Thursday, September 30, 2021

 Ezekiel 28

¹The word of the LORD came to me: ²"Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

" 'In the pride of your heart you say, "I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas." But you are a man and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god. ³Are you wiser than Daniel? Is no secret hidden from you? ⁴By your wisdom and understanding you have gained wealth for yourself and amassed gold and silver in your treasuries. ⁵By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth, and because of your wealth your heart has grown proud.

⁶" 'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says:

" 'Because you think you are wise, as wise as a god, ⁷I am going to bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations; they will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and pierce your shining splendor. ⁸They will bring you down to the pit, and you will die a violent death in the heart of the seas. ⁹Will you then say, "I am a god," in the presence of those who kill you? You will be but a man, not a god, in the hands of those who slay you. ¹⁰You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners.

I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "

¹¹The word of the LORD came to me: ¹²"Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

" 'You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. ¹³You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. ¹⁴You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. ¹⁵You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. ¹⁶Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. ¹⁷Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. ¹⁸By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. ¹⁹All the nations who knew you are appalled at you; you have come to a horrible end and will be no more.' "

²⁰The word of the LORD came to me: ²¹"Son of man, set your face against Sidon; prophesy against her ²²and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says:

" 'I am against you, O Sidon, and I will gain glory within you. They will know that I am the LORD, when I inflict punishment on her and show myself holy within her. ²³I will send a plague upon her and make blood flow in her streets. The slain will fall within her, with the sword against her on every side. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

²⁴" 'No longer will the people of Israel have malicious neighbors who are painful briers and sharp thorns. Then they will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.

²⁵" 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I gather the people of Israel from the nations where they have been scattered, I will show myself holy among them in the sight of the nations. Then they will live in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob. ²⁶They will live there in safety and will build houses and plant vineyards; they will live in safety when I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.' "

 

 

Psalm 89

¹A [maskil] of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. ²I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. ³You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, ⁴'I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.' " [Selah] ⁵The heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. ⁶For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings? ⁷In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him. ⁸O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you. ⁹You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them. ¹⁰You crushed Rahab like one of the slain; with your strong arm you scattered your enemies. ¹¹The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it. ¹²You created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name. ¹³Your arm is endued with power; your hand is strong, your right hand exalted. ¹⁴Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. ¹⁵Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD. ¹⁶They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness. ¹⁷For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor you exalt our horn. ¹⁸Indeed, our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁹Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful people you said: "I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have exalted a young man from among the people. ²⁰I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him. ²¹My hand will sustain him; surely my arm will strengthen him. ²²No enemy will subject him to tribute; no wicked man will oppress him. ²³I will crush his foes before him and strike down his adversaries. ²⁴My faithful love will be with him, and through my name his horn will be exalted. ²⁵I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers. ²⁶He will call out to me, 'You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.' ²⁷I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. ²⁸I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail. ²⁹I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure. ³⁰"If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes, ³¹if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands, ³²I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging; ³³but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness. ³⁴I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered. ³⁵Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness-- and I will not lie to David-- ³⁶that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun; ³⁷it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky." [Selah] ³⁸But you have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one. ³⁹You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust. ⁴⁰You have broken through all his walls and reduced his strongholds to ruins. ⁴¹All who pass by have plundered him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors. ⁴²You have exalted the right hand of his foes; you have made all his enemies rejoice. ⁴³You have turned back the edge of his sword and have not supported him in battle. ⁴⁴You have put an end to his splendor and cast his throne to the ground. ⁴⁵You have cut short the days of his youth; you have covered him with a mantle of shame. [Selah] ⁴⁶How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? ⁴⁷Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility you have created all men! ⁴⁸What man can live and not see death, or save himself from the power of the grave? [Selah] ⁴⁹O Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David? ⁵⁰Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations, ⁵¹the taunts with which your enemies have mocked, O LORD, with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one. ⁵²Praise be to the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.

 

 

Hebrews 3:1–11

¹Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. ²He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. ³Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. ⁴For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. ⁵Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. ⁶But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

⁷So, as the Holy Spirit says:

"Today, if you hear his voice, ⁸do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, ⁹where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. ¹⁰That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' ¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' "