The Daily Audio Bible
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20 In the seventh year, in the fifth [month], on the tenth [day] of the month [after the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, which was to last seventy years], certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord and sat down before me [Ezekiel, in Babylonia].(A)
2 Then came the word of the Lord to me, saying,
3 Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you!
4 Will you judge them, son of man [Ezekiel], will you judge them? Then cause them to know, understand, and realize the abominations of their fathers.(B)
5 And say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In the day when I chose Israel and lifted up My hand and swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up My hand and swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God,
6 On that day I lifted up My hand and swore to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt to a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, [a land] which is an ornament and a glory to all lands.
7 Then said I to them, Let every man cast away the abominable things on which he feasts his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
8 But they rebelled against Me and would not listen to Me; they did not every man cast away the abominable things on which they feasted their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I [thought], I will pour out My wrath upon them and finish My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9 But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the [heathen] nations among whom they dwelt, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.
10 So I caused them to go out from the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.
11 And I gave them My statutes and showed and made known to them My judgments, which, if a man keeps, he must live in and by them.
12 Moreover, also I gave them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might understand and realize that I am the Lord Who sanctifies them [separates and sets them apart].
13 But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they walked not in My statutes and they despised and cast away My judgments, which, if a man keeps, he must even live in and by them; and they grievously profaned My Sabbaths. Then I thought I would pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness and uproot and consume them.
14 But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the [heathen] nations in whose sight I brought them out.
15 Yet also I lifted up My hand to swear to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the ornament and glory of all lands—
16 Because they despised and rejected My ordinances and walked not in My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, for their hearts went after their idols.
17 Yet My eye pitied them instead of destroying them, and I did not make a full end of them in the wilderness.
18 But I said to their sons in the wilderness, You shall not walk in the statutes of your fathers nor observe their ordinances nor defile yourselves with their idols.
19 I the Lord am your God; walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances,
20 And hallow (separate and keep holy) My Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord your God.
21 Yet the sons rebelled against Me; they walked not in My statutes, neither kept My ordinances which, if a man does, he must live in and by them; they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I thought I would pour out My wrath on them and finish My anger against them in the wilderness.
22 Yet I withheld My hand and acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be debased and profaned in the sight of the [heathen] nations, in whose sight I had brought them forth [from bondage].
23 Moreover, I lifted up My hand and swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the [heathen] nations and disperse them in the countries,
24 Because they had not executed My ordinances but had despised and rejected My statutes and had profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols.
25 Wherefore also I gave them [over to] statutes that were not good and ordinances whereby they should not live and could not have life,(C)
26 And I [let them] pollute and make themselves unclean in their own offerings [to their idols], in that they caused to pass through the fire all the firstborn, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord.(D)
27 Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Again in this your fathers blasphemed Me, in that they dealt faithlessly and treacherously with Me and committed a treasonous trespass against Me.
28 For when I had brought them into the land which I lifted up My hand and swore to give to them, then they saw every high hill and every dark and leafy tree [as a place for idol worship], and they offered there their sacrifices and there they presented their offering that provoked My anger and sadness; there also they made their sweet-smelling savor and poured out there their drink offerings.
29 Then I said to them, What is the high place to which you go? And the name of it is called Bamah [high place] to this day.
30 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Do you [exiles] debase and defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers? And do you play the harlot after their loathsome and detestable things?
31 And when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons pass through the fire, do you not debase and defile yourselves with all your idols to this day? And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you!
32 And that which has come up in your mind shall never happen, in that you think, We will be as the nations, as the tribes of the countries, to serve idols of wood and stone.
33 As I live, says the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out will I be King over you.
34 And I will bring you out from the peoples and will gather you out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out.
35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you and contend with you face to face.
36 As I entered into judgment and contended with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment and contend with you, says the Lord God.(E)
37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod [as the shepherd does his sheep when he counts them, and I will count you as Mine and I will constrain you] and bring you into the covenant to which you are permanently bound.(F)
38 And I will purge out and separate from among you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they temporarily dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord.(G)
39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Go, serve every one of you his idols, now and hereafter, if you will not listen to Me! But you shall not profane My holy name any more with your sacrificial gifts and your idols!
40 For on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me. There will I [graciously] accept them, and there will I require your offerings and the firstfruits and the choicest of your contributions, with all your sacred things.
41 I will accept you [graciously] as a pleasant odor when I lead you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered, and I will manifest My holiness among you in the sight of the nations [who will seek Me because of My power displayed in you].(H)
42 And you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I lifted up My hand and swore to give to your fathers.
43 And there you shall [earnestly] remember your ways and all your doings with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evil deeds which you have done.
44 And you shall know, understand, and realize that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel, says the Lord God.
45 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
46 Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against the south, and prophesy against the forest land of the South (the Negeb),
47 And say to the forest of the South (the Negeb), Hear the word of the Lord; Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will kindle a fire in you and it shall devour every green tree in you and every dry tree. The blazing flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be scorched by it.
48 All flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.
49 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! They are saying of me, Does he not speak in parables and make allegories?
11 But [that appointed time came] when Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest of the better things that have come and are to come. [Then] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with [human] hands, that is, not a part of this material creation,
12 He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us).
13 For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body,(A)
14 How much more surely shall the blood of Christ, Who [a]by virtue of [His] eternal Spirit [His own preexistent [b]divine personality] has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the [ever] living God?
15 [Christ, the Messiah] is therefore the Negotiator and Mediator of an [entirely] new agreement (testament, covenant), so that those who are called and offered it may receive the fulfillment of the promised everlasting inheritance—since a death has taken place which rescues and delivers and redeems them from the transgressions committed under the [old] first agreement.
16 For where there is a [last] will and testament involved, the death of the one who made it must be established,
17 For a will and testament is valid and takes effect only at death, since it has no force or legal power as long as the one who made it is alive.
18 So even the [old] first covenant (God’s will) was not inaugurated and ratified and put in force without the shedding of blood.
19 For when every command of the Law had been read out by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of slain calves and goats, together with water and scarlet wool and with a bunch of hyssop, and sprinkled both the Book (the roll of the Law and covenant) itself and all the people,
20 Saying these words: This is the blood that seals and ratifies the agreement (the testament, the covenant) which God commanded [me to deliver to] you.(B)
21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and all the [sacred] vessels and appliances used in [divine] worship.
22 [In fact] under the Law almost everything is purified by means of blood, and without the shedding of blood there is neither release from sin and its guilt nor the remission of the due and merited punishment for sins.
23 By such means, therefore, it was necessary for the [earthly] copies of the heavenly things to be purified, but the actual heavenly things themselves [required far] better and nobler sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ (the Messiah) has not entered into a sanctuary made with [human] hands, only a copy and pattern and type of the true one, but [He has entered] into heaven itself, now to appear in the [very] presence of God on our behalf.
25 Nor did He [enter into the heavenly sanctuary to] offer Himself regularly again and again, as the high priest enters the [Holy of] Holies every year with blood not his own.
26 For then would He often have had to suffer [over and over again] since the foundation of the world. But as it now is, He has once for all at the consummation and close of the ages appeared to put away and abolish sin by His sacrifice [of Himself].
27 And just as it is appointed for [all] men once to die, and after that the [certain] judgment,
28 Even so it is that Christ, having been offered to take upon Himself and bear as a burden the sins of many once and [c]once for all, will appear a second time, not to carry any burden of sin nor to deal with sin, but to bring to full salvation those who are [eagerly, constantly, and patiently] waiting for and expecting Him.
Book Five
Psalm 107
1 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has delivered from the hand of the adversary,
3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the [Red] Sea in the south.
4 Some wandered in the wilderness in a solitary desert track; they found no city for habitation.
5 Hungry and thirsty, they fainted; their lives were near to being extinguished.
6 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.
7 He led them forth by the straight and right way, that they might go to a city where they could establish their homes.
8 Oh, that men would praise [and confess to] the Lord for His goodness and loving-kindness and His wonderful works to the children of men!
9 For He satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with good.
10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and in irons,(A)
11 Because they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
12 Therefore He bowed down their hearts with hard labor; they stumbled and fell down, and there was none to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke apart the bonds that held them.(B)
15 Oh, that men would praise [and confess to] the Lord for His goodness and loving-kindness and His wonderful works to the children of men!
16 For He has broken the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron apart.
17 Some are fools [made ill] because of the way of their transgressions and are afflicted because of their iniquities.
18 They loathe every kind of food, and they draw near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivers them out of their distresses.
20 He sends forth His word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction.(C)
21 Oh, that men would praise [and confess to] the Lord for His goodness and loving-kindness and His wonderful works to the children of men!(D)
22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and rehearse His deeds with shouts of joy and singing!
23 Some go down to the sea and travel over it in ships to do business in great waters;
24 These see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep.
25 For He commands and raises up the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea.
26 [Those aboard] mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the deeps; their courage melts away because of their plight.
27 They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits’ end [all their wisdom has come to nothing].
28 Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses.
29 He hushes the storm to a calm and to a gentle whisper, so that the waves of the sea are still.(E)
30 Then the men are glad because of the calm, and He brings them to their desired haven.
31 Oh, that men would praise [and confess to] the Lord for His goodness and loving-kindness and His wonderful works to the children of men!
32 Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people and praise Him in the company of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a wilderness, water springs into a thirsty ground,(F)
34 A fruitful land into a barren, salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.(G)
35 He turns a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry ground into water springs;(H)
36 And there He makes the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation,
37 And sow fields, and plant vineyards which yield fruits of increase.
38 He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly, and allows not their cattle to decrease.
39 When they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
40 He pours contempt upon princes and causes them to wander in waste places where there is no road.
41 Yet He raises the poor and needy from affliction and makes their families like a flock.
42 The upright shall see it and be glad, but all iniquity shall shut its mouth.
43 Whoso is wise [if there be any truly wise] will observe and heed these things; and they will diligently consider the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord.
11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who reproaches me [as having failed in my parental duty].(A)
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