Today's Readings: July 13

[1] And the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, [2] except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, [3] or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). [4] He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. [5] They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. [6] They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the LORD’s food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. [7] They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. [8] You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy. [9] And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

[10] “The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. [11] He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. [12] He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the LORD. [13] And he shall take a wife in her virginity. [14] A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin of his own people, [15] that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.”

[16] And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, [17] “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. [18] For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, [19] or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, [20] or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. [21] No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the LORD’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. [22] He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, [23] but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the LORD who sanctifies them.” [24] So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

[1] In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. [2] On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), [3] the word of the LORD came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the LORD was upon him there.

[4] As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. [5] And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, [6] but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. [7] Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. [8] Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: [9] their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went. [10] As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. [11] Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. [12] And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went. [13] As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. [14] And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

[15] Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them. [16] As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel. [17] When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. [18] And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around. [19] And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. [20] Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. [21] When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.

[22] Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads. [23] And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body. [24] And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings. [25] And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.

[26] And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. [27] And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. [28] Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.

Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

[1] My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
have given your pledge for a stranger,
[2] if you are snared in the words of your mouth,
caught in the words of your mouth,
[3] then do this, my son, and save yourself,
for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:
go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.
[4] Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber;
[5] save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.


[6] Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
[7] Without having any chief,
officer, or ruler,
[8] she prepares her bread in summer
and gathers her food in harvest.
[9] How long will you lie there, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
[10] A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
[11] and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want like an armed man.


[12] A worthless person, a wicked man,
goes about with crooked speech,
[13] winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,
points with his finger,
[14] with perverted heart devises evil,
continually sowing discord;
[15] therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;
in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.


[16] There are six things that the LORD hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
[17] haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
[18] a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
[19] a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.


[20] My son, keep your father’s commandment,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
[21] Bind them on your heart always;
tie them around your neck.
[22] When you walk, they will lead you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
and when you awake, they will talk with you.
[23] For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,
and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
[24] to preserve you from the evil woman,
from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.
[25] Do not desire her beauty in your heart,
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes;
[26] for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,
but a married woman hunts down a precious life.
[27] Can a man carry fire next to his chest
and his clothes not be burned?
[28] Or can one walk on hot coals
and his feet not be scorched?
[29] So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
none who touches her will go unpunished.
[30] People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry,
[31] but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;
he will give all the goods of his house.
[32] He who commits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
[33] He will get wounds and dishonor,
and his disgrace will not be wiped away.
[34] For jealousy makes a man furious,
and he will not spare when he takes revenge.
[35] He will accept no compensation;
he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

[1] I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—[2] that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. [3] For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. [4] They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. [5] To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

[6] But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, [7] and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” [8] This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. [9] For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” [10] And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, [11] though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls—[12] she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” [13] As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

[14] What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! [15] For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” [16] So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. [17] For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” [18] So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

[19] You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” [20] But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” [21] Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? [22] What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, [23] in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—[24] even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? [25] As indeed he says in Hosea,

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
[26] “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”


[27] And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, [28] for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” [29] And as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.”


[30] What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; [31] but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. [32] Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, [33] as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”