The Daily Audio Bible
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The Lord Will Defeat Gog and
Pour Out His Spirit on His People
39 Now you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say this.
This is what the Lord says to you. I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshek, and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around. I will show you the way. I will lead you up from the remotest regions of the north, and I will bring you against the mountains of Israel. 3 But there I will knock your bow out of your left hand, and I will make your arrows fall from your right hand. 4 On the mountains of Israel you will fall—you, all your troops, and the peoples who are with you. I will give you as food to scavenging birds of every kind and to the wild animals. 5 In the open country you will fall, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. 6 I will also send fire on Magog and on those who live in security on the coastlands. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
7 I will make my holy name known among my people Israel. I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore, and the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 8 It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Lord God. This is the day of which I have spoken. 9 Then those who live in the cities of Israel will go out and set the weapons on fire and burn the small shields and large shields, bows and arrows, clubs and spears. They will use them as firewood for seven years. 10 They will not take wood from the open country or gather it from the forests because they will use the weapons as firewood. They will loot those who looted them and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord God.
11 On that day I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, in the valley used by those who travel east toward the sea,[a] and it will block the way for travelers. There they will bury Gog and all his horde and call it the Valley of Gog’s Horde. 12 The house of Israel will spend seven months burying them in order to cleanse the land. 13 All the people of the land of Israel will join in burying them, and it will bring honor to them on that day when I display my glory, declares the Lord God. 14 In addition, they will assign men to work full-time, passing through the land together with others, to bury those who are left on the surface of the ground in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months, they will still be searching. 15 Whenever those who pass through the land see a human bone, they will set up a marker beside it until the burial squad has buried it in the Valley of Gog’s Horde. 16 So the name of a city there will be Hamonah.[b] In this way they will cleanse the land.
17 This is what the Lord God says to you, son of man. Speak to the birds, to every winged creature, and to all the wild animals. Tell them this.
Assemble yourselves and come. From all around gather yourselves to my sacrificial meal, which I am preparing for you as a sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel. You will eat meat and drink blood. 18 You will eat the meat of warriors and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, like rams and lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fattened animals from Bashan. 19 You will eat fat until you are full and drink blood until you are drunk from my sacrificial meal, which I have prepared for you. 20 At my table you will be filled with horses and charioteers, with warriors and soldiers of every kind, declares the Lord God.
21 In this way I will establish my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see my justice which I have carried out and my hand which I have laid upon them. 22 The house of Israel will know from that day forward that I am the Lord, their God. 23 Then the nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile because of their guilt, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and delivered them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their rebellion, and I hid my face from them.
25 Therefore, this is what the Lord God says. Now I will bring about the restoration of Jacob. I will have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. 26 They will bear their shame and all the unfaithfulness that they displayed toward me, even when they lived securely in their own land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I bring them back from the nations and gather them from the lands of their enemies, I will show myself to be holy among them in the sight of many nations. 28 They will know that I am the Lord their God, because, even though I sent them into captivity among the nations, I also gathered them again to their own land, and I will never again leave any of them there in captivity. 29 Nor will I ever hide my face from them again, because I will have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord God.
A Vision of the New Temple[c]
40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year,[d] on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, the hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me there. 2 In visions of God, he brought me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. On the south side there was a structure that resembled a city. 3 When he brought me there, I saw a man who looked as if he were made of bronze. In his hand he had a linen cord and a measuring rod. He was standing by the gatehouse.
4 The man said to me, “Son of man, watch carefully, listen carefully, and pay attention to[e] everything that I am about to show you, because you were brought here so that I could show it to you. Report everything you see to the house of Israel.”
The Wall and Outer Gates
The Wall
5 I saw a wall[f] all the way around the temple compound. In the man’s hand was the measuring rod, six cubits long (using the long cubit).[g] When he measured the thickness of the structure, it was one rod thick, and its height was one rod.
The East Gatehouse
6 Then he approached the gatehouse[h] that was on the east side of the temple compound and went up its steps. He measured the threshold of the gate. It was one rod deep.[i] 7 Each guardroom[j] was one rod wide and one rod deep. Between the guardrooms, the walls were five cubits thick,[k] and the threshold of the gate of the vestibule[l] on the inner side of the gatehouse was one rod deep. 8 ⎣He measured the vestibule on the inner side of the gatehouse. It was one rod.⎦[m]
9 He measured the vestibule of the gatehouse, which was eight cubits,[n] and its gateposts were two cubits. The vestibule of the gatehouse was located at the inner end of the gateway. 10 Inside the east gatehouse, there were three guardrooms on either side of the entry. All three were the same size, and the gateposts on either side were also the same size. 11 Then he measured the width of the entry into the gateway. It was ten cubits, and the length of the gateway was thirteen cubits.[o] 12 There was a barrier in front of the guardrooms, one cubit wide, on both sides of the passage. Each guardroom was six cubits square.[p]
13 Next he measured the passageway through the gatehouse, from the outside edge of the ceiling of one guardroom to the outside edge of the ceiling opposite it. The total width was twenty-five cubits.[q] The doorways to the guardrooms were facing each other on each side of the passageway. 14 He determined that the measurement of the gateposts was sixty cubits,[r] and the courtyard all around the gateway reached to the gateposts.[s] 15 From the front of the outer entrance of the gateway to the outside edge of the vestibule on the inner side of the gateway was fifty cubits.[t] 16 The guardrooms and their doorposts had openings on all sides. The openings were slits that were narrower toward the inside of the gate, and likewise, the vestibule had openings that narrowed toward the inside all the way around.[u] The doorposts had decorations like palm trees.
The Outer Courtyard
17 Then he brought me into the outer courtyard. There were rooms and a pavement constructed all the way around the courtyard. Thirty rooms faced the pavement.[v] 18 The pavement ran along the sides of the gates. The pavement was as wide as the length of the gatehouse. This was the lower pavement. 19 He measured the width of the pavement from the inside edge of the outer gatehouse to the outside edge of the inner courtyard. It measured one hundred cubits[w] on the east and on the north sides of the temple.
The North Gatehouse
20 There was a gateway leading into the outer courtyard on the north side. The man measured its length and its width. 21 Its guardrooms, three on each side, its gateposts, and its vestibule had the same measurements as the first gatehouse, fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 22 The entry, the vestibule, and its palm decorations also had the same measurements as those of the gatehouse facing east. From outside the temple compound one could enter the gate by seven steps, and the vestibule of the gateway was straight ahead at the inner end of the gateway.
23 A gateway into the inner courtyard was opposite the outer gatehouse (the same as on the east side), and he measured from the outer gate to the inner one opposite it. The distance was one hundred cubits.[x]
The South Gatehouse
24 Next, he led me toward the south, and there also was a gatehouse on the south side of the temple compound. He measured its gateposts and its vestibule, and the measurements were like the others. 25 It and its vestibule had openings all around like the openings of the others. Its length was fifty cubits and its width was twenty-five cubits. 26 It had seven steps going up to it, and its vestibule was straight ahead of them at the opposite end of the gateway, and it had palm decorations on either side on its gateposts. 27 The inner courtyard also had a gateway facing south. He measured from one gate to the other toward the south. It was one hundred cubits.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
19 You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder! 20 But do you want proof, you mindless person, that such “faith” without works is dead?[a] 21 Wasn’t Abraham our father shown to be righteous by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that his faith was working together with his works, and by his works his faith was shown to be complete. 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[b] He was also called God’s friend.[c] 24 You see[d] that a person is shown to be righteous by works and not by faith alone.
25 In the same way also, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute shown to be righteous by works when she welcomed the spies and sent them out another way? 26 For just as the body without breath[e] is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
Control Your Tongue
3 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 To be sure, we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a fully mature man, able to bridle his whole body as well.
3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they will obey us, we also guide the whole animal. 4 And consider ships: Although they are very big and are driven by fierce winds, yet they are guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 So also the tongue is a small part of the body, yet it also boasts great things.
Consider how a little flame can set a large forest on fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire. It is set among the parts of our body as a world of unrighteousness that stains the whole body, sets the whole course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell.[f] 7 Indeed, every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and sea creature is being tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no one is able to tame the human tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord[g] and Father, and with it we curse people, who are made in the likeness of God. 10 Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers, these things should not be this way. 11 A spring does not pour out both fresh and bitter water from the same opening, does it? 12 Can a fig tree bear olives, my brothers, or can a grapevine produce figs? A salt spring cannot produce fresh water either.[h]
Wisdom From Above
13 Who among you is wise and intelligent? Let him by his good way of living show that he does things in wise humility. 14 But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not boast and lie, contrary to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but it is worldly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 In fact, where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and every bad practice. 17 But the wisdom that comes from above is first pure, then also peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, and sincere. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who practice peace.
Psalm 118
The Stone the Builders Rejected
Introduction
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
2 Let Israel say now: Yes, his mercy endures forever.
3 Let the house of Aaron say now: Yes, his mercy endures forever.
4 Let those who fear the Lord say now: Yes, his mercy endures forever.
Trust During Distress
5 Under pressure I cried to the Lord.[a]
The Lord answered me.
He set me in a wide-open space.
6 The Lord is with me.
I will not be afraid.
What can people do to me?
7 The Lord, who is with me, is my helper,
so I will look in triumph on my enemies.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in human benefactors.[b]
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them off.[c]
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me,
but in the name of the Lord I cut them off.
12 They surrounded me like bees,
but they were extinguished as quickly as a fire of thorns.
In the name of the Lord I cut them off.
13 You pushed me hard to make me fall,
but the Lord helped me.
The Messiah’s Joy in Victory
14 My strength and song is the Lord,
and he has become salvation for me.
15 Loud shouts of victory are heard in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord has done a mighty deed!
16 The right hand of the Lord is lifted high!
The right hand of the Lord has done a mighty deed!”
17 I will not die. No, I will live,
and I will proclaim the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord has chastened me severely,
but he has not handed me over to death.
2 A rebellious land has many rulers,
but one man with understanding and knowledge provides stability.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.