21 But you, Sovereign Lord,
    help me for your name’s sake;(A)
    out of the goodness of your love,(B) deliver me.(C)
22 For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I fade away like an evening shadow;(D)
    I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees give(E) way from fasting;(F)
    my body is thin and gaunt.(G)
25 I am an object of scorn(H) to my accusers;
    when they see me, they shake their heads.(I)

26 Help me,(J) Lord my God;
    save me according to your unfailing love.
27 Let them know(K) that it is your hand,
    that you, Lord, have done it.
28 While they curse,(L) may you bless;
    may those who attack me be put to shame,
    but may your servant rejoice.(M)
29 May my accusers be clothed with disgrace
    and wrapped in shame(N) as in a cloak.

30 With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord;
    in the great throng(O) of worshipers I will praise him.
31 For he stands at the right hand(P) of the needy,
    to save their lives from those who would condemn them.

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18 I said to their children in the wilderness, “Do not follow the statutes of your parents(A) or keep their laws or defile yourselves(B) with their idols. 19 I am the Lord your God;(C) follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.(D) 20 Keep my Sabbaths(E) holy, that they may be a sign(F) between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.(G)

21 “‘But the children rebelled against me: They did not follow my decrees, they were not careful to keep my laws,(H) of which I said, “The person who obeys them will live by them,” and they desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger(I) against them in the wilderness.(J) 22 But I withheld(K) my hand, and for the sake of my name(L) I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 23 Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter(M) them through the countries, 24 because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees(N) and desecrated my Sabbaths,(O) and their eyes lusted after(P) their parents’ idols.(Q) 25 So I gave(R) them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live;(S) 26 I defiled them through their gifts—the sacrifice(T) of every firstborn—that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the Lord.(U)

27 “Therefore, son of man, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In this also your ancestors(V) blasphemed(W) me by being unfaithful to me:(X) 28 When I brought them into the land(Y) I had sworn to give them and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, made offerings that aroused my anger, presented their fragrant incense and poured out their drink offerings.(Z) 29 Then I said to them: What is this high place(AA) you go to?’” (It is called Bamah[a] to this day.)

Rebellious Israel Renewed

30 “Therefore say to the Israelites: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Will you defile yourselves(AB) the way your ancestors did and lust after their vile images?(AC) 31 When you offer your gifts—the sacrifice of your children(AD) in the fire—you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire of me, you Israelites? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will not let you inquire of me.(AE)

32 “‘You say, “We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone.” But what you have in mind will never happen.

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 20:29 Bamah means high place.

To the Church in Philadelphia

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia(A) write:

These are the words of him who is holy(B) and true,(C) who holds the key of David.(D) What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds.(E) See, I have placed before you an open door(F) that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.(G) I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan,(H) who claim to be Jews though they are not,(I) but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet(J) and acknowledge that I have loved you.(K) 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you(L) from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world(M) to test(N) the inhabitants of the earth.(O)

11 I am coming soon.(P) Hold on to what you have,(Q) so that no one will take your crown.(R) 12 The one who is victorious(S) I will make a pillar(T) in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God(U) and the name of the city of my God,(V) the new Jerusalem,(W) which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear(X) what the Spirit says to the churches.

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