Daily Bible GNT December 07 Scroll

The Unity of the Body

Ephesians 4 I urge you, then--I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord: live a life that measures up to the standard God set when he called you. ²Be always humble, gentle, and patient. Show your love by being tolerant with one another. ³Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace that binds you together. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to which God has called you. ⁵There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶there is one God and Father of all people, who is Lord of all, works through all, and is in all.

⁷Each one of us has received a special gift in proportion to what Christ has given. ⁸As the scripture says,

"When he went up to the very heights,

he took many captives with him;

he gave gifts to people."
⁹Now, what does "he went u"p mean? It means that first he came down to the lowest depths of the earth. ¹⁰So the one who came down is the same one who went up, above and beyond the heavens, to fill the whole universe with his presence. ¹¹It was he who "gave gifts to people"; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. ¹²He did this to prepare all God's people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ. ¹³And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ's full stature. ¹⁴Then we shall no longer be children, carried by the waves and blown about by every shifting wind of the teaching of deceitful people, who lead others into error by the tricks they invent. ¹⁵Instead, by speaking the truth in a spirit of love, we must grow up in every way to Christ, who is the head. ¹⁶Under his control all the different parts of the body fit together, and the whole body is held together by every joint with which it is provided. So when each separate part works as it should, the whole body grows and builds itself up through love.

The Glory of the LORD Leaves the Temple

Ezekiel 10 I looked at the dome over the heads of the living creatures and above them was something that seemed to be a throne made of sapphire. ²God said to the man wearing linen clothes, "Go between the wheels under the creatures and fill your hands with burning coals. Then scatter the coals over the city."

I watched him go. ³The creatures were standing to the south of the Temple when he went in, and a cloud filled the inner courtyard. ⁴The dazzling light of the LORD's presence rose up from the creatures and moved to the entrance of the Temple. Then the cloud filled the Temple, and the courtyard was blazing with the light. ⁵The noise made by the creatures' wings was heard even in the outer courtyard. It sounded like the voice of Almighty God.

⁶When the LORD commanded the man wearing linen clothes to take some fire from between the wheels that were under the creatures, the man went in and stood by one of the wheels. ⁷One of the creatures reached his hand into the fire that was there among them, picked up some coals, and put them in the hands of the man in linen. The man took the coals and left.

⁸I saw that each creature had what looked like a human hand under each of its wings. ^9-10I also saw that there were four wheels, all alike, one beside each creature. The wheels shone like precious stones, and each one had another wheel which intersected it at right angles. ¹¹When the creatures moved, they could go in any direction without turning. They all moved together in the direction they wanted to go, without having to turn around. ¹²Their bodies, backs, hands, wings, and wheels were covered with eyes. ¹³I heard a voice calling out, "Whirling wheels."

¹⁴Each creature had four faces. The first was the face of a bull, the second a human face, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. ¹⁵(They were the same creatures that I had seen by the Chebar River.) When the creatures rose in the air ¹⁶and moved, the wheels went with them. Whenever they spread their wings to fly, the wheels still went with them. ¹⁷When the creatures stopped, the wheels stopped; and when the creatures flew, the wheels went with them, because the creatures controlled them.

¹⁸Then the dazzling light of the LORD's presence left the entrance of the Temple and moved to a place above the creatures. ¹⁹They spread their wings and flew up from the earth while I was watching, and the wheels went with them. They paused at the east gate of the Temple, and the dazzling light was over them. ²⁰I recognized them as the same creatures which I had seen beneath the God of Israel at the Chebar River.

²¹Each of them had four faces, four wings, and what looked like a human hand under each wing. ²²Their faces looked exactly like the faces I had seen by the Chebar River. Each creature moved straight ahead.

Jerusalem Is Condemned

Ezekiel 11 God's spirit lifted me up and took me to the east gate of the Temple. There near the gate I saw twenty-five men, including Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, two leaders of the nation.

²God said to me, "Mortal man, these men make evil plans and give bad advice in this city. ³They say, 'We will soon be building houses again. The city is like a cooking pot, and we are like the meat in it, but at least it protects us from the fire.' ⁴Now then, denounce them, mortal man."

⁵The spirit of the LORD took control of me, and the LORD told me to give the people this message: "People of Israel, I know what you are saying and what you are planning. ⁶You have murdered so many people here in the city that the streets are full of corpses.

⁷"So this is what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying to you. This city is a cooking pot all right, but what is the meat? The corpses of those you have killed! You will not be here--I will throw you out of the city! ⁸Are you afraid of swords? I will bring soldiers with swords to attack you. ⁹I will take you out of the city and hand you over to foreigners. I have sentenced you to death, ¹⁰and you will be killed in battle in your own country. Then everyone will know that I am the LORD. ¹¹This city will not protect you the way a pot protects the meat in it. I will punish you wherever you may be in the land of Israel. ¹²You will know that I am the LORD and that while you were keeping the laws of the neighboring nations, you were breaking my laws and disobeying my commands."

¹³While I was prophesying, Pelatiah dropped dead. I threw myself face downward on the ground and shouted, "No, Sovereign LORD! Are you going to kill everyone left in Israel?"

God's Promise to the Exiles

¹⁴The LORD spoke to me. ¹⁵"Mortal man," he said, "the people who live in Jerusalem are talking about you and those of your nation who are in exile. They say, 'The exiles are too far away to worship the LORD. He has given us possession of the land.'

¹⁶"Now tell your fellow exiles what I am saying. I am the one who sent them to live in far-off nations and scattered them in other countries. Yet, for the time being I will be present with them in the lands where they have gone.

¹⁷"So tell them what I, the Sovereign LORD, am saying. I will gather them out of the countries where I scattered them, and will give the land of Israel back to them. ¹⁸When they return, they are to get rid of all the filthy, disgusting idols they find. ¹⁹I will give them a new heart and a new mind. I will take away their stubborn heart of stone and will give them an obedient heart. ²⁰Then they will keep my laws and faithfully obey all my commands. They will be my people, and I will be their God. ²¹But I will punish the people who love to worship filthy, disgusting idols. I will punish them for what they have done." The Sovereign LORD has spoken.

God's Glory Leaves Jerusalem

²²The living creatures began to fly, and the wheels went with them. The dazzling light of the presence of the God of Israel was over them. ²³Then the dazzling light left the city and moved to the mountain east of it. ²⁴In the vision the spirit of God lifted me up and brought me back to the exiles in Babylonia. Then the vision faded, ²⁵and I told the exiles everything that the LORD had shown me.

The LORD's Servant

Isaiah 42 The LORD says,

"Here is my servant, whom I strengthen--

the one I have chosen, with whom I am pleased.

I have filled him with my Spirit,

and he will bring justice to every nation.

²He will not shout or raise his voice

or make loud speeches in the streets.

³He will not break off a bent reed

nor put out a flickering lamp.

He will bring lasting justice to all.

⁴He will not lose hope or courage;

he will establish justice on the earth.

Distant lands eagerly wait for his teaching."

⁵God created the heavens and stretched them out;

he fashioned the earth and all that lives there;

he gave life and breath to all its people.

And now the LORD God says to his servant,

⁶"I, the LORD, have called you and given you power

to see that justice is done on earth.

Through you I will make a covenant with all peoples;

through you I will bring light to the nations.

⁷You will open the eyes of the blind

and set free those who sit in dark prisons.

⁸"I alone am the LORD your God.

No other god may share my glory;

I will not let idols share my praise.

⁹The things I predicted have now come true.

Now I will tell you of new things

even before they begin to happen."

A Song of Praise

¹⁰Sing a new song to the LORD;

sing his praise, all the world!

Praise him, you that sail the sea;

praise him, all creatures of the sea!

Sing, distant lands and all who live there!

¹¹Let the desert and its towns praise God;

let the people of Kedar praise him!

Let those who live in the city of Sela

shout for joy from the tops of the mountains!

¹²Let those who live in distant lands

give praise and glory to the LORD!

¹³The LORD goes out to fight like a warrior;

he is ready and eager for battle.

He gives a war cry, a battle shout;

he shows his power against his enemies.

God Promises to Help His People

¹⁴God says,

"For a long time I kept silent;

I did not answer my people.

But now the time to act has come;

I cry out like a woman in labor.

¹⁵I will destroy the hills and mountains

and dry up the grass and trees.

I will turn the river valleys into deserts

and dry up the pools of water.

¹⁶"I will lead my blind people

by roads they have never traveled.

I will turn their darkness into light

and make rough country smooth before them.

These are my promises,

and I will keep them without fail.

¹⁷All who trust in idols,

who call images their gods,

will be humiliated and disgraced."

Israel's Failure to Learn

¹⁸The LORD says,

"Listen, you deaf people!

Look closely, you that are blind!

¹⁹Is anyone more blind than my servant,

more deaf than the messenger I send?

²⁰Israel, you have seen so much,

but what has it meant to you?

You have ears to hear with,

but what have you really heard?"

²¹The LORD is a God who is eager to save,

so he exalted his laws and teachings,

and he wanted his people to honor them.

²²But now his people have been plundered;

they are locked up in dungeons

and hidden away in prisons.

They were robbed and plundered,

with no one to come to their rescue.

²³Will any of you listen to this?

From now on will you listen with care?

²⁴Who gave Israel up to the looters?

It was the LORD himself, against whom we sinned!

We would not live as he wanted us to live

or obey the teachings he gave us.

²⁵So he made us feel the force of his anger

and suffer the violence of war.

Like fire his anger burned throughout Israel,

but we never knew what was happening;

we learned nothing at all from it.

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.