The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday November 4, 2017 (NIV)

The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple

10 ^(A)I looked at the dome over the heads of the living creatures^[a] and above them was something that seemed to be a throne made of sapphire. ^2 (B)God said to the man wearing linen clothes, “Go between the wheels under the creatures and fill your hands with burning coals. Then scatter the coals over the city.”

I watched him go. ³ The creatures were standing to the south of the Temple when he went in, and a cloud filled the inner courtyard. ⁴ The dazzling light of the Lord's presence rose up from the creatures and moved to the entrance of the Temple. Then the cloud filled the Temple, and the courtyard was blazing with the light. ⁵ The noise made by the creatures' wings was heard even in the outer courtyard. It sounded like the voice of Almighty God.

⁶ When the Lord commanded the man wearing linen clothes to take some fire from between the wheels that were under the creatures, the man went in and stood by one of the wheels. ⁷ One of the creatures reached his hand into the fire that was there among them, picked up some coals, and put them in the hands of the man in linen. The man took the coals and left.

⁸ I saw that each creature had what looked like a human hand under each of its wings. ^9-10 (C)I also saw that there were four wheels, all alike, one beside each creature. The wheels shone like precious stones, and each one had another wheel which intersected it at right angles. ¹¹ When the creatures moved, they could go in any direction without turning. They all moved together in the direction they wanted to go, without having to turn around. ^12 (D)Their bodies, backs, hands, wings, and wheels were covered with eyes. ¹³ I heard a voice calling out, “Whirling wheels.”

^14 (E)Each creature had four faces. The first was the face of a bull, the second a human face, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. ¹⁵ (They were the same creatures that I had seen by the Chebar River.) When the creatures rose in the air ¹⁶ and moved, the wheels went with them. Whenever they spread their wings to fly, the wheels still went with them. ¹⁷ When the creatures stopped, the wheels stopped; and when the creatures flew, the wheels went with them, because the creatures controlled them.

¹⁸ Then the dazzling light of the Lord's presence left the entrance of the Temple and moved to a place above the creatures. ¹⁹ They spread their wings and flew up from the earth while I was watching, and the wheels went with them. They paused at the east gate of the Temple, and the dazzling light was over them. ²⁰ I recognized them as the same creatures which I had seen beneath the God of Israel at the Chebar River.

²¹ Each of them had four faces, four wings, and what looked like a human hand under each wing. ²² Their faces looked exactly like the faces^[b] I had seen by the Chebar River. Each creature moved straight ahead.

Jerusalem Is Condemned

11 God's spirit lifted me up and took me to the east gate of the Temple. There near the gate I saw twenty-five men, including Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, two leaders of the nation.

² God said to me, “Mortal man, these men make evil plans and give bad advice in this city. ³ They say, ‘We will soon be building houses again.^[c] The city is like a cooking pot, and we are like the meat in it, but at least it protects us from the fire.’ ⁴ Now then, denounce them, mortal man.”

⁵ The spirit of the Lord took control of me, and the Lord told me to give the people this message: “People of Israel, I know what you are saying and what you are planning. ⁶ You have murdered so many people here in the city that the streets are full of corpses.

⁷ “So this is what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to you. This city is a cooking pot all right, but what is the meat? The corpses of those you have killed! You will not be here—I will throw you out of the city! ⁸ Are you afraid of swords? I will bring soldiers with swords to attack you. ⁹ I will take you out of the city and hand you over to foreigners. I have sentenced you to death, ¹⁰ and you will be killed in battle in your own country. Then everyone will know that I am the Lord. ¹¹ This city will not protect you the way a pot protects the meat in it. I will punish you wherever you may be in the land of Israel. ¹² You will know that I am the Lord and that while you were keeping the laws of the neighboring nations, you were breaking my laws and disobeying my commands.”

¹³ While I was prophesying, Pelatiah dropped dead. I threw myself face downward on the ground and shouted, “No, Sovereign Lord! Are you going to kill everyone left in Israel?”

God's Promise to the Exiles

¹⁴ The Lord spoke to me. ¹⁵ “Mortal man,” he said, “the people who live in Jerusalem are talking about you and those of your nation who are in exile. They say, ‘The exiles are too far away to worship the Lord. He has given us possession of the land.’

¹⁶ “Now tell your fellow exiles what I am saying. I am the one who sent them to live in far-off nations and scattered them in other countries. Yet, for the time being I will be present with them in the lands where they have gone.

¹⁷ “So tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying. I will gather them out of the countries where I scattered them, and will give the land of Israel back to them. ¹⁸ When they return, they are to get rid of all the filthy, disgusting idols they find. ^19 (F)I will give them a new heart and a new mind. I will take away their stubborn heart of stone and will give them an obedient heart. ²⁰ Then they will keep my laws and faithfully obey all my commands. They will be my people, and I will be their God. ²¹ But I will punish the people who love to worship filthy, disgusting idols. I will punish them for what they have done.” The Sovereign Lord has spoken.

God's Glory Leaves Jerusalem

^22 (G)The living creatures began to fly, and the wheels went with them. The dazzling light of the presence of the God of Israel was over them. ²³ Then the dazzling light left the city and moved to the mountain east of it. ²⁴ In the vision the spirit of God lifted me up and brought me back to the exiles in Babylonia. Then the vision faded, ²⁵ and I told the exiles everything that the Lord had shown me.

6 Let us go forward, then, to mature teaching and leave behind us the first lessons of the Christian message. We should not lay again the foundation of turning away from useless works and believing in God; ² of the teaching about baptisms^[a] and the laying on of hands; of the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgment. ³ Let us go forward! And this is what we will do, if God allows.

⁴ For how can those who abandon their faith be brought back to repent again? They were once in God's light; they tasted heaven's gift and received their share of the Holy Spirit; ⁵ they knew from experience that God's word is good, and they had felt the powers of the coming age. ⁶ And then they abandoned their faith! It is impossible to bring them back to repent again, because they are again crucifying the Son of God and exposing him to public shame.

⁷ God blesses the soil which drinks in the rain that often falls on it and which grows plants that are useful to those for whom it is cultivated. ^8 (A)But if it grows thorns and weeds, it is worth nothing; it is in danger of being cursed by God and will be destroyed by fire.

⁹ But even if we speak like this, dear friends, we feel sure about you. We know that you have the better blessings that belong to your salvation. ¹⁰ God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to other Christians. ¹¹ Our great desire is that each of you keep up your eagerness to the end, so that the things you hope for will come true. ¹² We do not want you to become lazy, but to be like those who believe and are patient, and so receive what God has promised.

God's Sure Promise

¹³ When God made his promise to Abraham, he made a vow to do what he had promised. Since there was no one greater than himself, he used his own name when he made his vow. ^14 (B)He said, “I promise you that I will bless you and give you many descendants.” ¹⁵ Abraham was patient, and so he received what God had promised. ¹⁶ When we make a vow, we use the name of someone greater than ourselves, and the vow settles all arguments. ¹⁷ To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise. ¹⁸ There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us. ^19 (C)We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary. ^20 (D)On our behalf Jesus has gone in there before us and has become a high priest forever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.^[b]

27 ^(A)Never boast about tomorrow. You don't know what will happen between now and then.

² Let other people praise you—even strangers; never do it yourself.