Daily Bible GNT December 05 Scroll

From Death to Life

Ephesians 2 In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sins. ²At that time you followed the world's evil way; you obeyed the ruler of the spiritual powers in space, the spirit who now controls the people who disobey God. ³Actually all of us were like them and lived according to our natural desires, doing whatever suited the wishes of our own bodies and minds. In our natural condition we, like everyone else, were destined to suffer God's anger.

⁴But God's mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great, ⁵that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God's grace that you have been saved. ⁶In our union with Christ Jesus he raised us up with him to rule with him in the heavenly world. ⁷He did this to demonstrate for all time to come the extraordinary greatness of his grace in the love he showed us in Christ Jesus. ^8-9For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it. ¹⁰God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do.

One in Christ

¹¹You Gentiles by birth--called "the uncircumcised" by the Jews, who call themselves the circumcised (which refers to what men do to their bodies)--remember what you were in the past. ¹²At that time you were apart from Christ. You were foreigners and did not belong to God's chosen people. You had no part in the covenants, which were based on God's promises to his people, and you lived in this world without hope and without God. ¹³But now, in union with Christ Jesus you, who used to be far away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For Christ himself has brought us peace by making Jews and Gentiles one people. With his own body he broke down the wall that separated them and kept them enemies. ¹⁵He abolished the Jewish Law with its commandments and rules, in order to create out of the two races one new people in union with himself, in this way making peace. ¹⁶By his death on the cross Christ destroyed their enmity; by means of the cross he united both races into one body and brought them back to God. ¹⁷So Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to all--to you Gentiles, who were far away from God, and to the Jews, who were near to him. ¹⁸It is through Christ that all of us, Jews and Gentiles, are able to come in the one Spirit into the presence of the Father.

¹⁹So then, you Gentiles are not foreigners or strangers any longer; you are now citizens together with God's people and members of the family of God. ²⁰You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, the cornerstone being Christ Jesus himself. ²¹He is the one who holds the whole building together and makes it grow into a sacred temple dedicated to the Lord. ²²In union with him you too are being built together with all the others into a place where God lives through his Spirit.

The LORD Condemns Idolatry

Ezekiel 6 The LORD spoke to me. ²"Mortal man," he said, "look toward the mountains of Israel and give them my message. ³Tell the mountains of Israel to hear the Sovereign LORD's word--to hear what I, the Sovereign LORD, am telling the mountains, the hills, the gorges, and the valleys: I will send a sword to destroy the places where people worship idols. ⁴The altars will be torn down and the incense altars broken. All the people there will be killed in front of their idols. ⁵I will scatter the corpses of the people of Israel; I will scatter their bones all around the altars. ⁶All the cities of Israel will be destroyed, so that all their altars and their idols will be smashed to pieces, their incense altars will be shattered, and everything they made will disappear. ⁷People will be killed everywhere, and those who survive will acknowledge that I am the LORD.

⁸"I will let some escape the slaughter and be scattered among the nations, ⁹where they will live in exile. There they will remember me and know that I have punished them and disgraced them, because their faithless hearts deserted me and they preferred idols to me. And they will be disgusted with themselves because of the evil and degrading things they have done. ¹⁰They will know that I am the LORD and that my warnings were not empty threats."

¹¹The Sovereign LORD said, "Wring your hands! Stamp your feet! Cry in sorrow because of all the evil, disgusting things the Israelites have done. They are going to die in war or of starvation or disease. ¹²Those far away will get sick and die; those nearby will be killed in war; those who survive will starve to death. They will feel all the force of my anger. ¹³Corpses will be scattered among the idols and around the altars, scattered on every high hill, on the top of every mountain, under every green tree and every large oak, in every place where they burned sacrifices to their idols. Then everyone will know that I am the LORD. ¹⁴Yes, I will reach out and destroy their country. I will make it a wasteland from the southern desert to the city of Riblah in the north, not sparing any place where the Israelites live. Then everyone will know that I am the LORD."

The End Is Near for Israel

Ezekiel 7 The LORD spoke to me. ²"Mortal man," he said, "this is what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to the land of Israel: This is the end for the whole land!

³"Israel, the end has come. You will feel my anger, because I am judging you for what you have done. I will pay you back for all your disgusting conduct. ⁴I will not spare you or show you any mercy. I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the LORD."

⁵This is what the Sovereign LORD is saying: "One disaster after another is coming on you. ⁶It's all over. This is the end. You are finished. ⁷The end is coming for you people who live in the land. The time is near when there will be no more celebrations at the mountain shrines, only confusion.

⁸"Very soon now you will feel all the force of my anger. I am judging you for what you have done, and I will pay you back for all your disgusting conduct. ⁹I will not spare you or show you any mercy. I am going to punish you for the disgusting things you have done, so that you will know that I am the LORD and that I am the one who punishes you."

¹⁰The day of disaster is coming. Violence is flourishing. Pride is at its height. ¹¹Violence produces more wickedness. Nothing of theirs will remain, nothing of their wealth, their splendor, or their glory.

¹²The time is coming. The day is near when buying and selling will have no more meaning, because God's punishment will fall on everyone alike. ¹³No merchants will live long enough to get back what they have lost, because God's anger is on everyone. Those who are evil cannot survive. ¹⁴The trumpet blows, and everyone gets ready. But no one goes off to war, for God's anger will fall on everyone alike.

Punishment for Israel's Sins

¹⁵There is fighting in the streets, and sickness and hunger in the houses. Anyone who is out in the country will die in the fighting, and anyone in the city will be a victim of sickness and hunger. ¹⁶Some will escape to the mountains like doves frightened from the valleys. All of them will moan over their sins. ¹⁷Everyone's hands will be weak, and their knees will shake. ¹⁸They will put on sackcloth and they will tremble all over. Their heads will be shaved, and they will all be disgraced. ¹⁹They will throw their gold and silver away in the streets like garbage, because neither silver nor gold can save them when the LORD pours out his fury. They cannot use it to satisfy their desires or fill their stomachs. Gold and silver led them into sin. ²⁰Once they were proud of their beautiful jewels, but they used them to make disgusting idols. That is why the LORD has made their wealth repulsive to them.

²¹"I will let foreigners rob them," says the LORD, "and lawbreakers will take all their wealth and defile it. ²²I will not interfere when my treasured Temple is profaned, when robbers break into it and defile it.

²³"Everything is in confusion--the land is full of murders and the cities are full of violence. ²⁴I will bring the most evil nations here and let them have your homes. Your strongest men will lose their confidence when I let the nations profane the places where you worship. ²⁵Despair is coming. You will look for peace and never find it. ²⁶One disaster will follow another, and a steady stream of bad news will pour in. You will beg the prophets to reveal what they foresee. The priests will have nothing to teach the people, and the elders will have no advice to give. ²⁷The king will mourn, the prince will give up hope, and the people will shake with fear. I will punish you for all you have done, and will judge you in the same way as you have judged others. This will show you that I am the LORD."

Words of Hope

Isaiah 40 "Comfort my people," says our God. "Comfort them!

²Encourage the people of Jerusalem.

Tell them they have suffered long enough

and their sins are now forgiven.

I have punished them in full for all their sins."

³A voice cries out,

"Prepare in the wilderness a road for the LORD!

Clear the way in the desert for our God!

⁴Fill every valley;

level every mountain.

The hills will become a plain,

and the rough country will be made smooth.

⁵Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed,

and all people will see it.

The LORD himself has promised this."

⁶A voice cries out, "Proclaim a message!"

"What message shall I proclaim?" I ask.

"Proclaim that all human beings are like grass;

they last no longer than wild flowers.

⁷Grass withers and flowers fade

when the LORD sends the wind blowing over them.

People are no more enduring than grass.

⁸Yes, grass withers and flowers fade,

but the word of our God endures forever."

⁹Jerusalem, go up on a high mountain

and proclaim the good news!

Call out with a loud voice, Zion;

announce the good news!

Speak out and do not be afraid.

Tell the towns of Judah

that their God is coming!

¹⁰The Sovereign LORD is coming to rule with power,

bringing with him the people he has rescued.

¹¹He will take care of his flock like a shepherd;

he will gather the lambs together

and carry them in his arms;

he will gently lead their mothers.

Israel's Incomparable God

¹²Can anyone measure the ocean by handfuls

or measure the sky with his hands?

Can anyone hold the soil of the earth in a cup

or weigh the mountains and hills on scales?

¹³Can anyone tell the LORD what to do?

Who can teach him or give him advice?

¹⁴With whom does God consult

in order to know and understand

and to learn how things should be done?

¹⁵To the LORD the nations are nothing,

no more than a drop of water;

the distant islands are as light as dust.

¹⁶All the animals in the forests of Lebanon

are not enough for a sacrifice to our God,

and its trees are too few to kindle the fire.

¹⁷The nations are nothing at all to him.

¹⁸To whom can God be compared?

How can you describe what he is like?

¹⁹He is not like an idol that workers make,

that metalworkers cover with gold

and set in a base of silver.

²⁰Anyone who cannot afford silver or gold

chooses wood that will not rot.

He finds a skillful worker

to make an image that won't fall down.

²¹Do you not know?

Were you not told long ago?

Have you not heard how the world began?

²²It was made by the one who sits on his throne

above the earth and beyond the sky;

the people below look as tiny as ants.

He stretched out the sky like a curtain,

like a tent in which to live.

²³He brings down powerful rulers

and reduces them to nothing.

²⁴They are like young plants,

just set out and barely rooted.

When the LORD sends a wind,

they dry up and blow away like straw.

²⁵To whom can the holy God be compared?

Is there anyone else like him?

²⁶Look up at the sky!

Who created the stars you see?

The one who leads them out like an army,

he knows how many there are

and calls each one by name!

His power is so great--

not one of them is ever missing!

²⁷Israel, why then do you complain

that the LORD doesn't know your troubles

or care if you suffer injustice?

²⁸Don't you know? Haven't you heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God;

he created all the world.

He never grows tired or weary.

No one understands his thoughts.

²⁹He strengthens those who are weak and tired.

³⁰Even those who are young grow weak;

young people can fall exhausted.

³¹But those who trust in the LORD for help

will find their strength renewed.

They will rise on wings like eagles;

they will run and not get weary;

they will walk and not grow weak.

This reading is from The Holy Bible, Today's English Version, Second Edition copyright © American Bible Society, 1992;
Old Testament copyright © American Bible Society, 1976, 1992; New Testament © American Bible Society, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992.

These daily Bible readings from the Good News Translation (GNT), formerly the Today's English Version (TEV), are published by BibleNetUSA. The web site and BibleCard® designs are by iCreative. All BibleCard® images are copyrighted by iCreative. All rights reserved.