Through the Bible – Day 333

Bible text(s)

Ezekiel 37

Dry bones live again

1Some time later, I felt the LORD's power take control of me, and his Spirit carried me to a valley full of bones. 2The LORD showed me all around, and everywhere I looked I saw bones that were dried out. 3He said, “Ezekiel, son of man, can these bones come back to life?”

I replied, “LORD God, only you can answer that.”

4He then told me to say:

Dry bones, listen to what the LORD is saying to you, 5“I, the LORD God, will put breath in you, and once again you will live. 6I will wrap you with muscles and skin and breathe life into you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”

7I did what the LORD said, but before I finished speaking, I heard a rattling noise. The bones were coming together! 8I saw muscles and skin cover the bones, but they had no life in them.

9The LORD said:

Ezekiel, now say to the wind, “The LORD God commands you to blow from every direction and to breathe life into these dead bodies, so they can live again.”

10As soon as I said this, the wind blew among the bodies, and they came back to life! They all stood up, and there were enough to make a large army.

11The LORD said:

Ezekiel, the people of Israel are like dead bones. They complain that they are dried up and that they have no hope for the future. 12So tell them, “I, the LORD God, promise to open your graves and set you free. I will bring you back to Israel, 13and when that happens, you will realize that I am the LORD. 14My Spirit will give you breath, and you will live again. I will bring you home, and you will know that I have kept my promise. I, the LORD, have spoken.”

Judah and Israel together again

15The LORD said:

16Ezekiel, son of man, get a stick and write on it, “The kingdom of Judah”. Then get another stick and write on it, “The kingdom of Israel”. 17Hold these two sticks end to end, so they look like one stick. 18And when your people ask you what this means, 19tell them that I, the LORD, will join together the stick of Israel and the stick of Judah. I will hold them in my hand, and they will become one.

20Hold these two sticks where they can be seen by everyone 21and then say:

I, the LORD God, will gather the people of Israel and bring them home from the foreign nations where they now live. 22I will make them into one nation and let them once again live in the land of Israel. Only one king will rule them, and they will never again be divided into two nations. 23They will no longer worship idols and do things that make them unacceptable to me. I will wash away their sin and make them clean, and I will protect them from everything that makes them unclean. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

24-25Their king will always come from the family of my servant King David and will care for them like a shepherd. The people of Israel will faithfully obey my laws. They and their descendants will live in the land I gave my servant Jacob, just as their ancestors did. 26I solemnly promise to bless the people of Israel with unending peace. I will protect them and let them become a powerful nation. My temple will stand in Israel for all time, 27and I will live among my people and be their God. 28Every nation on earth will know that my temple is in Israel and that I have chosen the Israelites to be my people.

Ezekiel 38

Gog will be defeated and Israel will be restored

Gog invades Israel

1The LORD said:

2Ezekiel, son of man, condemn Gog, that wicked ruler of the kingdoms of Meshech and Tubal in the land of Magog. Tell him:

3I, the LORD God, am your enemy, 4and I will make you powerless! I will put a hook in your jaw and drag away both you and your large army. You command cavalry troops that wear heavy armour and carry shields and swords. 5Your army includes soldiers from Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya, 6as well as from Gomer and Beth-Togarmah in the north. Your army is enormous!

7So keep your troops prepared to fight, 8because in a few years, I will command you to invade Israel, a country that was ruined by war. It was deserted for a long time, but its people have returned from the foreign nations where they once lived. The Israelites now live in peace in the mountains of their own land. 9But you and your army will attack them like a fierce thunderstorm and surround them like a cloud.

10When that day comes, I know that you will have an evil plan 11to take advantage of Israel, that weak and peaceful country where people live safely inside towns that have no walls or gates or locks. 12You will rob the people in towns that were once a pile of rubble. These people lived as prisoners in foreign nations, but they have returned to Israel, the most important place in the world, and they own livestock and property. 13The people of Sheba and Dedan, along with merchants from villages in southern Spain, will be your allies. They will want some of the silver and gold, as well as the livestock and property that your army takes from Israel.

14I, the LORD God, know that when you see my people Israel living in peace, 15you will lead your powerful cavalry from your kingdom in the north. 16You will attack my people like a storm cloud that covers their land. I will let you invade my country Israel, so that every nation on earth will know that I, the LORD, am holy.

Judgment on Gog

17The LORD said to Gog:

Long ago, I made my prophets warn the people of Israel that some day I would send an enemy to attack them. You, Gog, are that enemy, and that day is coming. 18When you invade Israel, I will become furious, 19and in my anger I will send a terrible earthquake to shake Israel. 20Every living thing on earth will tremble in fear of me—every fish and bird, every wild animal and reptile, and every human. Mountains will crumble, cliffs will fall, and cities will collapse. 21I, the LORD, will make the mountains of Israel turn against you. Your troops will be so terrified that they will attack each other. 22I will strike you with diseases and punish you with death. You and your army will be pounded with rainstorms, hailstones, and burning sulphur. 23I will do these things to show the world that I, the LORD, am holy.

Ezekiel 39

Gog is defeated

The LORD said:

1Ezekiel, son of man, condemn Gog and tell him:

You are the ruler of Meshech and Tubal, but I, the LORD, am your enemy! 2I will turn you around and drag you from the north until you reach the mountains of Israel. 3I will knock the bow out of your left hand and the arrows out of your right hand, 4and you and your army will die on those mountains. Then birds and wild animals will eat the flesh 5of your dead bodies left lying in open fields. I, the LORD, have spoken.

6I will set fire to the land of Magog and to those nations along the coast that think they are so secure, and they will know that I am the LORD.

7My people Israel will know me, and they will no longer disgrace my holy name. Everyone on earth will know that I am the holy LORD God of Israel. 8The day is coming when these things will happen, just as I have promised.

9When that day comes, the people in the towns of Israel will collect the weapons of their dead enemies. They will use these shields, bows and arrows, spears, and clubs as firewood, and there will be enough to last for seven years. 10They will burn these weapons instead of gathering sticks or chopping down trees. That's how the Israelites will take revenge on those who robbed and abused them. I, the LORD, have spoken.

The burial of Gog

The LORD said:

11After Gog has been destroyed, I will bury him and his army in Israel, in Travellers' Valley, east of the Dead Sea. That graveyard will be so large that it will block the way of anyone who tries to walk through the valley, which will then be known as “The Valley of Gog's Army”. 12The Israelites will spend seven months burying dead bodies and cleaning up their land. 13Everyone will help with the burial, and they will be honoured for this on the day the brightness of my glory is seen. 14After those seven months, the people will appoint a group of men to look for any dead bodies left unburied. This must be done for seven months to make sure that the land is no longer unclean. 15Whenever they find a human bone, they will set up a marker next to it. Then the gravediggers will bury it in “The Valley of Gog's Army” 16near the town of “Gog's Army”. After that, the land will be pure again.

17Ezekiel, son of man, I am going to hold a feast on Israel's mountains and offer sacrifices there. So invite all the birds and wild animals to come from every direction and eat the meat of sacrifices and drink the blood. The birds and animals 18will feast on the bodies of warriors and foreign rulers that I will sacrifice like sheep, goats, and bulls. 19I want the birds and animals to eat until they are full and drink until they are drunk. 20They will come to my table and stuff themselves with the flesh of horses and warriors of every kind. I, the LORD God, have spoken.

Israel will be restored

The LORD said:

21When I punish the nations of the earth, they will see the brightness of my glory. 22The people of Israel will know from then on that I am the LORD their God. 23Foreign nations will realize that the Israelites were forced to leave their own land because they sinned against me. I turned my back on my people and let enemies attack and kill them. 24Their lives were wicked and corrupt, and they deserved to be punished.

25Now I will show mercy to the people of Israel and bring them back from the nations where they are living. They are Jacob's descendants, so I will bless them and show that I am holy. 26They will live safely in their own land, but will be ashamed when they remember their evil ways and how they disgraced me. 27Foreign nations will watch as I take the Israelites from enemy lands and bring them back home, and those nations will see that I am holy.

28My people will realize that I, the LORD their God, sent them away as prisoners and now will bring them back to their own land. 29Never again will I turn my back on the people of Israel, and my Spirit will live in them. I, the LORD, have spoken.

Ezekiel 37:1-39:29CEVOpen in Bible reader

2 Peter 3

The Lord's return is certain

1My dear friends, this is the second letter I have written to encourage you to do some honest thinking. I don't want you to forget 2what God's prophets said would happen. You must never forget what the holy prophets taught in the past. And you must remember what the apostles told you our Lord and Saviour has commanded us to do.

3But first you must realize that in the last days some people won't think about anything except their own selfish desires. They will make fun of you 4and say, “Didn't your Lord promise to come back? Yet the first leaders have already died, and the world hasn't changed a bit.”

5They will say this because they want to forget that long ago the heavens and the earth were made at God's command. The earth came out of water and was made from water. 6Later it was destroyed by the waters of a mighty flood. 7But God has commanded the present heavens and earth to remain until the day of judgment. Then they will be set on fire, and ungodly people will be destroyed.

8Dear friends, don't forget that for the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years is the same as one day. 9The Lord isn't slow about keeping his promises, as some people think he is. In fact, God is patient, because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost.

10The day of the Lord's return will surprise us like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a loud noise, and the heat will melt the whole universe. Then the earth and everything on it will be seen for what they are.

11Everything will be destroyed. So you should serve and honour God by the way you live. 12You should look forward to the day when God judges everyone, and you should try to make it come soon. On that day the heavens will be destroyed by fire, and everything else will melt in the heat. 13But God has promised us a new heaven and a new earth, where justice will rule. We are really looking forward to that!

14My friends, while you are waiting, you should make certain that the Lord finds you pure, spotless, and living at peace. 15Don't forget that the Lord is patient because he wants people to be saved. This is also what our dear friend Paul said when he wrote to you with the wisdom that God had given him. 16Paul talks about these same things in all his letters, but part of what he says is hard to understand. Some ignorant and unsteady people even destroy themselves by twisting what he said. They do the same thing with other Scriptures too.

17My dear friends, you have been warned beforehand! So don't let the errors of evil people lead you down the wrong path and make you lose your balance. 18Let the wonderful kindness and the understanding that come from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ help you to keep on growing. Praise Jesus now and for ever! Amen.

2 Peter 3:1-18CEVOpen in Bible reader
Canadian Bible Societyv.4.26.9
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