The Gospel of Mark (Part Seven)

Life Light: Gospel of John

The Believer

The Greatest Story: Through the Bible in a Year

Am I Really a Christian?

Living Like Jesus in a Broken World

Overcoming the Trap of Self-Pity

Reimagine Influence Through the Life of Lydia

Positive and Encouraging Thoughts for Women: A 5-Day Devotional From K-LOVE

Who Am I, Really? Discovering the You God Had in Mind

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="EZK.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="s1">Ezekiel&#8217;s Inaugural Vision</div><div class="p"> 1In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.</div><div class="p"> 2On the fifth of the month&#8212;it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin&#8212; 3the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians.#1:3 Or Chaldeans There the hand of the Lord was on him.</div><div class="p"> 4I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north&#8212;an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, 5and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, 6but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. 8Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, 9and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.</div><div class="p"> 10Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. 11Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body. 12Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. 13The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. 14The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.</div><div class="p"> 15As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. 16This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. 17As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. 18Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.</div><div class="p"> 19When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. 20Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.</div><div class="p"> 22Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome. 23Under the vault their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. 24When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty,#1:24 Hebrew Shaddai like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.</div><div class="p"> 25Then there came a voice from above the vault over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. 26Above the vault over their heads was what looked like a throne of lapis lazuli, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. 27I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. 28Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.</div><div class="p">This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="EZK.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">Ezekiel&#8217;s Call to Be a Prophet</div><div class="p"> 1He said to me, &#8220;Son of man,#2:1 The Hebrew phrase ben adam means human being. The phrase son of man is retained as a form of address here and throughout Ezekiel because of its possible association with &#8220;Son of Man&#8221; in the New Testament. stand up on your feet and I will speak to you.&#8221; 2As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.</div><div class="p"> 3He said: &#8220;Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. 4The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says.&#8217; 5And whether they listen or fail to listen&#8212;for they are a rebellious people&#8212;they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. 7You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, 10which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch3" data-usfm="EZK.3">
 <div class="label">3</div><div class="p"> 1And he said to me, &#8220;Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.&#8221; 2So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.</div><div class="p"> 3Then he said to me, &#8220;Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.&#8221; So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.</div><div class="p"> 4He then said to me: &#8220;Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them. 5You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language, but to the people of Israel&#8212; 6not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. 7But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate. 8But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. 9I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 10And he said to me, &#8220;Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you. 11Go now to your people in exile and speak to them. Say to them, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says,&#8217; whether they listen or fail to listen.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 12Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the glory of the Lord rose from the place where it was standing.#3:12 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text sound&#8212;may the glory of the Lord be praised from his place 13It was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against each other and the sound of the wheels beside them, a loud rumbling sound. 14The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the Lord on me. 15I came to the exiles who lived at Tel Aviv near the Kebar River. And there, where they were living, I sat among them for seven days&#8212;deeply distressed.</div><div class="s1">Ezekiel&#8217;s Task as Watchman</div><div class="p"> 16At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: 17&#8220;Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18When I say to a wicked person, &#8216;You will surely die,&#8217; and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for#3:18 Or in; also in verses 19 and 20 their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 19But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself.</div><div class="p"> 20&#8220;Again, when a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before them, they will die. Since you did not warn them, they will die for their sin. The righteous things that person did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 21But if you do warn the righteous person not to sin and they do not sin, they will surely live because they took warning, and you will have saved yourself.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 22The hand of the Lord was on me there, and he said to me, &#8220;Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.&#8221; 23So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown.</div><div class="p"> 24Then the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet. He spoke to me and said: &#8220;Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25And you, son of man, they will tie with ropes; you will be bound so that you cannot go out among the people. 26I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be silent and unable to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious people. 27But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says.&#8217; Whoever will listen let them listen, and whoever will refuse let them refuse; for they are a rebellious people.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch4" data-usfm="EZK.4">
 <div class="label">4</div><div class="s1">Siege of Jerusalem Symbolized</div><div class="p"> 1&#8220;Now, son of man, take a block of clay, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it. 2Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it. 3Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the people of Israel.</div><div class="p"> 4&#8220;Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the people of Israel upon yourself.#4:4 Or upon your side You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. 5I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the people of Israel.</div><div class="p"> 6&#8220;After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the people of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year. 7Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her. 8I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.</div><div class="p"> 9&#8220;Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side. 10Weigh out twenty shekels#4:10 That is, about 8 ounces or about 230 grams of food to eat each day and eat it at set times. 11Also measure out a sixth of a hin#4:11 That is, about 2/3 quart or about 0.6 liter of water and drink it at set times. 12Eat the food as you would a loaf of barley bread; bake it in the sight of the people, using human excrement for fuel.&#8221; 13The Lord said, &#8220;In this way the people of Israel will eat defiled food among the nations where I will drive them.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 14Then I said, &#8220;Not so, Sovereign Lord! I have never defiled myself. From my youth until now I have never eaten anything found dead or torn by wild animals. No impure meat has ever entered my mouth.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 15&#8220;Very well,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I will let you bake your bread over cow dung instead of human excrement.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 16He then said to me: &#8220;Son of man, I am about to cut off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat rationed food in anxiety and drink rationed water in despair, 17for food and water will be scarce. They will be appalled at the sight of each other and will waste away because of#4:17 Or away in their sin.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch5" data-usfm="EZK.5">
 <div class="label">5</div><div class="s1">God&#8217;s Razor of Judgment</div><div class="p"> 1&#8220;Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber&#8217;s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair. 2When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword. 3But take a few hairs and tuck them away in the folds of your garment. 4Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel.</div><div class="p"> 5&#8220;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. 6Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees.</div><div class="p"> 7&#8220;Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not even#5:7 Most Hebrew manuscripts; some Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac You have conformed to the standards of the nations around you.</div><div class="p"> 8&#8220;Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment on you in the sight of the nations. 9Because of all your detestable idols, I will do to you what I have never done before and will never do again. 10Therefore in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents. I will inflict punishment on you and will scatter all your survivors to the winds. 11Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your vile images and detestable practices, I myself will shave you; I will not look on you with pity or spare you. 12A third of your people will die of the plague or perish by famine inside you; a third will fall by the sword outside your walls; and a third I will scatter to the winds and pursue with drawn sword.</div><div class="p"> 13&#8220;Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal.</div><div class="p"> 14&#8220;I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. 15You will be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and an object of horror to the nations around you when I inflict punishment on you in anger and in wrath and with stinging rebuke. I the Lord have spoken. 16When I shoot at you with my deadly and destructive arrows of famine, I will shoot to destroy you. I will bring more and more famine upon you and cut off your supply of food. 17I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will leave you childless. Plague and bloodshed will sweep through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I the Lord have spoken.&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch6" data-usfm="EZK.6">
 <div class="label">6</div><div class="s1">Doom for the Mountains of Israel</div><div class="p"> 1The word of the Lord came to me: 2&#8220;Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel; prophesy against them 3and say: &#8216;You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. 4Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will slay your people in front of your idols. 5I will lay the dead bodies of the Israelites in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6Wherever you live, the towns will be laid waste and the high places demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and devastated, your idols smashed and ruined, your incense altars broken down, and what you have made wiped out. 7Your people will fall slain among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.</div><div class="p"> 8&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;But I will spare some, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the lands and nations. 9Then in the nations where they have been carried captive, those who escape will remember me&#8212;how I have been grieved by their adulterous hearts, which have turned away from me, and by their eyes, which have lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices. 10And they will know that I am the Lord; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.</div><div class="p"> 11&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Strike your hands together and stamp your feet and cry out &#8220;Alas!&#8221; because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the people of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine and plague. 12One who is far away will die of the plague, and one who is near will fall by the sword, and anyone who survives and is spared will die of famine. So will I pour out my wrath on them. 13And they will know that I am the Lord, when their people lie slain among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and on all the mountaintops, under every spreading tree and every leafy oak&#8212;places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols. 14And I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the desert to Diblah#6:14 Most Hebrew manuscripts; a few Hebrew manuscripts Riblah&#8212;wherever they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div>
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