Beauty

Psalm 122

A song of ascents. Of David.

  ¹ I rejoiced with those who said to me,
   “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”
  ² Our feet are standing
   in your gates, Jerusalem.

  ³ Jerusalem is built like a city
   that is closely compacted together.
  ⁴ That is where the tribes go up—
   the tribes of the LORD—
  to praise the name of the LORD
   according to the statute given to Israel.
  ⁵ There stand the thrones for judgment,
   the thrones of the house of David.

  ⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
   “May those who love you be secure.
  ⁷ May there be peace within your walls
   and security within your citadels. ”
  ⁸ For the sake of my family and friends,
   I will say, “Peace be within you.”
  ⁹ For the sake of the house of the LORD our God,
   I will seek your prosperity.

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. ² Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. ³ But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. ⁴ It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵ Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

  “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
   but a body you prepared for me;
  ⁶ with burnt offerings and sin offerings
   you were not pleased.
  ⁷ Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll —
   I have come to do your will, my God.’”

⁸ First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” —though they were offered in accordance with the law. ⁹ Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹ Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. ¹⁴ For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

¹⁵ The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

  ¹⁶ “This is the covenant I will make with them
   after that time, says the Lord.
  I will put my laws in their hearts,
   and I will write them on their minds.”

¹⁷ Then he adds:

  “Their sins and lawless acts
   I will remember no more.”

¹⁸ And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

A Lament Over Israel’s Princes

19“Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel ² and say:

  “‘What a lioness was your mother
   among the lions!
  She lay down among them
   and reared her cubs.
  ³ She brought up one of her cubs,
   and he became a strong lion.
  He learned to tear the prey
   and he became a man-eater.
  ⁴ The nations heard about him,
   and he was trapped in their pit.
  They led him with hooks
   to the land of Egypt.

  ⁵ “‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled,
   her expectation gone,
  she took another of her cubs
   and made him a strong lion.
  ⁶ He prowled among the lions,
   for he was now a strong lion.
  He learned to tear the prey
   and he became a man-eater.
  ⁷ He broke down their strongholds
   and devastated their towns.
  The land and all who were in it
   were terrified by his roaring.
  ⁸ Then the nations came against him,
   those from regions round about.
  They spread their net for him,
   and he was trapped in their pit.
  ⁹ With hooks they pulled him into a cage
   and brought him to the king of Babylon.
  They put him in prison,
   so his roar was heard no longer
   on the mountains of Israel.

  ¹⁰ “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard
   planted by the water;
  it was fruitful and full of branches
   because of abundant water.
  ¹¹ Its branches were strong,
   fit for a ruler’s scepter.
  It towered high
   above the thick foliage,
  conspicuous for its height
   and for its many branches.
  ¹² But it was uprooted in fury
   and thrown to the ground.
  The east wind made it shrivel,
   it was stripped of its fruit;
  its strong branches withered
   and fire consumed them.
  ¹³ Now it is planted in the desert,
   in a dry and thirsty land.
  ¹⁴ Fire spread from one of its main branches
   and consumed its fruit.
  No strong branch is left on it
   fit for a ruler’s scepter.’

“This is a lament and is to be used as a lament.”

Rebellious Israel Purged

20 In the seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down in front of me.

² Then the word of the LORD came to me: ³ “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Have you come to inquire of me? As surely as I live, I will not let you inquire of me, declares the Sovereign LORD. ’

⁴ “Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man? Then confront them with the detestable practices of their ancestors ⁵ and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of Jacob and revealed myself to them in Egypt. With uplifted hand I said to them, “I am the LORD your God. ” ⁶ On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. ⁷ And I said to them, “Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. ”

⁸ “‘But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt. ⁹ But for the sake of my name, I brought them out of Egypt. I did it to keep my name from being profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they lived and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites. ¹⁰ Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ¹¹ I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live. ¹² Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy.

¹³ “‘Yet the people of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws —by which the person who obeys them will live—and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and destroy them in the wilderness. ¹⁴ But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵ Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands — ¹⁶ because they rejected my laws and did not follow my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths. For their hearts were devoted to their idols. ¹⁷ Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or put an end to them in the wilderness. ¹⁸ I said to their children in the wilderness, “Do not follow the statutes of your parents or keep their laws or defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹ I am the LORD your God; follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ²⁰ Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God. ”

²¹ “‘But the children rebelled against me: They did not follow my decrees, they were not careful to keep my laws, 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 against them in the wilderness. ²² But I withheld my hand, and for the sake of my name 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 them through the countries, ²⁴ because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes lusted after their parents’ idols. ²⁵ So I gave them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live; ²⁶ I defiled them through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn—that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am the LORD. ’

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 blasphemed me by being unfaithful to me: ²⁸ When I brought them into the land 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. ²⁹ Then I said to them: What is this high place you go to?’” (It is called Bamah to this day.)

Rebellious Israel Renewed

³⁰ “Therefore say to the Israelites: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Will you defile yourselves the way your ancestors did and lust after their vile images? ³¹ When you offer your gifts—the sacrifice of your children 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.

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. ³³ As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I will reign over you with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. ³⁴ I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered—with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. ³⁵ I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgment upon you. ³⁶ As I judged your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign LORD. ³⁷ I will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. ³⁸ I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

³⁹ “‘As for you, people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols. ⁴⁰ For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD, there in the land all the people of Israel will serve me, and there I will accept them. There I will require your offerings and your choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices. ⁴¹ I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will be proved holy through you in the sight of the nations. ⁴² Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your ancestors. ⁴³ There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done. ⁴⁴ You will know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, you people of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD. ’”