Christmas Morning: Son Rise on a New Day

Your Prayer Has Been Heard: How God Meets Us in Seasons of Weariness and Waiting

The Promise of Revival

The Mandate to Multiply.

Adversity

What the Bible Says About Advent - 29 Days of Advent Meditations

Scriptures and Hymns to Grow Your Joy This Christmas

Hope in Creator’s Promises

Worth the Wait: Living Pure in a Culture of Pressure

Coffee Talks With Worship Leaders

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 ch37" data-usfm="EZK.37">
         <div class="label">37</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">The Valley of Dry Bones</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="EZK.37.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">The hand of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="EZK.37.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EZK.37.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">He asked me, &#8220;Son of man, can these bones live?&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EZK.37.3"><span class="content">I said, &#8220;Sovereign </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, you alone know.&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="EZK.37.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="EZK.37.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">Then he said to me, &#8220;Prophesy to these bones and say to them, &#8216;Dry bones, hear the word of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">! </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="EZK.37.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">This is what the Sovereign </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> says to these bones: I will make breath</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">37:5 </span><span class="ft">The Hebrew for this word can also mean </span><span class="fq">wind </span><span class="ft">or </span><span class="fq">spirit </span><span class="ft">(see verses 6-14).</span></span></span><span class="content"> enter you, and you will come to life. </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EZK.37.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="EZK.37.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="EZK.37.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EZK.37.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="EZK.37.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="EZK.37.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Then he said to me, &#8220;Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221; </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EZK.37.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet&#8212;a vast army.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="EZK.37.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="EZK.37.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">Then he said to me: &#8220;Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, &#8216;Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="EZK.37.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">Therefore prophesy and say to them: &#8216;This is what the Sovereign </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="EZK.37.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">Then you, my people, will know that I am the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EZK.37.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> have spoken, and I have done it, declares the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content">.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span></span></div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">One Nation Under One King</span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="EZK.37.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="EZK.37.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">The word of the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> came to me: </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="EZK.37.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">&#8220;Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, &#8216;Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.&#8217; Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, &#8216;Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EZK.37.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="EZK.37.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="EZK.37.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">&#8220;When your people ask you, &#8216;Won&#8217;t you tell us what you mean by this?&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="EZK.37.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">say to them, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph&#8212;which is in Ephraim&#8217;s hand&#8212;and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah&#8217;s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.&#8217; </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="EZK.37.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="EZK.37.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">and say to them, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="EZK.37.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="EZK.37.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">37:23 </span><span class="ft">Many Hebrew manuscripts (see also Septuagint); most Hebrew manuscripts </span><span class="fqa">all their dwelling places where they sinned</span></span></span><span class="content"> and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.</span></span></div><div class="p"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="EZK.37.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="EZK.37.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="EZK.37.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children&#8217;s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="EZK.37.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="EZK.37.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="EZK.37.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">Then the nations will know that I the </span><span class="nd"><span class="content">Lord</span></span><span class="content"> make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</span></span></div>
      </div>
   </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
   <div class="book bkJOB">
      <div class="chapter ch21" data-usfm="JOB.21">
         <div class="label">21</div><div class="s1"><span class="heading">Job</span></div><div class="p"><span class="content">  </span><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="JOB.21.1"><span class="label">1</span><span class="content">Then Job replied:</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v1" data-usfm="JOB.21.1"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="JOB.21.2"><span class="label">2</span><span class="content">&#8220;Listen carefully to my words;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="JOB.21.2"><span class="content">let this be the consolation you give me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v2" data-usfm="JOB.21.2"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JOB.21.3"><span class="label">3</span><span class="content">Bear with me while I speak,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JOB.21.3"><span class="content">and after I have spoken, mock on.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v3" data-usfm="JOB.21.3"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JOB.21.4"><span class="label">4</span><span class="content">&#8220;Is my complaint directed to a human being?</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JOB.21.4"><span class="content">Why should I not be impatient?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v4" data-usfm="JOB.21.4"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="JOB.21.5"><span class="label">5</span><span class="content">Look at me and be appalled;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="JOB.21.5"><span class="content">clap your hand over your mouth.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v5" data-usfm="JOB.21.5"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="JOB.21.6"><span class="label">6</span><span class="content">When I think about this, I am terrified;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="JOB.21.6"><span class="content">trembling seizes my body.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v6" data-usfm="JOB.21.6"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="JOB.21.7"><span class="label">7</span><span class="content">Why do the wicked live on,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="JOB.21.7"><span class="content">growing old and increasing in power?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v7" data-usfm="JOB.21.7"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="JOB.21.8"><span class="label">8</span><span class="content">They see their children established around them,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="JOB.21.8"><span class="content">their offspring before their eyes.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v8" data-usfm="JOB.21.8"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="JOB.21.9"><span class="label">9</span><span class="content">Their homes are safe and free from fear;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="JOB.21.9"><span class="content">the rod of God is not on them.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v9" data-usfm="JOB.21.9"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="JOB.21.10"><span class="label">10</span><span class="content">Their bulls never fail to breed;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="JOB.21.10"><span class="content">their cows calve and do not miscarry.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v10" data-usfm="JOB.21.10"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="JOB.21.11"><span class="label">11</span><span class="content">They send forth their children as a flock;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="JOB.21.11"><span class="content">their little ones dance about.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v11" data-usfm="JOB.21.11"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="JOB.21.12"><span class="label">12</span><span class="content">They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="JOB.21.12"><span class="content">they make merry to the sound of the pipe.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v12" data-usfm="JOB.21.12"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="JOB.21.13"><span class="label">13</span><span class="content">They spend their years in prosperity</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="JOB.21.13"><span class="content">and go down to the grave in peace.</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">21:13 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">in an instant</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v13" data-usfm="JOB.21.13"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="JOB.21.14"><span class="label">14</span><span class="content">Yet they say to God, &#8216;Leave us alone!</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="JOB.21.14"><span class="content">We have no desire to know your ways.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v14" data-usfm="JOB.21.14"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="JOB.21.15"><span class="label">15</span><span class="content">Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="JOB.21.15"><span class="content">What would we gain by praying to him?&#8217;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v15" data-usfm="JOB.21.15"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="JOB.21.16"><span class="label">16</span><span class="content">But their prosperity is not in their own hands,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="JOB.21.16"><span class="content">so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v16" data-usfm="JOB.21.16"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="JOB.21.17"><span class="label">17</span><span class="content">&#8220;Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="JOB.21.17"><span class="content">How often does calamity come upon them,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="JOB.21.17"><span class="content">the fate God allots in his anger?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v17" data-usfm="JOB.21.17"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="JOB.21.18"><span class="label">18</span><span class="content">How often are they like straw before the wind,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="JOB.21.18"><span class="content">like chaff swept away by a gale?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v18" data-usfm="JOB.21.18"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="JOB.21.19"><span class="label">19</span><span class="content">It is said, &#8216;God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.&#8217;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="JOB.21.19"><span class="content">Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v19" data-usfm="JOB.21.19"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="JOB.21.20"><span class="label">20</span><span class="content">Let their own eyes see their destruction;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="JOB.21.20"><span class="content">let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v20" data-usfm="JOB.21.20"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="JOB.21.21"><span class="label">21</span><span class="content">For what do they care about the families they leave behind</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="JOB.21.21"><span class="content">when their allotted months come to an end?</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v21" data-usfm="JOB.21.21"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="JOB.21.22"><span class="label">22</span><span class="content">&#8220;Can anyone teach knowledge to God,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="JOB.21.22"><span class="content">since he judges even the highest?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v22" data-usfm="JOB.21.22"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="JOB.21.23"><span class="label">23</span><span class="content">One person dies in full vigor,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="JOB.21.23"><span class="content">completely secure and at ease,</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v23" data-usfm="JOB.21.23"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="JOB.21.24"><span class="label">24</span><span class="content">well nourished in body,</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">21:24 </span><span class="ft">The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.</span></span></span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="JOB.21.24"><span class="content">bones rich with marrow.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v24" data-usfm="JOB.21.24"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="JOB.21.25"><span class="label">25</span><span class="content">Another dies in bitterness of soul,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="JOB.21.25"><span class="content">never having enjoyed anything good.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v25" data-usfm="JOB.21.25"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="JOB.21.26"><span class="label">26</span><span class="content">Side by side they lie in the dust,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="JOB.21.26"><span class="content">and worms cover them both.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v26" data-usfm="JOB.21.26"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="JOB.21.27"><span class="label">27</span><span class="content">&#8220;I know full well what you are thinking,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="JOB.21.27"><span class="content">the schemes by which you would wrong me.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v27" data-usfm="JOB.21.27"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="JOB.21.28"><span class="label">28</span><span class="content">You say, &#8216;Where now is the house of the great,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="JOB.21.28"><span class="content">the tents where the wicked lived?&#8217;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v28" data-usfm="JOB.21.28"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="JOB.21.29"><span class="label">29</span><span class="content">Have you never questioned those who travel?</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="JOB.21.29"><span class="content">Have you paid no regard to their accounts&#8212;</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v29" data-usfm="JOB.21.29"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="JOB.21.30"><span class="label">30</span><span class="content">that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="JOB.21.30"><span class="content">that they are delivered from</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">21:30 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">wicked are reserved for the day of calamity, / that they are brought forth to</span></span></span><span class="content"> the day of wrath?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v30" data-usfm="JOB.21.30"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="JOB.21.31"><span class="label">31</span><span class="content">Who denounces their conduct to their face?</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="JOB.21.31"><span class="content">Who repays them for what they have done?</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v31" data-usfm="JOB.21.31"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="JOB.21.32"><span class="label">32</span><span class="content">They are carried to the grave,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="JOB.21.32"><span class="content">and watch is kept over their tombs.</span></span></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v32" data-usfm="JOB.21.32"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="JOB.21.33"><span class="label">33</span><span class="content">The soil in the valley is sweet to them;</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="JOB.21.33"><span class="content">everyone follows after them,</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="JOB.21.33"><span class="content">and a countless throng goes</span><span class="note f"><span class="label">#</span><span class=" body"><span class="fr">21:33 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="fqa">them, / as a countless throng went</span></span></span><span class="content"> before them.</span></span></div><div class="b"></div><div class="q1"><span class="verse v33" data-usfm="JOB.21.33"><span class="content">  </span></span><span class="verse v34" data-usfm="JOB.21.34"><span class="label">34</span><span class="content">&#8220;So how can you console me with your nonsense?</span></span></div><div class="q2"><span class="verse v34" data-usfm="JOB.21.34"><span class="content">Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!&#8221;</span></span></div>
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F260 Old Testament Reading PlanSample

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