving you to the people of the East as a possession. They will set up their encampments within you and pitch their tents among you. They will eat your fruitage, and they will drink your milk.
25.5 I will make Rabbah a pasture ground for camels, and the land of the Ammonites a resting-place for the flock; and you will have to know that I am Jehovah.”’”
25.6 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘Because you clapped your hands and stamped your feet and you rejoiced over the land of Israel with such utter scorn,
25.7 therefore I will stretch out my hand against you to give you to the nations as something to plunder. I will cut you off from the peoples and destroy you from the lands. I will annihilate you, and you will have to know that I am Jehovah.’
25.8 “This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘Because Moab and Seir have said, “Look! The house of Judah is like all the other nations,”
25.9 I am exposing Moab’s flank at his frontier cities, the beauty of his land, Beth-jeshimoth, Baal-meon, and clear to Kiriathaim.
25.10 I will give it along with the Ammonites as a possession to the people of the East, so that the Ammonites will not be remembered among the nations.
25.11 And I will execute judgment in Moab, and they will have to know that I am Jehovah.’
25.12 “This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘Edom has acted vengefully against the house of Judah and has incurred great guilt in taking revenge on them;
25.13 therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “I will also stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it both man and livestock, and I will make it desolate. From Teman clear to Dedan, they will fall by the sword.
25.14 ‘I will take vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel. They will bring my anger and my wrath on Edom, so that they experience my own vengeance,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.”’
25.15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘Because of their unrelenting hostility, the Philistines have maliciously sought to bring vengeance and destruction.
25.16 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “Here I am stretching out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and will destroy the remaining inhabitants of the seacoast.
25.17 I will execute on them great acts of vengeance with furious punishments, and they will have to know that I am Jehovah when I bring my vengeance on them.”’”
Chapter 26

26.1 In the 11th year, on the first day of the month, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying:
26.2 “Son of man, because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ‘Aha! The gateway of the peoples has been broken! Everything will come my way, and I will become rich now that she is devastated’;
26.3 therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘Here I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up many nations against you, just as the sea brings up its waves.
26.4 They will destroy the walls of Tyre and tear down her towers, and I will scrape away soil and make her a shining, bare rock.
26.5 She will become a drying yard for dragnets in the midst of the sea.’ “‘For I myself have spoken,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah, ‘and she will become plunder for the nations.
26.6 And her settlements in the countryside will be slaughtered by the sword, and people will have to know that I am Jehovah.’
26.7 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘Here I am bringing King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon against Tyre from the north; he is a king of kings, with horses, war chariots, cavalrymen, and an army of many soldiers.
26.8 He will destroy your settlements in the countryside with the sword, and he will build a siege wall and throw up a siege rampart against you and raise up a great shield against you.
26.9 He will pound your walls with his battering ram, and with his axes he will pull down your towers.
26.10 His horses will be so many that they will cover you with dust, and the sound of the cavalry, the wheels, and the chariots will cause your walls to shake when he enters your gates, like men storming a city with broken walls.
26.11 The hooves of his horses will trample down all your streets; he will kill your people with the sword, and your mighty pillars will crash to the ground.
26.12 They will loot your resources, plunder your merchandise, tear down your walls, and pull down your fine houses; then they will throw your stones and your woodwork and your soil into the water.’
26.13 “‘I will put an end to the noise of your songs, and the sound of your harps will be heard no more.
26.14 And I will make you a shining, bare rock, and you will become a drying yard for dragnets. You will never be rebuilt, for I myself, Jehovah, have spoken,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.
26.15 “This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says to Tyre: ‘At the sound of your downfall, when the dying ones are groaning, when a slaughter takes place in your midst, will the islands not shudder?
26.16 All the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones and remove their robes and strip off their embroidered garments, and they will be seized with trembling. They will sit on the ground and tremble constantly and stare at you in amazement.
26.17 And they will sing a dirge over you and say to you: “How you have perished, you who were inhabited from the seas, the praised city; You and your inhabitants were mighty on the sea, Spreading terror to all the inhabitants of the earth!
26.18 The islands will tremble on the day of your downfall, The islands of the sea will be disturbed when you are gone.”’
26.19 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘When I devastate you like the cities that are not inhabited, when I overwhelm you with the surging waters and the mighty waters have covered you,
26.20 I will bring you and those going down into the pit with you to the people of long ago; I will cause you to dwell in the lowest place, like the places of old that have been devastated, together with those going down into the pit, so that you may not be inhabited. Then I will glorify the land of the living.
26.21 “‘I will bring sudden terror upon you, and you will no longer be. They will search for you, but you will never again be found,’ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.”