The Daily Audio Bible
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1 Now [when I was] in [my] thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was in the midst of captivity beside the river Chebar [in Babylonia], the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
2 On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,
3 The word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.(A)
4 As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud with a fire enveloping it and flashing continually; a brightness was about it and out of the midst of it there seemed to glow amber metal, out of the midst of the fire.
5 And out of the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures [or cherubim]. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man,
6 But each one had four faces and each one had four wings.
7 And their legs were straight legs, and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot, and they sparkled like burnished bronze.
8 And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides. And the four of them had their faces and their wings thus:
9 Their wings touched one another; they turned not when they went but went every one straight forward.
10 As for the [a]likeness of their faces, they each had the face of a man [in front], and each had the face of a lion on the right side and the face of an ox on the left side; the four also had the face of an eagle [at the back of their heads].(B)
11 Such were their faces. And their wings were stretched out upward [each creature had four wings]; two wings of each one were touching the [adjacent] wing of the creatures on either side of it, and [the remaining] two wings of each creature covered its body.
12 And they went every one straight forward; wherever the spirit would go, they went, and they turned not when they went.
13 In the midst of the living creatures there was what looked like burning coals of fire, like torches moving to and fro among the living creatures; the fire was bright and out of the fire went forth lightning.
14 And the living creatures darted back and forth like a flash of lightning.
15 Now as I was still looking at the living creatures, I saw one wheel upon the ground beside each of the living creatures with its four faces.
16 As to the appearance of the wheels and their construction: in appearance they gleamed like chrysolite; and the four were formed alike, and their construction work was as it were a wheel within a wheel.
17 When they went, they went in one of their four directions without turning [for they were faced that way].
18 As for their rims, they were so high that they were dreadful, and the four had their rims full of eyes round about.
19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
20 Wherever the spirit went, the creatures went and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit or life of the [four living creatures acting as one] living creature was in the wheels.
21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up high beside them, for the spirit or life of the [combined] living creature was in the wheels.
22 Over the head of the [combined] living creature there was the likeness of a firmament, looking like the terrible and awesome [dazzling of shining] crystal or ice stretched across the expanse of sky over their heads.
23 And under the firmament their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. Every living creature had two wings which covered its body on this side and two which covered it on that side.
24 And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the Almighty, the sound of tumult like the noise of a host. When they stood, they let down their wings.
25 And there was a voice above the firmament that was over their heads; when they stood, they let down their wings.
26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne in appearance like a sapphire stone, and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with the appearance of a Man.(C)
27 From what had the appearance of His waist upward, I saw a lustre as it were glowing metal with the appearance of fire enclosed round about within it; and from the appearance of His waist downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness [of a halo] round about Him.
28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face and I heard a voice of One speaking.(D)
2 And He said to me [Ezekiel], Son of man, stand upon your feet and I will speak to you.
2 And the Spirit entered into me when He spoke to me and set me upon my feet, and I heard Him speaking to me.
3 And He said to me, I send you, son of man, to the children of Israel, two rebellious nations that have rebelled against Me. They and their fathers have transgressed against Me even to this very day.
4 And the children are impudent and hard of heart. I send you to them and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God.
5 And they, whether they will hear or refuse to hear—for they are a rebellious house—yet shall they know and realize that there has been a prophet among them.
6 And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words; though briers and thorns are all around you and you dwell and sit among scorpions, be not afraid of their words nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.
7 And you shall speak My words to them whether they will hear or refuse to hear, for they are most rebellious.
8 As for you, son of man, hear what I say to you; be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.
9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me and behold, a scroll of a book was in it.
10 And He spread it before me and it was written within and on the back, and written on it were words of lamentation and mourning and woe.
3 He said to me, Son of man, eat what you find [in this book]; eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel.
2 So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat the scroll.
3 And He said to me, Son of man, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
4 And He said to me, Son of man, go, get you to the house of Israel and speak to them with My words.
5 For you are not sent to a people of a foreign speech and of a difficult language but to the house of Israel;
6 Not to many peoples of foreign speech and of a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to such people, they would have listened to you and heeded My words.
7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you and obey you since they will not listen to Me and obey Me, for all the house of Israel are impudent and stubborn of heart.
8 Behold, I have made your face strong and hard against their faces and your forehead strong and hard against their foreheads.
9 Like an adamant harder than flint or a diamond point have I made your forehead; fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.(E)
10 Moreover, He said to me, Son of man, all My words that I shall speak to you, receive in your heart and hear with your ears.
11 And go, get you to the [Jewish] captives [in Babylon], to the children of your people, and speak to them and tell them, Thus says the Lord God, whether they will hear or refuse to hear.
12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing [saying], Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place [above the firmament].
13 I heard the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they touched and joined each one the other [its sister wing], and I heard the noise of the wheels beside them and the noise of a great rushing.
14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away [in the vision], and I went in bitterness [of discouragement] in the heat of my spirit; and the hand of the Lord was strong upon me.
15 Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, who sat and dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat and remained there among them seven days, overwhelmed with astonishment and silent.
3 So then, brethren, consecrated and set apart for God, who share in the heavenly calling, [thoughtfully and attentively] consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest Whom we confessed [as ours when we embraced the Christian faith].
2 [See how] faithful He was to Him Who appointed Him [Apostle and High Priest], as Moses was also faithful in the whole house [of God].(A)
3 Yet Jesus has been considered worthy of much greater honor and glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house [itself].
4 For [of course] every house is built and furnished by someone, but the Builder of all things and the Furnisher [of the entire equipment of all things] is God.
5 And Moses certainly was faithful in the administration of all God’s house [but it was only] as a ministering servant. [In his entire ministry he was but] a testimony to the things which were to be spoken [the revelations to be given afterward in Christ].(B)
6 But Christ (the Messiah) was faithful over His [own Father’s] house as a Son [and Master of it]. And it is we who are [now members] of this house, if we hold fast and firm to the end our joyful and exultant confidence and sense of triumph in our hope [in Christ].
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts, as [happened] in the rebellion [of Israel] and their provocation and [a]embitterment [of Me] in the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 Where your fathers tried [My patience] and tested [My forbearance] and [b]found I stood their test, and they saw My works for forty years.
10 And so I was provoked (displeased and sorely grieved) with that generation, and said, They always err and are led astray in their hearts, and they have not perceived or recognized My ways and become progressively better and more experimentally and intimately acquainted with them.
11 Accordingly, I swore in My wrath and indignation, They shall not enter into My rest.(C)
12 [Therefore beware] brethren, take care, lest there be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to cleave to, trust in, and rely on Him], leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the living God.
13 But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [by the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamor of his sin may play on him].
14 For we [c]have become fellows with Christ (the Messiah) and share in all He has for us, if only we hold our first newborn confidence and original assured expectation [in virtue of which we are believers] firm and unshaken to the end.
15 Then while it is [still] called Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion [in the desert, when the people provoked and irritated and embittered God against them].(D)
16 For who were they who heard and yet were rebellious and provoked [Him]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?
17 And with whom was He irritated and provoked and grieved for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose [d]dismembered bodies were strewn and left in the desert?
18 And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who disobeyed [who had not listened to His word and who refused to be compliant or be persuaded]?
19 So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest], because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on God [unbelief had shut them out].(E)
Psalm 104
1 Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great! You are clothed with honor and majesty—
2 [You are the One] Who covers Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain or a tent,
3 Who lays the beams of the upper room of His abode in the waters [above the firmament], Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind,
4 Who makes winds His messengers, flames of fire His ministers.(A)
5 You laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.(B)
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.(C)
7 At Your rebuke they fled; at the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.
8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place which You appointed for them.
9 You have set a boundary [for the waters] which they may not pass over, that they turn not again to deluge the earth.
10 He sends forth springs into the valleys; their waters run among the mountains.
11 They give drink to every [wild] beast of the field; the wild asses quench their thirst there.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens have their nests; they sing among the branches.(D)
13 He waters the mountains from His upper rooms; the earth is satisfied and abounds with the fruit of His works.
14 He causes vegetation to grow for the cattle, and all that the earth produces for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food out of the earth—
15 And wine that gladdens the heart of man, to make his face shine more than oil, and bread to support, refresh, and strengthen man’s heart.
16 The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly and are filled with sap, the cedars of Lebanon which He has planted,
17 Where the birds make their nests; as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the conies and badgers.
19 [The Lord] appointed the moon for the seasons; the sun knows [the exact time of] its setting.
20 You [O Lord] make darkness and it becomes night, in which creeps forth every wild beast of the forest.
21 The young lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God.
22 When the sun arises, they withdraw themselves and lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes forth to his work and remains at his task until evening.
24 He who hates pretends with his lips, but stores up deceit within himself.
25 When he speaks kindly, do not trust him, for seven abominations are in his heart.
26 Though his hatred covers itself with guile, his wickedness shall be shown openly before the assembly.
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