The Daily Audio Bible

10 At that moment I saw a form of a throne in the dome above the heads of the winged creatures. It appeared above them, and it looked like lapis lazuli. ² He said to the man clothed in linen: Go in between the wheels under the winged creatures.^[a] Fill your hands with fiery coals from between the winged creatures, and scatter them over the city. As I watched, he went in. ³ Now the winged creatures were standing to the right of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner courtyard. ⁴ Then the Lord’s glory rose from above the winged creatures^[b] and moved toward the temple’s threshold. The temple was filled with the cloud, and the courtyard was filled with the brightness of the Lord’s glory. ⁵ The sound of the winged creatures’ wings could be heard as far as the outer courtyard. It was like the sound of God Almighty^[c] when he speaks. ⁶ When he instructed the man clothed in linen to take fire from between the winged creatures and their wheels, the man went and stood next to the wheel. ⁷ Then one of the winged creatures stretched a hand between the winged creatures into the fire that was between them, and he drew out some of it and set it in the palm of the one clothed in linen. He took it and went out. ⁸ It appeared that the winged creatures had the form of a human hand under their wings.

⁹ Suddenly, I saw four wheels next to the winged creatures. There was a wheel next to each winged creature, and the appearance of the wheels was like sparkling topaz. ¹⁰ It appeared that there was one shape for all four of them, as if one wheel were inside another. ¹¹ When they moved in any of the four directions, they moved without swerving. Whichever way the leading one faced, they moved in that direction without swerving. ¹² Their whole body—backs, hands, and wings—as well as their wheels, all four of them, were covered with eyes all around. ¹³ It was these wheels that were called “the wheels” in my hearing. ¹⁴ Each winged creature had four faces. The first face was that of a winged creature, the second face was that of a human being, the third that of a lion, and the fourth that of an eagle. ¹⁵ The winged creatures rose up, the same creatures that I had seen at the Chebar River. ¹⁶ When the winged creatures moved, the wheels moved beside them. When the winged creatures lifted their wings to ascend above the earth, the wheels remained beside them without swerving. ¹⁷ When they stood still, the wheels stood still; when they rose up, they rose up with them, because the spirit^[d] of the living creatures was in them. ¹⁸ Then the Lord’s glory went out from above the temple’s threshold and it stood over the winged creatures. ¹⁹ While I watched, the winged creatures raised their wings and rose from the ground to leave, with their wheels beside them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the temple, and the glory of Israel’s God was up above them. ²⁰ These were the same living creatures that I saw underneath Israel’s God at the Chebar River, and I realized that they were winged creatures. ²¹ Each had four faces and four wings, with the form of a human hand under their wings. ²² The forms of their faces were the same faces that I saw at the Chebar River. Their appearance was also the same. All four of them moved straight ahead.

11 A wind lifted me up and brought me to the east gate of the Lord’s temple. There at the entrance to the gate were twenty-five men, and I saw that two officials of the people, Jaazaniah, Azzur’s son, and Pelatiah, Benaiah’s son, were with them.

² He said to me: Human one, these men devise evil plans and give wicked advice in this city. ³ They are the ones who say, “The nearest relatives aren’t building houses.^[e] The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat.” ⁴ Therefore, prophesy against them, human one, prophesy! ⁵ The Lord’s spirit took hold of me, and he said to me: Say, This is what the Lord God proclaims: So you have said, house of Israel! But I know what you really mean. ⁶ You continue to commit murder in this city, and you fill its streets with the slain.

⁷ Therefore, the Lord God proclaims: The city is the cooking pot, and the ones you have slain in it are the meat. But you will be taken out of it. ⁸ You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you. This is what the Lord God says! ⁹ I will lead you out of the city, hand you over to foreigners, and execute judgments against you. ¹⁰ You will fall by the sword! At Israel’s borders I will judge you, and you will know that I am the Lord. ¹¹ The city won’t be your cooking pot, and you won’t be the meat in it. At Israel’s borders, I will judge you. ¹² You will know that I am the Lord, whose regulations you didn’t observe and whose case laws you didn’t follow. Instead, you followed the case laws of the nations around you.

¹³ While I was prophesying, Benaiah’s son Pelatiah dropped dead. I fell on my face, and I wailed and said, “Oh, Lord God! Are you finishing off even the Israelites who are left?”

¹⁴ The Lord’s word came to me: ¹⁵ Human one, when the people living in Jerusalem said, “They’ve gone far from the Lord, and we’ve been given the land as an inheritance,” they were talking about your family, your nearest relatives, the whole house of Israel, all of it.

¹⁶ Therefore, say, The Lord God proclaims: Even though I made them go far away among the nations and caused them to scatter throughout the earth, I’ve provided some sanctuary for them in the countries to which they’ve gone.

¹⁷ Therefore, say, The Lord God proclaims: I will gather you from the nations, assemble you from the countries where you were scattered, and I will give you Israel’s fertile land. ¹⁸ They will enter the land, and they will remove from it all its disgusting and detestable things. ¹⁹ I will give them a single heart, and I will put a new spirit in them. I will remove the stony hearts from their bodies and give them hearts of flesh ²⁰ so that they may follow my regulations and carefully observe my case laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. ²¹ As for those whose hearts continue to go after their disgusting and detestable things, I will hold them accountable for their ways. This is what the Lord God says!

²² Then the winged creatures raised their wings. The wheels were next to them, and the glory of Israel’s God was above them. ²³ The Lord’s glory ascended from the middle of the city, and it stopped at the mountain east of the city. ²⁴ And a wind lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Chaldea, through a vision with a divine wind.^[f] When the vision I had seen left me, ²⁵ I spoke to the exiles about everything the Lord had shown to me.

Let’s press on to maturity

6 So let’s press on to maturity, by moving on from the basics about Christ’s word. Let’s not lay a foundation of turning away from dead works, of faith in God, ² of teaching about ritual ways to wash with water, laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment—all over again. ³ We’re going to press on, if God allows it.

⁴ Because it’s impossible to restore people to changed hearts and lives who turn away once they have seen the light, tasted the heavenly gift, become partners with the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age. ⁶ They are crucifying God’s Son all over again and exposing him to public shame. ⁷ The ground receives a blessing from God when it drinks up the rain that regularly comes and falls on it and yields a useful crop for those people for whom it is being farmed. ⁸ But if it produces thorns and thistles, it’s useless and close to being cursed. It ends up being burned.

Make your hope sure

⁹ But we are convinced of better things in your case, brothers and sisters, even though we are talking this way—things that go together with salvation. ¹⁰ God isn’t unjust so that he forgets your efforts and the love you have shown for his name’s sake when you served and continue to serve God’s holy people. ¹¹ But we desperately want each of you to show the same effort to make your hope sure until the end. ¹² This is so you won’t be lazy but follow the example of the ones who inherit the promises through faith and patience.

Our hope in Jesus’ priesthood

¹³ When God gave Abraham his promise, he swore by himself since he couldn’t swear by anyone greater. ¹⁴ He said, I will certainly bless you and multiply your descendants.^{[a] 15} So Abraham obtained the promise by showing patience. ¹⁶ People pledge by something greater than themselves. A solemn pledge guarantees what they say and shuts down any argument. ¹⁷ When God wanted to further demonstrate to the heirs of the promise that his purpose doesn’t change, he guaranteed it with a solemn pledge. ¹⁸ So these are two things that don’t change, because it’s impossible for God to lie. He did this so that we, who have taken refuge in him, can be encouraged to grasp the hope that is lying in front of us. ¹⁹ This hope, which is a safe and secure anchor for our whole being, enters the sanctuary behind the curtain. ²⁰ That’s where Jesus went in advance and entered for us, since he became a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.