Bible Readings for November 19, 2012

Today our passages are Ezekiel 39:1– 40:27; James 2:18–3:18; Psalm 118:1-18; and Proverbs 28:2. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson.

 

Ezekiel 39-40:27 (The Message)

Ezekiel 39

Call the Wild Animals!

 ^1-5 "Son of man, prophesy against Gog. Say, 'A Message of God, the Master: I'm against you, Gog, head of Meshech and Tubal. I'm going to turn you around and drag you out, drag you out of the far north and down on the mountains of Israel. Then I'll knock your bow out of your left hand and your arrows from your right hand. On the mountains of Israel you'll be slaughtered, you and all your troops and the people with you. I'll serve you up as a meal to carrion birds and scavenging animals. You'll be killed in the open field. I've given my word. Decree of God, the Master.'  ⁶ "I'll set fire to Magog and the far-off islands, where people are so seemingly secure. And they'll realize that I am God.
 ⁷ "I'll reveal my holy name among my people Israel. Never again will I let my holy name be dragged in the mud. Then the nations will realize that I, God, am The Holy in Israel.
 ⁸ "It's coming! Yes, it will happen! This is the day I've been telling you about.
 ^9-10 "People will come out of the cities of Israel and make a huge bonfire of the weapons of war, piling on shields large and small, bows and arrows, clubs and spears, a fire they'll keep going for seven years. They won't need to go into the woods to get fuel for the fire. There'll be plenty of weapons to keep it going. They'll strip those who stripped them. They'll rob those who robbed them. Decree of God, the Master.
 ¹¹ "At that time I'll set aside a burial ground for Gog in Israel at Traveler's Rest, just east of the sea. It will obstruct the route of travelers, blocking their way, the mass grave of Gog and his mob of an army. They'll call the place Gog's Mob.
 ^12-16 "Israel will bury the corpses in order to clean up the land. It will take them seven months. All the people will turn out to help with the burials. It will be a big day for the people when it's all done and I'm given my due. Men will be hired full-time for the cleanup burial operation and will go through the country looking for defiling, decomposing corpses. At the end of seven months, there'll be an all-out final search. Anyone who sees a bone will mark the place with a stick so the buriers can get it and bury it in the mass burial site, Gog's Mob. (A town nearby is called Mobville, or Hamonah.) That's how they'll clean up the land.
 ^17-20 "Son of man, God, the Master, says: Call the birds! Call the wild animals! Call out, 'Gather and come, gather around my sacrificial meal that I'm preparing for you on the mountains of Israel. You'll eat meat and drink blood. You'll eat off the bodies of great heroes and drink the blood of famous princes as if they were so many rams and lambs, goats and bulls, the choicest grain-fed animals of Bashan. At the sacrificial meal I'm fixing for you, you'll eat fat till you're stuffed and drink blood till you're drunk. At the table I set for you, you'll stuff yourselves with horses and riders, heroes and fighters of every kind.' Decree of God, the Master.
 ^21-24 "I'll put my glory on display among the nations and they'll all see the judgment I execute, see me at work handing out judgment. From that day on, Israel will realize that I am their God. And the nations will get the message that it was because of their sins that Israel went into exile. They were disloyal to me and I turned away from them. I turned them over to their enemies and they were all killed. I treated them as their polluted and sin-sated lives deserved. I turned away from them, refused to look at them.
 ^25-29 "But now I will return Jacob back from exile, I'll be compassionate with all the people of Israel, and I'll be zealous for my holy name. Eventually the memory will fade, the memory of their shame over their betrayals of me when they lived securely in their own land, safe and unafraid. Once I've brought them back from foreign parts, gathered them in from enemy territories, I'll use them to demonstrate my holiness with all the nations watching. Then they'll realize for sure that I am their God, for even though I sent them off into exile, I will gather them back to their own land, leaving not one soul behind. After I've poured my Spirit on Israel, filled them with my life, I'll no longer turn away. I'll look them full in the face. Decree of God, the Master."

Ezekiel 40

Measuring the Temple Complex

 ^1-3 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year on the tenth of the month—it was the fourteenth year after the city fell—God touched me and brought me here. He brought me in divine vision to the land of Israel and set me down on a high mountain. To the south there were buildings that looked like a city. He took me there and I met a man deeply tanned, like bronze. He stood at the entrance holding a linen cord and a measuring stick.  ⁴ The man said to me, "Son of man, look and listen carefully. Pay close attention to everything I'm going to show you. That's why you've been brought here. And then tell Israel everything you see."
 ⁵ First I saw a wall around the outside of the Temple complex. The measuring stick in the man's hand was about ten feet long. He measured the thickness of the wall: about ten feet. The height was also about ten feet.
 ^6-7 He went into the gate complex that faced the east and went up the seven steps. He measured the depth of the outside threshold of the gate complex: ten feet. There were alcoves flanking the gate corridor, each ten feet square, each separated by a wall seven and a half feet thick. The inside threshold of the gate complex that led to the porch facing into the Temple courtyard was ten feet deep.
 ^8-9 He measured the inside porch of the gate complex: twelve feet deep, flanked by pillars three feet thick. The porch opened onto the Temple courtyard.
 ¹⁰ Inside this east gate complex were three alcoves on each side. Each room was the same size and the separating walls were identical.
 ¹¹ He measured the outside entrance to the gate complex: fifteen feet wide and nineteen and a half feet deep.
 ¹² In front of each alcove was a low wall eighteen inches high. The alcoves were ten feet square.
 ¹³ He measured the width of the gate complex from the outside edge of the alcove roof on one side to the outside edge of the alcove roof on the other: thirty-seven and a half feet from one top edge to the other.
 ¹⁴ He measured the inside walls of the gate complex: ninety feet to the porch leading into the courtyard.
 ¹⁵ The distance from the entrance of the gate complex to the far end of the porch was seventy-five feet.
 ¹⁶ The alcoves and their connecting walls inside the gate complex were topped by narrow windows all the way around. The porch also. All the windows faced inward. The doorjambs between the alcoves were decorated with palm trees.
 ^17-19 The man then led me to the outside courtyard and all its rooms. A paved walkway had been built connecting the courtyard gates. Thirty rooms lined the courtyard. The walkway was the same length as the gateways. It flanked them and ran their entire length. This was the walkway for the outside courtyard. He measured the distance from the front of the entrance gateway across to the entrance of the inner court: one hundred fifty feet.
 ^19-23 Then he took me to the north side. Here was another gate complex facing north, exiting the outside courtyard. He measured its length and width. It had three alcoves on each side. Its gateposts and porch were the same as in the first gate: eighty-seven and a half feet by forty-three and three-quarters feet. The windows and palm trees were identical to the east gateway. Seven steps led up to it, and its porch faced inward. Opposite this gate complex was a gate complex to the inside courtyard, on the north as on the east. The distance between the two was one hundred seventy-five feet.
 ^24-27 Then he took me to the south side, to the south gate complex. He measured its gateposts and its porch. It was the same size as the others. The porch with its windows was the same size as those previously mentioned. It also had seven steps up to it. Its porch opened onto the outside courtyard, with palm trees decorating its gateposts on both sides. Opposite to it, the gate complex for the inner court faced south. He measured the distance across the courtyard from gate to gate: one hundred seventy-five feet.

James 2:18-3:18 (The Message)

 ¹⁸I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department."
   Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.
 ^19-20Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?
 ^21-24Wasn't our ancestor Abraham "made right with God by works" when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are "works of faith"? The full meaning of "believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with God," includes his action. It's that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named "God's friend." Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?
 ^25-26The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn't her action in hiding God's spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.

James 3

When You Open Your Mouth

 ^1-2Don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.  ^3-5A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!
 ^5-6It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
 ^7-10This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
 ^10-12My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?

Live Well, Live Wisely

 ^13-16Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom—it's animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others' throats.  ^17-18Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

Psalm 118:1-18 (The Message)

Psalm 118

    Thank God because he's good, because his love never quits.
   Tell the world, Israel,
      "His love never quits."
   And you, clan of Aaron, tell the world,
      "His love never quits."
   And you who fear God, join in,
      "His love never quits."

 ^5-16 Pushed to the wall, I called to God;
      from the wide open spaces, he answered.
   God's now at my side and I'm not afraid;
      who would dare lay a hand on me?
   God's my strong champion;
      I flick off my enemies like flies.
   Far better to take refuge in God
      than trust in people;
   Far better to take refuge in God
      than trust in celebrities.
   Hemmed in by barbarians,
      in God's name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;
   Hemmed in and with no way out,
      in God's name I rubbed their faces in the dirt;
   Like swarming bees, like wild prairie fire, they hemmed me in;
      in God's name I rubbed their faces in the dirt.
   I was right on the cliff-edge, ready to fall,
      when God grabbed and held me.
   God's my strength, he's also my song,
      and now he's my salvation.
   Hear the shouts, hear the triumph songs
      in the camp of the saved?
         "The hand of God has turned the tide!
         The hand of God is raised in victory!
         The hand of God has turned the tide!"

 ^17-20 I didn't die. I lived!
      And now I'm telling the world what God did.
   God tested me, he pushed me hard,
      but he didn't hand me over to Death.
   Swing wide the city gates—the righteous gates!
      I'll walk right through and thank God!
   This Temple Gate belongs to God,
      so the victors can enter and praise.

 

Proverbs 28:2 (The Message)

 ² When the country is in chaos,
   everybody has a plan to fix it—
But it takes a leader of real understanding
   to straighten things out.



Verse of the Day

“[BOOK I][(Psalms 1-41)][The Way to Happiness]God blesses those people who refuse evil advice and won't follow sinners or join in sneering at God. Instead, the Law of the LORD makes them happy, and they think about it day and night.” - Psalm 1:1-2

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

Thought for the Day

English cleric, writer and collector, well known for his eccentricities Charles Caleb Colton wrote, “Silence is foolish if we are wise, but wise if we are foolish.”

Bible Readings for November 18, 2012

Today our passages are Ezekiel 37:1-38:23; James 1:19–2:17; Psalm 117:1-2; and Proverbs 28:1. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson.

 

Ezekiel 37-38:23 (The Message)

Ezekiel 37

Breath of Life

 ^1-2 God grabbed me. God's Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun.  ³ He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"
    I said, "Master God, only you know that."
 ⁴ He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones: 'Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!'"
 ^5-6 God, the Master, told the dry bones, "Watch this: I'm bringing the breath of life to you and you'll come to life. I'll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You'll come alive and you'll realize that I am God!"
 ^7-8 I prophesied just as I'd been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them.
 ⁹ He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, 'God, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!'"
 ¹⁰ So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army.
 ¹¹ Then God said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they're saying: 'Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there's nothing left of us.'
 ^12-14 "Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, 'God, the Master, says: I'll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I'll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you'll realize that I am God. I'll breathe my life into you and you'll live. Then I'll lead you straight back to your land and you'll realize that I am God. I've said it and I'll do it. God's Decree.'"
 ^15-17 God's Message came to me: "You, son of man: Take a stick and write on it, 'For Judah, with his Israelite companions.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph—Ephraim's stick, together with all his Israelite companions.' Then tie the two sticks together so that you're holding one stick.
 ^18-19 "When your people ask you, 'Are you going to tell us what you're doing?' tell them, 'God, the Master, says, Watch me! I'll take the Joseph stick that is in Ephraim's hand, with the tribes of Israel connected with him, and lay the Judah stick on it. I'll make them into one stick. I'm holding one stick.'
 ^20-24 "Then take the sticks you've inscribed and hold them up so the people can see them. Tell them, 'God, the Master, says, Watch me! I'm taking the Israelites out of the nations in which they've been exiled. I'll gather them in from all directions and bring them back home. I'll make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and give them one king—one king over all of them. Never again will they be divided into two nations, two kingdoms. Never again will they pollute their lives with their no-god idols and all those vile obscenities and rebellions. I'll save them out of all their old sinful haunts. I'll clean them up. They'll be my people! I'll be their God! My servant David will be king over them. They'll all be under one shepherd.
 ^24-27 "'They'll follow my laws and keep my statutes. They'll live in the same land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren will live there forever, and my servant David will be their prince forever. I'll make a covenant of peace with them that will hold everything together, an everlasting covenant. I'll make them secure and place my holy place of worship at the center of their lives forever. I'll live right there with them. I'll be their God! They'll be my people!
 ²⁸ "'The nations will realize that I, God, make Israel holy when my holy place of worship is established at the center of their lives forever.'"

Ezekiel 38

God Against Gog

 ^1-6 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, confront Gog from the country of Magog, head of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him. Say, 'God, the Master, says: Be warned, Gog. I am against you, head of Meshech and Tubal. I'm going to turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and drag you off with your whole army, your horses and riders in full armor—all those shields and bucklers and swords—fighting men armed to the teeth! Persia and Cush and Put will be in the ranks, also well-armed, as will Gomer and its army and Beth-togarmah out of the north with its army. Many nations will be with you!  ^7-9 "'Get ready to fight, you and the whole company that's been called out. Take charge and wait for orders. After a long time, you'll be given your orders. In the distant future you'll arrive at a country that has recovered from a devastating war. People from many nations will be gathered there on the mountains of Israel, for a long time now a wasteland. These people have been brought back from many countries and now live safe and secure. You'll rise like a thunderstorm and roll in like clouds and cover the land, you and the massed troops with you.
 ^10-12 "'Message of God, the Master: At that time you'll start thinking things over and cook up an evil plot. You'll say, "I'm going to invade a country without defenses, attack an unsuspecting, carefree people going about their business—no gates to their cities, no locks on their doors. And I'm going to plunder the place, march right in and clean them out, this rebuilt country risen from the ashes, these returned exiles and their booming economy centered down at the navel of the earth."
 ¹³ "'Sheba and Dedan and Tarshish, traders all out to make a fast buck, will say, "So! You've opened a new market for plunder! You've brought in your troops to get rich quick!"'
 ^14-16 "Therefore, son of man, prophesy! Tell Gog, 'A Message from God, the Master: When my people Israel are established securely, will you make your move? Will you come down out of the far north, you and that mob of armies, charging out on your horses like a tidal wave across the land, and invade my people Israel, covering the country like a cloud? When the time's ripe, I'll unleash you against my land in such a way that the nations will recognize me, realize that through you, Gog, in full view of the nations, I am putting my holiness on display.
 ^17-22 "'A Message of God, the Master: Years ago when I spoke through my servants, the prophets of Israel, wasn't it you I was talking about? Year after year they prophesied that I would bring you against them. And when the day comes, Gog, you will attack that land of Israel. Decree of God, the Master. My raging anger will erupt. Fueled by blazing jealousy, I tell you that then there will be an earthquake that rocks the land of Israel. Fish and birds and wild animals—even ants and beetles!—and every human being will tremble and shake before me. Mountains will disintegrate, terraces will crumble. I'll order all-out war against you, Gog—Decree of God, the Master—Gog killing Gog on all the mountains of Israel. I'll deluge Gog with judgment: disease and massacre, torrential rain and hail, volcanic lava pouring down on you and your mobs of troops and people.
 ²³ "'I'll show you how great I am, how holy I am. I'll make myself known all over the world. Then you'll realize that I am God.'"

James 1:19-2:17 (The Message)

Act on What You Hear

 ^19-21Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God's righteousness doesn't grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.  ^22-24Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don't act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.
 ²⁵But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.
 ^26-27Anyone who sets himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

James 2

The Royal Rule of Love

 ^1-4My dear friends, don't let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ-originated faith. If a man enters your church wearing an expensive suit, and a street person wearing rags comes in right after him, and you say to the man in the suit, "Sit here, sir; this is the best seat in the house!" and either ignore the street person or say, "Better sit here in the back row," haven't you segregated God's children and proved that you are judges who can't be trusted?  ^5-7Listen, dear friends. Isn't it clear by now that God operates quite differently? He chose the world's down-and-out as the kingdom's first citizens, with full rights and privileges. This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God. And here you are abusing these same citizens! Isn't it the high and mighty who exploit you, who use the courts to rob you blind? Aren't they the ones who scorn the new name—"Christian"—used in your baptisms?
 ^8-11You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: "Love others as you love yourself." But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it. You can't pick and choose in these things, specializing in keeping one or two things in God's law and ignoring others. The same God who said, "Don't commit adultery," also said, "Don't murder." If you don't commit adultery but go ahead and murder, do you think your non-adultery will cancel out your murder? No, you're a murderer, period.
 ^12-13Talk and act like a person expecting to be judged by the Rule that sets us free. For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time.

Faith in Action

 ^14-17Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?

 

Psalm 117:1-2 (The Message)

Psalm 117

    Praise God, everybody! Applaud God, all people!
   His love has taken over our lives;
   God's faithful ways are eternal.
      Hallelujah!

 

Proverbs 28:1 (The Message)

Proverbs 28

If You Desert God's Law

 ¹ The wicked are edgy with guilt, ready to run off even when no one's after them;
Honest people are relaxed and confident, bold as lions.

 

Verse of the Day

 

“Your word is the truth. So let this truth make them completely yours.” - John 17:17

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

Thought for the Day

Italian poet, novelist, literary critic and translator Cesare Pavese wrote, “A love thought: I love you so much that I could wish I had been born your brother, or had brought you into the world myself.”

Bible Readings for November 17, 2012

Today our passages are Ezekiel 35:1–36:38; James 1:1-18; Psalm 116:1-19; and Proverbs 27:23-27. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson.

Ezekiel 35-36:38 (The Message)

Ezekiel 35

A Pile of Rubble

 ^1-4 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, confront Mount Seir. Prophesy against it! Tell them, 'God, the Master, says:    "'I'm coming down hard on you, Mount Seir.
   I'm stepping in and turning you to a pile of rubble.
I'll reduce your towns to piles of rocks.
   There'll be nothing left of you.
   Then you'll realize that I am God.
 ^5-9 "'I'm doing this because you've kept this age-old grudge going against Israel: You viciously attacked them when they were already down, looking their final punishment in the face. Therefore, as sure as I am the living God, I'm lining you up for a real bloodbath. Since you loved blood so much, you'll be chased by rivers of blood. I'll reduce Mount Seir to a heap of rubble. No one will either come or go from that place! I'll blanket your mountains with corpses. Massacred bodies will cover your hills and fill up your valleys and ditches. I'll reduce you to ruins and all your towns will be ghost towns—population zero. Then you'll realize that I am God.
 ^10-13 "'Because you said, "These two nations, these two countries, are mine. I'm taking over" (even though God is right there watching, right there listening), I'll turn your hate-bloated anger and rage right back on you. You'll know I mean business when I bring judgment on you. You'll realize then that I, God, have overheard all the vile abuse you've poured out against the mountains of Israel, saying, "They're roadkill and we're going to eat them up." You've strutted around, talking so big, insolently pitting yourselves against me. And I've heard it all.
 ^14-15 "'This is the verdict of God, the Master: With the whole earth applauding, I'll demolish you. Since you danced in the streets, thinking it was so wonderful when Israel's inheritance was demolished, I'll give you the same treatment: demolition. Mount Seir demolished—yes, every square inch of Edom. Then they'll realize that I am God!'"

Ezekiel 36

Back to Your Own Land

 ^1-5 "And now, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel.    Say, 'Mountains of Israel, listen to God's Message. God, the Master, says, Because the enemy crowed over you, "Good! Those old hills are now ours!" now here is a prophecy in the name of God, the Master: Because nations came at you from all sides, ripping and plundering, hauling pieces of you off every which way, and you've become the butt of cheap gossip and jokes, therefore, Mountains of Israel, listen to the Message of God, the Master. My Message to mountains and hills, to ditches and valleys, to the heaps of rubble and the emptied towns that are looted for plunder and turned into jokes by all the surrounding nations: Therefore, says God, the Master, now I'm speaking in a fiery rage against the rest of the nations, but especially against Edom, who in an orgy of violence and shameless insolence robbed me of my land, grabbed it for themselves.'
 ^6-7 "Therefore prophesy over the land of Israel, preach to the mountains and hills, to every ditch and valley: 'The Message of God, the Master: Look! Listen! I'm angry—and I care. I'm speaking to you because you've been humiliated among the nations. Therefore I, God, the Master, am telling you that I've solemnly sworn that the nations around you are next. It's their turn to be humiliated.
 ^8-12 "'But you, Mountains of Israel, will burst with new growth, putting out branches and bearing fruit for my people Israel. My people are coming home! Do you see? I'm back again. I'm on your side. You'll be plowed and planted as before! I'll see to it that your population grows all over Israel, that the towns fill up with people, that the ruins are rebuilt. I'll make this place teem with life—human and animal. The country will burst into life, life, and more life, your towns and villages full of people just as in the old days. I'll treat you better than I ever have. And you'll realize that I am God. I'll put people over you—my own people Israel! They'll take care of you and you'll be their inheritance. Never again will you be a harsh and unforgiving land to them.
 ^13-15 "'God, the Master, says: Because you have a reputation of being a land that eats people alive and makes women barren, I'm now telling you that you'll never eat people alive again nor make women barren. Decree of God, the Master. And I'll never again let the taunts of outsiders be heard over you nor permit nations to look down on you. You'll no longer be a land that makes women barren. Decree of God, the Master.'"
 ^16-21 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they polluted it by the way they lived. I poured out my anger on them because of the polluted blood they poured out on the ground. And so I got thoroughly angry with them polluting the country with their wanton murders and dirty gods. I kicked them out, exiled them to other countries. I sentenced them according to how they had lived. Wherever they went, they gave me a bad name. People said, 'These are God's people, but they got kicked off his land.' I suffered much pain over my holy reputation, which the people of Israel blackened in every country they entered.
 ^22-23 "Therefore, tell Israel, 'Message of God, the Master: I'm not doing this for you, Israel. I'm doing it for me, to save my character, my holy name, which you've blackened in every country where you've gone. I'm going to put my great and holy name on display, the name that has been ruined in so many countries, the name that you blackened wherever you went. Then the nations will realize who I really am, that I am God, when I show my holiness through you so that they can see it with their own eyes.
 ^24-28 "'For here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I'll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You'll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You'll be my people! I'll be your God!
 ^29-30 "'I'll pull you out of that stinking pollution. I'll give personal orders to the wheat fields, telling them to grow bumper crops. I'll send no more famines. I'll make sure your fruit trees and field crops flourish. Other nations won't be able to hold you in contempt again because of famine.
 ³¹ "'And then you'll think back over your terrible lives—the evil, the shame—and be thoroughly disgusted with yourselves, realizing how badly you've lived—all those obscenities you've carried out.
 ³² "'I'm not doing this for you. Get this through your thick heads! Shame on you. What a mess you made of things, Israel!
 ^33-36 "'Message of God, the Master: On the day I scrub you clean from all your filthy living, I'll also make your cities livable. The ruins will be rebuilt. The neglected land will be worked again, no longer overgrown with weeds and thistles, worthless in the eyes of passersby. People will exclaim, "Why, this weed patch has been turned into a Garden of Eden! And the ruined cities, smashed into oblivion, are now thriving!" The nations around you that are still in existence will realize that I, God, rebuild ruins and replant empty waste places. I, God, said so, and I'll do it.
 ^37-38 "'Message of God, the Master: Yet again I'm going to do what Israel asks. I'll increase their population as with a flock of sheep. Like the milling flocks of sheep brought for sacrifices in Jerusalem during the appointed feasts, the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. And they'll realize that I am God.'"

James 1:1-18 (The Message)

James 1

 ¹I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello! Faith Under Pressure  ^2-4Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
 ^5-8If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
 ^9-11When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don't ever count on it. You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that's a picture of the "prosperous life." At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing.
 ¹²Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
 ^13-15Don't let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, "God is trying to trip me up." God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one's way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.
 ^16-18So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.

Psalm 116:1-19 (The Message)

Psalm 116

    I love God because he listened to me, listened as I begged for mercy.
   He listened so intently
      as I laid out my case before him.
   Death stared me in the face,
      hell was hard on my heels.
   Up against it, I didn't know which way to turn;
      then I called out to God for help:
   "Please, God!" I cried out.
      "Save my life!"
   God is gracious—it is he who makes things right,
      our most compassionate God.
   God takes the side of the helpless;
      when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me.

 ^7-8 I said to myself, "Relax and rest.
      God has showered you with blessings.
      Soul, you've been rescued from death;
      Eye, you've been rescued from tears;
      And you, Foot, were kept from stumbling."

 ^9-11 I'm striding in the presence of God,
      alive in the land of the living!
   I stayed faithful, though bedeviled,
      and despite a ton of bad luck,
   Despite giving up on the human race,
      saying, "They're all liars and cheats."

 ^12-19 What can I give back to God
      for the blessings he's poured out on me?
   I'll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God!
      I'll pray in the name of God;
   I'll complete what I promised God I'd do,
      and I'll do it together with his people.
   When they arrive at the gates of death,
      God welcomes those who love him.
   Oh, God, here I am, your servant,
      your faithful servant: set me free for your service!
   I'm ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice
      and pray in the name of God.
   I'll complete what I promised God I'd do,
      and I'll do it in company with his people,
   In the place of worship, in God's house,
      in Jerusalem, God's city.
   Hallelujah!

 

Proverbs 27:23-27 (The Message)

 ^23-27 Know your sheep by name;
   carefully attend to your flocks;
(Don't take them for granted;
   possessions don't last forever, you know.)
And then, when the crops are in
   and the harvest is stored in the barns,
You can knit sweaters from lambs' wool,
   and sell your goats for a profit;
There will be plenty of milk and meat
   to last your family through the winter.



Verse of the Day

Your word is a lamp that gives light wherever I walk.” - Psalm 119:105

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

Thought for the Day

American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army Colin Powell wrote,  “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.”

Bible Readings for November 16, 2012

Today our passages are Ezekiel 33:1–34:31; Hebrews 13:1-25; Psalm 115:1-18; and Proverbs 27:21-22. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson.

 

Ezekiel 33-34:31 (The Message)

Ezekiel 33

You Are the Watchman

 ^1-5 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, 'If I bring war on this land and the people take one of their citizens and make him their watchman, and if the watchman sees war coming and blows the trumpet, warning the people, then if anyone hears the sound of the trumpet and ignores it and war comes and takes him off, it's his own fault. He heard the alarm, he ignored it—it's his own fault. If he had listened, he would have saved his life.  ⁶ "'But if the watchman sees war coming and doesn't blow the trumpet, warning the people, and war comes and takes anyone off, I'll hold the watchman responsible for the bloodshed of any unwarned sinner.'
 ^7-9 "You, son of man, are the watchman. I've made you a watchman for Israel. The minute you hear a message from me, warn them. If I say to the wicked, 'Wicked man, wicked woman, you're on the fast track to death!' and you don't speak up and warn the wicked to change their ways, the wicked will die unwarned in their sins and I'll hold you responsible for their bloodshed. But if you warn the wicked to change their ways and they don't do it, they'll die in their sins well-warned and at least you will have saved your own life.
 ¹⁰ "Son of man, speak to Israel. Tell them, 'You've said, "Our rebellions and sins are weighing us down. We're wasting away. How can we go on living?"'
 ¹¹ "Tell them, 'As sure as I am the living God, I take no pleasure from the death of the wicked. I want the wicked to change their ways and live. Turn your life around! Reverse your evil ways! Why die, Israel?'
 ^12-13 "There's more, son of man. Tell your people, 'A good person's good life won't save him when he decides to rebel, and a bad person's bad life won't prevent him from repenting of his rebellion. A good person who sins can't expect to live when he chooses to sin. It's true that I tell good people, "Live! Be alive!" But if they trust in their good deeds and turn to evil, that good life won't amount to a hill of beans. They'll die for their evil life.
 ^14-16 "'On the other hand, if I tell a wicked person, "You'll die for your wicked life," and he repents of his sin and starts living a righteous and just life—being generous to the down-and-out, restoring what he had stolen, cultivating life-nourishing ways that don't hurt others—he'll live. He won't die. None of his sins will be kept on the books. He's doing what's right, living a good life. He'll live.
 ^17-19 "'Your people say, "The Master's way isn't fair." But it's the way they're living that isn't fair. When good people turn back from living good lives and plunge into sin, they'll die for it. And when a wicked person turns away from his wicked life and starts living a just and righteous life, he'll come alive.
 ²⁰ "'Still, you keep on saying, "The Master's way isn't fair." We'll see, Israel. I'll decide on each of you exactly according to how you live.'"
 ²¹ In the twelfth year of our exile, on the fifth day of the tenth month, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me and said, "The city's fallen."
 ²² The evening before the survivor arrived, the hand of God had been on me and restored my speech. By the time he arrived in the morning I was able to speak. I could talk again.
 ^23-24 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, those who are living in the ruins back in Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one man and he owned the whole country. But there are lots of us. Our ownership is even more certain.'
 ^25-26 "So tell them, 'God the Master says, You eat flesh that contains blood, you worship no-god idols, you murder at will—and you expect to own this land? You rely on the sword, you engage in obscenities, you indulge in sex at random—anyone, anytime. And you still expect to own this land?'
 ^27-28 "Tell them this, Ezekiel: 'The Message of God, the Master. As sure as I am the living God, those who are still alive in the ruins will be killed. Anyone out in the field I'll give to wild animals for food. Anyone hiding out in mountain forts and caves will die of disease. I'll make this country an empty wasteland—no more arrogant bullying! Israel's mountains will become dangerously desolate. No one will dare pass through them.'
 ²⁹ "They'll realize that I am God when I devastate the country because of all the obscenities they've practiced.
 ^30-32 "As for you, son of man, you've become quite the talk of the town. Your people meet on street corners and in front of their houses and say, 'Let's go hear the latest news from God.' They show up, as people tend to do, and sit in your company. They listen to you speak, but don't do a thing you say. They flatter you with compliments, but all they care about is making money and getting ahead. To them you're merely entertainment—a country singer of sad love songs, playing a guitar. They love to hear you talk, but nothing comes of it.
 ³³ "But when all this happens—and it is going to happen!—they'll realize that a prophet was among them."

Ezekiel 34

When the Sheep Get Scattered

 ^1-6 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherd-leaders of Israel. Yes, prophesy! Tell those shepherds, 'God, the Master, says: Doom to you shepherds of Israel, feeding your own mouths! Aren't shepherds supposed to feed sheep? You drink the milk, you make clothes from the wool, you roast the lambs, but you don't feed the sheep. You don't build up the weak ones, don't heal the sick, don't doctor the injured, don't go after the strays, don't look for the lost. You bully and badger them. And now they're scattered every which way because there was no shepherd—scattered and easy pickings for wolves and coyotes. Scattered—my sheep!—exposed and vulnerable across mountains and hills. My sheep scattered all over the world, and no one out looking for them!  ^7-9 "'Therefore, shepherds, listen to the Message of God: As sure as I am the living God—Decree of God, the Master—because my sheep have been turned into mere prey, into easy meals for wolves because you shepherds ignored them and only fed yourselves, listen to what God has to say:
 ¹⁰ "'Watch out! I'm coming down on the shepherds and taking my sheep back. They're fired as shepherds of my sheep. No more shepherds who just feed themselves! I'll rescue my sheep from their greed. They're not going to feed off my sheep any longer!
 ^11-16 "'God, the Master, says: From now on, I myself am the shepherd. I'm going looking for them. As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I'm going after my sheep. I'll rescue them from all the places they've been scattered to in the storms. I'll bring them back from foreign peoples, gather them from foreign countries, and bring them back to their home country. I'll feed them on the mountains of Israel, along the streams, among their own people. I'll lead them into lush pasture so they can roam the mountain pastures of Israel, graze at leisure, feed in the rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. And I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make sure they get plenty of rest. I'll go after the lost, I'll collect the strays, I'll doctor the injured, I'll build up the weak ones and oversee the strong ones so they're not exploited.
 ^17-19 "'And as for you, my dear flock, I'm stepping in and judging between one sheep and another, between rams and goats. Aren't you satisfied to feed in good pasture without taking over the whole place? Can't you be satisfied to drink from the clear stream without muddying the water with your feet? Why do the rest of my sheep have to make do with grass that's trampled down and water that's been muddied?
 ^20-22 "'Therefore, God, the Master, says: I myself am stepping in and making things right between the plump sheep and the skinny sheep. Because you forced your way with shoulder and rump and butted at all the weaker animals with your horns till you scattered them all over the hills, I'll come in and save my dear flock, no longer let them be pushed around. I'll step in and set things right between one sheep and another.
 ^23-24 "'I'll appoint one shepherd over them all: my servant David. He'll feed them. He'll be their shepherd. And I, God, will be their God. My servant David will be their prince. I, God, have spoken.
 ^25-27 "'I'll make a covenant of peace with them. I'll banish fierce animals from the country so the sheep can live safely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest. I'll make them and everything around my hill a blessing. I'll send down plenty of rain in season—showers of blessing! The trees in the orchards will bear fruit, the ground will produce, they'll feel content and safe on their land, and they'll realize that I am God when I break them out of their slavery and rescue them from their slave masters.
 ^28-29 "'No longer will they be exploited by outsiders and ravaged by fierce beasts. They'll live safe and sound, fearless and free. I'll give them rich gardens, lavish in vegetables—no more living half-starved, no longer taunted by outsiders.
 ^30-31 "'They'll know, beyond doubting, that I, God, am their God, that I'm with them and that they, the people Israel, are my people. Decree of God, the Master:

    You are my dear flock, the flock of my pasture, my human flock,
   And I am your God.
         Decree of God, the Master.'"

Hebrews 13:1-25 (The Message)

Hebrews 13

Jesus Doesn't Change

 ^1-4Stay on good terms with each other, held together by love. Be ready with a meal or a bed when it's needed. Why, some have extended hospitality to angels without ever knowing it! Regard prisoners as if you were in prison with them. Look on victims of abuse as if what happened to them had happened to you. Honor marriage, and guard the sacredness of sexual intimacy between wife and husband. God draws a firm line against casual and illicit sex.  ^5-6Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote,

   God is there, ready to help;
   I'm fearless no matter what.
   Who or what can get to me?
 ^7-8Appreciate your pastoral leaders who gave you the Word of God. Take a good look at the way they live, and let their faithfulness instruct you, as well as their truthfulness. There should be a consistency that runs through us all. For Jesus doesn't change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he's always totally himself.
 ⁹Don't be lured away from him by the latest speculations about him. The grace of Christ is the only good ground for life. Products named after Christ don't seem to do much for those who buy them.
 ^10-12The altar from which God gives us the gift of himself is not for exploitation by insiders who grab and loot. In the old system, the animals are killed and the bodies disposed of outside the camp. The blood is then brought inside to the altar as a sacrifice for sin. It's the same with Jesus. He was crucified outside the city gates—that is where he poured out the sacrificial blood that was brought to God's altar to cleanse his people.
 ^13-15So let's go outside, where Jesus is, where the action is—not trying to be privileged insiders, but taking our share in the abuse of Jesus. This "insider world" is not our home. We have our eyes peeled for the City about to come. Let's take our place outside with Jesus, no longer pouring out the sacrificial blood of animals but pouring out sacrificial praises from our lips to God in Jesus' name.
 ¹⁶Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of "sacrifice"—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.
 ¹⁷Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel. They are alert to the condition of your lives and work under the strict supervision of God. Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why would you want to make things harder for them?
 ^18-21Pray for us. We have no doubts about what we're doing or why, but it's hard going and we need your prayers. All we care about is living well before God. Pray that we may be together soon.

   May God, who puts all things together,
      makes all things whole,
   Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus,
      the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant,
   Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd,
      up and alive from the dead,
   Now put you together, provide you
      with everything you need to please him,
   Make us into what gives him most pleasure,
      by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah.
   All glory to Jesus forever and always!
      Oh, yes, yes, yes.
 ^22-23Friends, please take what I've written most seriously. I've kept this as brief as possible; I haven't piled on a lot of extras. You'll be glad to know that Timothy has been let out of prison. If he leaves soon, I'll come with him and get to see you myself.
 ²⁴Say hello to your pastoral leaders and all the congregations. Everyone here in Italy wants to be remembered to you.
 ²⁵Grace be with you, every one.

Psalm 115:1-18 (The Message)

Psalm 115

    Not for our sake, God, no, not for our sake, but for your name's sake, show your glory.
   Do it on account of your merciful love,
      do it on account of your faithful ways.
   Do it so none of the nations can say,
      "Where now, oh where is their God?"

 ^3-8 Our God is in heaven
      doing whatever he wants to do.
   Their gods are metal and wood,
      handmade in a basement shop:
   Carved mouths that can't talk,
      painted eyes that can't see,
   Tin ears that can't hear,
      molded noses that can't smell,
   Hands that can't grasp, feet that can't walk or run,
      throats that never utter a sound.
   Those who make them have become just like them,
      have become just like the gods they trust.

 ^4-9 God is higher than anything and anyone,
      outshining everything you can see in the skies.
   Who can compare with God, our God,
      so majestically enthroned,
   Surveying his magnificent
      heavens and earth?
   He picks up the poor from out of the dirt,
      rescues the wretched who've been thrown out with the trash,
   Seats them among the honored guests,
      a place of honor among the brightest and best.
   He gives childless couples a family,
      gives them joy as the parents of children.
   Hallelujah!

 ^9-11 But you, Israel: put your trust in God!
      —trust your Helper! trust your Ruler!
   Clan of Aaron, trust in God!
      —trust your Helper! trust your Ruler!
   You who fear God, trust in God!
      —trust your Helper! trust your Ruler!

 ^12-16 O God, remember us and bless us,
      bless the families of Israel and Aaron.
   And let God bless all who fear God—
      bless the small, bless the great.
   Oh, let God enlarge your families—
      giving growth to you, growth to your children.
   May you be blessed by God,
      by God, who made heaven and earth.
   The heaven of heavens is for God,
      but he put us in charge of the earth.

 ^17-18 Dead people can't praise God—
      not a word to be heard from those buried in the ground.
   But we bless God, oh yes—
      we bless him now, we bless him always!
   Hallelujah!

 

Proverbs 27:21-22 (The Message)

 ²¹ The purity of silver and gold is tested
   by putting them in the fire;
The purity of human hearts is tested
   by giving them a little fame.

 ²² Pound on a fool all you like—
   you can't pound out foolishness.



Verse of the Day

“Open my mind and let me discover the wonders of your Law.” - Psalm 119:18

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

Thought for the Day

American televangelist, pastor, motivational speaker, and author Robert H. Schuller wrote, “Tough times never last, but tough people do.”

Bible Readings for November 15, 2012

Today our passages are Ezekiel 31:1–32:32; Hebrews 12:14-29; Psalm 113:1–114:8; and Proverbs 27:18-20. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson.

Ezekiel 31-32:32 (The Message)

Ezekiel 31

The Funeral of the Big Tree

 ^1-9 In the eleventh year, on the first day of the third month, God's Message came to me: "Son of man, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt, that pompous old goat:    "'Who do you, astride the world,
   think you really are?
Look! Assyria was a Big Tree, huge as a Lebanon cedar,
   beautiful limbs offering cool shade,
Skyscraper high,
   piercing the clouds.
The waters gave it drink,
   the primordial deep lifted it high,
Gushing out rivers around
   the place where it was planted,
And then branching out in streams
   to all the trees in the forest.
It was immense,
   dwarfing all the trees in the forest—
Thick boughs, long limbs,
   roots delving deep into earth's waters.
All the birds of the air
   nested in its boughs.
All the wild animals
   gave birth under its branches.
All the mighty nations
   lived in its shade.
It was stunning in its majesty—
   the reach of its branches!
   the depth of its water-seeking roots!
Not a cedar in God's garden came close to it.
   No pine tree was anything like it.
Mighty oaks looked like bushes
   growing alongside it.
Not a tree in God's garden
   was in the same class of beauty.
I made it beautiful,
   a work of art in limbs and leaves,
The envy of every tree in Eden,
   every last tree in God's garden.'"
 ^10-13 Therefore, God, the Master, says, "'Because it skyscrapered upward, piercing the clouds, swaggering and proud of its stature, I turned it over to a world-famous leader to call its evil to account. I'd had enough. Outsiders, unbelievably brutal, felled it across the mountain ranges. Its branches were strewn through all the valleys, its leafy boughs clogging all the streams and rivers. Because its shade was gone, everybody walked off. No longer a tree—just a log. On that dead log birds perch. Wild animals burrow under it.
 ¹⁴ "'That marks the end of the "big tree" nations. No more trees nourished from the great deep, no more cloud-piercing trees, no more earthborn trees taking over. They're all slated for death—back to earth, right along with men and women, for whom it's "dust to dust."
 ^15-17 "'The Message of God, the Master: On the day of the funeral of the Big Tree, I threw the great deep into mourning. I stopped the flow of its rivers, held back great seas, and wrapped the Lebanon mountains in black. All the trees of the forest fainted and fell. I made the whole world quake when it crashed, and threw it into the underworld to take its place with all else that gets buried. All the trees of Eden and the finest and best trees of Lebanon, well-watered, were relieved—they had descended to the underworld with it—along with everyone who had lived in its shade and all who had been killed.
 ¹⁸ "'Which of the trees of Eden came anywhere close to you in splendor and size? But you're slated to be cut down to take your place in the underworld with the trees of Eden, to be a dead log stacked with all the other dead logs, among the other uncircumcised who are dead and buried.
    "'This means Pharaoh, the pompous old goat.
    "'Decree of God, the Master.'"

Ezekiel 32

A Cloud Across the Sun

 ^1-2 In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, God's Message came to me: "Son of man, sing a funeral lament over Pharaoh king of Egypt. Tell him:    "'You think you're a young lion
   prowling through the nations.
You're more like a dragon in the ocean,
   snorting and thrashing about.
 ^3-10 "'God, the Master, says:
   "'I'm going to throw my net over you
   —many nations will get in on this operation—
   and haul you out with my dragnet.
I'll dump you on the ground
   out in an open field
And bring in all the crows and vultures
   for a sumptuous carrion lunch.
I'll invite wild animals from all over the world
   to gorge on your guts.
I'll scatter hunks of your meat in the mountains
   and strew your bones in the valleys.
The country, right up to the mountains,
   will be drenched with your blood,
   your blood filling every ditch and channel.
When I blot you out,
   I'll pull the curtain on the skies
   and shut out the stars.
I'll throw a cloud across the sun
   and turn off the moonlight.
I'll turn out every light in the sky above you
   and put your land in the dark.
         Decree of God, the Master.
I'll shake up everyone worldwide
   when I take you off captive to strange and far-off countries.
I'll shock people with you.
   Kings will take one look and shudder.
I'll shake my sword
   and they'll shake in their boots.
On the day you crash, they'll tremble,
   thinking, "That could be me!"

To Lay Your Pride Low

 ^11-15 "'God, the Master, says:    "'The sword of the king of Babylon
   is coming against you.
I'll use the swords of champions
   to lay your pride low,
Use the most brutal of nations
   to knock Egypt off her high horse,
   to puncture that hot-air pomposity.
I'll destroy all their livestock
   that graze along the river.
Neither human foot nor animal hoof
   will muddy those waters anymore.
I'll clear their springs and streams,
   make their rivers flow clean and smooth.
         Decree of God, the Master.
When I turn Egypt back to the wild
   and strip her clean of all her abundant produce,
When I strike dead all who live there,
   then they'll realize that I am God.'
 ¹⁶"This is a funeral song. Chant it.
   Daughters of the nations, chant it.
Chant it over Egypt for the death of its pomp."
   Decree of God, the Master.
 ^17-19In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the first month, God's Message came to me:
   "Son of man, lament over Egypt's pompous ways.
   Send her on her way.
Dispatch Egypt
   and her proud daughter nations
To the underworld,
   down to the country of the dead and buried.
Say, 'You think you're so high and mighty?
   Down! Take your place with the heathen in that unhallowed grave!'
 ^20-21 "She'll be dumped in with those killed in battle. The sword is bared. Drag her off in all her proud pomp! All the big men and their helpers down among the dead and buried will greet them: 'Welcome to the grave of the heathen! Join the ranks of the victims of war!'
 ^22-23 "Assyria is there and its congregation, the whole nation a cemetery. Their graves are in the deepest part of the underworld, a congregation of graves, all killed in battle, these people who terrorized the land of the living.
 ^24-25 "Elam is there in all her pride, a cemetery—all killed in battle, dumped in her heathen grave with the dead and buried, these people who terrorized the land of the living. They carry their shame with them, along with the others in the grave. They turned Elam into a resort for the pompous dead, landscaped with heathen graves, slaughtered in battle. They once terrorized the land of the living. Now they carry their shame down with the others in deep earth. They're in the section set aside for the slain in battle.
 ^26-27 "Meshech-tubal is there in all her pride, a cemetery in uncircumcised ground, dumped in with those slaughtered in battle—just deserts for terrorizing the land of the living. Now they carry their shame down with the others in deep earth. They're in the section set aside for the slain. They're segregated from the heroes, the old-time giants who entered the grave in full battle dress, their swords placed under their heads and their shields covering their bones, those heroes who spread terror through the land of the living.
 ²⁸ "And you, Egypt, will be dumped in a heathen grave, along with all the rest, in the section set aside for the slain.
 ²⁹ "Edom is there, with her kings and princes. In spite of her vaunted greatness, she is dumped in a heathen grave with the others headed for the grave.
 ³⁰ "The princes of the north are there, the whole lot of them, and all the Sidonians who carry their shame to their graves—all that terror they spread with their brute power!—dumped in unhallowed ground with those killed in battle, carrying their shame with the others headed for deep earth.
 ³¹ "Pharaoh will see them all and, pompous old goat that he is, take comfort in the company he'll keep—Pharaoh and his slaughtered army. Decree of God, the Master.
 ³² "I used him to spread terror in the land of the living and now I'm dumping him in heathen ground with those killed by the sword—Pharaoh and all his pomp. Decree of God, the Master."

Hebrews 12:14-29 (The Message)

 ^14-17Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you'll never get so much as a glimpse of God. Make sure no one gets left out of God's generosity. Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time. Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God's lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God's blessing—but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.

An Unshakable Kingdom

 ^18-21Unlike your ancestors, you didn't come to Mount Sinai—all that volcanic blaze and earthshaking rumble—to hear God speak. The earsplitting words and soul-shaking message terrified them and they begged him to stop. When they heard the words—"If an animal touches the Mountain, it's as good as dead"—they were afraid to move. Even Moses was terrified.  ^22-24No, that's not your experience at all. You've come to Mount Zion, the city where the living God resides. The invisible Jerusalem is populated by throngs of festive angels and Christian citizens. It is the city where God is Judge, with judgments that make us just. You've come to Jesus, who presents us with a new covenant, a fresh charter from God. He is the Mediator of this covenant. The murder of Jesus, unlike Abel's—a homicide that cried out for vengeance—became a proclamation of grace.
 ^25-27So don't turn a deaf ear to these gracious words. If those who ignored earthly warnings didn't get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings? His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time—he's told us this quite plainly—he'll also rock the heavens: "One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern." The phrase "one last shaking" means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered.
 ^28-29Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is Fire!

Psalm 113-114:8 (The Message)

Psalm 113

    Hallelujah! You who serve God, praise God!
      Just to speak his name is praise!
   Just to remember God is a blessing—
      now and tomorrow and always.
   From east to west, from dawn to dusk,
      keep lifting all your praises to God!

 ^4-9 God is higher than anything and anyone,
      outshining everything you can see in the skies.
   Who can compare with God, our God,
      so majestically enthroned,
   Surveying his magnificent
      heavens and earth?
   He picks up the poor from out of the dirt,
      rescues the wretched who've been thrown out with the trash,
   Seats them among the honored guests,
      a place of honor among the brightest and best.
   He gives childless couples a family,
      gives them joy as the parents of children.
   Hallelujah!

Psalm 114

    After Israel left Egypt, the clan of Jacob left those barbarians behind;
   Judah became holy land for him,
      Israel the place of holy rule.
   Sea took one look and ran the other way;
      River Jordan turned around and ran off.
   The mountains turned playful and skipped like rams,
      the hills frolicked like spring lambs.
   What's wrong with you, Sea, that you ran away?
      and you, River Jordan, that you turned and ran off?
   And mountains, why did you skip like rams?
      and you, hills, frolic like spring lambs?
   Tremble, Earth! You're in the Lord's presence!
      in the presence of Jacob's God.
   He turned the rock into a pool of cool water,
      turned flint into fresh spring water.

 

Verse of the Day

 

“I am in deep distress, but I love your teachings.” - Psalm 119:143

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

Thought for the Day

Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Felix Frankfurter wrote, “Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late.” 

Bible Readings for November 14, 2012

Today our passages are Ezekiel 29:1–30:26; Hebrews 11:32–12:13; Psalm 112:1-10; and Proverbs 27:17. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson.

 

Ezekiel 29-30:26 (The Message)

Ezekiel 29

Never a World Power Again

 ^1-6 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day, God's Message came to me: "Son of man, confront Pharaoh king of Egypt. Preach against him and all the Egyptians. Tell him,
         'God, the Master, says:    "'Watch yourself, Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
   I'm dead set against you,
You lumbering old dragon,
   lolling and flaccid in the Nile,
Saying, "It's my Nile.
   I made it. It's mine."
I'll set hooks in your jaw;
   I'll make the fish of the Nile stick to your scales.
I'll pull you out of the Nile,
   with all the fish stuck to your scales.
Then I'll drag you out into the desert,
   you and all the Nile fish sticking to your scales.
You'll lie there in the open, rotting in the sun,
   meat to the wild animals and carrion birds.
Everybody living in Egypt
   will realize that I am God.
 ^6-9 "'Because you've been a flimsy reed crutch to Israel so that when they gripped you, you splintered and cut their hand, and when they leaned on you, you broke and sent them sprawling—Message of God, the Master—I'll bring war against you, do away with people and animals alike, and turn the country into an empty desert so they'll realize that I am God.
 ^9-11 "'Because you said, "It's my Nile. I made it. It's all mine," therefore I am against you and your rivers. I'll reduce Egypt to an empty, desolate wasteland all the way from Migdol in the north to Syene and the border of Ethiopia in the south. Not a human will be seen in it, nor will an animal move through it. It'll be just empty desert, empty for forty years.
 ¹² "'I'll make Egypt the most desolate of all desolations. For forty years I'll make her cities the most wasted of all wasted cities. I'll scatter Egyptians to the four winds, send them off every which way into exile.
 ^13-16 "'But,' says God, the Master, 'that's not the end of it. After the forty years, I'll gather up the Egyptians from all the places where they've been scattered. I'll put things back together again for Egypt. I'll bring her back to Pathros where she got her start long ago. There she'll start over again from scratch. She'll take her place at the bottom of the ladder and there she'll stay, never to climb that ladder again, never to be a world power again. Never again will Israel be tempted to rely on Egypt. All she'll be to Israel is a reminder of old sin. Then Egypt will realize that I am God, the Master.'"
 ^17-18 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, God's Message came to me: "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has worn out his army against Tyre. They've worked their fingers to the bone and have nothing to show for it.
 ^19-20 "Therefore, God, the Master, says, 'I'm giving Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He'll haul away its wealth, pick the place clean. He'll pay his army with Egyptian plunder. He's been working for me all these years without pay. This is his pay: Egypt. Decree of God, the Master.
 ²¹ "'And then I'll stir up fresh hope in Israel—the dawn of deliverance!— and I'll give you, Ezekiel, bold and confident words to speak. And they'll realize that I am God.'"

Ezekiel 30

Egypt on Fire

 ^1-5 God, the Master, spoke to me: "Son of man, preach. Give them the Message of God, the Master. Wail:    "'Doomsday!'
   Time's up!
   God's big day of judgment is near.
Thick clouds are rolling in.
   It's doomsday for the nations.
Death will rain down on Egypt.
   Terror will paralyze Ethiopia
When they see the Egyptians killed,
   their wealth hauled off,
   their foundations demolished,
And Ethiopia, Put, Lud, Arabia, Libya
   —all of Egypt's old allies—
   killed right along with them.
 ^6-8"'God says:
   "'Egypt's allies will fall
   and her proud strength will collapse—
From Migdol in the north to Syene in the south,
   a great slaughter in Egypt!
   Decree of God, the Master.
Egypt, most desolate of the desolate,
   her cities wasted beyond wasting,
Will realize that I am God
   when I burn her down
   and her helpers are knocked flat.
 ⁹ "'When that happens, I'll send out messengers by ship to sound the alarm among the easygoing Ethiopians. They'll be terrorized. Egypt's doomed! Judgment's coming!

 ^10-12 "'God, the Master, says:
   "'I'll put a stop to Egypt's arrogance.
   I'll use Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to do it.
He and his army, the most brutal of nations,
   shall be used to destroy the country.
They'll brandish their swords
   and fill Egypt with corpses.
I'll dry up the Nile
   and sell off the land to a bunch of crooks.
I'll hire outsiders to come in
   and waste the country, strip it clean.
   I, God, have said so.
 ^13-19 "'And now this is what God, the Master, says:
   "'I'll smash all the no-god idols;
   I'll topple all those huge statues in Memphis.
The prince of Egypt will be gone for good,
   and in his place I'll put fear—fear throughout Egypt!
I'll demolish Pathros,
   burn Zoan to the ground, and punish Thebes,
Pour my wrath on Pelusium, Egypt's fort,
   and knock Thebes off its proud pedestal.
I'll set Egypt on fire:
   Pelusium will writhe in pain,
Thebes blown away,
   Memphis raped.
The young warriors of On and Pi-beseth
   will be killed and the cities exiled.
A dark day for Tahpanhes
   when I shatter Egypt,
When I break Egyptian power
   and put an end to her arrogant oppression!
She'll disappear in a cloud of dust,
   her cities hauled off as exiles.
That's how I'll punish Egypt,
   and that's how she'll realize that I am God.'"
 ²⁰ In the eleventh year, on the seventh day of the first month, God's Message came to me:
 ²¹ "Son of man, I've broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And look! It hasn't been set. No splint has been put on it so the bones can knit and heal, so he can use a sword again.
 ^22-26 "Therefore, God, the Master, says, I am dead set against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will go ahead and break his other arm—both arms broken! There's no way he'll ever swing a sword again. I'll scatter Egyptians all over the world. I'll make the arms of the king of Babylon strong and put my sword in his hand, but I'll break the arms of Pharaoh and he'll groan like one who is mortally wounded. I'll make the arms of the king of Babylon strong, but the arms of Pharaoh shall go limp. The Egyptians will realize that I am God when I place my sword in the hand of the king of Babylon. He'll wield it against Egypt and I'll scatter Egyptians all over the world. Then they'll realize that I am God."

Hebrews 11:32-12:13 (The Message)

 ^32-38I could go on and on, but I've run out of time. There are so many more— Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets....Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn't deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.
 ^39-40Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.

Hebrews 12

Discipline in a Long-Distance Race

 ^1-3Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!  ^4-11In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?

   My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline,
      but don't be crushed by it either.
   It's the child he loves that he disciplines;
      the child he embraces, he also corrects.
God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.
 ^12-13So don't sit around on your hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!

Psalm 112:1-10 (The Message)

Psalm 112

    Hallelujah! Blessed man, blessed woman, who fear God,
   Who cherish and relish his commandments,
   Their children robust on the earth,
   And the homes of the upright—how blessed!
   Their houses brim with wealth
   And a generosity that never runs dry.
   Sunrise breaks through the darkness for good people—
   God's grace and mercy and justice!
   The good person is generous and lends lavishly;
   No shuffling or stumbling around for this one,
   But a sterling and solid and lasting reputation.
   Unfazed by rumor and gossip,
   Heart ready, trusting in God,
   Spirit firm, unperturbed,
   Ever blessed, relaxed among enemies,
   They lavish gifts on the poor—
   A generosity that goes on, and on, and on.
   An honored life! A beautiful life!
   Someone wicked takes one look and rages,
   Blusters away but ends up speechless.
   There's nothing to the dreams of the wicked. Nothing.

 

Proverbs 27:17 (The Message)

Your Face Mirrors Your Heart

 ¹⁷ You use steel to sharpen steel,
   and one friend sharpens another.

 

Verse of the Day

 

“Christ died once for our sins. An innocent person died for those who are guilty. Christ did this to bring you to God, when his body was put to death and his spirit was made alive.” - 1 Peter 3:18

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

Thought for the Day

British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic Bertrand Russell wrote, “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.”