Colossians 1:15-23

Colossians 1

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, ¹⁶ for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and all things hold together in him.

¹⁸ He is also the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things he might have the highest rank. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile all things to himself (whether things on earth or in heaven) by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Reconciled Through Christ’s Death

²¹ At one time, you were alienated from God and hostile in your thinking as expressed through your evil deeds. ²² But now Christ reconciled you in his body of flesh through death, in order to present you holy, blameless, and faultless before him— ²³ if you continue steadfast and firm in faith, without being moved away from the hope of the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a minister.

Ezekiel 47:13 – 48:35

Ezekiel 47

The Divisions of the Land

¹³ This is what the Lord God says.

These are the boundaries you are to use to divide the land as an inheritance for the twelve tribes of Israel.

(Joseph is to have two portions.)

¹⁴ You will assign equal portions of the land that I swore with uplifted hand to give to your fathers. This is how the land will be allotted to you as an inheritance.

¹⁵ These are to be the boundaries of the land:

²¹ In this way you are to divide this land for yourselves, for the tribes of Israel. ²² You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the aliens who have settled among you and who have fathered children among you. They are to be treated like someone who is native-born among the sons of Israel. With you they are to receive allotments as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. ²³ In whatever tribe an alien has settled, there you are to give him his inheritance, declares the Lord God.

The New Holy Land
The Northern Tribes

Ezekiel 48

¹ These are the names of the tribes.

The Central Holy Area

⁸ South of the boundary of Judah, from the east side to the west side, will be the special contribution you are to devote to special use. Its north-to-south width is twenty-five thousand cubits, ^[6] and its east-to-west length is equal to one of the tribal portions from the eastern side of the land to the western side. ^[7] The sanctuary will be in the midst of it. ^[8]

The Place for the Temple

⁹ The contribution you are to devote to the Lord is to be twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide. ^{[9] 10} The holy contribution for the priests will be this: a rectangular area measuring twenty-five thousand cubits long on the north side, ten thousand cubits wide on the west, ten thousand cubits wide on the east, and twenty-five thousand cubits long on the south. The sanctuary of the Lord will be in the middle. ¹¹ It will be for the priests, whoever has been consecrated from the sons of Zadok, who guarded the ministry for me, and who did not go astray when the other sons of Israel went astray, as also the Levites went astray. ¹² It will be a special offering for them from the holy contribution of the land, a most holy district, beside the territory of the Levites.

The Place for the Levites

¹³ The Levites are to have a rectangular allotment parallel to the territory of the priests. Twenty-five thousand cubits is its length, and its width is ten thousand cubits. Its whole length is twenty-five thousand cubits, and its width is ten thousand cubits. ¹⁴ They must not sell any part of it nor exchange any of it. No one can transfer these firstfruits of the land, because they are holy, belonging to the Lord.

The City

¹⁵ The area five thousand cubits ^[10] wide that remains along the south edge of the square of twenty-five thousand cubits is common land for the city, for living space and for open land. The city is to be in its center, between the two halves. ¹⁶ These are the city’s dimensions: a square measuring four thousand five hundred cubits on the north side, and four thousand five hundred cubits on the south side, and four thousand five hundred cubits on the east side, and four thousand five hundred cubits on the west side. ¹⁷ The open land belonging to the city will measure two hundred fifty cubits on the north side, and two hundred fifty cubits on the south, and two hundred fifty cubits on the east, and two hundred fifty cubits on the west.

¹⁸ The remaining area that runs lengthwise along the south side of the holy contribution will be ten thousand cubits east-to-west on the east side of the city, and ten thousand cubits east-to-west on the west side of the city. It shall be next to the holy contribution, and its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. ¹⁹ The workers of the city who cultivate it will be from all the tribes of Israel.

²⁰ The entire holy contribution will be twenty-five thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand cubits, a square. Set apart this holy contribution, which includes the property of the city.

The Territory of the Prince

²¹ What remains of the holy contribution will belong to the prince. It lies on both sides of the holy contribution and the property of the city, extending from the eastern north-to-south boundary of the special contribution (which is twenty-five thousand cubits long) to the eastern border of the land, and on the west side, it will extend from the western north-to-south boundary of the special contribution (which is twenty-five thousand cubits long) to the western border of the land. The two portions belonging to the prince run parallel to the tribal portions. The holy contribution and the temple sanctuary will be between the two halves of the prince’s area. ²² The area consisting of the property of the Levites and the property of the city is between the two tracts that will belong to the prince. The area between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin will belong to the prince.

The Southern Tribes

²⁹ This is the land that you are to allot as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these are their portions, declares the Lord God.

The City Once More

³⁰ These are the outside boundaries of the city.

³⁵ The perimeter of the city is eighteen thousand cubits, ^[11] and the name of the city from that day on is “The Lord Is There.”

Ezekiel 45 – 46

Property for the Lord,
for the Priests, and for the Prince

Ezekiel 45

¹ When you cast lots to divide the land as an inheritance, you are to devote a contribution to the Lord, a holy area of the land. Its length is to be twenty-five thousand cubits and its width twenty thousand cubits. ^[1] Its entire area will be holy.

² Within this area, a square five hundred by five hundred cubits ^[2] is to be set aside for the sanctuary. There is also to be an open area of fifty cubits all around it.

³ From this measured area, you are to measure off a separate area which has a length of twenty-five thousand cubits and a width of ten thousand cubits. The sanctuary, the most holy place, will be in it. ⁴ It is to be a holy area of the land. ^[3] It will be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who draw near to serve the Lord. It will be a place for their houses, as well as a holy place for the sanctuary.

⁵ Also an area twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide will be set aside for the Levites, the servants of the temple, as their possession, to provide them with cities to live in. ^{[4] [5]}

⁶ As the city’s property, you are to assign an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long ^[6] along one side of the holy contribution. ^[7] It will belong to the whole house of Israel.

⁷ For the prince, an area is to be set aside on both sides of the holy contribution and of the area for the city. It will run alongside the holy contribution and alongside the city’s property. On the west side of the city, it will extend west along the tribal boundaries to the western boundary of the land, and on the east side, it will extend eastward in the same way. ⁸ This land is to be the prince’s property in Israel, so that my princes will no longer oppress my people but will allot the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.

⁹ This is what the Lord God says. You have done enough, you princes of Israel! Remove violence and mayhem, and practice justice and righteousness. Remove the burden from my people that you caused by evicting them from their land, declares the Lord God.

¹⁰ You must have honest scales, an honest ephah, and an honest bath. ^{[8] 11} The ephah and the bath are to follow one uniform standard. The bath will hold one tenth of a homer, and the ephah will hold one tenth of a homer. The standard is to be based on the homer. ¹² The shekel is to be twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels will be the weight of your mina. ^[9]

Offerings and Festivals

¹³ This is the special contribution you should dedicate: Take one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and take one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley. ^{[10] 14} The prescribed portion of oil (the bath is the standard measure for the oil) is one tenth of a bath from each kor. ^[11] Ten baths make a kor, and ten baths are a homer.

¹⁵ Furthermore, one sheep shall be given from every flock, that is, from every two hundred sheep that comprise a flock from the well-watered land of Israel. These are for the grain offerings, the burnt offerings, and the fellowship offerings, to make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ All the people of the land are to contribute to this offering for the prince in Israel.

¹⁷ The prince then is responsible for the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings on the festivals, on the New Moons, and on the Sabbaths, that is, on all the appointed festivals for the house of Israel. He himself will provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the fellowship offering, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

¹⁸ This is what the Lord God says. In the first month, on the first day of the month, you are to take a young bull without blemish and purify the sanctuary. ¹⁹ The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorpost of the temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the post of the gate of the inner courtyard. ²⁰ You are to do so also on the seventh day of the month, for the sake of anyone who sins inadvertently or in ignorance, and so you shall make atonement for the temple.

²¹ In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall hold the Passover. During the festival, consisting of a week of seven days, unleavened bread must be eaten. ²² On that day the prince is to provide, on behalf of himself and all the people of the land, a bull for a sin offering. ²³ On the seven days of the festival he is to provide a burnt offering for the Lord: seven bulls and seven rams without blemish for each day of the seven days, as well as a male goat for a sin offering for each day. ²⁴ As a grain offering he is to provide an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil for each ephah.

²⁵ In the seventh month, at the festival starting on the fifteenth day of the month, he is to provide for seven days according to these same instructions, in regard to the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil.

Other Festivals and the Prince

Ezekiel 46

¹ This is what the Lord God says.

Inheritance of the Prince’s Property

¹⁶ This is what the Lord God says.

The Kitchens for Sacrifices

¹⁹ Then he took me through the entrance into the holy rooms for the priests that were located on the north side of the temple, beside the north gatehouse. Looking toward the west, I saw that there was a special place at the back of the temple area. ^{[13] 20} He said to me, “This is the place where the priests are to boil the restitution offering and the sin offering, and where they will bake the grain offerings in order not to bring them out to the outer courtyard and transmit holiness to the people.”

²¹ Then he brought me out to the outer courtyard and led me past the four corners of the courtyard. I saw there was a court at each corner of the courtyard ^[14]— a court in each corner of the courtyard. ^{[15] 22} In the four corners of the courtyard were enclosed ^[16] courts, forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide ^[17]—the same measurement for each of the four of them. ^{[18] 23} A stone structure went all around the inside of all four of the rooms, and hearths for boiling were constructed beneath the structure all the way around. ²⁴ Then he said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister in the temple are to boil the sacrifices of the people.”

Ezekiel 42:1 – 43:12

Rooms North of the Temple

Ezekiel 42

¹ Then he led me out into the outer courtyard which was north of the temple building, and he brought me to a set of rooms which bordered on the south side of the restricted area and was north of the structure of the temple building. ^{[1] 2} This building north of the temple, which had doors facing north, was one hundred cubits long and fifty cubits wide. ^[2]

³ On each side of the north courtyard, across from the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner courtyard on the south side and across from the pavement that belonged to the outer courtyard on the north side, two sets of balconies faced each other. ^[3] Each was three stories high. ^{[4] 4} In front of the rooms on the inside of the courtyard was a walkway ^[5] ten cubits wide and one hundred cubits long. ^[6] The entrances of the rooms faced north. ^[7]

⁵ The upper rooms were narrower, because the balconies took more space away from them than from the building’s bottom and middle floors. ⁶ These rooms were arranged in three stories and had no pillars like the pillars in the courtyards, so as you went up from ground level, the upper story had to be set back more than the lower and middle ones. ^[8]

⁷ There was a wall in the outer courtyard, which ran parallel to the rooms on the east side. ^[9] It was fifty cubits long. ⁸ The length of the set of rooms on the east side of the building facing toward the outer courtyard was fifty cubits, but the length of those on the north side was one hundred cubits long. ^{[10] 9} On the bottom floor of these rooms on the east end of the building, there was an entrance, through which one could enter them from the outer courtyard. ^[11]

The Same Rooms on the South Side

¹⁰ At the head of the wall of the courtyard, ^[12] on the south ^[13] side of the temple, opposite the restricted area and opposite the building, there were rooms. ¹¹ They also had a passageway in front of them. They looked just like the rooms on the north. They were the same length and also the same width, and they were the same in regard to all their exits, their designs, and their entrances. ¹² Also identical were the entrances to the rooms on the south, at the head of the passageway, that is, the passageway opposite the corresponding wall, as one enters them from the east.

¹³ Then he said to me, “The northern and southern rooms in front of the restricted area are holy rooms where the priests who approach the Lord will eat the most holy offerings. There they will deposit the most holy offerings, the grain offering, the sin offering, and the restitution offering, for the place is holy. ¹⁴ When the priests go to enter these rooms, they must not go out from the holy place into the outer courtyard until they have put away their vestments in which they have ministered there, because the vestments are holy. They must put on other clothing before they approach the area that is for the people.”

¹⁵ In this way the man finished the measurements of the interior of the temple complex. Then he led me out through the gate on the east side of the temple complex and measured the temple area all the way around. ¹⁶ He measured the east side using the measuring rod. It measured five hundred cubits, ^[14] using canes, that is, the measuring rod. ¹⁷ Then he turned and measured the north side. It was five hundred cubits, using canes, that is, the measuring rod. ¹⁸ Then he turned and measured the south side. It was five hundred cubits, using canes, that is, the measuring rod. ¹⁹ He turned to the west side and measured again. It also was five hundred cubits, using canes, that is, the measuring rod. ²⁰ Thus he measured the temple area on all four sides. It had a wall all the way around it. It was five hundred cubits long and five hundred cubits wide, in order to separate the holy from the common.

The Return of the Glory of the Lord

Ezekiel 43

¹ Then he led me to the gate, the gate that faces east. ² Suddenly I saw that the Glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. His voice sounded like the roar of rushing water, and the earth was shining with his glory. ³ The appearance of the vision that I saw was like the vision I saw when he ^[15] came to destroy the city—visions like the vision I saw by the Kebar Canal, and I fell on my face. ⁴ The Glory of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east. ⁵ Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the inner court, and the Glory of the Lord filled the temple.

⁶ I heard someone speaking to me from the temple while the man was standing beside me. ⁷ The voice said to me:

Ezekiel 40:1-47

Ezekiel 40

A Vision of the New Temple ^[1]

¹ In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, ^[2] on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me there. ² In visions of God, he brought me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. On the south side there was a structure that resembled a city. ³ When he brought me there, I saw a man who looked as if he were made of bronze. In his hand he had a linen cord and a measuring rod. He was standing by the gatehouse.

⁴ The man said to me, “Son of man, watch carefully, listen carefully, and pay attention to ^[3] everything that I am about to show you, because you were brought here so that I could show it to you. Report everything you see to the house of Israel.”

The Wall and Outer Gates
The Wall

⁵ I saw a wall ^[4] all the way around the temple compound. In the man’s hand was the measuring rod, six cubits long (using the long cubit). ^[5] When he measured the thickness of the structure, it was one rod thick, and its height was one rod.

The East Gatehouse

⁶ Then he approached the gatehouse ^[6] that was on the east side of the temple compound and went up its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate. It was one rod deep. ^{[7] 7} Each guardroom ^[8] was one rod wide and one rod deep. Between the guardrooms, the walls were five cubits thick, ^[9] and the threshold of the gate of the vestibule ^[10] on the inner side of the gatehouse was one rod deep. ⁸ ⎣He measured the vestibule on the inner side of the gatehouse. It was one rod.⎦ ^[11]

⁹ He measured the vestibule of the gatehouse, which was eight cubits, ^[12] and its gateposts were two cubits. The vestibule of the gatehouse was located at the inner end of the gateway. ¹⁰ Inside the east gatehouse, there were three guardrooms on either side of the entry. All three were the same size, and the gateposts on either side were also the same size. ¹¹ Then he measured the width of the entry into the gateway. It was ten cubits, and the length of the gateway was thirteen cubits. ^{[13] 12} There was a barrier in front of the guardrooms, one cubit wide, on both sides of the passage. Each guardroom was six cubits square. ^[14]

¹³ Next he measured the passageway through the gatehouse, from the outside edge of the ceiling of one guardroom to the outside edge of the ceiling opposite it. The total width was twenty-five cubits. ^[15] The doorways to the guardrooms were facing each other on each side of the passageway. ¹⁴ He determined that the measurement of the gateposts was sixty cubits, ^[16] and the courtyard all around the gateway reached to the gateposts. ^{[17] 15} From the front of the outer entrance of the gateway to the outside edge of the vestibule on the inner side of the gateway was fifty cubits. ^{[18] 16} The guardrooms and their doorposts had openings on all sides. The openings were slits that were narrower toward the inside of the gate, and likewise, the vestibule had openings that narrowed toward the inside all the way around. ^[19] The doorposts had decorations like palm trees.

The Outer Courtyard

¹⁷ Then he brought me into the outer courtyard. There were rooms and a pavement constructed all the way around the courtyard. Thirty rooms faced the pavement. ^{[20] 18} The pavement ran along the sides of the gates. The pavement was as wide as the length of the gatehouse. This was the lower pavement. ¹⁹ He measured the width of the pavement from the inside edge of the outer gatehouse to the outside edge of the inner courtyard. It measured one hundred cubits ^[21] on the east and on the north sides of the temple.

The North Gatehouse

²⁰ There was a gateway leading into the outer courtyard on the north side. The man measured its length and its width. ²¹ Its guardrooms, three on each side, its gateposts, and its vestibule had the same measurements as the first gatehouse, fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ²² The entry, the vestibule, and its palm decorations also had the same measurements as those of the gatehouse facing east. From outside the temple compound one could enter the gate by seven steps, and the vestibule of the gateway was straight ahead at the inner end of the gateway.

²³ A gateway into the inner courtyard was opposite the outer gatehouse (the same as on the east side), and he measured from the outer gate to the inner one opposite it. The distance was one hundred cubits. ^[22]

The South Gatehouse

²⁴ Next, he led me toward the south, and there also was a gatehouse on the south side of the temple compound. He measured its gateposts and its vestibule, and the measurements were like the others. ²⁵ It and its vestibule had openings all around like the openings of the others. Its length was fifty cubits and its width was twenty-five cubits. ²⁶ It had seven steps going up to it, and its vestibule was straight ahead of them at the opposite end of the gateway, and it had palm decorations on either side on its gateposts. ²⁷ The inner courtyard also had a gateway facing south. He measured from one gate to the other toward the south. It was one hundred cubits.

The Gates to the Inner Courtyard

²⁸ Then he brought me into the inner courtyard through its south gate. ^[23] He measured this gatehouse on the south side of the inner courtyard. Its measurements were like those of the previous gatehouses. ²⁹ Its guardrooms, gateposts, and vestibule had the same measurements as the others. Both the gatehouse and the vestibule had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.

³⁰ There were vestibules on each side of the inner courtyard. They were twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide. ^{[24] 31} The vestibule of the inner gatehouse faced the outer courtyard. There were palm decorations on its gateposts, and its stairway had eight steps.

³² Next he brought me into the inner courtyard through the gate facing east. He measured the gatehouse, and its dimensions were the same as the others. ³³ Its guardrooms, gateposts, and vestibule were the same size as the others. It and its vestibule had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁴ Its vestibule faced the outer court, and there were palm decorations on its gateposts on either side. Its stairs had eight steps.

³⁵ Then he brought me to the north gatehouse and measured it. It had the same measurements as the others. ³⁶ This was also true of its guardrooms, its gateposts, and its vestibule. It had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁷ Its vestibule faced the outer courtyard, and there were palm decorations on its gateposts on either side. Its stairway had eight steps.

Rooms of the Inner Courtyard

³⁸ There was a room with a door, next to the gateposts at each of the inner gateways, ^[25] where they washed the burnt offering. ^[26]

³⁹ Inside the vestibule of the gateway, on each side, there were two tables upon which to slaughter the whole burnt offering, the sin offering, and the restitution offering. ⁴⁰ Next to the outside wall of the vestibule, as one goes toward the entrance of the north gateway, there were two more tables. Next to the other outside wall of the vestibule of the gateway were two more tables. ⁴¹ That is, there were four tables on one side and four on the other side of the gateway—eight tables on which they were to slaughter the sacrifices.

⁴² Four more tables for the burnt offering were made of hewn stone. They were one and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one cubit high. On them they placed the instruments with which they slaughtered the burnt offering and the other sacrifices. ⁴³ Double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth ^[27] long, were fastened to the building all around, but the meat for the sacrifice was placed on the tables.

⁴⁴ Just outside of the inner gateway, in the inner courtyard, were two rooms, ^[28] one beside the north gate, which faced south, and the other beside the south ^[29] gate, which faced north. ⁴⁵ He said to me, “This room that faces south is for the priests who guard the temple, ⁴⁶ and the room that faces north is for the priests who guard the altar. They are descendants of Zadok, the only Levites who may approach the Lord to minister to him.”

The Inner Courtyard

⁴⁷ Then he measured the courtyard. ^[30] It was one hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide ^[31]—a square. The altar was in front of the temple.

Ezekiel 38

In the Latter Days, Gog Will Attack Israel but
Will Be Defeated by the Lord

¹ The word of the Lord came to me.

² Son of man, set your face against Gog from the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, ^[1] Meshek, and Tubal, and prophesy against him ³ and say this.

Ezekiel 36:16-38

Ezekiel 36

The Lord Will Sprinkle His People

¹⁶ The word of the Lord came to me.

¹⁷ Son of man, when the house of Israel was living on their own soil, they defiled it by their conduct and by their actions. To me their conduct was as unclean as the blood of a woman’s period. ¹⁸ So I poured out my wrath on them because of the blood they had poured on the ground and because of the filthy idols ^[1] with which they had defiled it, ¹⁹ and I scattered them among the nations so that they were dispersed among the countries. On the basis of their conduct and their actions I judged them. ²⁰ Then when they came to the various nations, they profaned my holy name when people said about them, “These are the people of the Lord, but they had to leave his land.” ²¹ So I was concerned about my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the various nations to which they had come.

²² Therefore, say this to the house of Israel. This is what the Lord God says. I am about to act, O house of Israel, not for your sake, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you have gone. ²³ I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when I reveal myself as holy in front of their eyes through you. ²⁴ I will take you from among the nations. I will gather you from all the lands, and I will bring you to your own soil. ²⁵ I will sprinkle purifying water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurity and from all your filthy idols.

The Lord Will Give His People a New Heart

²⁶ Then I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit inside you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put my Spirit within you and will cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will carefully observe my ordinances. ²⁸ Then you will live in the land I gave your fathers. You will be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ I will save you from all your impurity. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful. I will not bring famine upon you. ³⁰ I will increase the fruit on the trees and the produce in the fields, so that you will never again suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. ³¹ Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves on account of your guilty deeds and your abominations. ³² It is not for your sake that I am about to act, declares the Lord God. Let this be known to you! Be ashamed and embarrassed because of your ways, O house of Israel.

³³ This is what the Lord God says. On the day that I cleanse you from all your guilty deeds, I will resettle your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt. ³⁴ The desolate land will be cultivated instead of remaining desolate in the sight of every passerby. ³⁵ People will say, “This land that was devastated has become like the Garden of Eden, and the cities that were ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.” ³⁶ Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the places that were destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.

³⁷ This is what the Lord God says. I will also allow the house of Israel to ask me to do this for them. I will multiply them so their people are like flocks. ³⁸ Like flocks consecrated for sacrifice, like the flocks of Jerusalem on its festival days, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 34

The Lord’s Shepherd Will Save His Sheep

¹ The word of the Lord came to me.

Psalms 89:38-52

Psalms 89

The Covenant Abandoned?

Closing Doxology

⁵² Blessed be the Lord forever!

Amen and Amen.

Psalms 88

Psalm 88

Darkness Is My Friend

The Headings
A song. A psalm. By the Sons of Korah.
For the choir director. According to mahalath leannoth. ^[1]
A maskil ^[2] of Heman the Ezrahite.

Opening Plea

The Problem

The Darkness of Death

Psalms 85

Psalm 85

You Showed Favor to Your Land

Heading
For the choir director. By the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

Past Goodness

Present Distress

Hope for the Future

Psalms 81 – 83

Psalm 81

If Only

Heading

For the choir director. According to gittith. ^[1] By Asaph.

Invitation to Worship

A Warning From the Lord

Psalm 82

Woe to Corrupt Rulers

Heading
A psalm by Asaph.

Judgment on Corrupt Rulers

God’s Verdict

Prayer

Psalm 83

Surrounded by Enemies

Heading
A song. A psalm by Asaph.

Opening Plea

A Catalog of Enemies

Prayer for Destruction of the Enemies

Psalms 78:40-72

Psalms 78

God’s Power Displayed in Egypt (Exodus 5–14)

God’s Power Displayed in Canaan (Joshua)

Rebellion in the Land (Judges)

Judgment in the Land

Mercy in the Land

Psalms 77

Psalm 77

Will the Lord Reject Forever?

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For the choir director. According to Jeduthun. ^[1] By Asaph. A psalm.

The Question

The Answer

Psalms 74

Psalm 74

The Destruction of the Temple

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A maskil ^[1] by Asaph.

Introductory Plea

The Destruction

Deserted?

God’s Past Goodness

Plea for Relief