And the Spirit lifted me up, and it brought me to the eastern gate, the one facing east, of the temple of Yahweh. And look, there were twenty-five men in the doorway of the gate, and I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur in the midst of them, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the commanders of the people. 2 And he said to me, “Son of man, these are the men ?who devise mischief?, and who are offering bad counsel in this city, 3 who are saying, ‘The building of houses is not near; the city is the pot, and we are the flesh.’ 4 Therefore prophesy against them! Prophesy, son of man!”…
+ DAILY PRAYER +
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you;
He will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Psalm 59:1-5
Psa 59:1 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
protect me from those who rise up against me;
Psa 59:2 deliver me from those who work evil,
and save me from bloodthirsty men.
Psa 59:3 For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
fierce men stir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O LORD,
Psa 59:4 for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
Awake, come to meet me, and see!
Psa 59:5 You, LORD God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah
Reading for Tuesday July 28th Ezekiel 11
Judgment On Evil Rulers
11 And the Spirit lifted me up, and it brought me to the eastern gate, the one facing east, of the temple of Yahweh. And look, there were twenty-five men in the doorway of the gate, and I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur in the midst of them, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the commanders of the people. 2 And he said to me, “Son of man, these are the men ?who devise mischief?, and who are offering bad counsel in this city, 3 who are saying, ‘The building of houses is not near; the city is the pot, and we are the flesh.’ 4 Therefore prophesy against them! Prophesy, son of man!”
5 And the Spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, “Say, ‘thus says Yahweh: “This is what you think, house of Israel, and I myself know them, the thoughts of your spirit. 6 You made your slain ones numerous in this city, and you have filled its streets with slain ones.” ’ 7 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Your slain ones whom you put in its midst, they are the flesh, and it is the pot, and I will bring you out from its midst. 8 The sword you have feared, and the sword I will bring against you!” ?declares? the Lord Yahweh. 9 “And I will bring you out from its midst, and I will give you into the hand of strangers, and I will execute judgments against you. 10 By the sword you will fall at the border of Israel; I will judge you, and you will know that I am Yahweh. 11 It will not be as a pot to you, and so you would be in the midst of it as flesh, for at the border of Israel I will judge you. 12 And you will know that I am Yahweh, whose rules you did not follow, and whose regulations you did not do, but according to the regulations of the nations that are around you, you acted.” ’
13 And it happened that ?as I was prophesying?, Pelatiahu the son of Benaiahu died! And I fell on my face, and I cried with a loud voice, and I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh, you are making a complete destruction of the remnant of Israel!” 14 And the word of Yahweh came to me, ?saying?, 15 “Son of man, your brothers, your brothers, the men of your redemption, and all of the house of Israel, all of it, ?who said concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem?, ‘They are far from Yahweh, therefore to us this land was given as a possession.’ 16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Though I have removed them far away among the nations and though I have scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries ?to which they have gone?.’ ” 17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “And I will assemble you from the peoples, and I will gather you from the countries to which you were scattered among them, and I will give the land of Israel to you. 18 And when they come there, then they will remove all of its vile idols and all of its detestable things from it. 19 And I will give to them one heart, and a new spirit I will give in their inner parts. And I will remove their heart of stone from their body, and I will give to them a heart of flesh, 20 so that they may walk in my statutes, and they will keep my regulations, and they will do them, and they will be to me a people, and I myself will be to them as God. 21 But to the heart of their abominations and the detestable things their heart is going. I will bring their way on their head,” ?declares? the Lord Yahweh.’ ”
22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, and their wheels were beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel ?was over them?. 23 And the glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city, and it stood still on the mountain that is to the east of the city. 24 And the Spirit lifted me up, and it brought me to Chaldea, to the exiles, in the vision by the spirit of God; and the vision that I had seen ?left me?. 25 And I spoke to the exiles all of the words of Yahweh that he had shown me.
Lord’s Prayer
Daily Prayer
Almighty God, beautiful in majesty and majestic in holiness You have taught us in Holy Scripture to sing Your praises and have given to Your servant Johann Sebastian Back grace to show forth Your glory in his music. Continue to grant this gift of inspiration to all Your servants who write and make music for Your people, that with joy we on earth may glimpse Your beauty and at length know the inexhaustible richness of Your new creation in Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Concluding Prayer
Heavenly Father, send Your Holy Spirit into our hearts to direct and rule us to do Your will, to comfort us in all our afflictions, to defend us from all error, and to lead us into all truth; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
