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Ezekiel 29

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1 In the tenth year, in the tenth [month], on the twelfth of the month, the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

2 Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against the whole of Egypt;

3 speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which saith, My river is mine own, and I made it for myself.

4 And I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales;

5 and I will cast thee into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open field; thou shalt not be brought together nor gathered: I will give thee for meat to the beasts of the earth and to the fowl of the heavens.

6 And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I [am] Jehovah, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

7 When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst give way and rend all their shoulder; and when they leaned upon thee, thou didst break, and didst make all their loins to tremble.

8 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast from thee.

9 And the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste: and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah, because he saith, The river is mine, and I made it.

10 Therefore behold, I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt deserts of wasteness and desolation, from Migdol to Syene, even unto the border of Ethiopia.

11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor shall foot of beast pass through it, nor shall it be inhabited, forty years.

12 And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the countries that are desolated, and her cities shall be, in the midst of the cities that are laid waste, a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.

13 Yet thus saith the Lord Jehovah: At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples whither they were scattered;

14 and I will turn again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return to the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth, and they shall there be a base kingdom.

15 It shall be the basest of kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations; and I will diminish them, so that they shall no more rule over the nations.

16 And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to remembrance, when they turn after them: and they shall know that I [am] the Lord Jehovah.

17 And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first [month], on the first of the month, [that] the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

18 Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to do hard service against Tyre; every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he from Tyre no wages, nor his army, for the service that he had served against it.

19 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry away her multitude, and seize her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.

20 I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord Jehovah.

21 In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them: and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

   

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Road

  

These days we tend to think of "roads" as smooth swaths of pavement and judge them by how fast we can drive cars on them. A "path" is something different, suitable only for walking or maybe bicycles, and a "way" has more to do with giving directions than any physical reality. When we get "lost" it usually means we're in a car on an unfamiliar road -- a far cry from being in the middle of a trackless wilderness with no idea which direction to go. The ancient world was very different, with isolated towns and endless square miles of trackless wilderness. Then a "way" was a set of landmarks to follow to get from one place to another through the wilderness. A "path" was a way used enough to leave a visible trace on the ground, and a "road" was a heavily used path, easily followed and walkable. So it makes sense that when used in the Bible, all three terms represent guiding truth, ideas that lead us where we want to go. This is pictured in the modern use of "way" -- when we talk about the "way" to do something or the "way" to get somewhere. We're talking about the correct, best, most efficient method of doing something or getting somewhere. And it's good information -- truth -- that helps us find that best way.

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Cling

  
Tender Embrace, by Master of Guillebert de Mets

On a natural level, "clinging" to someone clearly indicates a desire to be close to them and conjoined with them. It often has a negative connotation – it's connected with emotional neediness and a bit of paranoia – but is a good thing in proper balance in a happy marriage, with each partner putting the other ahead of friends, family and other interests. When it is used in the Bible, "clinging" generally represents mutual love. This can be in marriage, in friendships or in a general state of loving others and wishing to serve them. At the deepest level, when the idea is of "clinging to Jehovah," it represents a desire to know and follow the Lord’s commandments so that we can be ever better and loving and serving others.