Daily Bible GNT December 27 Scroll

The Preaching of John the Baptist
(Matthew 3.1-12; Mark 1.1-8; John 1.19-28)

Luke 3 It was the fifteenth year of the rule of Emperor Tiberius; Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip was ruler of the territory of Iturea and Trachonitis; Lysanias was ruler of Abilene, ²and Annas and Caiaphas were High Priests. At that time the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. ³So John went throughout the whole territory of the Jordan River, preaching, "Turn away from your sins and be baptized, and God will forgive your sins." ⁴As it is written in the book of the prophet Isaiah:

"Someone is shouting in the desert:

'Get the road ready for the Lord;

make a straight path for him to travel!

⁵Every valley must be filled up,

every hill and mountain leveled off.

The winding roads must be made straight,

and the rough paths made smooth.

⁶The whole human race will see God's salvation!'"

⁷Crowds of people came out to John to be baptized by him. "You snakes!" he said to them. "Who told you that you could escape from the punishment God is about to send? ⁸Do those things that will show that you have turned from your sins. And don't start saying among yourselves that Abraham is your ancestor. I tell you that God can take these rocks and make descendants for Abraham! ⁹The ax is ready to cut down the trees at the roots; every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire."

¹⁰The people asked him, "What are we to do, then?"

¹¹He answered, "Whoever has two shirts must give one to the man who has none, and whoever has food must share it."

¹²Some tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what are we to do?"

¹³"Don't collect more than is legal," he told them.

¹⁴Some soldiers also asked him, "What about us? What are we to do?"

He said to them, "Don't take money from anyone by force or accuse anyone falsely. Be content with your pay."

¹⁵People's hopes began to rise, and they began to wonder whether John perhaps might be the Messiah. ¹⁶So John said to all of them, "I baptize you with water, but someone is coming who is much greater than I am. I am not good enough even to untie his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷He has his winnowing shovel with him, to thresh out all the grain and gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn the chaff in a fire that never goes out."

¹⁸In many different ways John preached the Good News to the people and urged them to change their ways. ¹⁹But John reprimanded Governor Herod, because he had married Herodias, his brother's wife, and had done many other evil things. ²⁰Then Herod did an even worse thing by putting John in prison.

A VISION OF THE FUTURE TEMPLE (40.1-- 48.35)

Ezekiel Is Taken to Jerusalem

Ezekiel 40 It was the tenth day of the new year, which was the twenty-fifth year after we had been taken into exile and the fourteenth year after Jerusalem was captured. On that day I felt the powerful presence of the LORD, and he carried me away. ²In a vision God took me to the land of Israel and put me on a high mountain. I saw in front of me a group of buildings that looked like a city. ³He took me closer, and I saw a man who shone like bronze. He was holding a linen tape measure and a measuring rod and was standing by a gateway.

⁴He said to me, "Watch, mortal man. Listen carefully and pay close attention to everything I show you, because this is why you were brought here. You are to tell the people of Israel everything you see."

The East Gate

⁵What I saw was the Temple, and there was a wall around it. The man took his measuring rod, which was 10 feet long, and measured the wall. It was 10 feet high and 10 feet thick. ⁶Then he went to the gateway that faced east. He went up the steps, and at the top he measured the entrance; it was 10 feet deep. ⁷Beyond it there was a passageway, which had three guardrooms on each side. Each of the rooms was square, 10 feet on each side, and the walls between them were 8 feet thick. Beyond the guardrooms there was a passageway 10 feet long that led to an entrance room which faced the Temple. ^8-9He measured this room and found it was 14 feet deep. It formed that end of the gateway which was nearest the Temple, and at its far end the walls were 4 feet thick. ( ¹⁰These guardrooms on each side of the passageway were all the same size, and the walls between them were all of the same thickness.)

¹¹Next, the man measured the width of the passageway in the gateway. It was 22 feet altogether, and the space between the open gates was 16 feet. ¹²In front of each of the guardrooms there was a low wall 20 inches high and 20 inches thick. (The rooms were 10 feet square.) ¹³Then he measured the distance from the back wall of one room to the back wall of the room across the passageway from it, and it was 42 feet. ¹⁴The room at the far end led out to a courtyard. He measured that room and found it was 34 feet wide. ¹⁵The total length of the gateway from the outside wall of the gate to the far side of the last room was 84 feet. ¹⁶There were small openings in the outside walls of all the rooms and also in the inner walls between the rooms. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway.

The Outer Courtyard

¹⁷The man took me through the gateway into the courtyard. There were thirty rooms built against the outer wall, and in front of them there was an area paved with stones, ¹⁸which extended around the courtyard. This outer courtyard was at a lower level than the inner courtyard.

¹⁹There was a gateway at a higher level that led to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance between the two gateways, and it was 168 feet.

The North Gate

²⁰Then the man measured the gateway on the north side that led into the outer courtyard. ²¹The three guardrooms on each side of the passageway, the walls between them, and the entrance room all had the same measurements as those in the east gateway. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. ²²The entrance room, the windows, and the carved palm trees were like those in the east gate. Here seven steps led up to the gate, and the entrance room was at the end facing the courtyard. ²³Across the courtyard from this north gateway was another gateway leading to the inner courtyard, just as there was on the east side. The man measured the distance between these two gateways, and it was 168 feet.

The South Gate

²⁴Next, the man took me to the south side, and there we saw another gateway. He measured its inner walls and its entrance room, and they were the same as the others. ²⁵There were windows in the rooms of this gateway just as in the others. The total length of the gateway was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. ²⁶Seven steps led up to it, and its entrance room was also at the end facing the courtyard. There were palm trees carved on the inner walls that faced the passageway. ²⁷Here, too, there was a gateway leading to the inner courtyard. The man measured the distance to this second gateway, and it was 168 feet.

The Inner Courtyard: The South Gate

²⁸The man took me through the south gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the gateways in the outer wall. ^29-30Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls were the same size as those in the other gateways. There were also windows in the rooms of this gateway. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. ³¹Its entrance room faced the other courtyard, and palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

The Inner Courtyard: The East Gate

³²The man took me through the east gateway into the inner courtyard. He measured the gateway, and it was the same size as the others. ³³Its guardrooms, its entrance room, and its inner walls measured the same as those in the other gateways. There were windows all around, and in the entrance room also. The total length was 84 feet and the width 42 feet. ³⁴The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

The Inner Courtyard: The North Gate

³⁵Then the man took me to the north gateway. He measured it, and it was the same size as the others. ³⁶Like them, it also had guardrooms, decorated inner walls, an entrance room, and windows all around. Its total length was 84 feet and its width 42 feet. ³⁷The entrance room faced the outer courtyard. Palm trees were carved on the walls along the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

Buildings Near the North Gate

³⁸In the outer courtyard there was an annex attached to the inner gateway on the north side. It opened into the entrance room that faced the courtyard, and there they washed the carcasses of the animals to be burned whole as sacrifices. ³⁹In this entrance room there were four tables, two on each side of the room. It was on these tables that they killed the animals to be offered as sacrifices, either to be burned whole or to be sacrifices for sin or as repayment offerings. ⁴⁰Outside the room there were four similar tables, two on either side of the entrance of the north gate. ⁴¹Altogether there were eight tables on which the animals to be sacrificed were killed: four inside the room and four out in the courtyard. ⁴²The four tables in the annex, used to prepare the offerings to be burned whole, were of cut stone. They were 20 inches high, and their tops were 30 inches square. All the equipment used in killing the sacrificial animals was kept on these tables. ⁴³Ledges 3 inches wide ran around the edge of the tables. All the meat to be offered in sacrifice was placed on the tables.

⁴⁴Then he brought me into the inner court. There were two rooms opening on the inner court, one facing south beside the north gateway and the other facing north beside the south gateway. ⁴⁵The man told me that the room which faced south was for the priests who served in the Temple, ⁴⁶and the room which faced north was for the priests who served at the altar. All the priests are descended from Zadok; they are the only members of the tribe of Levi who are permitted to go into the LORD's presence to serve him.

The Inner Courtyard and the Temple Building

⁴⁷The man measured the inner courtyard, and it was 168 feet square. The Temple was on the west side, and in front of it was an altar. ⁴⁸Then he took me into the entrance room of the Temple. He measured the entranceway: it was 9 feet deep and 24 feet wide, with walls 5 feet thick on either side. ⁴⁹Steps led up to the entrance room, which was 34 feet wide and 20 feet deep. There were two columns, one on each side of the entrance.
Ezekiel 41 Next, the man took me into the central room, the Holy Place. He measured the passageway into it: it was 10 feet deep ²and 18 feet wide, with walls 8 feet thick on either side. He measured the room itself: it was 68 feet long and 34 feet wide.

³Then he went to the innermost room. He measured the passageway into it: it was 3 feet deep and 10 feet wide, with walls on either side 12 feet thick. ⁴He measured the room itself, and it was 34 feet square. This room was beyond the central room. Then he said to me, "This is the Most Holy Place."

The Rooms Built against the Temple Walls

⁵The man measured the thickness of the inner wall of the Temple building, and it was 10 feet. Against this wall, all around the Temple, was a series of small rooms 7 feet wide. ⁶These rooms were in three stories, with thirty rooms on each floor. The Temple's outer wall on each floor was thinner than on the floor below, so that the rooms could rest on the wall without being anchored into it. ⁷And so the Temple walls, when seen from the outside, seemed to have the same thickness all the way to the top. Against the Temple's outer wall, on the outside of the rooms, two wide stairways were built, so that it was possible to go from the lower story to the middle and the upper stories. ^8-11The outside wall of these rooms was 8 feet thick; there was one door into the rooms on the north side of the Temple, and one into those on the south side. I saw that there was a terrace 8 feet wide around the Temple; it was 10 feet above the ground and it was level with the foundation of the rooms by the Temple walls. Between the terrace and the buildings used by the priests there was an open space 34 feet across, along the sides of the Temple.

The Building on the West

¹²At the far end of the open space on the west side of the Temple there was a building 150 feet long and 116 feet wide; its walls were 9 feet thick all around.

The Total Measurements of the Temple Building

¹³The man measured the outside of the Temple, and it was 168 feet long. And from the back of the Temple, across the open space to the far side of the building to the west, the distance was also 168 feet. ¹⁴The distance across the front of the Temple, including the open space on either side, was also 168 feet. ¹⁵He measured the length of the building to the west, including its galleries on both sides, and it was also 168 feet.

Details of the Temple Building

The entrance room of the Temple, the Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place ¹⁶were all paneled with wood from the floor to the windows. These windows could be covered. ¹⁷The inside walls of the Temple, up as high as above the doors, were completely covered with carvings ¹⁸of palm trees and winged creatures. Palm trees alternated with creatures, one following the other, all the way around the room. Each creature had two faces: ¹⁹a human face that was turned toward the palm tree on one side, and a lion's face that was turned toward the tree on the other side. It was like this all around the wall, ²⁰from the floor to above the doors. ²¹The doorposts of the Holy Place were square.

The Wooden Altar

In front of the entrance of the Most Holy Place there was something that looked like ²²a wooden altar. It was 5 feet high and 4 feet wide. Its corner posts, its base, and its sides were all made of wood. The man said to me, "This is the table which stands in the presence of the LORD."

The Doors

²³There was a door at the end of the passageway to the Holy Place and one also at the end of the passageway to the Most Holy Place. ²⁴They were double doors that swung open in the middle. ²⁵There were palm trees and winged creatures carved on the doors of the Holy Place, just as there were on the walls. And there was a wooden covering over the outside of the doorway of the entrance room. ²⁶At the sides of this room there were windows, and the walls were decorated with palm trees.

Isaiah 62 I will speak out to encourage Jerusalem;

I will not be silent until she is saved,

And her victory shines like a torch in the night.

²Jerusalem, the nations will see you victorious!

All their kings will see your glory.

You will be called by a new name,

A name given by the LORD himself.

³You will be like a beautiful crown for the LORD.

⁴No longer will you be called "Forsaken,"

Or your land be called "The Deserted Wife."

Your new name will be "God Is Pleased with Her."

Your land will be called "Happily Married,"

Because the LORD is pleased with you

And will be like a husband to your land.

⁵Like a young man taking a virgin as his bride,

He who formed you will marry you.

As a groom is delighted with his bride,

So your God will delight in you.

⁶On your walls, Jerusalem, I have placed sentries;

They must never be silent day or night.

They must remind the LORD of his promises

And never let him forget them.

⁷They must give him no rest until he restores Jerusalem

And makes it a city the whole world praises.

⁸The LORD has made a solemn promise,

And by his power he will carry it out:

"Your grain will no longer be food for your enemies,

And foreigners will no longer drink your wine.

⁹But you that planted and harvested the grain

Will eat the bread and praise the LORD.

You that tended and gathered the grapes

Will drink the wine in the courts of my Temple."

¹⁰People of Jerusalem, go out of the city

And build a road for your returning people!

Prepare a highway; clear it of stones!

Put up a signal so that the nations can know

¹¹That the LORD is announcing to all the earth:

"Tell the people of Jerusalem

That the LORD is coming to save you,

Bringing with him the people he has rescued."

¹²You will be called "God's Holy People,"

"The People the LORD Has Saved."

Jerusalem will be called "The City That God Loves,"

"The City That God Did Not Forsake."

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.