Day 349 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Ezekiel 13

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, and thou shalt prophesy, and shalt say to them, Hear ye the word of the Lord: 3 Thus saith the Lord, Woe to them that prophesy out of their own heart, and who see nothing at all. 4 Thy prophets, O Israel, are like foxes in the deserts. 5 They have not continued steadfast, and they have gathered flocks against the house of Israel, they that say, 6 In the day of the Lord, have not stood, seeing false [visions], prophesying vanities, who say, The Lord saith, and the Lord has not sent them, and they began [to try] to confirm the word. 7 Have ye not seen a false vision? and spoken vain prophecies? 8 And therefore say, Thus saith the Lord; Because your words are false, and your prophecies are vain, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord. 9 And I will stretch forth my hand against the prophets that see false [visions], and those that utter vanities: they shall not partake of the instruction of my people, neither shall they be written in the roll of the house of Israel, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and they shall know that I am the Lord. 10 Because they have caused my people to err, saying, Peace; and there is no peace; and one builds a wall, and they plaster it,—it shall fall. 11 Say to them that plaster [it], It shall fall; and there shall be a flooding rain; and I will send great stones upon their joinings, and they shall fall; and there shall be a sweeping wind, and it shall be broken. 12 And lo! the wall has fallen; and will they not say to you, Where is your plaster wherewith ye plastered [it]? 13 Therefore thus saith the Lord; I will even cause to burst forth a sweeping blast with fury, and there shall be a flooding rain in my wrath; and in [my] fury I will bring on great stones for complete destruction. 14 And I will break down the wall which ye have plastered, and it shall fall; and I will lay it on the ground, and its foundations shall be discovered, and it shall fall; and ye shall be consumed with rebukes: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 15 And I will accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that plaster it; it shall fall: and I said to you, The wall is not, nor they that plaster it, 16 even the prophets of Israel, who prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see [visions of] peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord. 17 And thou, son of man, set thy face firmly against the daughters of thy people, that prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy against them. 18 And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord, Woe to the [women] that sew pillows under every elbow, and make kerchiefs on the head of every stature to pervert souls! The souls of my people are perverted, and they have saved souls alive. 19 And they have dishonoured me before my people for a handful of barley, and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls which should not die, and to save alive the souls which should not live, while ye speak to a people hearing vain speeches. 20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against your pillows, whereby ye there confound souls, and I will tear them away from your arms, and will set at liberty their souls which ye pervert to scatter them. 21 And I will tear your kerchiefs, and will rescue my people out of your hand, and they shall no longer be in your hands to be confounded; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 22 Because ye have perverted the heart of the righteous, whereas I perverted him not, and [that] in order to strengthen the hands of the wicked, that he should not at all turn from his evil way and live: 23 therefore ye shall not see false [visions], and ye shall no more utter prophecies: but I will deliver my people out of your hand; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 14

1 And there came to me men of the people of Israel, of the elders, and sat before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 3 Son of man, these men have conceived their devices in their hearts, and have set before their faces the punishment of their iniquities: shall I indeed answer them? 4 Therefore speak to them, and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord; Any man of the house of Israel, who shall conceive his devices in his heart, and shall set the punishment of his iniquity before his face, and shall come to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him [according to the things] in which his mind is entangled, 5 that he should turn aside the house of Israel, according to their hearts that are estranged from me in their thoughts. 6 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, Be converted, and turn from your [evil] practices, and from all your sins, and turn your faces back again. 7 For any man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, who shall separate himself from me, and conceive his imaginations in his heart, and set before his face the punishment of his iniquity, and come to the prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the Lord will answer him, [according to the things] wherein he is entangled. 8 And I will set my face against that man, and will make him desolate and ruined, and will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 9 And if a prophet should cause to err and should speak, I the Lord have caused that prophet to err, and will stretch out my hand upon him, and will utterly destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. 10 And they shall bear their iniquity according to the trespass of him that asks; and it shall be in like manner to the prophet according to the trespass: 11 that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, and that they may no more defile themselves with any of their transgressions: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God, saith the Lord. 12 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 13 Son of man, if a land shall sin against me by committing a trespass, then will I stretch out my hand upon it, and will break its staff of bread, and will send forth famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast. 14 And though these three men should be in the midst of it, Noe, and Daniel, and Job, they [alone] should be delivered by their righteousness, saith the Lord. 15 If again I bring evil beasts upon the land, and take vengeance upon it, and it be ruined, and there be no one to pass through for fear of the wild beasts: 16 and [if] these three men should be in the midst of it, [as] I live, saith the Lord, neither sons nor daughters shall be saved, but these only shall be saved, and the land shall be destroyed. 17 Or again if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Let the sword go through the land; and I cut off from them man and beast: 18 though these three men were in the midst of it, as I live, saith the Lord, they shall not deliver sons or daughters, but they only shall be saved themselves. 19 Or [if] again I send pestilence upon that land, and pour out my wrath upon it in blood, to destroy from off it man and beast: 20 and should Noe, and Daniel, and Job, be in the midst of it, [as] I live, saith the Lord, there shall be left [them] neither sons nor daughters; [only] they by their righteousness shall deliver their souls. 21 Thus saith the Lord, And if I even send upon Jerusalem my four sore judgments, sword, and famine, and evil beasts, and pestilence, to destroy from out of it man and beast; 22 yet, behold, [there shall be] men left in it, the escaped thereof, who [shall] lead forth of it sons and daughters: behold, they [shall] go forth to you, and ye shall see their ways and their thoughts: and ye shall mourn over the evils which I have brought upon Jerusalem, [even] all the evils which I have brought upon it. 23 And they shall comfort you, because ye shall see their ways and their thoughts: and ye shall know that I have not done in vain all that I have done in it, saith the Lord.

Ezekiel 15

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 And thou, son of man—of all the wood of the branches that are among the trees of the forest, what shall be made of the wood of the vine? 3 Will they take wood of it to make [it fit] for work? will they take of it a peg to hang any vessel upon it? 4 It is only given to the fire to be consumed; the fire consumes that which is yearly pruned of it, and it is utterly gone. Will it be useful for [any] work? 5 Not even while it is yet whole will it be [useful] for [any] work: if the fire shall have utterly consumed it, will it still be [fit] for work? 6 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord, As the vine-tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given up to the fire to be consumed, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 7 And I will set my face against them; they shall go forth of the fire, and [yet] fire shall devour them; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have set my face against them. 8 And I will give up the land to ruin, because they have utterly transgressed, saith the Lord.

Revelation 11

1 A reed like a rod was given to me. Someone said, “Rise and measure God’s temple, and the altar, and those who worship in it. 2 Leave out the court which is outside of the temple, and don’t measure it, for it has been given to the nations. They will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two months. 3 I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands, standing before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be killed in this way. 6 These have the power to shut up the sky, that it may not rain during the days of their prophecy. They have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. 7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them. 8 Their dead bodies will be in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 From among the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations, people will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 10 Those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, and they will be glad. They will give gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. 11 After the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 I heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” They went up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In that day there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe comes quickly. 15 The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!” 16 The twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God’s throne, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: “We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and reigned. 18 The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints and those who fear your name, to the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” 19 God’s temple that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant was seen in his temple. Lightnings, sounds, thunders, an earthquake, and great hail followed.