The Daily Audio Bible

Israel Fights against God

20 On the tenth day of the fifth month in the seventh year, some of the leaders of Israel came to ask the Lord’s will, and they sat down in front of me. ² The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ³ “Son of man, speak to the leaders of Israel. Tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “Have you come to ask My will? As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will not let you ask me anything.”’ ⁴ Will you judge them, son of man? Will you judge them? Make known to them the sinful things their fathers did. ⁵ Tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “On the day I chose Israel, I raised My hand and made a promise to the children of the family of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I made a promise to them, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God.’ ⁶ On that day I promised to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land I had chosen for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. ⁷ I said to them, ‘Each of you get rid of the sinful things you have looked upon. Do not make yourselves sinful with the false gods of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’ ⁸ But they turned against Me and would not listen to Me. They did not get rid of the sinful things they had looked upon. And they did not turn away from the false gods of Egypt.

“Then I said that I would be angry with them. I would send My anger against them in the land of Egypt. ⁹ But I acted for the good of My name. I did what would keep My name clean in the eyes of the nations they lived among, in whose eyes I made Myself known to them by bringing My people out of Egypt. ¹⁰ So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the desert. ¹¹ I gave them My Laws and made known to them My Words, which bring life to anyone who obeys them. ¹² I gave them My Days of Rest to be something special to see between Me and them, so they would know that I am the Lord Who makes them holy. ¹³ But the people of Israel turned against Me in the desert. They did not obey My Laws, and they turned away from My Words which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They made My Days of Rest very sinful. Then I said that I would be angry with them in the desert and destroy them. ¹⁴ But I acted for the good of My name. I did what would keep My name clean in the eyes of the nations who saw Me bring them out of Egypt. ¹⁵ So I promised them in the desert that I would not bring them into the land I had given them, the land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. ¹⁶ This was because they turned away from My Laws and did not obey My Words. They did not keep My Days of Rest holy, for they followed after their false gods with all their heart. ¹⁷ Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them. I did not make an end of them in the desert.

¹⁸ “And I said to their children in the desert, ‘Do not keep the laws of your fathers, or follow their ways, or make yourselves sinful with their false gods. ¹⁹ I am the Lord your God. Keep My Laws and obey My Words. ²⁰ Keep My Days of Rest holy, and they will be something special to see between Me and you. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ ²¹ But the children turned against Me. They did not keep My Laws or obey My Words which bring life to anyone who obeys them. They did not keep My Days of Rest holy. So I said I would be angry with them. I would send My anger against them in the desert. ²² But I held My hand back, and acted for the good of My name, to keep it clean in the eyes of the nations who saw Me bring them out of Egypt. ²³ And I promised them in the desert that I would send them everywhere among the nations and spread them out among the lands. ²⁴ This is because they had not obeyed My Words. They had turned away from My Laws and did not keep My Days of Rest holy. And they worshiped the false gods of their fathers. ²⁵ Then I gave them laws that were not good, and words they could not live by. ²⁶ And I let them become sinful because of their gifts. I let them give all their first-born sons as burnt gifts. This was to punish them and show them that I am the Lord.”’

²⁷ “So, son of man, speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, ‘The Lord God says, “This is another way that your fathers have brought shame to My name by not being faithful to Me. ²⁸ I brought them into the land I promised to give them. And when they saw all the high hills and trees with many leaves, they gave their gifts on all of them and made Me angry. They also burned special perfume there, and poured out their drink gifts. ²⁹ Then I said to them, ‘What is this high place you go to?’ So it is called Bamah to this day.”’ ³⁰ So tell the people of Israel, ‘The Lord God says, “Will you make yourselves sinful in the same way your fathers did, and go after their sinful things? ³¹ When you give your gifts and make your sons go through the fire, you are making yourselves sinful with all your false gods to this day. Am I to let you question Me, O people of Israel? As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will not let you ask Me anything. ³² You say, ‘We will be like the nations, like the people of the lands, who serve wood and stone.’ But what you have in mind will never happen.

Israel Will Come Back to God

³³ “As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will be King over you, and will rule with a powerful hand, a strong arm, and with anger. ³⁴ I will bring you out of the nations and countries where you have been divided. I will gather you together with a powerful hand, a strong arm, and with anger. ³⁵ I will bring you into the desert of the nations, and there I will punish you face to face. ³⁶ As I punished your fathers in the desert of Egypt, so I will punish you,” says the Lord God. ³⁷ “I will hold power over you and make you obey the agreement. ³⁸ I will take away from among you all those who sin or who turn against Me. I will bring them out of the land where they are living, but they will not go into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ³⁹ As for you, O people of Israel,” the Lord God says, “Go and serve your false gods, every one of you, now and later if you will not listen to Me. Do not ever again bring shame to My holy name with your gifts and your false gods. ⁴⁰ For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel,” says the Lord God, “all the people of Israel will serve Me in the land. There I will receive them. And there I will ask for the best of your gifts, with all your holy things. ⁴¹ I will receive you as the pleasing smell of special perfume, when I bring you out of the nations and gather you from the different lands where you have been sent. And I will prove Myself holy among you in the eyes 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 promised to give to your fathers. ⁴³ There you will remember your ways and all the bad things you did to make yourselves sinful. And you will hate yourselves in your own eyes for all the sinful things you have done. ⁴⁴ You will know that I am the Lord when I honor My name by being good to you even though your ways have been sinful and you have done many sinful things, O people of Israel,” says the Lord God.’”

Words against the South

⁴⁵ The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ⁴⁶ “Son of man, look toward the south. And speak out against the south and against the land of many trees in the Negev. ⁴⁷ Say to the land of trees in the Negev, ‘Hear the Word of the Lord. The Lord God says, “See, I am about to start a fire that will destroy all of your green trees and all of your dry trees. The hot fire will not be put out, and every face from south to north will be burned by it. ⁴⁸ Everyone will see that I, the Lord, have made the fire. It will not be put out.”’” ⁴⁹ Then I said, “O Lord God! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not just telling picture-stories?’”

The New Way of Worship Has a Better Gift

¹¹ But Christ came as the Head Religious Leader of the good things God promised. He made the way for man to go to God. He was a greater and more perfect tent. He was not made by human hands and was not a part of this earth. ¹² Christ went into the Holiest Place of All one time for all people. He did not take the blood of goats and young cows to give to God as a gift in worship. He gave His own blood. By doing this, He bought us with His own blood and made us free from sin forever. ¹³ With the Old Way of Worship, the blood and ashes of animals could make men clean after they had sinned. ¹⁴ How much more the blood of Christ will do! He gave Himself as a perfect gift to God through the Spirit that lives forever. Now your heart can be free from the guilty feeling of doing work that is worth nothing. Now you can work for the living God.

¹⁵ Christ is the One Who gave us this New Way of Worship. All those who have been called by God may receive life that lasts forever just as He promised them. Christ bought us with His blood when He died for us. This made us free from our sins which we did under the Old Way of Worship.

¹⁶ When a man wants to give his money to someone after he dies, he writes it all down on paper. But that paper is worth nothing until the man is dead. ¹⁷ That piece of paper means nothing as long as he is alive. It is good only when he dies. ¹⁸ The Old Way of Worship had to have a death to make it good. The blood of an animal was used. ¹⁹ Moses told the people all the things they had to obey in the Law. Then he took the blood of animals together with water and put it on the Book of the Law and on all the people. He used special branches and red wool as he put it on them. ²⁰ Moses said, “This is the blood of the Way of Worship which God said you must obey.” ^{(A) 21} In the same way, Moses put the blood on the tent and on all the things used in worship. ²² The Law says that almost everything is made clean by blood. Sins are not forgiven unless blood is given.

One Perfect Gift

²³ The tent to worship in and the things inside to worship with were like the things in heaven. They were made clean by putting blood on them. But the things in heaven were made clean by a much better gift of worship. ²⁴ For Christ did not go into the Holiest Place of All that was made by men, even if it was like the true one in heaven. He went to heaven itself and He is before God for us. ²⁵ Christ has not given Himself many times, as the head religious leader here on earth went into the Holiest Place of All each year with blood that was not his own. ²⁶ For then Christ would have had to die many times since the world began. But He came once at the end of the Old Way of Worship. He gave Himself once for all time. He gave Himself to destroy sin. ²⁷ It is in the plan that all men die once. After that, they will stand before God and be judged. ²⁸ It is the same with Christ. He gave Himself once to take away the sins of many. When He comes the second time, He will not need to give Himself again for sin. He will save all those who are waiting for Him.

God Helps Men in Trouble

107 Give thanks to the Lord for He is good! His loving-kindness lasts forever! ² Let the people who have been saved say so. He has bought them and set them free from the hand of those who hated them. ³ He gathered them from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.

⁴ Some traveled through the desert wastes. They did not find a way to a city where they could live. ⁵ They were hungry and thirsty. Their souls became weak within them. ⁶ Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And He took them out of their suffering. ⁷ He led them by a straight path to a city where they could live. ⁸ Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving-kindness and His great works to the children of men! ⁹ For He fills the thirsty soul. And He fills the hungry soul with good things.

¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death. They suffered in prison in iron chains. ¹¹ Because they had turned against the Words of God. They hated what the Most High told them to do. ¹² So He loaded them down with hard work. They fell and there was no one to help. ¹³ Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And He saved them from their suffering. ¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death. And He broke their chains. ¹⁵ Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving-kindness and His great works to the children of men! ¹⁶ For He has broken gates of brass and cut through walls of iron.

¹⁷ Some were fools because of their wrong-doing. They had troubles because of their sins. ¹⁸ They hated all kinds of food. And they came near the gates of death. ¹⁹ Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And He saved them from their suffering. ²⁰ He sent His Word and healed them. And He saved them from the grave. ²¹ Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving-kindness and His great works to the children of men! ²² Let them give Him gifts of thanks and tell of His works with songs of joy.

²³ Some went out to sea in ships to buy and sell on the great waters. ²⁴ They have seen what the Lord can do and His great works on the sea. ²⁵ For He spoke and raised up a storm that lifted up the waves of the sea. ²⁶ They went up to the heavens and down to the deep. Their strength of heart left them in their danger. ²⁷ They could not walk straight but went from side to side like a drunk man. They did not know what to do. ²⁸ Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. And He took them out of all their problems. ²⁹ He stopped the storm, and the waves of the sea became quiet. ³⁰ Then they were glad because the sea became quiet. And He led them to the safe place they wanted. ³¹ Let them give thanks to the Lord for His loving-kindness and His great works to the children of men! ³² Let them honor Him in the meeting of the people and praise Him in the meeting of the leaders.

³³ He changes rivers into a desert and wells of water into a thirsty ground. ³⁴ He changes a land of much fruit into a salt waste because of the sin of those who live in it. ³⁵ He changes a desert into a pool of water and makes water flow out of dry ground. ³⁶ And He makes the hungry go there so they may build a city to live in. ³⁷ They plant seeds in the fields and plant grape-vines and gather much fruit. ³⁸ He lets good come to them and they become many in number. And He does not let the number of their cattle become less.

³⁹ When the number of people becomes less and they are put to shame under a bad power and trouble and sorrow, ⁴⁰ He pours anger on rulers. He makes them walk in the waste places where there is no path. ⁴¹ But He lifts those in need out of their troubles. He makes their families grow like flocks. ⁴² Those who are right see it and are glad. But all the sinful shut their mouths. ⁴³ Let the wise man think about these things. And may he think about the loving-kindness of the Lord.

¹¹ Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, so I may answer him who puts me to shame.