August 7
Ezekiel 4 & John 16
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Ezekiel 4

Chapter 4

4:1"Now you, son of man, take a brick, set it in front of you, and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. 2Then lay siege against it: construct a siege wall, build a ramp, pitch military camps, and place battering rams against it on all sides. 3Take an iron plate and set it up as an iron wall between yourself and the city. Turn your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This will be a sign for the house of Israel.
4"Then lie down on your left side and place the iniquity of the house of Israel on it. You will bear their iniquity for the number of days you lie on your side. 5For I have assigned you the years of their iniquity according to the number of days you lie down, 390 days; so you will bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. 6When you have completed these days, lie down again, but on your right side, and bear the iniquity of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. 7You must turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared, and prophesy against it. 8Be aware that I will put cords on you so you cannot turn from side to side until you have finished the days of your siege.
9"Also take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Put them in a single container and make them into bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the number of days you lie on your side, 390 days. 10The food you eat each day will be eight ounces by weight; you will eat it from time to time. 11You are also to drink water by measure, a sixth of a gallon, which you will drink from time to time. 12You will eat it as you would a barley cake and bake it over dried human excrement in their sight." 13The Lord said, "This is how the Israelites will eat their bread-ceremonially unclean-among the nations where I will banish them."
14But I said, "Oh, Lord God, I have never been defiled. From my youth until now I have not eaten anything that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts. And impure meat has never entered my mouth."
15He replied to me, "Look, I will let you use cow dung instead of human excrement, and you can make your bread over that." 16Then He said to me, "Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight and in dread drink water by measure. 17So they will lack bread and water; everyone will be devastated and waste away because of their iniquity.

John 16

Chapter 16

16:1"I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling. 2They will ban you from the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3They will do these things because they haven't known the Father or Me. 4But I have told you these things so that when their time comes you may remember I told them to you. I didn't tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.
5"But now I am going away to Him who sent Me, and not one of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' 6Yet, because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don't go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send Him to you. 8When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: 9About sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see Me; 11and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
12"I still have many things to tell you, but you can't bear them now. 13When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. 14He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. 15Everything the Father has is Mine. This is why I told you that He takes from what is Mine and will declare it to you.
16"A little while and you will no longer see Me; again a little while and you will see Me."
17Therefore some of His disciples said to one another, "What is this He tells us: 'A little while and you will not see Me; again a little while and you will see Me'; and, 'because I am going to the Father'?" 18They said, "What is this He is saying, 'A little while'? We don't know what He's talking about!"
19Jesus knew they wanted to question Him, so He said to them, "Are you asking one another about what I said, 'A little while and you will not see Me; again a little while and you will see Me'?
20"I assure you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. 21When a woman is in labor she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. 22So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will rob you of your joy. 23In that day you will not ask Me anything.
"I assure you: Anything you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. 24Until now you have asked for nothing in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
25"I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 26In that day you will ask in My name. I am not telling you that I will make requests to the Father on your behalf. 27For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God. 28I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father."
29"Ah!" His disciples said. "Now You're speaking plainly and not using any figurative language. 30Now we know that You know everything and don't need anyone to question You. By this we believe that You came from God."
31Jesus responded to them, "Do you now believe? 32Look: An hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave Me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. 33I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world."

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