छब्बीसवाँ सामान्य सप्ताह आज के संत: बालक येसु की संत तेरेसा
📒पहला पाठ- नहेम्या 2: 1-8
1 राजा अर्तज़र्कसीस के राज्यकाल के बीसवें वर्ष के नीसान महीने में मैंने अंगूरी ले कर राजा के सामने रखी। मैं पहले कभी उदास हो कर राजा के सामने नहीं आया था।
2 राजा ने मुझ से कहा, “तुम्हारा चेहरा क्यों उतरा हुआ है? तुम बीमार नहीं हो, इसलिए तुम किसी कारण से उदास हो।” मैं बहुत घबरा गया
3 और राजा से बोला, “महाराजा सदा जीते रहें। मेरा चेहरा क्यों न उतरा हो, जब कि वह नगर उजाड़ है, जहाँ मेरे पूर्वज दफ़नाये हुए हैं और उसके फाटक जल कर भस्म हो गये हैं?”
4 राजा ने मुझ से कहा, “तुम क्या चाहते हो?” मैंने स्वर्ग के ईश्वर से प्रार्थना की
5 और राजा को उत्तर दिया, “यदि महाराजा को अच्छा लगे और मुझ पर आपकी कृपादृष्टि हो, तो मुझे यूदा भेजिए, जिससे में उस नगर का पुनर्निर्माण करूँ, जहाँ मेरे पूर्वज दफ़नाये हुए हैं”।
6 रानी राजा के पास बैठी हुए हुई थी। राजा ने मुझ से पूछा, “यात्रा में कितना समय लगेगा और तुम कब वापस आओगे?” मैंने उसे एक निश्चित समय बताया और राजा ने मुझे जाने की अनुमति दे दी।
7 तब मैंने राजा से कहा, “यदि महाराजा को यह अच्छा लगे, तो मुझे नदी के उस पार के क्षत्रपों के नाम पत्र दिये जायें, जिससे, जब तक मैं यूदा न पहुँचूँ, वे मुझे अपने प्रान्त पार करने दें।
8 मुझे राजकीय वन के अध्यक्ष आसाफ़ के नाम भी एक पत्र दिया जाये। उस में मुझे लकड़ी देने का आदेश लिखा हो, जिससे मैं मन्दिर के निकटवर्ती गढ़ के फाटक, नगर की चारदीवारी और अपने रहने का घर बनवा सकूँ।” राजा ने मेरा निवेदन स्वीकार किया; क्योंकि मुझे अपने ईश्वर की कृपादृष्टि प्राप्त थी।
📙सुसमाचार – लूकस 9: 57-62
57 ईसा अपने शिष्यों के साथ यात्रा कर रहे थे कि रास्ते में ही किसी ने उन से कहा, “आप जहाँ कहीं भी जायेंगे, मैं आपके पीछे-पीछे चलूँगा”।
58 ईसा ने उसे उत्तर दिया, “लोमडि़यों की अपनी माँदें हैं और आकाश के पक्षियों के अपने घोंसले, परन्तु मानव पुत्र के लिए सिर रखने को भी अपनी जगह नहीं है”।
59 उन्होंने किसी दूसरे से कहा, “मेरे पीछे चले आओ”। परन्तु उसने उत्तर दिया, “प्रभु! मुझे पहले अपने पिता को दफ़नाने के लिए जाने दीजिए”।
60 ईसा ने उस से कहा, “मुरदों को अपने मुरदे दफनाने दो। तुम जा कर ईश्वर के राज्य का प्रचार करो।”
61 फिर कोई दूसरा बोला, “प्रभु! मैं आपका अनुसरण करूँगा, परन्तु मुझे अपने घर वालों से विदा लेने दीजिए”।
62 ईसा ने उस से कहा, “हल की मूठ पकड़ने के बाद जो मुड़ कर पीछे देखता है, वह ईश्वर के राज्य के योग्य नहीं”।
उन्नीसवाँ सामान्य सप्ताह आज के संत: संत योहन फ्रांसिसका दि चंताल / संत मुरताग
📒पहला पाठ- विधि विवरण 31: 1-8
1 इसके बाद मूसा ने समस्त इस्राएलियों से कहा,
2 “अब मैं एक सौ बीस वर्षों का हो गया हूँ और चलने-फिरने मे असमर्थ हूँ। प्रभु ने मुझ से कहा, ‘तुम इस यर्दन नदी को पार नहीं करोगे।‘
3 तुम लोगों का प्रभु-ईश्वर तुम से पहले यर्दन पार करेगा। वह तुम्हारे लिए उन लोगों का विनाश करेगा और तुम उनका देश अपने अधिकार में करोगे। योशुआ यर्दन पार करने में तुम्हारा नेतृत्व करेगा, जैसा कि प्रभु ने कहा है।
4 प्रभु उन लोगों का विनाश करेगा, जैसा कि उसने अमोरियों के राजा सीहोन और ओग तथा उनके देश का विनाश किया है।
5 जब प्रभु उन लोगों को तुम्हारे हवाले कर देगा, तो तुम मेरे आदेश के अनुसार ही उनके साथ व्यवहार करोगे।
6 दृढ बने रहो और ढारस रखो! भयभीत न हो और उन से मत डरो क्योंकि तुम्हारा प्रभु-ईश्वर तुम्हारे साथ चलता है। वह तुम्हारा विनाश नहीं करेगा और तुमको नहीं छोडेगा।”
7 तब मूसा ने योशुआ को बुलाया और सभी इस्राएलियों के सामने उससे कहा, “दृढ बने रहो और ढारस रखो! तुम इन लोगों को उस देश ले चलोगे, जिसे प्रभु ने शपथ खाकर उनके पूर्वजों को देने की प्रतिज्ञा की है। तुम उस देश को उनके अधिकार में दे दोगे।
8 प्रभु तुम्हारे आगे-आगे चलेगा और तुम्हारे साथ रहेगा। वह तुम्हें निराश नहीं करेगा और तुम को नहीं छोडेगा। भयभीत न हो और मत डरो।
📙सुसमाचार – मत्ती 18: 1-5, 10, 12-14
1 उस समय शिष्य ईसा के पास आ कर बोले, “स्वर्ग के राज्य में सब से बड़ा कौन है?”
2 ईसा ने एक बालक को बुलाया और उसे उनके बीच खड़ा कर
3 कहा, “मैं तुम लोगों से यह कहता हूँ- यदि तुम फिर छोटे बालकों-जैसे नहीं बन जाओगे, तो स्वर्ग के राज्य में प्रवेश नहीं करोगे।
4 इसलिए जो अपने को इस बालक-जैसा छोटा समझता है, वह स्वर्ग के राज्य में सब से बड़ा है
5 और जो मेरे नाम पर ऐसे बालक का स्वागत करता है, वह मेरा स्वागत करता है।
10 “सावधान रहो, उन नन्हों में एक को भी तुच्छ न समझो। मैं तुम से कहता हूँ- उनके दूत स्वर्ग में निरन्तर मेरे स्वर्गिक पिता के दर्शन करते हैं।
12 तुम्हारा क्या विचार है- यदि किसी के एक सौ भेड़ें हों और उन में एक भी भटक जाये, तो क्या वह उन निन्यानबे भेड़ों को पहाड़ी पर छोड़ कर उस भटकी हुई को खोजने नहीं जायेगा?
13 और यदि वह उसे पाये, तो मैं विश्वास दिलाता हूँ कि उसे उन निन्यानबे की अपेक्षा, जो भटकी नहीं थीं, उस भेड़ के कारण अधिक आनन्द होगा।
14 इसी तरह मेरा स्वर्गिक पिता नहीं चाहता कि उन नन्हों में से एक भी खो जाये।
15 स्वर्गदूतों ने यह कहते हुए लोट से अनुरोध किया, ‘’जल्दी कीजिए! अपनी पत्नी और अपनी दोनों पुत्रियों को ले जाइए। नहीं तो आप भी नगर के दण्ड के लपेट में नष्ट हो जायेंगे।‘’ 16 वह हिचकता रहा, इसलिए स्वर्गदूत उसका, उसकी पत्नी और उसकी दोनों पुत्रियों का हाथ पकड़ कर नगर के बाहर ले चले, क्योंकि प्रभु लोट को बचाना चाहता था। 17 नगर के बाहर पहुँच कर एक स्वर्गदूत ने कहा, ‘’जान बचा कर भाग जाइए। पीछे मुड़ कर मत देखिएगा और घाटी में कहीं भी नहीं रूकिएगा। पहाड़ पर भाग जाइए, नहीं तो आप नष्ट हो जायेंगे।‘’ 18 लोट ने उत्तर दिया ‘’महोदय! यह नहीं होगा। 19 आपने मुझ पर दया दृष्टि की और मेरी जान बचा कर मेरे बड़ा उपकार किया। यदि मैं पहाड़ पर भाग जाऊँ, तो मैं विपत्ति से नहीं बच सकूँगा और निश्चय ही मर जाऊँगा। 20 देखिए, सामने की नगरी अधिक दूर नहीं है। मैं वहाँ शीघ्र ही पहुँच सकता हूँ। मुझे वहाँ शरण लेने दीजिए। वह एक छोटी-सी जगह है। मैं वहाँ सुरक्षित होऊँगा।‘’ 21 स्वर्गदूत ने उत्तर दिया, ‘’आपका यह निवेदन मुझे स्वीकार है। मैं उस नगरी का विनाश नहीं करूँगा। 22 शीघ्र ही वहाँ भाग जाइए। जब तक आप वहाँ नहीं पहुँचेंगे, तब तक मैं कुछ नहीं करूँगा।‘’ इस कारण वह नगरी सोअर कहलाती है। 23 जिस समय पृथ्वी पर सूर्य का उदय हुआ और लोट सोअर पहुँचा, 24 उस समय प्रभु ने सोदोम और गोमोरा पर आकाश से गन्धक और आग बरसायी। 25 उसने उन नगरों को, सारी घाटी को, उसके समस्त निवासियों को और उसके सभी पेड़-पौधों को नष्ट कर दिया। 26 लोट की पत्नी ने, जो उसके पीछे चल रही थी, मुड़ कर देखा और वह नमक का खम्भा बन गयी। 27 दूसरे दिन सबेरे ही इब्राहीम उस जगह पहुँचा, जहाँ वह प्रभु के साथ खड़ा हुआ था। 28 उसने सोदोम, गोमोरा और सारी घाटी पर दृष्टि दौड़ा कर देखा कि भट्ठी के धुएँ की तरह भूमि पर से धुआँ ऊपर उठ रहा है। 29 इस प्रकार जब ईश्वर ने घाटी के नगरों का विनाश किया, तो उसने इब्राहीम का ध्यान रखा और लोट की रक्षा की, तब उसने उन नगरों को विनाश किया, जहाँ वह रहता था। 📙सुसमाचार – मत्ती 8: 23-27
23 ईसा नाव पर सवार हो गये और उनके शिष्य उनके साथ हो लिये।
24 उस समय समुद्र में एकाएक इतनी भारी आँधी उठी कि नाव लहरों से ढकी जा रही थी। परन्तु ईसा तो सो रहे थे।
25 शिष्यों ने पास आ कर उन्हें जगाया और कहा, “प्रभु! हमें बचाइए! हम डूब रहे हैं !”
26 ईसा ने उन से कहा, “अल्पविश्वासियो! डरते क्यों हो?” तब उन्होंने उठ कर वायु और समुद्र को डाँटा और पूर्ण शान्ति छा गयी।
27 इस पर वे लोग अचम्भे में पड़ कर बोल उठे, ”आख़िर यह कौन है? वायु और समुद्र भी इनकी आज्ञा मानते हैं।”
says the Lord, if you return to me, if you remove your abominations from my presence, and do not waver, 2 and if you swear, “As the Lord lives!” in truth, in justice, and in uprightness, then nations shall be blessed by him, and by him they shall boast.
3 For thus says the Lord to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. 4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, remove the foreskin of your hearts, O people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else my wrath will go forth like fire, and burn with no one to quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:
Blow the trumpet through the land; shout aloud and say, “Gather together, and let us go into the fortified cities!” 6 Raise a standard toward Zion, flee for safety, do not delay, for I am bringing evil from the north, and a great destruction. 7 A lion has gone up from its thicket, a destroyer of nations has set out; he has gone out from his place to make your land a waste; your cities will be ruins without inhabitant. 8 Because of this put on sackcloth, lament and wail: “The fierce anger of the Lord has not turned away from us.”
9 On that day, says the Lord, courage shall fail the king and the officials; the priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded. 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, how utterly you have deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ even while the sword is at the throat!”
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert toward my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse— 12 a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgment against them.
13 Look! He comes up like clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind; his horses are swifter than eagles— woe to us, for we are ruined! 14 O Jerusalem, wash your heart clean of wickedness so that you may be saved. How long shall your evil schemes lodge within you? 15 For a voice declares from Dan and proclaims disaster from Mount Ephraim. 16 Tell the nations, “Here they are!” Proclaim against Jerusalem, “Besiegers come from a distant land; they shout against the cities of Judah. 17 They have closed in around her like watchers of a field, because she has rebelled against me, says the Lord. 18 Your ways and your doings have brought this upon you. This is your doom; how bitter it is! It has reached your very heart.”
19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent; for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. 20 Disaster overtakes disaster, the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are destroyed, my curtains in a moment. 21 How long must I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? 22 “For my people are foolish, they do not know me; they are stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but do not know how to do good.”
23 I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light. 24 I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro. 25 I looked, and lo, there was no one at all, and all the birds of the air had fled. 26 I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the Lord, before his fierce anger.
27 For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.
28 Because of this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens above grow black; for I have spoken, I have purposed; I have not relented nor will I turn back.
29 At the noise of horseman and archer every town takes to flight; they enter thickets; they climb among rocks; all the towns are forsaken, and no one lives in them. 30 And you, O desolate one, what do you mean that you dress in crimson, that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life. 31 For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor, anguish as of one bringing forth her first child, the cry of daughter Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands, “Woe is me! I am fainting before killers!”
Ezekiel 31
31 In the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his hordes:
Whom are you like in your greatness? 3 Consider Assyria, a cedar of Lebanon, with fair branches and forest shade, and of great height, its top among the clouds. 4 The waters nourished it, the deep made it grow tall, making its rivers flow around the place it was planted, sending forth its streams to all the trees of the field. 5 So it towered high above all the trees of the field; its boughs grew large and its branches long, from abundant water in its shoots. 6 All the birds of the air made their nests in its boughs; under its branches all the animals of the field gave birth to their young; and in its shade all great nations lived. 7 It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its roots went down to abundant water. 8 The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it, nor the fir trees equal its boughs; the plane trees were as nothing compared with its branches; no tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty. 9 I made it beautiful with its mass of branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God.
10 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because it towered high and set its top among the clouds, and its heart was proud of its height, 11 I gave it into the hand of the prince of the nations; he has dealt with it as its wickedness deserves. I have cast it out. 12 Foreigners from the most terrible of the nations have cut it down and left it. On the mountains and in all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs lie broken in all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth went away from its shade and left it.
13 On its fallen trunk settle all the birds of the air, and among its boughs lodge all the wild animals.
14 All this is in order that no trees by the waters may grow to lofty height or set their tops among the clouds, and that no trees that drink water may reach up to them in height.
For all of them are handed over to death, to the world below; along with all mortals, with those who go down to the Pit.
15 Thus says the Lord God: On the day it went down to Sheol I closed the deep over it and covered it; I restrained its rivers, and its mighty waters were checked. I clothed Lebanon in gloom for it, and all the trees of the field fainted because of it. 16 I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who go down to the Pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that were well watered, were consoled in the world below. 17 They also went down to Sheol with it, to those killed by the sword, along with its allies, those who lived in its shade among the nations.
18 Which among the trees of Eden was like you in glory and in greatness? Now you shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the world below; you shall lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are killed by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his horde, says the Lord God.
Ezekiel 32
32 In the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:
You consider yourself a lion among the nations, but you are like a dragon in the seas; you thrash about in your streams, trouble the water with your feet, and foul your streams. 3 Thus says the Lord God: In an assembly of many peoples I will throw my net over you; and I will haul you up in my dragnet. 4 I will throw you on the ground, on the open field I will fling you, and will cause all the birds of the air to settle on you, and I will let the wild animals of the whole earth gorge themselves with you. 5 I will strew your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with your carcass. 6 I will drench the land with your flowing blood up to the mountains, and the watercourses will be filled with you. 7 When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens, and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. 8 All the shining lights of the heavens I will darken above you, and put darkness on your land, says the Lord God. 9 I will trouble the hearts of many peoples, as I carry you captive among the nations, into countries you have not known. 10 I will make many peoples appalled at you; their kings shall shudder because of you. When I brandish my sword before them, they shall tremble every moment for their lives, each one of them, on the day of your downfall. 11 For thus says the Lord God: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come against you. 12 I will cause your hordes to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them most terrible among the nations. They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt, and all its hordes shall perish. 13 I will destroy all its livestock from beside abundant waters; and no human foot shall trouble them any more, nor shall the hoofs of cattle trouble them. 14 Then I will make their waters clear, and cause their streams to run like oil, says the Lord God. 15 When I make the land of Egypt desolate and when the land is stripped of all that fills it, when I strike down all who live in it, then they shall know that I am the Lord. 16 This is a lamentation; it shall be chanted. The women of the nations shall chant it. Over Egypt and all its hordes they shall chant it, says the Lord God.
17 In the twelfth year, in the first month,on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:
18 Mortal, wail over the hordes of Egypt, and send them down, with Egypt and the daughters of majestic nations, to the world below, with those who go down to the Pit. 19 “Whom do you surpass in beauty? Go down! Be laid to rest with the uncircumcised!”
20 They shall fall among those who are killed by the sword. Egypt has been handed over to the sword; carry away both it and its hordes. 21 The mighty chiefs shall speak of them, with their helpers, out of the midst of Sheol: “They have come down, they lie still, the uncircumcised, killed by the sword.”
22 Assyria is there, and all its company, their graves all around it, all of them killed, fallen by the sword. 23 Their graves are set in the uttermost parts of the Pit. Its company is all around its grave, all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.
24 Elam is there, and all its hordes around its grave; all of them killed, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised into the world below, who spread terror in the land of the living. They bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit. 25 They have made Elam a bed among the slain with all its hordes, their graves all around it, all of them uncircumcised, killed by the sword; for terror of them was spread in the land of the living, and they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit; they are placed among the slain.
26 Meshech and Tubal are there, and all their multitude, their graves all around them, all of them uncircumcised, killed by the sword; for they spread terror in the land of the living. 27 And they do not lie with the fallen warriors of long ago who went down to Sheol with their weapons of war, whose swords were laid under their heads, and whose shields are upon their bones; for the terror of the warriors was in the land of the living. 28 So you shall be broken and lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are killed by the sword.
29 Edom is there, its kings and all its princes, who for all their might are laid with those who are killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised, with those who go down to the Pit.
30 The princes of the north are there, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who have gone down in shame with the slain, for all the terror that they caused by their might; they lie uncircumcised with those who are killed by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.
31 When Pharaoh sees them, he will be consoled for all his hordes—Pharaoh and all his army, killed by the sword, says the Lord God. 32 For he spread terror in the land of the living; therefore he shall be laid to rest among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword—Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord God.
Proverbs 14: 17-20
One who is quick-tempered acts foolishly, and the schemer is hated. 18 The simple are adorned with folly, but the clever are crowned with knowledge. 19 The evil bow down before the good, the wicked at the gates of the righteous. 20 The poor are disliked even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.
If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her? Would not such a land be greatly polluted? You have played the whore with many lovers; and would you return to me? says the Lord. 2 Look up to the bare heights, and see! Where have you not been lain with? By the waysides you have sat waiting for lovers, like a nomad in the wilderness. You have polluted the land with your whoring and wickedness. 3 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and the spring rain has not come; yet you have the forehead of a whore, you refuse to be ashamed. 4 Have you not just now called to me, “My Father, you are the friend of my youth— 5 will he be angry forever, will he be indignant to the end?” This is how you have spoken, but you have done all the evil that you could.
6 The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and played the whore there? 7 And I thought, “After she has done all this she will return to me”; but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it. 8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. 9 Because she took her whoredom so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. 10 Yet for all this her false sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense, says the Lord.
11 Then the Lord said to me: Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah. 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say:
Return, faithless Israel, says the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, says the Lord; I will not be angry forever. 13 Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the Lord your God, and scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree, and have not obeyed my voice, says the Lord. 14 Return, O faithless children, says the Lord, for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
15 I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It shall not come to mind, or be remembered, or missed; nor shall another one be made. 17 At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer stubbornly follow their own evil will. 18 In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your ancestors for a heritage.
19 I thought how I would set you among my children, and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful heritage of all the nations. And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me. 20 Instead, as a faithless wife leaves her husband, so you have been faithless to me, O house of Israel, says the Lord.
21 A voice on the bare heights is heard, the plaintive weeping of Israel’s children, because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten the Lord their God: 22 Return, O faithless children, I will heal your faithlessness.
“Here we come to you; for you are the Lord our God. 23 Truly the hills are a delusion, the orgies on the mountains. Truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.
24 “But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our ancestors had labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our ancestors, from our youth even to this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”
Ezekiel 29
29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; 3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon sprawling in the midst of its channels, saying, “My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.” 4 I will put hooks in your jaws, and make the fish of your channels stick to your scales. I will draw you up from your channels, with all the fish of your channels sticking to your scales. 5 I will fling you into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your channels; you shall fall in the open field, and not be gathered and buried. To the animals of the earth and to the birds of the air I have given you as food. 6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord because you were a staff of reed to the house of Israel; 7 when they grasped you with the hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke, and made all their legs unsteady.
8 Therefore, thus says the Lord God: I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you human being and animal; 9 and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Because you said, “The Nile is mine, and I made it,” 10 therefore, I am against you, and against your channels, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia. 11 No human foot shall pass through it, and no animal foot shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. 12 I will make the land of Egypt a desolation among desolated countries; and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries.
13 Further, thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered; 14 and I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin; and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. 15 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, and never again exalt itself above the nations; and I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. 16 The Egyptians shall never again be the reliance of the house of Israel; they will recall their iniquity, when they turned to them for aid. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.
17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 Mortal, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre; every head was made bald and every shoulder was rubbed bare; yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had expended against it. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will give the land of Egypt to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, says the Lord God.
21 On that day I will cause a horn to sprout up for the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Ezekiel 30
30 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
Wail, “Alas for the day!” 3 For a day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations. 4 A sword shall come upon Egypt, and anguish shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain fall in Egypt, and its wealth is carried away, and its foundations are torn down.
5 Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all Arabia, and Libya, and the people of the allied land shall fall with them by the sword.
6 Thus says the Lord: Those who support Egypt shall fall, and its proud might shall come down; from Migdol to Syene they shall fall within it by the sword, says the Lord God. 7 They shall be desolated among other desolated countries, and their cities shall lie among cities laid waste. 8 Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set fire to Egypt, and all who help it are broken.
9 On that day, messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting Ethiopians; and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom; for it is coming!
10 Thus says the Lord God:
I will put an end to the hordes of Egypt, by the hand of King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon. 11 He and his people with him, the most terrible of the nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. 12 I will dry up the channels, and will sell the land into the hand of evildoers; I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it by the hand of foreigners; I the Lord have spoken.
13 Thus says the Lord God:
I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis; there shall no longer be a prince in the land of Egypt; so I will put fear in the land of Egypt. 14 I will make Pathros a desolation, and will set fire to Zoan, and will execute acts of judgment on Thebes. 15 I will pour my wrath upon Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt, and cut off the hordes of Thebes. 16 I will set fire to Egypt; Pelusium shall be in great agony; Thebes shall be breached, and Memphis face adversaries by day. 17 The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword; and the cities themselves shall go into captivity. 18 At Tehaphnehes the day shall be dark, when I break there the dominion of Egypt, and its proud might shall come to an end; the city shall be covered by a cloud, and its daughter-towns shall go into captivity. 19 Thus I will execute acts of judgment on Egypt. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Proclamation against Pharaoh
20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 21 Mortal, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; it has not been bound up for healing or wrapped with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken; and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them throughout the lands. 24 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand; but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him with the groans of one mortally wounded. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall stretch it out against the land of Egypt, 26 and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
Proverbs 14: 13-16
Even in laughter the heart is sad, and the end of joy is grief. 14 The perverse get what their ways deserve, and the good, what their deeds deserve. 15 The simple believe everything, but the clever consider their steps. 16 The wise are cautious and turn away from evil, but the fool throws off restraint and is careless.
