The Daily Audio Bible

The Glory of the Lord Leaves the Temple

10 Then I looked, and behold, ^(A)on the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim there appeared above them something ^(B)like a sapphire,^[a] in appearance like a throne. ² And he said to ^(C)the man clothed in linen, “Go in among ^(D)the whirling wheels underneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with ^(E)burning coals from between the cherubim, and ^(F)scatter them over the city.”

And he went in ^(G)before my eyes. ³ Now the cherubim were standing ^(H)on the south side of the house, when the man went in, and ^(I)a cloud filled ^(J)the inner court. ⁴ And ^(K)the glory of the Lord ^(L)went up from the cherub to the threshold of the house, and the house ^(M)was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with ^(N)the brightness of the glory of the Lord. ⁵ And ^(O)the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, ^(P)like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.

⁶ And when he commanded ^(Q)the man clothed in linen, ^(R)“Take fire from between ^(S)the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim,” he went in and stood beside a wheel. ⁷ And a cherub stretched out his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed in linen, who took it and went out. ⁸ The cherubim appeared to have ^(T)the form of a human hand under their wings.

^9 (U)And I looked, and behold, there were four wheels beside the cherubim, one beside each cherub, and ^(V)the appearance of the wheels was ^(W)like sparkling ^(X)beryl. ¹⁰ And as for their appearance, the four had the same likeness, as if a wheel were within a wheel. ^11 (Y)When they went, they went in any of their four directions^{[b] (Z)}without turning as they went, ^(AA)but in whatever direction the front wheel^[c] faced, the others followed without turning as they went. ^12 (AB)And their whole body, their rims, and their spokes, their wings,^[d] and the wheels were full of eyes all around—the wheels that the four of them had. ¹³ As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing ^(AC)“the whirling wheels.” ^14 (AD)And every one had four faces: ^(AE)the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was ^(AF)a human face, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

^15 (AG)And the cherubim mounted up. These were ^(AH)the living creatures that I saw by ^(AI)the Chebar canal. ^16 (AJ)And when the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And ^(AK)when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels did not turn from beside them. ^17 (AL)When they stood still, these stood still, and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them, for the spirit of the living creatures^[e] was in them.

^18 (AM)Then ^(AN)the glory of the Lord went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. ^19 (AO)And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth ^(AP)before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the ^(AQ)east gate of the house of the Lord, and ^(AR)the glory of the God of Israel was over them.

^20 (AS)These were the living creatures that I saw ^(AT)underneath the God of Israel by ^(AU)the Chebar canal; and I knew that they were cherubim. ^21 (AV)Each had four faces, and each four wings, and underneath their wings ^(AW)the likeness of human hands. ^22 (AX)And as for the likeness of their faces, they were the same faces whose appearance I had seen by the Chebar canal. ^(AY)Each one of them went straight forward.

Judgment on Wicked Counselors

11 ^(AZ)The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to ^(BA)the east gate of the house of the Lord, which faces east. And behold, at the entrance of the gateway there were ^(BB)twenty-five men. And I saw among them Jaazaniah ^(BC)the son of Azzur, and ^(BD)Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. ² And he said to me, ^(BE)“Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and who give wicked counsel in this city; ^3 (BF)who say, ^(BG)‘The time is not near^[f] to build houses. ^(BH)This city is the cauldron, and we are the meat.’ ⁴ Therefore prophesy against them; prophesy, O son of man.”

⁵ And ^(BI)the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and he said to me, “Say, Thus says the Lord: So you think, O house of Israel. ^(BJ)For I know the things that come into your mind. ^6 (BK)You have multiplied your slain in this city and have filled its streets with the slain. ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(BL)Your slain whom you have laid in the midst of it, ^(BM)they are the meat, and ^(BN)this city is the cauldron, but you shall be brought out of the midst of it. ^8 (BO)You have feared the sword, and I will bring the sword upon you, declares the Lord God. ⁹ And I will bring you out of the midst of it, and ^(BP)give you into the hands of foreigners, and ^(BQ)execute judgments upon you. ^10 (BR)You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel, ^(BS)and you shall know that I am the Lord. ^11 (BT)This city shall not be your cauldron, nor shall you be the meat in the midst of it. I will judge you at the border of Israel, ¹² and you shall know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, ^(BU)but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you.”

¹³ And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, ^(BV)that ^(BW)Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. ^(BX)Then I fell down on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, ^(BY)“Ah, Lord God! ^(BZ)Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?”

Israel's New Heart and Spirit

¹⁴ And the word of the Lord came to me: ^15 (CA)“Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen,^[g] the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ^(CB)‘Go far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.’ ¹⁶ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet ^(CC)I have been a sanctuary to them for a while^[h] in the countries where they have gone.’ ¹⁷ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: ^(CD)I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, ^(CE)and I will give you the land of Israel.’ ¹⁸ And when they come there, ^(CF)they will remove from it all its ^(CG)detestable things and all its abominations. ^19 (CH)And I will give them one heart, and ^(CI)a new spirit I will put within them. ^(CJ)I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh ^(CK)and give them a heart of flesh, ^20 (CL)that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. ^(CM)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ^21 (CN)But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, ^(CO)I will^[i] bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord God.”

^22 (CP)Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, ^(CQ)and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. ²³ And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and ^(CR)stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city. ^24 (CS)And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me ^(CT)in the vision by the Spirit of God ^(CU)into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen went up from me. ²⁵ And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.

6 Therefore ^(A)let us leave ^(B)the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance ^(C)from dead works and of faith toward God, ² and of ^(D)instruction about washings,^{[a] (E)}the laying on of hands, ^(F)the resurrection of the dead, and ^(G)eternal judgment. ³ And this we will do ^(H)if God permits. ⁴ For it is impossible, in the case of those ^(I)who have once been enlightened, who have tasted ^(J)the heavenly gift, and ^(K)have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and ^(L)have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and ^(M)then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since ^(N)they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. ⁷ For ^(O)land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. ⁸ But ^(P)if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, ^(Q)and its end is to be burned.

⁹ Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. ¹⁰ For ^(R)God is not unjust so as to overlook ^(S)your work and the love that you have shown for his name in ^(T)serving the saints, as you still do. ¹¹ And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance ^(U)of hope until the end, ¹² so that you may not be sluggish, but ^(V)imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Certainty of God's Promise

¹³ For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, ^(W)he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying, ^(X)“Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” ¹⁵ And thus Abraham,^{[b] (Y)}having patiently waited, obtained the promise. ¹⁶ For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes ^(Z)an oath is final for confirmation. ¹⁷ So when God desired to show more convincingly to ^(AA)the heirs of the promise ^(AB)the unchangeable character of his purpose, ^(AC)he guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things, in which ^(AD)it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope ^(AE)set before us. ¹⁹ We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into ^(AF)the inner place behind the curtain, ²⁰ where Jesus has gone ^(AG)as a forerunner on our behalf, ^(AH)having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.