Week 44, Day 5 in the LEB

Nov 1, 2024

Podcast: Play in new window (Duration: 0:00 — 0MB)
The reading for today is Ezekiel 28-30; John 10.

Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.

Ezekiel 28

And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

"Because your heart was haughty,
    and you said, ‘I am a god;
I sit in the seat of the gods,
    I sit in the heart of the seas!’
But you are a human, not a god,
    and you gave your heart to be like the heart of a god.
Look, are you wiser than Daniel,
    so that no secret is hidden from you?
By your wisdom and by your understanding
    you have gained for yourself wealth,
and you have amassed gold and silver
    in your treasuries.
By the abundance of your wisdom in your trading
    you have increased your wealth
    and your heart was proud in your wealth."’"

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh:

"Because of your regarding your mind
    like the mind of a god,
therefore look! I am bringing strangers over you,
    the most ruthless of the peoples,
and they will draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom,
    and they will defile your splendor.
They will thrust you down to the pit,
    and you will die a violent death
    in the heart of the seas.
Will you indeed still say "I am a god!"
    before the face of your killers?
And in fact you are a human and not a god
    in the hand of those who pierce you.
You will die the death of the uncircumcised
    by the hand of strangers,

for I myself have spoken!" declares the Lord Yahweh.

And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Son of man, raise a lament over the king of Tyre, and you must say to him, ‘thus says the Lord Yahweh:

"You were a perfect model of an example,
    full of wisdom and perfect of beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God,
    and every precious stone was your adornment:
carnelian, topaz and moonstone,
    turquoise, onyx and jasper,
sapphire, malachite and emerald.
    And gold was the craftsmanship of your settings
and your mountings in you;
    on the day when you were created they were prepared.
You were an anointed guardian cherub,
    and I placed you on God’s holy mountain;
you walked in the midst of stones of fire.
    You were blameless in your ways
from the day when you were created,
    until wickedness was found in you.
In the abundance of your trading,
    they filled the midst of you with violence, and you sinned;
and I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
    and I expelled you, the guardian cherub,
    from the midst of the stones of fire.
Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
    you ruined your wisdom because of your splendor.
I threw you on the ground before kings;
    I have exposed you for viewing.
From the abundance of your iniquities
    in the dishonesty of your trading,
I profaned your sanctuaries
    and I brought fire from your midst;
it consumed you, and I have turned you to ashes on the earth
    before the eyes of everyone who sees you.
All who know you among the peoples
    are appalled over you;
you have become as horrors,
    and you shall cease to exist forever."’"

And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Son of man, set your face toward Sidon and prophesy against it, and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

"Look! I am against you, Sidon,
    and I display my glory in the midst of you,
and they will know that I am Yahweh
    when I execute my judgments,
    and I will show myself holy within it.
And I will send into it a plague,
    and blood will be in its streets.
And the dead will fall in the midst of her
    by the sword that is against it from all around;
and they will know that I am Yahweh.

And there will not be any longer a painful thorn and a sharp thornbush for the house of Israel from anywhere around them from those who are despising them, and they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh."’"

Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "When I gather the house of Israel from the peoples to which they were scattered about in them, and I show myself holy in them before the eyes of the nations, then they will live on their soil, which I gave to my servant Jacob. And they will live on it in safety, and they will build houses, and they will plant vineyards, and they will live in safety when I execute my judgments on all those who despise them from all around them, and then they will know that I am Yahweh their God."

Ezekiel 29

In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against Egypt, all of it. Speak, and you must say, ‘thus says the Lord Yahweh:

"Look! I am against you,
    Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
the great sea monster,
    the one lying down
in the midst of his Nile streams,
    who says to me, "It is my Nile, and I made it for myself."
And so I will put hooks in your jawbones,
    and I will make the fish of your Nile streams stick to your scales,
and I will bring you up from the midst of your Nile streams,
    and all of the fish of your Nile streams which cling to your scales.
And I will fling you to the desert,
    you and all the fish of your Nile streams.
On the surface of the field you will fall;
    you will not be gathered,
    and you will not be assembled.
To the animals of the field
    and to the birds of the heavens
    I will give you as food.
And all of the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh,
    because of their being a staff of reed for the house of Israel.
When they took hold of you with the hand, you snapped,
    and you split their every shoulder.
And when they leaned on you, you broke,
    and you caused all of their loins to wobble."

Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am bringing on you a sword, and I will cut off from you human and animal. And the land of Egypt will become a desolation and ruins, and they will know that I am Yahweh because he said, ‘The Nile is mine! And I, I made it!’ Therefore look! I am against you and against your Nile streams, and I will make the land of Egypt into ruins, a pile of rubble, a desolation from Migdol to Syene and up to the boundary of Cush. A foot of a human will not pass over it, and a foot of an animal will not pass over it, and so it will not be inhabited for forty years. And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and its cities to be in the midst of ruined cities. They will be a desolation for forty years, and I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them among the countries."

For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "At the end of forty years I will gather Egypt from the peoples among whom they were scattered. And I will restore the fortunes of Egypt, and I will bring them back to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and they will be a lowly kingdom there. Of all the kingdoms it will be the most lowly, and it will not exalt itself again over the nations, and I will make them small so as not to rule over the nations. And it will not be again for the house of Israel an object of trust, bringing to remembrance their guilt when they turned back to them, and they will know that I am the Lord Yahweh."

And then in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, he made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was rubbed bare, and every shoulder was rubbed raw, but a wage was not paid for him and for his army from Tyre for the labor that he did against it." Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am giving to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon the land of Egypt, and he will carry its wealth away, and he will plunder its plunder, and he will loot its loot, and it will be a wage for his army. As his wages that he worked for, I will give to him the land of Egypt, because they worked for me," declares the Lord Yahweh.

"On that day I will cause power to grow up for the house of Israel, and for you I will give an opening of your mouth in the midst of them, and they will know that I am Yahweh."

Ezekiel 30

And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Son of man, prophesy, and you must say, ‘thus says the Lord Yahweh:

"Wail, alas! For the day!
    For a day is near;
    indeed, a day is near for Yahweh.
A day of cloud,
    a time of the nations it will be.
And a sword will come in Egypt,
    and anguish will be in Cush,
at the falling of the slain in Egypt.
And they will take its wealth,
    and its foundation will be demolished.

Cush and Put and Lud and all of Arabia and Kub and the people of the land of the treaty with them—by the sword they will fall."

Thus says Yahweh:

"And the supporters of Egypt will fall,
    and the majesty of its strength will go down
from Migdol to Syene;
    by the sword they will fall in it,"
declares the Lord Yahweh.
"And they will be desolate in the midst of desolate countries,
    and its cities will be in the midst of ruined cities.
And they will know that I am Yahweh
    when I put my fire in Egypt,
    and all of its helpers are broken.

On that day messengers will go down from before me in the ships to terrify unsuspecting Cush, and anguish will be in them on the day of Egypt; for look, it is coming!"

Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

"And I will put an end to the crowds of Egypt
    by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon.
He and his people with him, the most ruthless of nations,
    will be brought to destroy the land.
And they will draw their swords against Egypt,
    and they will fill the land with the slain,
and I will make the Nile streams dry land,
    and I will sell the land into the hand of bad people,
and I will lay waste the land and its fullness
    by the hand of strangers.

I, Yahweh, I have spoken."

Thus says the Lord Yahweh:

"And I will destroy the idols,
    and I will put an end to the worthless idols from Memphis.
And there will no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt,
    and I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
And I will lay waste Pathros,
    and I will set fire in Zoan,
    and I will execute judgments in No.
I will pour out my rage over Sin,
    the stronghold of Egypt,
    and I will cut off the crowd of No.
And I will set fire in Egypt,
    certainly Sin will writhe,
and No will be breached,
    and Memphis will face enemies daily.
The young men of On and Pi Beseth will fall by the sword,
    and they will go into captivity.
And at Tahpanhes the day will become dark
    when I break the yoke of Egypt,
and in it the majesty of its strength
    will come to an end.
A cloud will cover it,
    and its daughters will go into captivity.
And I will execute judgments in Egypt,
    and they will know that I am Yahweh."

And then in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "Son of man, the arm of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, I have broken. And look, it has not been bound up for giving of a remedy, or for the placing of a splint to bind it up to make it strong to take hold of the sword." Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I am against Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and I will break his strong arm and the broken arm, and I will let the sword fall from his hand. And I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them among the countries. And I will strengthen the arm of the king of Babylon, and I will give my sword into his hand, and I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan with the groaning of the mortally wounded before him. And I will strengthen the arm of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh will fall. And they will know that I am Yahweh when I give my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will stretch it out to the land of Egypt. And I will scatter Egypt among the nations, and I will disperse them into the countries, and they will know that I am Yahweh."

John 10

"Truly, truly I say to you, the one who does not enter through the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up at some other place—that one is a thief and a robber. But the one who enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep. For this one the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Whenever he sends out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. And they will never follow a stranger, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what it was that he was saying to them.

Then Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All those who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep do not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and will go out and will find pasture. The thief comes only so that he can steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf approaching and abandons the sheep and runs away—and the wolf seizes them and scatters them because he is a hired hand and he is not concerned about the sheep.

"I am the good shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep which are not from this fold. I must bring these also, and they will hear my voice, and they will become one flock—one shepherd. Because of this the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take possession of it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down voluntarily. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take possession of it again. This commandment I received from my Father."

Again there was a division among the Jews because of these words. And many of them were saying, "He has a demon and is out of his mind! Why do you listen to him?" Others were saying, "These are not the words of one who is possessed by a demon! A demon is not able to open the eyes of the blind, is it?"

Then the feast of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the Portico of Solomon. So the Jews surrounded him and began to say to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly!" Jesus answered them, "I told you and you do not believe! The deeds that I do in the name of my Father, these testify about me. But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep! My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they will never perish forever, and no one will seize them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can seize them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one."

Then the Jews picked up stones again so that they could stone him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good deeds from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?" The Jews answered him, "We are not going to stone you concerning a good deed, but concerning blasphemy, and because you, although you are a man, make yourself to be God!" Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, "You are gods"’? If he called them ‘gods’ to whom the word of God came—and the scripture cannot be broken— do you say about he whom the Father set apart and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I do not do the deeds of my Father, do not believe me. But if I am doing them, even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." So they were seeking again to seize him, and he departed out of their hand.

And he went away again on the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John was baptizing at an earlier time, and he stayed there. And many came to him and began to say, "John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true!" And many believed in him there.