Friday in Season after Pentecost

1Verse 1. “At that time,” declares the LORD, “the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of the officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. 2Verse 2. They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground. 3Verse 3. And wherever I have banished them, the remnant of this evil family will choose death over life,” declares the LORD of Hosts. 4Verse 4. So you are to tell them this is what the LORD says: “Do men fall and not get up again? Does one turn away and not return? 5Verse 5. Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return. 6Verse 6. I have listened and heard; they do not speak what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, asking, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone has pursued his own course like a horse charging into battle. 7Verse 7. Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD. 8Verse 8. How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception? 9Verse 9. The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have? 10Verse 10. Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least of them to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; from prophet to priest, all practice deceit. 11Verse 11. They dress the wound of the daughter of My people with very little care, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace at all. 12Verse 12. Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse, says the LORD. 13Verse 13. I will take away their harvest, declares the LORD. There will be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the tree, and even the leaf will wither. Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.”

17Verse 17. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18Verse 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. 19Verse 19. Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem. 20Verse 20. Just 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. 21Verse 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. 22Verse 22. As 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.’” 23Verse 23. And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 24Verse 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.’ 25Verse 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. 26Verse 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. 27Verse 27. Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain. 28Verse 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. 29Verse 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. 30Verse 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. 31Verse 31. So 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.”