Bible Reading December 1 (World English Bible)
Dec.
1
Ezekiel
17-20
Eze
17:1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze
17:2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the
house of Israel;
Eze
17:3 and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A great eagle with great
wings and long feathers, full of feathers, which had various colors,
came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:
Eze
17:4 he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs of it, and
carried it to a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.
Eze
17:5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a
fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow
tree.
Eze
17:6 It grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose
branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him: so it
became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
Eze
17:7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many
feathers: and behold, this vine did bend its roots toward him, and
shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation,
that he might water it.
Eze
17:8 It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might
bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be
a goodly vine.
Eze
17:9 Say you, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Shall it prosper? shall he
not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither;
that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? and not by a strong
arm or much people can it be raised from its roots.
Eze
17:10 Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not
utterly wither, when the east wind touches it? it shall wither in the
beds where it grew.
Eze
17:11 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze
17:12 Say now to the rebellious house, Don't you know what these
things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to
Jerusalem, and took its king, and its princes, and brought them to
him to Babylon:
Eze
17:13 and he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him;
he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the
land;
Eze
17:14 that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself
up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.
Eze
17:15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into
Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he
prosper? shall he escape who does such things? shall he break the
covenant, and yet escape?
Eze
17:16 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely in the place where the
king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose
covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall
die.
Eze
17:17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company
help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut
off many persons.
Eze
17:18 For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and
behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things; he
shall not escape.
Eze
17:19 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely my oath
that he has despised, and my covenant that he has broken, I will even
bring it on his own head.
Eze
17:20 I will spread my net on him, and he shall be taken in my
snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment
with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me.
Eze
17:21 All his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword,
and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and you
shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
Eze
17:22 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also take of the lofty top
of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of
its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on a high and lofty
mountain:
Eze
17:23 in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and
it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar:
and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of its
branches shall they dwell.
Eze
17:24 All the trees of the field shall know that I, Yahweh, have
brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up
the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I, Yahweh,
have spoken and have done it.
Eze
18:1 The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying,
Eze
18:2 What do you mean, that you use this proverb concerning the land
of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the
children's teeth are set on edge?
Eze
18:3 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, you shall not have occasion
any more to use this proverb in Israel.
Eze
18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also
the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins, he shall die.
Eze
18:5 But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right,
Eze
18:6 and has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his
eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither has defiled his
neighbor's wife, neither has come near to a woman in her impurity,
Eze
18:7 and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his
pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the
hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment;
Eze
18:8 he who has not given forth on interest, neither has taken any
increase, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true
justice between man and man,
Eze
18:9 has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal
truly; he is just, he shall surely live, says the Lord Yahweh.
Eze
18:10 If he fathers a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and
who does any one of these things,
Eze
18:11 and who does not any of those duties,
but even has eaten on the mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife,
Eze
18:12 has wronged the poor and needy, has taken by robbery, has not
restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has
committed abomination,
Eze
18:13 has given forth on interest, and has taken increase; shall he
then live? he shall not live: he has done all these abominations; he
shall surely die; his blood shall be on him.
Eze
18:14 Now, behold, if he fathers a son, who sees all his father's
sins, which he has done, and fears, and does not such like;
Eze
18:15 who has not eaten on the mountains, neither has lifted up his
eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has not defiled his
neighbor's wife,
Eze
18:16 neither has wronged any, has not taken anything to pledge,
neither has taken by robbery, but has given his bread to the hungry,
and has covered the naked with a garment;
Eze
18:17 who has withdrawn his hand from the poor, who has not received
interest nor increase, has executed my ordinances, has walked in my
statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall
surely live.
Eze
18:18 As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his
brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he
shall die in his iniquity.
Eze
18:19 Yet say you, Why does not the son bear the iniquity of the
father? when the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has
kept all my statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live.
Eze
18:20 The soul who sins, he shall die: the son shall not bear the
iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of
the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the
wickedness of the wicked shall be on him.
Eze
18:21 But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he has
committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and
right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
Eze
18:22 None of his transgressions that he has committed shall be
remembered against him: in his righteousness that he has done he
shall live.
Eze
18:23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord
Yahweh; and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?
Eze
18:24 But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and
commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the
wicked man does, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he
has done shall be remembered: in his trespass that he has trespassed,
and in his sin that he has sinned, in them shall he die.
Eze
18:25 Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, house
of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren't your ways unequal?
Eze
18:26 When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and
commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done
shall he die.
Eze
18:27 Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that
he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall
save his soul alive.
Eze
18:28 Because he considers, and turns away from all his
transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall
not die.
Eze
18:29 Yet says the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not
equal. house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways
unequal?
Eze
18:30 Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone
according to his ways, says the Lord Yahweh. Return you, and turn
yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be
your ruin.
Eze
18:31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have
transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will
you die, house of Israel?
Eze
18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies, says the
Lord Yahweh: therefore turn yourselves, and live.
Eze
19:1 Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
Eze
19:2 and say, What was your mother? A lioness: she couched among
lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her cubs.
Eze
19:3 She brought up one of her cubs: he became a young lion, and he
learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.
Eze
19:4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and
they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
Eze
19:5 Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost,
then she took another of her cubs, and made him a young lion.
Eze
19:6 He went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion,
and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.
Eze
19:7 He knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the
land was desolate, and its fullness, because of the noise of his
roaring.
Eze
19:8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the
provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their
pit.
Eze
19:9 They put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king
of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should
no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.
Eze
19:10 Your mother was like a vine, in your blood, planted by the
waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many
waters.
Eze
19:11 It had strong rods for the scepters of those who bore rule,
and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were
seen in their height with the multitude of their branches.
Eze
19:12 But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground,
and the east wind dried up its fruit: its strong rods were broken off
and withered; the fire consumed them.
Eze
19:13 Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty
land.
Eze
19:14 Fire is gone out of the rods of its branches, it has devoured
its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a scepter to
rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.
Eze
20:1 It happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month,
the tenth day
of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of
Yahweh, and sat before me.
Eze
20:2 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze
20:3 Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, Thus
says the Lord Yahweh: Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I
live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you.
Eze
20:4 Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause
them to know the abominations of their fathers;
Eze
20:5 and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day when I
chose Israel, and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made
myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them,
saying, I am Yahweh your God;
Eze
20:6 in that day I swore to them, to bring them forth out of the
land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing
with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.
Eze
20:7 I said to them, Cast you away every man the abominations of his
eyes, and don't defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am
Yahweh your God.
Eze
20:8 But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me; they
did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither
did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my
wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of
the land of Egypt.
Eze
20:9 But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned
in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I
made myself known to them, in bringing them forth out of the land of
Egypt.
Eze
20:10 So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and
brought them into the wilderness.
Eze
20:11 I gave them my statutes, and showed them my ordinances, which
if a man does, he shall live in them.
Eze
20:12 Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me
and them, that they might know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies them.
Eze
20:13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness:
they didn't walk in my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances,
which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my Sabbaths they
greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in
the wilderness, to consume them.
Eze
20:14 But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be
profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them
out.
Eze
20:15 Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would
not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with
milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
Eze
20:16 because they rejected my ordinances, and didn't walk in my
statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths: for their heart went after their
idols.
Eze
20:17 Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn't destroy them,
neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.
Eze
20:18 I said to their children in the wilderness, Don't you walk in
the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor
defile yourselves with their idols.
Eze
20:19 I am Yahweh your God: walk in my statutes, and keep my
ordinances, and do them;
Eze
20:20 and make my Sabbaths holy; and they shall be a sign between me
and you, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God.
Eze
20:21 But the children rebelled against me; they didn't walk in my
statutes, neither kept my ordinances to do them, which if a man do,
he shall live in them; they profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would
pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the
wilderness.
Eze
20:22 Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and worked for my name's
sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in
whose sight I brought them forth.
Eze
20:23 Moreover I swore to them in the wilderness, that I would
scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the
countries;
Eze
20:24 because they had not executed my ordinances, but had rejected
my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after
their fathers' idols.
Eze
20:25 Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and
ordinances in which they should not live;
Eze
20:26 and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to
pass through the fire
all that opens the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end
that they might know that I am Yahweh.
Eze
20:27 Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell
them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In this moreover have your fathers
blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.
Eze
20:28 For when I had brought them into the land, which I swore to
give to them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree,
and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the
provocation of their offering; there also they made their pleasant
aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings.
Eze
20:29 Then I said to them, What means the high place whereunto you
go? So its name is called Bamah to this day.
Eze
20:30 Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh:
Do you pollute yourselves after the manner of your fathers? and play
you the prostitute after their abominations?
Eze
20:31 and when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass
through the fire, do you pollute yourselves with all your idols to
this day? and shall I be inquired of by you, house of Israel? As I
live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will not be inquired of by you;
Eze
20:32 and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all, in
that you say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the
countries, to serve wood and stone.
Eze
20:33 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely with a mighty hand,
and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be
king over you:
Eze
20:34 and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you
out of the countries in which you are scattered, with a mighty hand,
and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;
Eze
20:35 and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and
there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.
Eze
20:36 Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the
wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with
you, says the Lord Yahweh.
Eze
20:37 I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you
into the bond of the covenant;
Eze
20:38 and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who
disobey against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where
they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and
you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Eze
20:39 As for you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Go
you, serve everyone his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not
listen to me; but my holy name you shall no more profane with your
gifts, and with your idols.
Eze
20:40 For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of
Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, there shall all the house of Israel,
all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and
there will I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your
offerings, with all your holy things.
Eze
20:41 As a pleasant aroma will I accept you, when I bring you out
from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you
have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of
the nations.
Eze
20:42 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall bring you into
the land of Israel, into the country which I swore to give to your
fathers.
Eze
20:43 There you shall remember your ways, and all your doings, in
which you have polluted yourselves; and you shall loathe yourselves
in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed.
Eze
20:44 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have dealt with you
for my name's sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to
your corrupt doings, you house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.
Eze
20:45 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze
20:46 Son of man, set your face toward the south, and drop your
word toward the south, and prophesy
against the forest of the field in the South;
Eze
20:47 and tell the forest of the South, Hear the word of Yahweh:
Thus says the Lord Yahweh, Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and
it shall devour every green tree in you, and every dry tree: the
flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to
the north shall be burnt thereby.
Eze
20:48 All flesh shall see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it; it shall
not be quenched.
Eze
20:49 Then said I, Ah Lord Yahweh! they say of me, Isn't he a
speaker of parables?
Dec. 1
James 4
Jas 4:1
Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don't they come from
your pleasures that war in your members?
Jas 4:2
You lust, and don't have. You kill, covet, and can't obtain. You
fight and make war. You don't have, because you don't ask.
Jas 4:3
You ask, and don't receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so
that you may spend it for your pleasures.
Jas 4:4
You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that friendship with
the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend
of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Jas 4:5
Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who
lives in us yearns jealously"?
Jas 4:6
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God resists the
proud, but gives grace to the humble."
Jas 4:7
Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee
from you.
Jas 4:8
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands,
you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Jas 4:9
Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and
your joy to gloom.
Jas 4:10
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Jas 4:11
Don't speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a
brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the
law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a
judge.
Jas 4:12
Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who
are you to judge another?
Jas 4:13
Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow let's go into this
city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit."
Jas 4:14
Whereas you don't know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what
is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears for a little time,
and then vanishes away.
Jas 4:15
For you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will both live, and
do this or that."
Jas 4:16
But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.
Jas 4:17
To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn't do it, to him it
is sin.
According
to numerous skeptics, the Bible is inconsistent regarding whether or
not water baptism is necessary (e.g., Drange, 1996; Morgan, 2003; cf.
Wells, 2001). In Dennis McKinsey’s book, Biblical Errancy (2000),
he lists several verses that teach the need for one to be baptized in
order to be saved (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 1 Peter 3:21;
etc.), but then he lists four verses (John 4:2; 1 Corinthians
1:14,16,17) which allegedly teach that baptism “is not a necessity” (p.
61). According to these men, Jesus and Paul were confused regarding the
purpose of baptism.
Popular
propaganda spouted for half a century or more claims that the Founders
and Framers of America were deists and largely irreligious men who
sought to establish a secular society that celebrates all ideologies,
religions, and philosophies as equally valid. This sinister “diversity”
myth has inflicted untold damage on American society, bringing the
nation literally to the brink of disaster.