The Daily Audio Bible
Four Judgments
12 The word of the Lord came to me.
13 Son of man, when a land sins against me by adding one act of infidelity to another, so that I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its bread supply,[a] to send famine against it, and to cut off man and beast from it, 14 even if these three men were in its midst—Noah, Daniel, and Job—by their righteousness they would save only their own lives, declares the Lord God.
15 If I cause wild animals to pass through the land and they rob it of its children, so that it becomes desolate, and no one can pass through because of the wild animals, 16 and if these three men were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would not save either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be devastated.
17 Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, “A sword shall pass through the land,” and I cut off from it man and beast, 18 and these three men were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would not be able to save either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be saved.
19 Or if I send a plague on that land, and with bloodshed I pour out my wrath on it to cut off man and beast from it, 20 and if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live, says the Lord God, they would not be able to save either their sons or their daughters. By their righteousness they would save only their own lives.
21 For this is what the Lord God says. How much worse it will be when I send my four terrible judgments—sword, famine, wild animals, and plague—upon Jerusalem to cut off man and beast from it!
22 But wait! A group of survivors will be left in it, those sons and daughters who will be brought out. Look! They are coming out to you, and you shall see their ways and their actions. Then you will be comforted concerning the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem, everything that I brought upon it. 23 And they will comfort you, because you will see their ways and their actions. Then you will know that it was not without cause that I did everything that I did against the city, declares the Lord God.
Jerusalem Is a Useless Vine
15 The word of the Lord came to me.
2 Son of man, what can be done with the wood of a grapevine compared to the wood from the branches of all the other trees in the forest? 3 Can its wood be used to make something useful? Can people make a peg from it to hang things on? 4 No, it is fed into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned up. Is it useful for any purpose then? 5 Since it could not be used for any purpose when it was undamaged, how much less can it be used to make anything useful after the fire has devoured it and it has been burned! 6 Therefore, this is what the Lord says. Like the wood of the grapevine from among the trees of the forest, which I have fed into the fire for fuel, in the same way I will feed the inhabitants of Jerusalem into the fire. 7 I will set my face against them. They have come out from the fire, but the fire will still devour them. Then you will know that I am the Lord when I set my face against them. 8 I will make the land desolate because they added one infidelity to another, declares the Lord God.
Jerusalem, the Prostitute[b]
16 The word of the Lord came to me.
2 Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominations. 3 Tell them this is what the Lord God says to Jerusalem.
Your origin and your birth were from the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 This is the way it was at your birth. On the day you were born, your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were not washed with water to clean you up.[c] You were not rubbed down with salt, nor were you tightly wrapped with cloths. 5 No eye looked at you with pity to do any of these things for you or to show compassion to you. On the day you were born, you were thrown out in the open field without regard for your life.
6 I passed by, and I saw you squirming in your blood. I said to you, “You there, lying there in your blood, live!” and I said to you, “You there, lying there in your blood, live!”[d] 7 I made you grow like a sprout in the field. You grew up, you developed, and you became very beautiful.[e] Your breasts were formed and your hair had appeared, but you were completely naked. 8 I passed by and saw you, and I noticed that you were old enough for love.[f] So I spread the skirt of my robe over you and covered your nakedness. I swore an oath to you to enter into a covenant of marriage with you, declares the Lord God, and you became mine. 9 I washed you with water. I washed your blood off you. I anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you with the finest embroidered material and gave you sandals of luxurious leather.[g] I wrapped your head in the best linen and covered you with silk. 11 I adorned you with jewelry. I put bracelets on your wrists and a necklace around your neck. 12 I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears, and a glorious crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of the best linen, with silk and the finest embroidered material. You ate fine flour, honey, and olive oil. You were extraordinarily beautiful, and you attained the status of a queen. 14 Your fame spread throughout the nations because of your beauty. In fact, it was perfect because of my splendor, which I had bestowed upon you, declares the Lord God.
15 But you trusted in your beauty, and, relying on your fame, you acted like a prostitute. You lavished your lust on every man passing by—you became his. 16 You took some of your clothing and made colorful high places for yourself and acted like a prostitute on them. Such things should not happen. They should not be! 17 You took your glorious articles made from my gold and my silver, which I had given to you, and you made male idols for yourself, and you acted like a prostitute with them. 18 You took your clothing made of the finest embroidered material and covered the idols, and you set my oil and my incense in front of them. 19 Also my food which I gave you—the fine flour, oil, and honey which I fed you—you set in front of them as a fragrant sacrifice. This is what happened, declares the Lord God.
20 You even took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore for me, and sacrificed them as food for the idols. Was your continual prostitution not enough? 21 Did you have to slaughter my children and offer them to the idols by making them pass through the fire? 22 With all your abominations and your prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were completely naked, when you were squirming about in your blood. 23 So after all your wickedness—woe, woe to you, says the Lord God!— 24 you built for yourself a platform,[h] and you made a pavilion[i] for yourself in every public square. 25 At the corner of every street you set up your pavilion and made your beauty into a disgusting thing. You spread your legs for every man passing by, and you multiplied your acts of prostitution. 26 You acted like a whore with the sons of Egypt, your neighbors with their enlarged flesh,[j] and you multiplied your acts of prostitution to enrage me!
27 Look at how I stretched out my hand against you. I reduced your territory. I gave you up to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were embarrassed by your lewd ways. 28 You acted like a whore with the sons of the Assyrians because you were insatiable. Even after your acts of prostitution with them, you were not satisfied. 29 So you extended your whoring ways to the land of merchants, to Chaldea, but even with this you were not satisfied. 30 How sick your heart is, says the Lord God, that you did all these things, the behavior of a woman who is a domineering whore! 31 When you built your platform at the corner of every street and you made your pavilion in every public square, you were not like an ordinary prostitute, because you refused payment. 32 You adulterous wife, who procures strange men instead of her husband, 33 to all prostitutes men pay a fee, but you gave your gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from all around to join your whoring ways. 34 You were the opposite of the other women in your whoring ways. You were not solicited for prostitution, but you gave payment to your lovers. Instead of payment being given to you, you were the very opposite.
35 Therefore, you whore, hear the word of the Lord! 36 This is what the Lord God says. Because your moisture[k] was poured out, and your nakedness was exposed during your whoring ways with your lovers, because of all your disgusting, filthy idols, and because of the blood of your children, whom you gave to them, 37 for all this, I am about to gather all your lovers to whom you were giving pleasure—all those you loved, as well as all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around. I will expose your nakedness to them, and they will see your nakedness. 38 I will judge you with the judgments deserved by women who commit adultery and who shed blood. I will make you bloody in my wrath and jealousy.[l] 39 I will deliver you into their hands, and they will tear down your platform, demolish your pavilion, strip you of your clothing, take away your glorious jewelry, and leave you completely naked. 40 They will bring up a mob against you, and they will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. 41 They will burn down your houses with fire and carry out judgments against you in the sight of many women. I will make you stop being a whore, and you will never again give a payment.
18 To be sure, the former requirement is annulled, because it was weak and useless— 19 for the law did not bring anything to its goal—but now a better hope is introduced, by which we approach God.
20 And something like this did not happen without an oath. Indeed, others who became priests did so without an oath, 21 but this one became a priest with an oath, through the one who said to him:
The Lord has sworn an oath
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever.”[a]
22 In this way, Jesus has become the guarantor[b] of a better covenant.[c]
23 There were many who became priests because death prevented any of them from continuing to remain in office. 24 But because this one endures forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 So for this reason he is able to save forever those who come to God through him, because he always lives to plead on their behalf.
Jesus Is the High Priest We Need
26 This is certainly the kind of high priest we needed: one who is holy, innocent, pure, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices on a daily basis, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. In fact, he sacrificed for sins once and for all when he offered himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weaknesses. But the word of the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been brought to his goal forever.
Psalm 106
Israel Forgets
Introduction
1 Praise the Lord.[a]
Give thanks to the Lord,
for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
2 Who can tell about the mighty deeds of the Lord?
Who can cause all his praise to be heard?
3 Blessed are those who defend justice,
who do what is right all the time.
4 Remember me, O Lord,
when you show favor to your people.
Visit me with your salvation,
5 so that I may experience the good that belongs to your chosen ones,
so that I may rejoice in the joy of your nation,
so that I may join in praise with the people that belongs to you.
Rebellion in Egypt
6 We have sinned along with our fathers.
We have become guilty. We have acted wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt did not reflect on your wonders.
They did not remember your abundant mercies,
so they rebelled beside the sea, by the Red Sea.
God’s Grace
8 Nevertheless, he saved them for his name’s sake,
to make his might known.
9 Then he rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up.
He caused them to go through the deep sea as if it were a desert.
10 He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them.
He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 Then the waters covered their foes.
Not one of them remained.
12 Then they believed his words. They sang his praise.
4 Cruel wrath and a flood of anger are devastating,
but who can stand up against jealousy?
5 Open correction is better than concealed love.
6 Wounds from someone who loves you can be trusted,
but the kisses of someone who hates you are too much.[a]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.