A Walk Through The Word

November 17, 2017

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday November 17, 2017 (NIV)

Ezekiel 35-36

Against Edom

35 The Lord’s word came to me: ²Human one, face Mount Seir, and prophesy against it. ³Say to it, The Lord God proclaims:

I’m against you, Mount Seir!
I will use my power against you.
I will make you into a desolate wasteland,
⁴I will turn your cities into ruins,
and you will become a desolation.
Then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁵Because you nursed an ancient grudge, you handed the Israelites over to the sword in the time of their distress, during their final punishment. ⁶So now the Lord God proclaims: As surely as I live, I will prepare you for blood, and blood will pursue you. Because you don’t hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. ⁷I will turn Mount Seir into a desolate wasteland, when I cut off from it both passerby and homecomer. ⁸I will fill its highlands—your hills and your valleys, and all your ravines—with its slain. Those who are slain by the sword will fall on them. ⁹I will turn you into an eternal desolation. Your cities won’t be inhabited, and you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰You said, “These two nations and these two territories are mine. We will take possession of them even if the Lord is there.” ¹¹Therefore, the Lord God proclaims: As surely as I live, I will act according to the anger and zeal you displayed when you dealt with them so hatefully. When I judge you, I will make myself known to them, ¹²and you will know that I am the Lord. I’ve heard the lies and libels that you uttered against Israel’s highlands when you said, “They are laid waste. They’ve been given to us to consume.” ¹³With your mouths you exalted yourselves against me and spoke your words against me. I myself heard it!

¹⁴The Lord God proclaims: As the whole world rejoices, I will turn you into a desolation. ¹⁵Just as you rejoiced over the house of Israel’s inheritance because it became desolate, so I will deal with you. Mount Seir, you will become a desolation, with all of Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Mountains of Israel

36 You, human one, prophesy to Israel’s mountains and say, Hear the Lord’s word, mountains of Israel! ²The Lord God proclaims: The enemy mocked you and said, “The ancient heights belong to us.” ³Therefore, prophesy and say, The Lord God proclaims: When the surviving nations pressed in and ravaged you from all around to lay claim to you, you became an object of the people’s slander and derision. ⁴Hear the Lord God’s word, mountains of Israel! The Lord God proclaims to the mountains and the hills, the watercourses and the valleys, the desolate ruins and the abandoned cities that were contemptuously looted by the surviving nations all around you.

⁵So now, says the Lord God, I will speak in my fiery passion against the surviving nations and against Edom, all those who gleefully and spitefully took my land for themselves as a possession only for plunder.^[a] ⁶Prophesy concerning Israel’s fertile land, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, The Lord God proclaims: Because you endured the ridicule of the nations, my passion and fury lead me to speak. ⁷So now the Lord God proclaims: I myself swear that the nations round about you will themselves suffer ridicule. ⁸But you, mountains of Israel, will extend your branches and bear your fruit for my people Israel, because they will come home very soon. ⁹Look, I’m here for you, and I will turn toward you, and you will be farmed and sown. ¹⁰I will populate you with human beings, the whole house of Israel, all of them. The cities will be inhabited, the ruins rebuilt. ¹¹When I make people and animals increase on you, they will multiply and be fruitful. I will cause you to be inhabited as you were before. I will do more good for you than in the beginning, and you will know that I am the Lord. ¹²I will let people walk through you, my people Israel! They will lay claim to you, you will be their inheritance, and you will no longer deprive them of anything.

¹³The Lord God proclaims: Because people say, “You are a devourer of human beings” and “You are depriving your nation,” ¹⁴therefore, you will no longer devour human beings or deprive your nation of anything. This is what the Lord God says. ¹⁵You won’t have to listen anymore to the taunts of the nations or endure the scorn of the peoples. And you will no longer deprive your nation of anything. This is what the Lord God says.

A new heart

¹⁶The Lord’s word came to me: ¹⁷Human one, when the house of Israel lived on their fertile land, they polluted it with their ways and deeds. Their ways before me were polluted like the blood of menstruation, ¹⁸and so I poured out my fury on them for all the blood they had poured out on the land and for all the defilement of their idols. ¹⁹When I scattered them to the nations and dispersed them into other lands, I judged them according to their ways and deeds. ²⁰But then when they entered the other nations, they degraded my holy name because it was said of them, “These are the Lord’s people, yet they had to leave his land.” ²¹So I had compassion on my holy name, which the house of Israel degraded among the nations where they had gone.

²²Therefore, say to the house of Israel, The Lord God proclaims: House of Israel, I’m not acting for your sake but for the sake of my holy name, which you degraded among the nations where you have gone. ²³I will make my great name holy, which was degraded among the nations when you dishonored it among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord. This is what the Lord God says.

When I make myself holy among you in their sight, ²⁴I will take you from the nations, I will gather you from all the countries, and I will bring you to your own fertile land. ²⁵I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be cleansed of all your pollution. I will cleanse you of all your idols. ²⁶I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove your stony heart from your body and replace it with a living one, ²⁷and I will give you my spirit so that you may walk according to my regulations and carefully observe my case laws. ²⁸Then you will live in the land that I gave to your ancestors, you will be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹I will save you from all your uncleanness, and I will summon the grain and make it grow abundantly so that you won’t endure famine. ³⁰I will make abundant the orchards’ fruit and the fields’ produce so that you will never again endure the shame of famine among the nations. ³¹Then you will remember your evil ways and no-good deeds, and you will feel disgust for yourselves because of your sinful and detestable practices. ³²Not for your sake do I act. This is what the Lord God proclaims. Let that be known to you! Be ashamed and be humiliated because of all your ways, house of Israel.

³³The Lord God proclaims: On the day that I cleanse you of all your guilt, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt. ³⁴The desolate land will be farmed, and it won’t be like it was when it seemed a wasteland to all who passed by. ³⁵They will say, “This land, which was a desolation, has become like the garden of Eden.” And the cities that were ruined, ravaged, and razed are now fortified and inhabited. ³⁶The surviving nations around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt what was torn down and have planted what was made desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.

³⁷The Lord God proclaims: I will also allow the house of Israel to ask me to do this for them: that I increase them like a human flock. ³⁸Like the holy flock, like the flock of Jerusalem at its festivals, the ruined cities will be filled with a human flock. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Footnotes:

Ezekiel 36:5 MT adds to drive it out.

Common English Bible (CEB)

James 1:1-18

Greeting

1 From James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To the twelve tribes who are scattered outside the land of Israel.

Greetings!

Stand firm

²My brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy. ³After all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴Let this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and lacking in nothing. ⁵But anyone who needs wisdom should ask God, whose very nature is to give to everyone without a second thought, without keeping score. Wisdom will certainly be given to those who ask. ⁶Whoever asks shouldn’t hesitate. They should ask in faith, without doubting. Whoever doubts is like the surf of the sea, tossed and turned by the wind. ⁷People like that should never imagine that they will receive anything from the Lord. ⁸They are double-minded, unstable in all their ways.

⁹Brothers and sisters who are poor should find satisfaction in their high status. ¹⁰Those who are wealthy should find satisfaction in their low status, because they will die off like wildflowers. ¹¹The sun rises with its scorching heat and dries up the grass so that its flowers fall and its beauty is lost. Just like that, in the midst of their daily lives, the wealthy will waste away. ¹²Those who stand firm during testing are blessed. They are tried and true. They will receive the life God has promised to those who love him as their reward.

Our cravings versus God’s gifts

¹³No one who is tested should say, “God is tempting me!” This is because God is not tempted by any form of evil, nor does he tempt anyone. ¹⁴Everyone is tempted by their own cravings; they are lured away and enticed by them. ¹⁵Once those cravings conceive, they give birth to sin; and when sin grows up, it gives birth to death.

¹⁶Don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. ¹⁷Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes from above. These gifts come down from the Father, the creator of the heavenly lights, in whose character there is no change at all. ¹⁸He chose to give us birth by his true word, and here is the result: we are like the first crop from the harvest of everything he created.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Psalm 116

116 I love the Lord because he hears
my requests for mercy.
²I’ll call out to him as long as I live,
because he listens closely to me.
³Death’s ropes bound me;
the distress of the grave^[a] found me—
I came face-to-face with trouble and grief.
⁴So I called on the Lord’s name:
“Lord, please save me!”^[b]

⁵The Lord is merciful and righteous;
our God is compassionate.
⁶The Lord protects simple folk;
he saves me whenever I am brought down.
⁷I tell myself, You can be at peace again,
because the Lord has been good to you.
⁸You, God, have delivered me from death,
my eyes from tears,
and my foot from stumbling,
⁹so I’ll walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
¹⁰I have remained faithful, even when I said,
“I am suffering so badly!”
¹¹even when I said, out of fear,
“Everyone is a liar!”

¹²What can I give back to the Lord
for all the good things he has done for me?
¹³I’ll lift up the cup of salvation.
I’ll call on the Lord’s name.
¹⁴I’ll keep the promises I made to the Lord
in the presence of all God’s people.
¹⁵The death of the Lord’s faithful
is a costly loss in his eyes.

¹⁶Oh yes, Lord, I am definitely your servant!
I am your servant and the son of your female servant—
you’ve freed me from my chains.
¹⁷So I’ll offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to you,
and I’ll call on the Lord’s name.
¹⁸I’ll keep the promises I made to the Lord
in the presence of all God’s people,
¹⁹in the courtyards of the Lord’s house,
which is in the center of Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!

Footnotes:

Psalm 116:3 Heb Sheol
Psalm 116:4 Or my soul; also in 116:7-8

Common English Bible (CEB)

Proverbs 27:23-27

²³Know your flock well;
pay attention to your herds,
²⁴for no treasure lasts forever,
nor a crown generation after generation.
²⁵When the grass goes away, new growth appears,
and the plants of the hills are gathered,
²⁶then the lambs will provide your clothes,
and the goats will be the price of your fields.
²⁷There will be enough goat’s milk for your food,
for the food of your house,
and to nourish your young women.

Common English Bible (CEB)

November 16, 2017

11/16/2017 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 33:1-34:31, Hebrews 13:1-25, Psalm 115:1-18, Proverbs 27:21-22

Today is the 16th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian, it is great to be here with you. And here we are, pretty much smack in the middle of the 11th month, which only leaves us a month and half left in the year 2017, if you can believe it. And we’re going to cover a lot of ground in that six weeks. When we get to the New Testament reading today we will conclude the book of Hebrews. But first, Ezekiel chapter 33 verse 1 through 34 verse 31. We’re reading from the Common English Bible this week.

Commentary:

Alight. So, we concluded the book of Hebrews today. And it’s conclusion, we had begun yesterday, with kind of postures up for our lives that continued today like: keep loving each other like family, don’t neglect to open your homes to guests, you don’t know who is coming in, you might even be entertaining an angel, remember those who have been imprisoned, remember them like you were in prison with them, and look at those who are being mistreated as if you were in their place, honor your marriage, adultery is going to take you nowhere, and you should be free from the love of money, and you should be content with what you have. And then Hebrews tells us what we have, the promise - I will never leave you or abandon you, which is far more valuable than currency. And then we’re told to remember though those who brought the good news to us in the first place and imitate their faith. And all of these things still apply to us today. And then finally we’re told not to be misled by the many strange teachings out there. And this is interesting because if we just look at our lives in the world today, we can say, yea, there’s all sorts of people saying all kinds of things out there. But where the writer of Hebrews goes is completely Hebrew. The writer of Hebrews is saying, don’t be misled by many strange teachings out there and then moves back toward the Jewish traditions, essentially saying that Jesus is the next step in the same story. And they do this by talking about an altar, and how, when a sacrifice is given, the high priest will take the blood in as an atonement for sin but the body of the animal be taken outside the camp and burned. And then showing how Jesus was taken outside the city walls and crucified. And then tells us, so, let’s go to him, outside the camp, bearing his shame. And we should remember this because all of the noise of all of our religious practices and rituals aren’t actually the things that get us anywhere. And sometimes we remember, we have to go outside the camp, bearing his shame in getting back to the core essentials of our relationship with Christ. And the writer of Hebrews counsel in this is, that we go outside the camp and continue to bear His shame and continually offer up a sacrifice of praise through Him, which is the fruit from our lips that confess His name. And may we remember this as we conclude our reading from the book of Hebrews this year. God has done a new thing through Jesus. A new covenant has been instituted, one that allows us to personally go into the holy of holies, to personally collaborate and have a relationship with God in our lives, a relationship that is built upon faith and hope in what we can’t see what we know is there. And may we hold on to the final words in the book of Hebrews, ‘may Grace be with all of you’. And may we not only read it as the conclusion of a letter but may we understand what’s being said, ‘may grace be with all of you’.

Prayer:

Father, we confess that without Your mercy and grace in our lives there is literally no telling where we would be. Were it not for Your kindness and Your sacrifice and a new covenant, we could never come into Your presence righteous and holy. And now there is no where we can flee from Your presence, nor would we want to. Come Holy Spirit, indwell us, fill us, guide us, lead us into all truth, rebuke, and correct us, and lead us on the narrow path that leads to life. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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Looking at the calendar, I’ve been saying this for a few days, a couple days from now, on the 19^th, this Sunday we will be out on the road sharing the Sneezing Jesus message one final time this year and that will be in the Shreveport Louisiana area, Bossier City at River Valley church. So, if you are in the deep South, we would love to see you. Come say hello. You can get all the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the events section. And we’ll look forward to that.

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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayers and Praise Reports

Hi guys. It’s June at Perseverance in Indonesia. I wanted to first say thank you to Shannon and Mellissa, I think, that I just heard on the November 11^th call. Thank you for praying for teachers as well as be a reminder to go into the workplace ready for spiritual warfare and ready to conquer. So, that’s what I am going to pray for today. Heavenly Father, thank You so much for the opportunity to work and to go out on the mission field to glorify You, not in our own strength but by being the witnesses who can say, that’s a amazing and that’s because of God or this is a miracle and it’s only through God that it happened. Please help us to keep our eyes on that and to take them off of ourselves and the pain or the challenge that comes with being in spiritual warfare and help us to see it, to recognize it for what it is, and to turn to You and say, this is Yours, be glorified through it, and I know you will deliver me in it. In the name of Jesus, I pray for continued strength from You as each teacher who is a believer in You goes into the classroom. I ask that you will fully equip us, that we will fully surrender to You so that You can grow Your fruit of the Spirit in us and we can be empowered in those places that are broken and that are at a loss and all of the toxic and negative aspects of these…

Hi. This is Mermaid Girl South Carolina. I’m a long time listener but first time caller. Lately I have, for many and various reasons, kind of lost my joy. I’ve been diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, which has caused me to gain weight and be depressed. I really am coveting your prayers that I will back the Lord, find His joy, find His and happiness, and handle all of my illnesses. I listen to you all pray for you all and I thank you very much. Love you. Bye-bye.

Hi. This is Lisa from Southern California. I’m new to the Daily Audio Bible but I want to say hello to all of the Daily Audio Bible family. I just want to say that you guys have encouraged me. I’ve been listening ever since the end of August and I’ve been encouraged by the Bible reading and the commentary, the prayers, and I want to thank the lady who called on November the 12^th and was talking about our jobs and how we’re on assignment on our jobs. And it’s been pretty rough for me at my job and I was, you know, just really seeking the Lord on what I should do. It was a very hostile environment, but I began, one of the Daily Audio Bible programs told me to pray for my management and pray for my supervisor. And I began to do that and I’m seeing right now, the hand of God move at my job. So, I just want to say thank you all. I will continue to pray for all of you. I listen to you in the morning before I go to work and even when I’m on my off days. You guys are so much of an encouragement to me. Again, this is Lisa from Southern California. God bless you all. God bless you Brian. Have a wonderful day.

Hi beautiful family. This is Pastor Gene from Bradenton Florida. I would like us to lift in prayer, Pastor P., his wife, and that family. This is the pastoral family that suffered the attacks a few weeks ago, or maybe a couple of weeks ago, or last week, I don’t know where my mind is, the church in Texas, this happened while he was preaching. And, so, let’s just pray. Father, we just thank You for we are members of the same body and when one member is hurting all of us hurt. And Father I just want to lift up Pastor Paul P., his wife, his family. They lost, not only members of the congregation, but they lost their own 14-year-old daughter to that madman and I pray Father that Your comfort, Your peace, Your strength, Your courage will be with him and will be with every member of that congregation and every person that lost someone in that congregation. Like to quiet the voice of the enemy that is telling them that it is not worth it to follow God, that it’s not worth it to remain faithful because of what happened. I rebuke that in the name of Jesus. I thank You for the strength that You are giving Pastor P. to give glory to God, to point people God in the midst of this tragedy. And I pray that You will continue to use him and other voices that will come out of that tragedy and would testify of Your goodness and Your kindness. In the midst of the unthinkable tragedy, may what has happened, somehow, turn around and bring glory to Your name as You have promised and work for the good of those who love You as You have promised, Lord. We pray all this in Jesus’ name. I love you family. Pastor gene from Bradenton Florida. Bye.

November 16, 2017

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday November 16, 2017 (NIV)

Ezekiel 33-34

The lookout

33 The Lord’s word came to me: ²Human one, speak to your people and say to them: Suppose I bring a sword against a country, and the people of the land take a certain person from their assembly and make him their lookout. ³When he sees the sword coming against the land, he blows the trumpet and warns the people. ⁴If they hear the sound of the trumpet but don’t heed the warning, when the sword comes and they are taken away, they are responsible for their blood. ⁵They heard the sound of the trumpet but didn’t heed the warning, so their blood is on them. If they had paid attention to the warning, they would have saved their lives. ⁶If the lookout sees the sword coming but doesn’t blow the trumpet to warn the people, when the sword comes and takes away any of them, they are taken away in their sin, but I’ll hold the lookout responsible for their blood.

⁷You, human one, I’ve made you a lookout for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear me speaking, you must give them warning from me. ⁸If I pronounce a death sentence on wicked people, and you don’t warn them to turn from their way, they will die in their guilt, but I will hold you responsible for their blood. ⁹But suppose you do warn the wicked of their ways so that they might turn from them. If they don’t turn from their ways, they will die in their guilt, but you will save your life.

¹⁰You, human one, say to the house of Israel: This is what all of you are saying: “How our transgressions and our sins weigh on us! We waste away because of them. How can we live?” ¹¹Say to them, This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, do I take pleasure in the death of the wicked? If the wicked turn from their ways, they will live. Turn, completely turn from your wicked ways! Why should you die, house of Israel?

¹²You, human one, say to your people: The righteousness of the righteous doesn’t rescue them when they begin to sin. Nor does the wickedness of the wicked make them stumble if they turn from their wickedness. If the righteous sin, their righteousness won’t protect them. ¹³Even if I’ve told the righteous they will live, none of their righteous deeds will be remembered if they trust in their righteousness and do wrong. They will die because of their evil deeds. ¹⁴And even if I have pronounced a death sentence on the wicked, if they turn from sin and do what is just and right— ¹⁵if they return pledges, make restitution for robbery, and walk in life-giving regulations in order not to sin—they will live and not die. ¹⁶None of the sins they’ve committed will be remembered against them. They’ve done what is just and right, and they will live.

¹⁷Yet your people say, “My Lord’s way doesn’t measure up.” Isn’t it their ways that don’t measure up? ¹⁸When the righteous turn from their righteousness to do wrong, they will die because of it. ¹⁹And when the wicked turn from their wickedness to do what is just and right, it is for that reason they will live. ²⁰Yet you say, “My Lord’s way doesn’t measure up.” I judge each one of you according to your ways, house of Israel!

News from Jerusalem

²¹In the twelfth year, on the fifth day of the tenth month of our exile, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me and reported, “The city has fallen!” ²²The Lord’s power was with me in the evening before the survivor arrived, and just before he arrived in the morning, God opened my mouth. So my mouth was opened, and I was no longer speechless.

²³The Lord’s word came to me: ²⁴Human one, those who live among those ruins in Israel’s fertile land are saying, “Abraham was just one man, and he inherited the land. We are many, so certainly the land has been given to us as an inheritance.”

²⁵So say to them, The Lord God proclaims: You eat with the blood, you lift your eyes to the idols, and you shed blood. Should you inherit the land? ²⁶You live by the sword, you observe detestable practices, and every one of you commits adultery.^[a] Should you inherit the land?

²⁷Say to them, The Lord God proclaims: As surely as I live, those in the ruins will fall by the sword, those in the countryside I will give to the wild beasts to consume, and those in the strongholds and caves will die of plague. ²⁸I will make the land an uninhabitable waste. Its proud strength will come to an end, and Israel’s highlands will become so deserted that no one will cross through them. ²⁹They will know that I am the Lord when I make the land an uninhabitable waste because of all their detestable practices.

A fickle audience

³⁰As for you, human one, your people talk about you beside the walls and in their doorways. One by one, they say to each other, “Let’s go hear what sort of message has come from the Lord.” ³¹So they come to you as people do, and they sit before you as my people. They listen to your words, but they refuse to do them. Though they speak of their longing^[b] for me, they act out of their own interests and opinions. ³²To them you are like a singer of love songs with a lovely voice and skilled technique. They listen to your words, but no one does them. ³³When this comes—and it is certainly coming—they will know that a prophet has been among them.

The good shepherd

34 The Lord’s word came to me: ²Human one, prophesy against Israel’s shepherds. Prophesy and say to them, The Lord God proclaims to the shepherds: Doom to Israel’s shepherds who tended themselves! Shouldn’t shepherds tend the flock? ³You drink the milk, you wear the wool, and you slaughter the fat animals, but you don’t tend the flock. ⁴You don’t strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, bring back the strays, or seek out the lost; but instead you use force to rule them with injustice. ⁵Without a shepherd, my flock was scattered; and when it was scattered, it became food for all the wild animals. ⁶My flock strayed on all the mountains and on every high hill throughout all the earth. My flock was scattered, and there was no one to look for them or find them. ⁷So now shepherds, hear the Lord’s word! ⁸This is what the Lord God says: As surely as I live, without a shepherd, my flock became prey. My flock became food for all the wild animals. My shepherds didn’t seek out my flock. They tended themselves, but they didn’t tend my flock.

⁹So, shepherds, hear the Lord’s word! ¹⁰The Lord God proclaims: I’m against the shepherds! I will hold them accountable for my flock, and I will put an end to their tending the flock. The shepherds will no longer tend them, because I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and they will no longer be their food.

¹¹The Lord God proclaims: I myself will search for my flock and seek them out. ¹²As a shepherd seeks out the flock when some in the flock have been scattered, so will I seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered during the time of clouds and thick darkness. ¹³I will gather and lead them out from the countries and peoples, and I will bring them to their own fertile land. I will feed them on Israel’s highlands, along the riverbeds, and in all the inhabited places. ¹⁴I will feed them in good pasture, and their sheepfold will be there, on Israel’s lofty highlands. On Israel’s highlands, they will lie down in a secure fold and feed on green pastures. ¹⁵I myself will feed my flock and make them lie down. This is what the Lord God says. ¹⁶I will seek out the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the wounded, and strengthen the weak. But the fat and the strong I will destroy, because I will tend my sheep^[c] with justice.

¹⁷As for you, my flock, the Lord God proclaims: I will judge between the rams and the bucks among the sheep and the goats. ¹⁸Is feeding in good pasture or drinking clear water such a trivial thing that you should trample and muddy what is left with your feet? ¹⁹But now my flock must feed on what your feet have trampled and drink water that your feet have muddied.

²⁰So the Lord God proclaims to them: I will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. ²¹You shove with shoulder and flank, and with your horns you ram all the weak sheep until you’ve scattered them outside. ²²But I will rescue my flock so that they will never again be prey. I will even judge between the sheep! ²³I will appoint for them a single shepherd, and he will feed them. My servant David will feed them. He will be their shepherd. ²⁴I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be their prince. I, the Lord, have spoken. ²⁵I will make a covenant of peace for them, and I will banish the wild animals from the land. Then they will safely live in the desert and sleep in the forest. ²⁶I will give them and those around my hill a blessing by sending the rain in its season. They will be rains of blessing. ²⁷The trees in the field will bear fruit, and the earth will yield its harvest. They will be safe on their fertile land, and they will know that I am the Lord when I break the bars of their yoke and deliver them from those who enslaved them. ²⁸The nations will no longer prey on them, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will live in safety, with no one to trouble them. ²⁹I will establish for them a place famous for what it grows. No longer will they experience famine in the land, nor will they bear the disgrace of the nations. ³⁰They will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are my people. This is what the Lord God says. ³¹You are my flock, the flock of my pasture. You are human, and I am your God. This is what the Lord God says.

Footnotes:

Ezekiel 33:26 Or defiles his neighbor's wife
Ezekiel 33:31 Or love songs
Ezekiel 34:16 Or them

Common English Bible (CEB)

Hebrews 13

Our acts of service and sacrifice

13 Keep loving each other like family. ²Don’t neglect to open up your homes to guests, because by doing this some have been hosts to angels without knowing it. ³Remember prisoners as if you were in prison with them, and people who are mistreated as if you were in their place. ⁴Marriage must be honored in every respect, with no cheating on the relationship, because God will judge the sexually immoral person and the person who commits adultery. ⁵Your way of life should be free from the love of money, and you should be content with what you have. After all, he has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.^[a] ⁶This is why we can confidently say,

The Lord is my helper,
and I won’t be afraid.
What can people do to me?^[b]

⁷Remember your leaders who spoke God’s word to you. Imitate their faith as you consider the way their lives turned out. ⁸Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

⁹Don’t be misled by the many strange teachings out there. It’s a good thing for the heart to be strengthened by grace rather than by food. Food doesn’t help those who live in this context. ¹⁰We have an altar, and those who serve as priests in the meeting tent don’t have the right to eat from it. ¹¹The blood of the animals is carried into the holy of holies by the high priest as an offering for sin, and their bodies are burned outside the camp. ¹²And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy with his own blood.

¹³So now, let’s go to him outside the camp, bearing his shame. ¹⁴We don’t have a permanent city here, but rather we are looking for the city that is still to come.

¹⁵So let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise through him, which is the fruit from our lips that confess his name. ¹⁶Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices.

Closing greeting and blessing

¹⁷Rely on your leaders and defer to them, because they watch over your whole being as people who are going to be held responsible for you. They need to be able to do this with pleasure and not with complaints about you, because that wouldn’t help you. ¹⁸Pray for us. We’re sure that we have a good conscience, and we want to do the right thing in every way. ¹⁹I’m particularly asking you to do this so that I can be returned to you quickly.

²⁰May the God of peace,
who brought back the great shepherd of the sheep,
our Lord Jesus,
from the dead by the blood of the eternal covenant,
²¹equip you with every good thing to do his will,
by developing in us what pleases him through Jesus Christ.
To him be the glory forever and always. Amen.

²²I urge you, brothers and sisters, to put up with this message of encouragement, since I’ve only written a short letter to you! ²³You should know that our brother Timothy has been set free. If he comes soon, we will travel together to see you.

²⁴Greet your leaders and all of God’s holy people. The group from Italy greets you.

²⁵May grace be with all of you.

Footnotes:

Common English Bible (CEB)

Psalm 115

115 Not to us, Lord, not to us—
no, but to your own name give glory
because of your loyal love and faithfulness!

²Why do the nations say,
“Where’s their God now?”
³Our God is in heaven—
he can do whatever he wants!
⁴Their idols are just silver and gold—
things made by human hands.
⁵They have mouths, but they can’t speak.
They have eyes, but they can’t see.
⁶They have ears, but they can’t hear.
They have noses, but they can’t smell.
⁷They have hands, but they can’t feel.
They have feet, but they can’t walk.
They can’t even make a noise in their throats!
⁸Let the people who made these idols
and all who trust in them
become just like them!

⁹But you, Israel, trust in the Lord!
God is their help and shield.
¹⁰Trust in the Lord, house of Aaron!
God is their help and shield.
¹¹You who honor the Lord, trust in the Lord!
God is their help and shield.
¹²The Lord remembers us and will bless us:
God will bless the house of Israel;
God will bless the house of Aaron;
¹³God will bless those who honor the Lord—
from the smallest to the greatest.

¹⁴May the Lord add to your numbers—
both you and your children.
¹⁵May you be blessed by the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth!
¹⁶The highest heaven belongs to the Lord,
but he gave the earth to all people.
¹⁷The dead don’t praise the Lord,
nor do those who go down to silence.
¹⁸But us? We will bless the Lord
from now until forever from now!

Praise the Lord!

Common English Bible (CEB)

Proverbs 27:21-22

²¹A crucible is for silver and a furnace for gold,
so are people in the presence of someone who praises them.
²²Even if you grind fools in a mortar,
even grinding them along with the grain,
their folly won’t be driven from them.

Common English Bible (CEB)

November 15, 2017

11/15/2017 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 31:1-32:32, Hebrews 12:14-29, Psalms 113:1-114:8, Proverbs 27:18-20

Today is the 15th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today around this global campfire that we share together, where no matter where we are, no matter when we’re listening, someone else is as well, and we’re never alone here. And it’s a beautiful. It’s a beautiful thing. And we’ve come together to take the next step forward in the Scriptures. We’re reading from the common English Bible this week and we’ll continue our journey through Ezekiel and Hebrews. Tomorrow we’ll conclude the book of Hebrews, but Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Ezekiel chapter 31 verse 1 through 32 verse 32.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of Hebrews we’ve been talking for the last couple of days about faith and the fact that its presence in our lives is a necessity to operate in this kingdom or to enter into this new covenant. And we went through many examples from the Old Testament of biblical people who were regarded as the most influential people to the Hebrews. And they were all used as examples of people who had faith, people who saw something that they could not see, and hoped in it, hoped in the promise. And then we were led into the understanding that we find ourselves in the same place. We have to have the same kind of faith in what we can’t see but in what we know is coming, because at the time of this writing those were following Jesus were being marginalized and sidelined and persecuted and it didn’t feel like things were getting better, it felt like things were getting worse. And, so, that’s where faith comes in. And Hebrews counseled us on perseverance and discipline and the fact that what we can see right this minute isn’t all there is there is, there’s much more going on, there’s a larger story happening, but the only way to renew our hope in this coming thing is through faith. And so, today we’re kind of reaching the climax. We’re just about done with the book of Hebrews. We’ll complete it tomorrow. And so, we’re instructed on how to navigate, how to navigate life, and how to look at things. And, so, we’re instructed and we should pay attention to this because it applies to our lives. ‘Pursue the goal of peace along with everyone and holiness as well because no one will see the Lord without it. Make sure that no one misses out on God’s grace. Make sure that no root of bitterness grows up that might cause trouble and pollute many people. Make sure that no one becomes sexually immoral or ungodly like Esau’. These are postures. These are instructions on what our lives are supposed to be shaped like in order to cultivate faith that will bring hope. And then we’re led into a contrasting example of Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. Mount Sinai, of course, representing God meeting with the people in the wilderness, and giving the 10 Commandments, and instituting the first covenant. And the writer of Hebrews reminds them that everyone was freaked out. Like, no one could even touch the mountain. Even Moses said that he was terrified and shaking. And that was brought up to represent the institution of the old covenant, but then the writer says ‘but you have drawn near to Mount Zion’ and goes on to explain how this represents this new thing that God is doing, this new covenant through Jesus. And then we’re given a warning and a hopeful picture. The warning is that everything is going to get shaken up because of this. And certainly 2000 years later, we can see that Jesus has indeed shaken the world. Before the Hebrews, at this time, it’s just counsel. Everything that can shake his calling to get shaken up because of this new covenant because it’s a new era, a new dawning of a new day. Things among the human race have profoundly been changed. So, it’s going to shake things up but that’s necessary. Everything that can shake is going to get shaken and the things that aren’t shaken are the things that will remain. And because of this new covenant we are entering into and receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and our response to that can only be gratitude. And we can take the last statement from our reading today and place it in our hearts as we move forward in our lives. ‘With this gratitude let’s serve in a way that is pleasing to God, with respect and awe because our God really is a consuming fire’.

Prayer:

Father, there is no doubt that we experience shaking and shake up in our lives. And most of the time we see this is a horribly bad thing. And rarely do we look at it as everything that needs to be shaken lose. Everything that needs to fall away is falling away because of the shaking and rarely do we run to You and embrace the process and move through it by the council and power of Your Holy Spirit. Usually we’re asking You why You let this happen. And from the book of Hebrews today, we can see that things need to be shaken up. Things need to fall away so that that which is stable and solid and cannot be shaken is what remains. And Your kingdom cannot be shaken. And You have invited us to participate in it. And, so, we embrace all of the things that we are going through. And we invite Your Holy Spirit. We run to You, not with accusation, but with gratitude. We express our gratitude that You can continue to pursue us and to shake loose the things it will only take us down in the end. We are grateful that You are a consuming fire, You consume the things that do not belong in and around us, and You consume us with the power of Your Holy Spirit to operate as Your image bearers, ambassadors, and representatives on this earth. And we invite Your Holy Spirit to give us this awareness, a much larger perspective on all of the issues that we face in our lives. Come Holy Spirit, give us the eyes and the ears of Your unshakable kingdom. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. It’s home base. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

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And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment there are numbers that you can call. We have a few of them. If you are in the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number to dial. If you are in the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to dial. And if you are in Australia or the lands down under 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to call and that’s it for today.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayers and Praise Reports

Hi Daily Audio Bible this is ___ from Maryland. Just wanted to say, this message is for Jill. Jill, I hear everybody talking about you when they thank Brian and Jill. And I’ve heard Brian’s voice and I haven’t gotten to know you yet. But yesterday I started listening to some of the resources that are on the app, the first videos and the women resources, it was your interviews with Stacey. If I am saying her name wrong, I’m sorry. But you are awesome Jill and it was so great to get to know you. I was listening to the interviews that were from 2014, but so profoundly, exactly what I needed here in the moment that I heard it. And I could hear your heart and your love of God and I just wanted to thank you, and nice to meet you, Brian and Jill, both of you. Thank you for everything. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for God and for you all for the resources that you’ve provided us with to be in his word every day. I cannot thank you enough. Just thank you. And anyone who feels inspired to tap into the resources that Jill has put forth through DAB with Brian, just do it. I highly recommend it. Love you guys.

Windows of opportunity surround us each day
Choices are chances to do things God’s way
Is there healing or venom in the things that you say
Help us sweet Jesus to do things your way
Do you do unto others before they do you
Do you render to Caesar the all that he’s due
Do you humbly ask Jesus your strength to renew
Are you really for God or is it all about you
Storm clouds may gather but they will not prevail
God has all power and his word will not fail
Satan is a liar, a robber, a thief
Help me sweet Jesus with my unbelief
Windows of opportunity surround us each day
Choices and chances to do things God’s way
Is there healing or venom in the things that you say
Help us sweet Jesus to do things your way
Mom was a Christian and daddy was too
They did all the good things that parents can do
Sometimes we’d listen and sometimes we’d stray
But we always had chances to do things God’s way
Jobs, friends, and family, they all have their place
They all can add balance if we run the good race
But they also add attention and trials each day
Help us sweet Jesus to do things your way
Do you encourage your family
Do you uplift your friends
Do you know that your jobs are just means to your ends
Do you glorify Jesus in all that you do
Are you really for God or is it all about you

blindtony1016@gmail.com. Victory S. I missed you last week, I didn’t hear your voice last week and I definitely missed it. Hope all is well. Anyway, thank you once again Brian for this wonderful Podcast for Gods Holy Spirit to flow. Keep it flowin’ y’all. Alright. Bye-bye.

This is Peg in Texas, praying with the DAB family. Almighty, all-powerful God, who loves with an everlasting love, I come asking, asking for Sharon in California whose daughter is bipolar. This diagnosis is up and down and so often unstable Lord. I ask, Father, for all that is needed for stabilizing the brain of this loved one. For Zander, the one man who is missing the blessing as Tony said so well in a poem, show him to Yourself, open his eyes to his own addiction and open his heart to see you, to find Christian friends, to remove himself from a harmful relationship. Oh God, in the name of Jesus, redeem the child in the situation. For Sandy in Arkansas, help her to see that this playing of marriage and playing house but living in an abusive and sinful situation is not in accordance with Your will. The culture may say it is but your word does not give proof. Give her the courage to leave, to walk out and away from a man who is taking advantage of her availability. Yes, we do ask for his salvation, we ask for his healing, but at the same time, I ask for Sandy’s healing for she is helping to create a sick and really a sinful situation. And, oh Lord, for Gloria in New York and her deep concern for her mom. She wants to move her mom to New York. If this is for the mother’s situation to be greatly bettered, for stability, for peace, for kindness or attentive care or more attentive care, maybe I should say Lord, I ask that the move will be made. I pray for brothers, that Gloria sees as controlling and cruel and abusive, that in the name of Jesus, You will work powerfully, bringing healing in lives between siblings, for I believe it to be Your divine will. And for Jordan the teacher, give him the desire and ability to firmly hold onto Your word…

Hi Daily Audio Bible family. I’m asking you to please, please pray for my husband. We’ve lost two daughters to gun violence and now my husband, John, has been diagnosed with cancer. I can’t describe the pain and anxiety we’re feeling right now but God showed me in a dream to call Daily Audio Bible and ask for prayer. So, we trust in the power of prayer and the power of the blood and the power of God’s love. So, I’m asking all of you guys out there to pry for us. And I want to thank you in advance for covering us in prayer

November 15, 2017

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday November 15, 2017 (NIV)

Ezekiel 31-32

Egypt is not Assyria

31 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, the Lord’s word came to me: ²Human one, say to Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, and his troops:

With whom do you compare in your greatness?
³Consider Assyria, a cedar of Lebanon:
beautiful branches, dense shade, towering height;
indeed, its top went up between the clouds.
⁴Waters nourished it; the deep raised it up,
because its streams flowed around the place where it was planted.
From there, water trickled down to all the other trees of the field.
⁵And so it became higher than all the trees of the field.
Its branches became abundant; its boughs grew long.
Because of the plentiful water, it grew freely.
⁶All the birds in the sky made nests in its branches;
all the beasts of the field gave birth under its boughs,
and in its shade, every great nation lived.
⁷It became beautiful in its greatness and in its lush foliage,
because it took root in plentiful water.
⁸No cedar was its equal in God’s garden.
The fir trees didn’t have anything like its branches,
and the plane trees had nothing like its boughs.
None of the trees in God’s garden could compare to it in its beauty.
⁹As for its beauty—I made it so, with its abundant foliage.
All the trees of Eden envied it,
all that were in God’s garden.

¹⁰So now the Lord God proclaims:

Consider the fate of those who tower high!
When it allowed its branches to reach up among the clouds,
it became arrogant.
¹¹So I handed it over
to the most powerful nation,
who continually acted treacherously against it.
I banished it!
¹²Foreigners, the worst of the nations, cut it down
and left it to lie among the hills.
All its branches fell among the valleys,
and its boughs were broken off in the earth’s deep ravines.
All the earth’s peoples departed from its shade and abandoned it.
¹³On its trunk roost all the birds in the sky,
and on its boughs lie all the beasts of the field.

¹⁴All this has happened so that no other well-watered tree would tower high or allow its branches to reach among the clouds. Nor would their leaders achieve the towering stature of such well-watered trees. Certainly, all of them are consigned to death, to the world below,^[a] among human beings who go down to the pit.

¹⁵The Lord God proclaims: On the day that it went down to the underworld,^[b] I caused mourning. I blocked off the deep sea against it. I dried up its rivers and restrained the mighty waters. I made Lebanon go into mourning for it, and all the trees of the field languished on its account. ¹⁶When it was felled, the nations quaked at the sound. When I cast it down into the underworld, with those who go down to the pit, all the trees of Eden were comforted in the world below, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, all the trees that depended on water. ¹⁷His allies,^[c] those among the nations who lived under his shade, these also went down with him to the underworld, to those who are slain by the sword.

¹⁸Are you like any of these in glory or greatness among Eden’s trees? Then you too will go down with Eden’s trees to the world below. You will lie among the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and his entire horde. This is what the Lord God says.

Egypt the crocodile

32 In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, the Lord’s word came to me: ²Human one, sing a lament for Pharaoh, Egypt’s king. Say to him:

You consider yourself a young lion among the nations,
but you are like the sea monster!
You thrash about in your rivers,
you roil the waters with your feet,
and you muddy your^[d] rivers.

³The Lord God proclaims:

In the company of many peoples
I will spread my net over you,
and I will haul you up in my dragnet.
⁴I will cast you out on the earth
and throw you on the open ground.
I will cause all the birds in the sky to settle on you,
and all the beasts of the earth to devour you.
⁵Your flesh I will set upon the mountains,
and I will fill the valleys with your gore.
⁶With your blood I will soak your irrigated land,^[e]
and the streambeds will be filled with you.
⁷When you are snuffed out, I will cover the sky,
and I will darken the stars.
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
and the moon won’t radiate its light.
⁸As for the shining lights of the heavens,
I will make them dark over you,
and set darkness over your land.
This is what the Lord God says.

⁹I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
when I bring about your destruction
with nations from lands you didn’t know.
¹⁰I will make many peoples appalled because of you.
Their kings will shudder violently on your account
when I brandish my sword before them.
They will tremble for their lives again and again
on the day of your downfall.

¹¹The Lord God proclaims: The sword of the king of Babylon is coming against you! ¹²I will make your hordes fall by the swords of mighty men, the most terrifying of the nations, all of them. They will bring an end to Egypt’s pride, and all of its hordes will be destroyed. ¹³I will remove all its livestock from beside the plentiful waters so that neither human foot nor livestock’s hoof will trouble it again. ¹⁴At that time, I will allow the waters to run clear, and make its rivers flow like oil. This is what the Lord God says. ¹⁵When I turn the land of Egypt into a wasteland and the land is deprived of all that fills it, and when I strike down those who live there, then they will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁶This is a lament, and it will be sung as a lament. The daughters of the nations will lament for Egypt, and they will also lament for Egypt’s hordes. This is what the Lord God says.

¹⁷In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the first month,^[f] the Lord’s word came to me: ¹⁸Human one, mourn for Egypt’s hordes.

Send Egypt down
with the mighty nations subject^[g] to it,
to the world below,^[h]
among those who go down to the pit.
¹⁹Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down and take your bed with the uncircumcised,
²⁰among those who fall slain by the sword.

A sword is appointed, and all his hordes will carry him off. ²¹The mighty chieftains, those who once came to his aid, will speak to him from the middle of the underworld,^[i] for the uncircumcised have gone down and have lain down, slain by the sword.

Vanished glory

²²Assyria is there, and all its assembly round about his grave,
all of them slain, fallen by the sword,
²³who were assigned graves in the deepest region of the pit.
His assembly surrounded his grave,
all of them slain, fallen by the sword,
who caused terror in the land of the living.

²⁴Elam is there, her entire horde round about her grave,
all of them slain, fallen by the sword,
who went down uncircumcised to the world below,^[j]
who caused terror in the land of the living.
They bore their shame like those who go down to the pit.
²⁵Among the slain they made a bed for her,
with all her hordes round about her grave,
all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
for they caused terror in the land of the living.
They bore their shame like those who go down to the pit;
in the midst of the slain she^[k] was placed.

²⁶Meshech and Tubal are there, and all their hordes around their graves,
all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
for they caused terror in the land of the living.

²⁷They don’t lie with the mighty men fallen among the uncircumcised. When they went down to the underworld^[l] with their weapons of war, they put their swords under their heads and their shields^[m] over their bones. The terror of the mighty men is in the land of the living.

²⁸But you, you will be broken among the uncircumcised, and you will lie with those who are slain by the sword.

²⁹Edom is there, its kings and all its princes,
who, though strong, were put with those slain by the sword.
They lie with the uncircumcised,
like those who go down to the pit.

³⁰All the princes of the north are there,
and all the Sidonians who went down with the slain;
in spite of the terror of their strength, they were disgraced.
They lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword.
They bore their shame like those who go down to the pit.

³¹When Pharaoh sees them,
he will be sorry for all his hordes who are slain by the sword—
Pharaoh and all his army.
This is what the Lord God says,
³²Though it was I who put his terror in the land of the living,
he will be laid out among the uncircumcised,
with those slain by the sword, Pharaoh and all his horde.
This is what the Lord God says.

Footnotes:

Ezekiel 31:14 Or the land of the lowest places
Ezekiel 31:15 Heb Sheol
Ezekiel 31:17 Or his arms
Ezekiel 32:2 LXX; MT their
Ezekiel 32:6 MT adds to the mountains.
Ezekiel 32:17 LXX; MT lacks the first month.
Ezekiel 32:18 Or daughter nations
Ezekiel 32:18 Or the land of the lowest places
Ezekiel 32:21 Heb Sheol
Ezekiel 32:24 Or the land of the lowest places
Ezekiel 32:25 Or he
Ezekiel 32:27 Heb Sheol
Ezekiel 32:27 Or sin

Common English Bible (CEB)

Hebrews 12:14-29

¹⁴Pursue the goal of peace along with everyone—and holiness as well, because no one will see the Lord without it. ¹⁵Make sure that no one misses out on God’s grace. Make sure that no root of bitterness grows up that might cause trouble and pollute many people. ¹⁶Make sure that no one becomes sexually immoral or ungodly like Esau. He sold his inheritance as the oldest son for one meal. ¹⁷You know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected because he couldn’t find a way to change his heart and life, though he looked for it with tears.

Priestly service in heavenly Jerusalem

¹⁸You haven’t drawn near to something that can be touched: a burning fire, darkness, shadow, a whirlwind, ¹⁹a blast of a trumpet, and a sound of words that made the ones who heard it beg that there wouldn’t be one more word. ²⁰They couldn’t stand the command, If even a wild animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.^[a] ²¹The sight was so frightening that Moses said, “I’m terrified and shaking!”

²²But you have drawn near to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, to countless angels in a festival gathering, ²³to the assembly of God’s firstborn children who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous who have been made perfect, ²⁴to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks better than Abel’s blood.

²⁵See to it that you don’t resist the one who is speaking. If the people didn’t escape when they refused to listen to the one who warned them on earth, how will we escape if we reject the one who is warning from heaven? ²⁶His voice shook the earth then, but now he has made a promise: Still once more I will shake not only the earth but heaven also.^[b] ²⁷The words “still once more” reveal the removal of what is shaken—the things that are part of this creation—so that what isn’t shaken will remain. ²⁸Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that can’t be shaken, let’s continue to express our gratitude.^[c] With this gratitude, let’s serve^[d] in a way that is pleasing to God with respect and awe, ²⁹because our God really is a consuming fire.

Footnotes:

Hebrews 12:20 Exod 19:12-13
Hebrews 12:26 Exod 19:18
Hebrews 12:28 Or hold on to grace
Hebrews 12:28 Or offer priestly service

Common English Bible (CEB)

Psalm 113-114

Psalm 113

113 Praise the Lord!
You who serve the Lord—praise!
Praise the Lord’s name!
²Let the Lord’s name be blessed
from now until forever from now!
³From sunrise to sunset,
let the Lord’s name be praised!
⁴The Lord is high over all the nations;
God’s glory is higher than the skies!

⁵Who could possibly compare to the Lord our God?
God rules from on high;
⁶he has to come down to even see heaven and earth!
⁷God lifts up the poor from the dirt
and raises up the needy from the garbage pile
⁸to seat them with leaders—
with the leaders of his own people!
⁹God nests the once barren woman at home—
now a joyful mother with children!

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 114

114 When Israel came out of Egypt—
when the house of Jacob came out
from a people who spoke a different language—
²Judah was God’s sanctuary;
Israel was God’s territory.

³The sea saw it happen and ran away;
the Jordan River retreated!
⁴The mountains leaped away like rams;
the hills leaped away like lambs!
⁵Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan, why did you retreat?
⁶Mountains, why did you leap away like rams?
Hills, why did you leap away like lambs?

⁷Earth: Tremble before the Lord!
Tremble before the God of Jacob,
⁸the one who turned that rock into a pool of water,
that flint stone into a spring of water!

Common English Bible (CEB)

Proverbs 27:18-20

¹⁸Those who tend a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and those who look after their master will be honored.
¹⁹As water reflects the face,
so the heart reflects one person to another.
²⁰The grave^[a] and the underworld^[b] are never satisfied;
and people’s eyes are never satisfied.

Footnotes:

Proverbs 27:20 Heb Sheol
Proverbs 27:20 Heb Abaddon

Common English Bible (CEB)

November 14, 2017

11/14/2017 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 29:1-30:26, Hebrews 11:32-12:13, Psalms 112:1-10, Proverbs 27:17

Today is the 14^th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. We’re probably far enough in the year for you to know that, but I’m Brian. It’s good to be here with you today. And I’m excited to take the next step forward. We’ll move into Ezekiel and then into Hebrews, where we will talk about faith. But first, Ezekiel chapter 29 verse one through 30, verse 26. And we’re reading from the Common English Bible this week.

Commentary:

Alright. So, in Hebrews, as I’ve been saying most every day, Hebrews was written to Hebrews, which is not me saying, because it was written to Hebrews it has no meaning for us, it’s to say, that’s the context and context is important in the Bible. These are early Jewish believers in Jesus and they are declaring that God is doing a new thing among the Hebrew people, that Jesus is a part of the Hebrew story and that God is doing a new thing among the Hebrew people. The old covenant is accomplished and a new covenant is instituted. Well, this is not widely accepted at the time or now among the Hebrew people. And so, this letter is to restate what is believed about Jesus in a Hebrew context among the early believers in Jesus because they are on the margins. At best, these early Hebrew believers in Jesus were thought to be just a part of another Jewish sect, sort of like a weird new denomination of Judaism, who are following a rabbi named Jesus, who happened to be executed by the Romans. So, these guys are being marginalized, sidelined, cast out, mistreated, even persecuted. And if we remember the story of the apostle Paul, he was one of the persecutors. This is who he was after, Jewish, Hebrew people who were converting to following Jesus. So, they had they had considerable opposition. So, on the one hand they were adopting this way of Jesus and following Jesus teachings and believing that this rewired and reframed things that God was doing something new in the world and this would lead them to eternal life. But on the other hand, it had only made their human physical lives much more difficult to navigate. So, we can begin to see how this all fits together - a lengthy explanation of how Jesus connects to the Hebrew story and fulfills so many prophecies and brings to an end an era and begins a new one that follows in a tradition of faith in what can’t be seen but is hoped for and in. And then we walked through all of the examples, Hebrew examples by the way, of people who are deeply respected by all Hebrew, all practicing Jewish people. And, so, now the writer of Hebrews is saying look, those guys believed in a promise and hoped in it and moved forward and they moved the world and our culture forward in the process, but it was very difficult for them. So, we shouldn’t be surprised that moving this forward, that our place in this story is difficult. And, so, right now we can’t just disappear into the scenery. We can’t just fade. We have to follow our ancestors example and move this forward. And, so, the conclusion, not of the book of Hebrews, but the conclusion of this thought – ‘so then, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. And that great cloud of witnesses, being all of the examples of the ancestors that had gone before them’. This hall of faith that we walked down over the last couple of days. ‘Let’s throw off any extra baggage and get rid of the sin that trips us up and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. He endured the cross, ignoring the shame for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of Him and sat down at the right side of God’s throne’. We should take great encouragement in that because it gives the lay of the land for our own lives. It’s not always going to be easy. This isn’t even about making things easy, which is one of the great misconceptions about this journey of faith that we’re on. And one of the things that deeply estranges us from God because for some reason, we think that everything is supposed to be unopposed and without challenge and easy and when it’s not we blame God for it. And we can see clues that this is somewhat happening in this time because the writer of Hebrews then begins to talk about discipline. And the way that it’s brought out is, look, a parent who doesn’t discipline their children and shape them and guide them doesn’t love them. And if that’s not happening to a child then the child’s in his legitimate child. So, they are basically saying, look, we have to endure this, we have to move through this and get everything that God has for us that’s in it into our lives. We’re being shaped. We’re being remade new for this new covenant. Things have changed and we are carrying it forward. And, so, we too, can take council found in the last verses that we read today – ‘so strengthen your drooping hands and weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet so that if any part is lame it will be healed rather than injured more seriously.

Prayer:

Father, we have to reframe some things. We actually have to keep reframing them, that the obstacles that we face and the challenges that come our way aren’t purposeless. They are an invitation to grow strong in our faith, which we need to be. And they are assisting us with stripping away all of the things that are going nowhere in our lives. So, come Holy Spirit, strengthen our faith. We embrace You, and we cling to You in all things. You are the Author and Perfecter of our faith. So, come Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. It’s home base. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

Looking at the calendar, just a few days from now, this coming Sunday the 19^th of November, we’ll be back out on the road bringing the Sneezing Jesus message at River Valley church in Bossier City, Louisiana. So, this will be last time we’ll be out on the road this year. Looking forward to seeing you. Come say hello. You can get all the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the events section. And we’ll look forward to that in a few days.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link, it’s on the homepage. And I can’t thank you enough for those of you who have clicked that link. Thank you. If you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayers and Praise Reports

Hi Family. This is His Little Sheri from Canada. And I finished listening to the community prayer for November 4^th and doodling my prayers for all of you. I have quite a long list of people I will be praying for. And just to mention a few, Kristi in Kentucky, your dad passed away on October 21^st. That was my birthday. And my heart goes out to you. I’m very close to my parents. And, so, I can imagine the grief you’re feeling after losing both your mom and now your dad. I’m praying for you Kristi. A man called in, didn’t leave his name, but you were saying that you were really needing companionship, that you are feeling lonely, and I’m praying for you. I’m praying for Julie from Maryland. Thank you so much Julie, for your message to me. That made my day. And you had mentioned that you’re praying for your parents and your brother for their salvation. I’m going to join you in praying for them. Miguel, you called you in and sang Victory in Jesus. Thank you, I was singing with you at the top of my lungs…because there was nobody home. So, thank you of reminding me of that wonderful old hymn. And Lisa the Encourager, you called in and talked about the miracle of our eyes. Thank you for that. That was so fascinating. And I just felt worship rise up in my hear as you were talking about the miraculous design of our eyes. And Candice from Oregon. You called in mentioning that you’re going to be meeting with your sister. I’m wondering how that went, so please call in and update us. There’s so many more here on my list. I love you family. I’m praying for so many of you and I’ll talk to you again soon. Bye for now.

Hello my darling family. This is Janice in Goodyear Arizona calling. I send greetings to all of you and my love. And I have a special request for my brother-in-law. His name is Tim. And Tim has been through a rough time, to say the least. He lost his beautiful 35 year old daughter a couple months ago in a car accident and now the doctors have discovered internal bleeding but they don’t know where it’s coming from. So, he’s got to go through a bunch of tests and we all know how those are. Please pray that the Lord will direct these doctors to find the cause of his bleeding and stop it. And please pray, most of all, that Tim will come to a knowledge of Jesus as his Lord and Savior. And I thank you all so very much. I still keep a book, I wish I could show you all my books, it’s full of with prayers and answers from my DAB family. God bless you all. Thanks again.

Good morning everyone, this is Mike from Washington state. I’m calling on 11/11. I’d just been listening to the community prayer line today and I just wanted to say thank you to all my Daily Audio Bible family and all the prayer requesters and everything for the beautiful podcast. I’ve been listening since 2009, full time listening since 2010. And felt compelled to call today to thank Tony for his great poem about the three trees. It just really turned something in me and made me want to call in for the first time. Everybody have a great day. And love you all.

Hi. Kristi from Kentucky, this is Valerie calling from Michigan. I heard your prayer request a few days ago about the loss of your mom and dad so close together and I totally feel for you. Feel my hugs right now for you. I understand. My mom and dad died 8 months apart. And my dad died middle of August. And, so, I’ve had a little time to reflect on their lives and their presence in my life and how much I miss them. And I know you’re probably…in the beginning…your heart just hurts…you actually feel pain in your heart because you miss them so much. And that will get a little easier. God is good. Rest in Him and feel the tears…let the tears flow…let the blankets of sorrow just come upon you. It’s OK. It will get easier. God is good. He is our eternal Father and our parents are home, which is our goal, is to one day go home. And this is a hard time of year to be at a loss, to be grieving. So, I’ll be praying for you Kristi and for you too Brian, for the loss of your mom, and for all out there who are missing loved ones. Remember that we are children to our parents, parents to our children. Some day we will be parents to our parents and children to our children - circle of life. And there’s a lesson there. God bless you. Love you Kristi. Bye-bye.

November 14, 2017

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday November 14, 2017 (NIV)

Ezekiel 29-30

Against Egypt

29 In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the Lord’s word came to me: ²Human one, face Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, and prophesy against him and against all of Egypt. ³Speak and say, The Lord God proclaims:

I’m against you, Pharaoh, Egypt’s king,
great crocodile lurking
in the Nile’s canals,
who says, “The Nile is all mine;
I made it for myself!”
⁴I will set hooks in your jaws;
I will make the fish from the Nile’s canals cling to your scales.
I will drag you out of the Nile’s canals,
and also all the fish from the Nile’s canals
clinging to your scales.
⁵I will fling you out into the desert,
and also all the fish from the Nile’s canals.
You will fall on the open ground,
and won’t be gathered or retrieved.

I’ve given you to the beasts of the earth
and the birds in the sky for food.
⁶Everyone living in Egypt will know that I am the Lord.

Because they were a flimsy crutch for the house of Israel— ⁷when they took you in hand, you would splinter and make their shoulders sore; when they leaned on you, you would break, bringing them to their knees— ⁸now the Lord God proclaims: I’m bringing a sword against you, and I will cut off from you human and beast. ⁹The land of Egypt will be turned into a wasteland and ruins. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Because you^[a] said, “The Nile is mine; I made it,” ¹⁰I’m against you and against the Nile’s canals. I will make the land of Egypt into an utter ruin, a wasteland, from Migdol to Syene and as far as its boundary with Cush. ¹¹No foot, animal or human, will walk across it, and it won’t be inhabited for forty years. ¹²I will make the land of Egypt the most desolate of wastelands and its cities the most devastated of ruined cities. It will be a wasteland for forty years, and the Egyptians will be scattered among the nations and dispersed throughout the lands.

¹³The Lord God proclaims: At the end of forty years, I will gather the Egyptians from among the nations where they are scattered. ¹⁴I will improve their circumstances and bring them back to the land of Pathros, the land of their origin. Egypt will be a lowly kingdom there. ¹⁵Out of all the kingdoms, it will be the lowliest. It will never again exalt itself over the nations, and I will make it small to keep it from ruling the nations. ¹⁶The house of Israel will never again bring guilt on itself by faithlessly turning to Egypt for help, for they will know that I am the Lord God.

¹⁷In the twenty-seventh year, on the first day of the first month, the Lord’s word came to me: ¹⁸Human one, Babylon’s King Nebuchadrezzar made his army labor very hard against Tyre. Every head was scraped bald, and every shoulder was rubbed raw, yet he got nothing from Tyre for himself or for his army for any of his efforts against it. ¹⁹So now the Lord God proclaims: I’m going to give the land of Egypt to Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar. He will carry off its wealth, he will plunder and loot it, and it will be the wages for his army. ²⁰I will give him the land of Egypt as payment for his laboring for me. This is what the Lord God says.

²¹On that day I will give new strength^[b] to the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

30 The Lord’s word came to me: ²Human one, prophesy and say, The Lord God proclaims:

Howl! Horror for the day!
³The day is coming,
the day of the Lord comes,
a day of clouds: the nations’ time has come.
⁴A sword will come into Egypt,
and trembling will overcome Cush,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
its wealth carried away,
and its foundations razed.
⁵Cush, Put, and Lud,
all Arabia and Cub,
and the people from the allied country^[c] with them
will fall by the sword.

⁶The Lord proclaims:
When Egypt’s helpers fall,
its proud strength will decline.
From Migdol to Syene
they will fall by the sword.
This is what the Lord God says.

⁷Of all the lands laid waste, it will be the most desolate; of all cities, the most ruined. ⁸They will know that I am the Lord. On the day that I set fire to Egypt and all its helpers are broken, ⁹messengers in ships will go out from me to startle the complacent Cushites. Anguish will overcome them on Egypt’s day. It’s certainly coming.

¹⁰The Lord God proclaims:
I will bring an end to the hordes of Egypt
through the power of Babylon’s King Nebuchadrezzar.
¹¹He and his people with him,
the most terrible of the nations,
will be brought in to destroy the land.
They will draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
¹²I will dry up the Nile canals;
I will sell the land to evildoers.
With the help of foreigners
I will lay waste to the land and everything in it.
I, the Lord, have spoken.

¹³The Lord God proclaims:
I will destroy the idols
and bring an end to the images in Memphis.
Never again will there be a prince from the land of Egypt;
so I will kindle fear in the land of Egypt.
¹⁴I will turn Pathros into a desolation,
set fire to Zoan,
and execute judgments in Thebes.
¹⁵I will pour out my anger on Pelusium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and I will cut down pompous Thebes.
¹⁶I will set Egypt on fire;
Pelusium will writhe in travail,
Thebes will be split open,
Memphis assaulted in broad daylight.
¹⁷The elite troops of On and Pi-beseth
will fall by the sword,
and the cities themselves will go into captivity.

¹⁸At Tehaphnehes the day will go dark when I break Egypt’s yoke and bring an end to its proud strength. A cloud will cover it, and the towns around it will go into captivity. ¹⁹I will execute judgments in Egypt, and they will know that I am the Lord.

²⁰In the eleventh year, on the seventh day of the first month, the Lord’s word came to me: ²¹Human one, I’ve broken the arm of Pharaoh, Egypt’s king, and it hasn’t been set so that it might heal, nor has it been braced or wrapped up so that it might be strong enough to grasp a sword.

²²So now the Lord God proclaims: I’m against Pharaoh, and I will break his arms, both the sound one and the broken one, and I’ll make the sword fall out of his hand. ²³I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the earth. ²⁴I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and I will put my sword into his hand. When I break the arms of Pharaoh, he will groan like a dying man in his presence. ²⁵I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall. They will know that I am the Lord, when I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he uses it against the land of Egypt. ²⁶When I scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the earth, they will know that I am the Lord.

Footnotes:

Ezekiel 29:9 Or he
Ezekiel 29:21 Or make a horn sprout
Ezekiel 30:5 Or land of the covenant

Common English Bible (CEB)

Hebrews 11:32-12:13

³²What more can I say? I would run out of time if I told you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. ³³Through faith they conquered kingdoms, brought about justice, realized promises, shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴put out raging fires, escaped from the edge of the sword, found strength in weakness, were mighty in war, and routed foreign armies. ³⁵Women received back their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured and refused to be released so they could gain a better resurrection.

³⁶But others experienced public shame by being taunted and whipped; they were even put in chains and in prison. ³⁷They were stoned to death, they were cut in two, and they died by being murdered with swords. They went around wearing the skins of sheep and goats, needy, oppressed, and mistreated. ³⁸The world didn’t deserve them. They wandered around in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the ground.

³⁹All these people didn’t receive what was promised, though they were given approval for their faith. ⁴⁰God provided something better for us so they wouldn’t be made perfect without us.

Let’s also run the race

12 So then let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up, ²and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. He endured the cross, ignoring the shame, for the sake of the joy that was laid out in front of him, and sat down at the right side of God’s throne.

Run the race with discipline

³Think about the one who endured such opposition from sinners so that you won’t be discouraged and you won’t give up. ⁴In your struggle against sin, you haven’t resisted yet to the point of shedding blood, ⁵and you have forgotten the encouragement that addresses you as sons and daughters:

My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline
or give up when you are corrected by him,
⁶because the Lord disciplines whomever he loves,
and he punishes every son or daughter whom he accepts.^[a]

⁷Bear hardship for the sake of discipline. God is treating you like sons and daughters! What child isn’t disciplined by his or her father? ⁸But if you don’t experience discipline, which happens to all children, then you are illegitimate and not real sons and daughters. ⁹What’s more, we had human parents who disciplined us, and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live? ¹⁰Our human parents disciplined us for a little while, as it seemed best to them, but God does it for our benefit so that we can share his holiness. ¹¹No discipline is fun while it lasts, but it seems painful at the time. Later, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness for those who have been trained by it.

¹²So strengthen your drooping hands and weak knees! ¹³Make straight paths for your feet so that if any part is lame, it will be healed rather than injured more seriously.

Footnotes:

Hebrews 12:6 Prov 3:11-12

Common English Bible (CEB)

Psalm 112

Psalm 112^[a]

112 Praise the Lord!
Those who honor the Lord,
who adore God’s commandments, are truly happy!
²Their descendants will be strong throughout the land.
The offspring of those who do right will be blessed;
³wealth and riches will be in their houses.
Their righteousness stands forever.
⁴They shine in the dark for others who do right.
They are merciful, compassionate, and righteous.
⁵Those who lend generously are good people—
as are those who conduct their affairs with justice.
⁶Yes, these sorts of people will never be shaken;
the righteous will be remembered forever!
⁷They won’t be frightened at bad news.
Their hearts are steady, trusting in the Lord.
⁸Their hearts are firm; they aren’t afraid.
In the end, they will witness their enemies’ defeat.
⁹They give freely to those in need.
Their righteousness stands forever.
Their strength increases gloriously.
¹⁰The wicked see all this and fume;
they grind their teeth, but disappear to nothing.
What the wicked want to see happen comes to nothing!

Footnotes:

Psalm 112:1 Ps 112 is an alphabetic acrostic poem; see the note at Pss 9–10.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Proverbs 27:17

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron,
so friends sharpen each other’s faces.

Common English Bible (CEB)

November 14, 2017

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday November 14, 2017 (NIV)

Ezekiel 29-30

Against Egypt

I’ve given you to the beasts of the earth
and the birds in the sky for food.
⁶Everyone living in Egypt will know that I am the Lord.

²¹On that day I will give new strength^[b] to the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

30 The Lord’s word came to me: ²Human one, prophesy and say, The Lord God proclaims:

⁶The Lord proclaims:
When Egypt’s helpers fall,
its proud strength will decline.
From Migdol to Syene
they will fall by the sword.
This is what the Lord God says.

Footnotes:

Ezekiel 29:9 Or he
Ezekiel 29:21 Or make a horn sprout
Ezekiel 30:5 Or land of the covenant

Common English Bible (CEB)

Hebrews 11:32-12:13

³⁹All these people didn’t receive what was promised, though they were given approval for their faith. ⁴⁰God provided something better for us so they wouldn’t be made perfect without us.

Let’s also run the race

Run the race with discipline

¹²So strengthen your drooping hands and weak knees! ¹³Make straight paths for your feet so that if any part is lame, it will be healed rather than injured more seriously.

Footnotes:

Hebrews 12:6 Prov 3:11-12

Common English Bible (CEB)

Psalm 112

Psalm 112^[a]

Footnotes:

Psalm 112:1 Ps 112 is an alphabetic acrostic poem; see the note at Pss 9–10.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Proverbs 27:17

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron,
so friends sharpen each other’s faces.

Common English Bible (CEB)

November 13, 2017

11/13/2017 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 27:1-28:26, Hebrews 11:17-31, Psalms 111:1-10, Proverbs 27:15-16

Today is the 13th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s wonderful to be here with you today as we launch ourselves into a new work week. So, let’s dive. We’re reading from the Common English Bible this week. Ezekiel chapter 27 verse 1 through 28 verse 26.

Commentary:

Alright. So, yesterday in the book of Hebrews, we started walking down what is known as the ‘hall of faith’. And it kind of turns the corner in the book of Hebrews. Previously, as we’ve already talked at length about, we were examining the sacrificial system and its completion in Jesus and the implications of a new covenant, a new thing God is doing. And then we turned the corner toward what activates, what fuels that new covenant, which is faith. And, so, we’ve been working through examples of people’s faith in what they couldn’t see but they believed to be true and hoped in. And, so, in today’s reading, we read about Abraham’s faith and Isaac’s faith and Jacob’s faith and Joseph’s faith and Moses faith and the faith of the Hebrew people when they crossed the Red Sea on dry land and the faith of the people when Jericho’s walls fell and the faith of Rahab, who was in Jericho but was spared. And the writer of Hebrews is saying all of these people demonstrated faith in something that they hoped for, but could not see, and it became a reality. And it, in fact, became the Hebrew story. So, once again, Hebrews is written to Hebrews. So, that is the context and that is the cultural backdrop so that we can see in all the names, like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - all these names that we just read through - they were examples of faith as heroes from the Bible. That’s how we would see them in this time, but for the Hebrew people reading this letter, it’s their story being told back to them, showing them that faith is beyond a sacrificial system or a Mosaic law and it’s going to be faith that they have to leap into, a leap of faith, to move into this new covenant, this new thing that God is doing in the world through his son, Jesus, and how this new thing rearranges and changes things for them. And, so, tomorrow, when we get into the book of Hebrews, we’ll be moving out of these examples, this ‘hallway of faith’ that some people call it, we’ll be moving out of these examples, and into what this means.

Prayer

Father, we have asked for You to come and well up within us and increase our faith because we know it’s impossible to please You without faith. And we know without faith our hope cannot grow and we can’t reach for what we can’t see. So, come Holy Spirit, increase our faith. And we know, we understand, we have to collaborate in that, we have to turn our heart toward You and run toward You in every decision in every word in every thought of our lives. But we can’t do that on our own. We’ve tried. We need your help. Come Holy Spirit, we turn and run toward You, knowing that You will meet us, You will guide us, You will lead us into all truth. And we put our hope in that. We pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. It’s home base. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here.

Looking at the calendar, this coming Sunday, which will be the 19^th of November, we’ll be out on the road for the final time of the year. And we’ll be in Louisiana, in Bossier City, Louisiana, which is near Shreveport. And we’ll be at River Valley church and we’re looking forward to that. So, if you’re in the area, love to see you. Come say hello. You can get the details at dailyaudiobible.com in the events section.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There’s a link, it’s on the homepage and we thank you humbly for your partnership. If you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayers and Praise Reports

Hello Daily Audio Bible. I just want to say thank you for praying for my husband. I called in three years ago and didn’t know what was wrong with him. A lot of things came to light, but there was repentance and God is good. He is a believer in Jesus Christ. He is guiding and leading bible studies for men of addiction groups and it’s amazing. We’re reading scripture. Thank you for your prayers Daily Audio Bible.

Hi family. This is Melan in Northern California. I haven’t called in in a while. I do listen, I do pray. But I am going to have a prayer request. I know that God is beyond all time. And, so, that’s why I’m calling in now. I am currently on my way up to the hospital for a stress test / treadmill test. Earlier this week I had some serious symptoms of a heart attack. And everything was ruled out. We determined it’s just anxiety. I am suffering from severe anxiety. I have serious marital issues. My husband and I are on the brink of divorce and I keep telling myself that I can’t say that word anymore because thinking it is to strong but I also know that speaking the name of Jesus is even stronger. And, so, I have called so that you would please pray for my marriage and for my husband. We are just really, really on the verge. We’ve had a rough go of it for…well…we’ve been married for 16 years and it’s been 16 been of rough marriage. So, please pray for us. Pray for him to please turn his heart back to the Lord. His faith has grown cold. And I know that when he falls back in love with Jesus then all the right in his world and even if I’m not in the picture for that that his will world will be good and right and just. So, thank you family. Love you. Pray for you all daily. Bye.

Good morning. It is Beloved by Him in Gloucester in the UK. I want to thank Miguel for all his prayers for our churches and I hope to take up the challenge as well to continue praying for our leaders and for our church communities. Today I wanted to pray for the Polish Catholic Church ___ Stella. She is a Polish Catholic but she doesn’t worship regularly because there isn’t a church near her. I also wanted to pray for her as well and others like who are overwhelmed with work and stressed out by work so much so that their bodies have made them ___. Anyway, let’s pray. Father God, thank You so much for Your people, whatever denomination they are. Thank You that they know and love You and acknowledge You for who You are, the Creator of the universe, that You love us, that You sent Your Son to die for us, to die for our sins so that we might have a relationship with you, and might have eternal life with you. Father God, I lift up the Polish Catholic church. I pray Lord that You’d be blessing that church and that You’d be helping those communities of Polish Catholics, wherever they are Lord, find a way to worship. I pray Lord that there would be opportunities for Stella and people like her to worship You in the way they want to worship You. I pray Lord that You would become real to Stella and that You would be blessing her. Father God I lift up my brothers and sisters out there who are overworked by work at the moment, overwhelmed by stresses and things like and anxiety, so much so that it’s affecting their health. I pray Lord that You’d be giving them what they need, You’d be restoring their health and giving them peace. In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family. This is Wrapped in His Unfailing Love and I just wanted to share something with you. Good morning. I love you all. This is what I’ve been doing. I’ve been keeping a copy of Sneezing Jesus in my car and I pray about who I can give it to. And I told you, I think, that I gave it to my massage therapist and she was very happy about it. And then I gave it to a lady that I see at a place where I exercise. And I really prayed about it first and she thanked me for it the next time she saw me and she said it was really interesting and it has given her allot to think about. So, I was so encouraged by that I wanted to share it with you and thought that that is a good idea. So, anyway I just wanted to say good morning on this beautiful day, that I love you all, and I think about you, and I pray with you as I listen to your prayer requests. And thank you for praying for me too. So, love you all and have a wonderful weekend. Bye-bye.

November 13, 2017

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday November 13, 2017 (NIV)

Ezekiel 27-28

Tyre, the ship of state

27 The Lord’s word came to me: ²You, human one, sing a lament for Tyre. ³Say this about Tyre, who sits enthroned at the entrance to the sea, the people’s agent for trade throughout the coastlands. The Lord God proclaims:

Tyre, you say,
“I’m perfectly beautiful!”
⁴But your territory is in the depths of the sea,
and it’s your builders who made you beautiful.
⁵For you they made your deck of cypress from Senir.
To make your mast, they took cedar from Lebanon.
⁶For your oars, they used the oaks of Bashan.
They made your hull, inlaid with ivory, of boxwood from the coasts of Cyprus.
⁷Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail;
it became your emblem.
Your awning was made of blue and purple cloth from the coasts of Elishah.

⁸The princes of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen. Your own wise men were in you as your helmsmen. ⁹The elders and wise men of Gebal were in you, patching up your leaks. Every seagoing ship and its sailors came to do business with you. ¹⁰Paras, Lud, and Put were the warriors in your army. By hanging their shields and helmets on you, they made you radiant. ¹¹The men of Arvad and Helech were stationed on your walls all around; the men of Gamad were in your towers. They hung their weapons on your walls all around. They were the ones who completed your beauty.

¹²Tarshish was your procurer of great wealth. For your wares, they exchanged silver, iron, tin, and lead. ¹³Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were your agents in human trafficking. They gave you bronze vessels for these wares of yours. ¹⁴Beth-togarmah traded horses, warhorses, and mules for your wares. ¹⁵Islanders from Rhodes^[a] were your agents. By contract they procured ebony and ivory for you from many coastlands. ¹⁶Aram was your agent for many products. They traded turquoise, purple cloth, colorful brocades, linen, coral, and rubies for your wares. ¹⁷Judah and the land of Israel were your agents, trading the finest wheat,^[b] millet,^[c] honey, oil, and balm for your wares. ¹⁸For many of your finished products, Damascus traded out of its great wealth the wine of Helbon and white wool. ¹⁹Vedan and Javan from the region of Uzal traded with you. They exchanged wrought iron, cinnamon, and spices for your wares. ²⁰Dedan was your agent for saddle blankets. ²¹Arabia and all the princes of Kedar traded for you. They procured lambs, rams, and goats for you. ²²They were your agents in Sheba and Raamah. For your wares they exchanged the finest spices, every kind of precious stone, and gold. ²³Haran, Canneh, and Eden were your agents,^[d] and also Assyria and Chilmad. ²⁴They procured fine finished goods for you, garments of purple and brocade, and plush carpets rolled up and securely tied with ropes, among your acquisitions. ²⁵The ships of Tarshish carried your goods.

You were filled to capacity and heavily laden in the middle of the sea.
²⁶Your oarsmen brought you out onto the high seas;
an east wind sank you into the sea’s depths.
²⁷Your goods, your wares, your wealth,
your sailors, your helmsmen, those patching your leaks,
your merchants, all your warriors in you,
and all the company that is with you—
they also sank into the sea’s depth
on the day of your demise.
²⁸At your helmsmen’s cries for help,
the troubled waters seethe.
²⁹Those entrusted with the oars desert their posts.
All sailors and helmsmen seek footing on the shore.
³⁰Loudly they cry,
bitterly they wail,
and they put dust on their heads
and cover themselves with ashes.
³¹They cut off all their hair
and put on mourning clothes.
In despair they weep for you,
and bitterly perform the mourning rites.
³²In their lamentation they raise a lament for you;
they sing lamentions over you:
“Who was like Tyre, silenced in the middle of the sea?”

³³When your wares came out from the seas,
you satisfied many people.
Your abundant wealth and merchandise
enriched the kings of the earth.
³⁴Now you are shattered by the seas;
your cargoes, as well as everyone in your company,
are sunk into the water’s depths.
³⁵Now the inhabitants of the coastlands
shudder on account of you.
And as for their kings, their hair stands on end;
their faces betray their horror.
³⁶The merchants for the peoples hiss because of you.
You have become a terror;
from now on you are nothing.

Prince of Tyre

28 The Lord’s word came to me: ²Human one, say to the prince of Tyre, The Lord God proclaims: In your arrogance, you say, “I am God, and as God I rule the seas!” Though you claim to have the mind of a god, you are mortal, not divine. ³You are certainly wiser than Daniel; no secrets are hidden from you. ⁴By your wisdom and discernment, you made yourself rich, and you filled your storehouses with silver and gold. ⁵Through your shrewd trading you multiplied your riches. But then you became proud of your riches.

⁶So now the Lord God proclaims: Because you claim to have the mind of a god, ⁷I’ll bring foreigners, the most ruthless nations, against you. They will let loose their swords against your fine wisdom, and they will degrade your splendor. ⁸They will hurl you to destruction, and you will die, murdered, on the high seas. ⁹When you face your murderers, will you still say, “I’m God”? In your killers’ hands, you are mortal, not divine. ¹⁰You will die as the uncircumcised do, at the hands of foreigners. I have spoken. This is what the Lord God has said.

¹¹The Lord’s word came to me: ¹²Human one, sing a lament for the king of Tyre. Say to him, The Lord God proclaims: You were full of wisdom and beauty, the image of perfection. ¹³You were in Eden, God’s garden. You were covered with gold and every precious stone: carnelian, topaz, and moonstone; beryl, onyx, and jasper; lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald. On the day that you were created, finely crafted pendants and engravings were prepared. ¹⁴You, a winged creature, were installed as a guardian. I placed you in God’s holy mountain where you walked among the stones of fire. ¹⁵From the day you were created until injustice was found in you, your ways were assured. ¹⁶But because of your trade, your oppressive business practices piled up, and you became impure. So I expelled you from God’s mountain. I removed you, winged creature, guardian, from among the stones of fire. ¹⁷You exalted yourself because of your beauty and corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I will cast you down to the earth in the sight of kings, and I will make a spectacle of you. ¹⁸Because of your corrupt trade, which surpassed your many other sins, you made your sanctuaries impure. Therefore, I will bring fire from your midst. When it has consumed you, I will turn you into dust on the earth in the sight of all who see you. ¹⁹Everyone among the peoples who knows you will be appalled because of you. You will become a terror. From that time on, you will be nothing.

Against Sidon

²⁰The Lord’s word came to me: ²¹Human one, face Sidon, prophesy against it, ²²and say, The Lord God proclaims: I’m against you, Sidon, and I will manifest my glory in you. When I’ve executed judgment against it and through it have manifested my holiness, they will know that I am the Lord. ²³I will hurl plague against it, and blood will run in its streets. When the sword comes against it from all sides, the slain will fall within it. Then they will know that I am the Lord. ²⁴The house of Israel will no longer suffer from the pricking thorn or painful briar of any of its neighbors who hold it in contempt. And they will know that I am the Lord God.

²⁵The Lord God proclaims: When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they’ve scattered, and I demonstrate my holiness through them in the sight of the nations, they will live on their fertile land, which I gave to my servant Jacob. ²⁶They will live on it in safety. They will build houses, plant vineyards, and live in safety. When I execute judgments against all who hold them in contempt on every side, they will know that I, the Lord, am their God.

Footnotes:

Ezekiel 27:15 Heb Dedan
Ezekiel 27:17 Or wheat from Minnith
Ezekiel 27:17 Heb uncertain
Ezekiel 27:23 LXX; MT adds Sheba.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Hebrews 11:17-31

¹⁷By faith Abraham offered Isaac when he was tested. The one who received the promises was offering his only son. ¹⁸He had been told concerning him, Your legitimate descendants will come from Isaac.^[a] ¹⁹He figured that God could even raise him from the dead. So in a way he did receive him back from the dead.

²⁰By faith Isaac also blessed Jacob and Esau concerning their future.

²¹By faith Jacob blessed each of Joseph’s sons as he was dying and bowed in worship over the head of his staff.^[b]

²²By faith Joseph recalled the exodus of the Israelites at the end of his life, and gave instructions about burying his bones.

²³By faith Moses was hidden by his parents for three months when he was born, because they saw that the child was beautiful and they weren’t afraid of the king’s orders.

²⁴By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter when he was grown up. ²⁵He chose to be mistreated with God’s people instead of having the temporary pleasures of sin. ²⁶He thought that the abuses he suffered for Christ were more valuable than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking forward to the reward.

²⁷By faith he left Egypt without being afraid of the king’s anger. He kept on going as if he could see what is invisible.

²⁸By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, in order that the destroyer could not touch their firstborn children.

²⁹By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if they were on dry land, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were drowned.

³⁰By faith Jericho’s walls fell after the people marched around them for seven days.

³¹By faith Rahab the prostitute wasn’t killed with the disobedient because she welcomed the spies in peace.

Footnotes:

Hebrews 11:18 Gen 21:12
Hebrews 11:21 Gen 47:31 LXX

Common English Bible (CEB)

Psalm 111

Psalm 111^[a]

111 Praise the Lord!
I thank the Lord with all my heart
in the company of those who do right, in the congregation.
²The works of the Lord are magnificent;
they are treasured by all who desire them.
³God’s deeds are majestic and glorious.
God’s righteousness stands forever.
⁴God is famous for his wondrous works.
The Lord is full of mercy and compassion.
⁵God gives food to those who honor him.
God remembers his covenant forever.
⁶God proclaimed his powerful deeds to his people
and gave them what had belonged to other nations.
⁷God’s handiwork is honesty and justice;
all God’s rules are trustworthy—
⁸they are established always and forever:
they are fulfilled with truth and right doing.
⁹God sent redemption for his people;
God commanded that his covenant last forever.
Holy and awesome is God’s name!
¹⁰Fear of the Lord is where wisdom begins;
sure knowledge is for all who keep God’s laws.
God’s praise lasts forever!

Footnotes:

Psalm 111:1 Ps 111 is an alphabetic acrostic poem; see the note at Pss 9–10.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Proverbs 27:15-16

¹⁵The constant dripping on a rainy day
and a contentious woman are alike;
¹⁶anyone who can control her
can control the wind
or pick up oil in his hand.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Ezekiel 35-36

Against Edom

Mountains of Israel

A new heart

Footnotes:

James 1:1-18

Greeting

Stand firm

Our cravings versus God’s gifts

Psalm 116

Psalm 116

Footnotes:

Proverbs 27:23-27

Ezekiel 33-34

The lookout

News from Jerusalem

A fickle audience

The good shepherd

Footnotes:

Hebrews 13

Our acts of service and sacrifice

Closing greeting and blessing

Footnotes:

Psalm 115

Psalm 115

Proverbs 27:21-22

Ezekiel 31-32

Egypt is not Assyria

Egypt the crocodile

Vanished glory

Footnotes:

Hebrews 12:14-29

Priestly service in heavenly Jerusalem

Footnotes:

Psalm 113-114

Psalm 113

Psalm 114

Proverbs 27:18-20

Footnotes:

Ezekiel 29-30

Against Egypt

Footnotes:

Hebrews 11:32-12:13

Let’s also run the race

Run the race with discipline

Footnotes:

Psalm 112

Psalm 112[a]

Footnotes:

Proverbs 27:17

Ezekiel 29-30

Against Egypt

Footnotes:

Hebrews 11:32-12:13

Let’s also run the race

Run the race with discipline

Footnotes:

Psalm 112

Psalm 112[a]

Footnotes:

Proverbs 27:17

Ezekiel 27-28

Tyre, the ship of state

Prince of Tyre

Against Sidon

Footnotes:

Hebrews 11:17-31

Footnotes:

Psalm 111

Psalm 111[a]

Footnotes:

Proverbs 27:15-16

Psalm 112^[a]

Psalm 112^[a]

Psalm 111^[a]