Cultivating a Heart of Joy

The New Loneliness: Nurturing Connection When You Feel Isolated

God's Faithfulness

How to Be Unstoppable for God

God's Presence - a Critical Tool for Advancement

Sent to Shepherd: Leading in Church Planting

Boundless Love. Jesus Offers Himself for the World.

Connect With God Through Meditation | 7 Day Devotional

Easter With the King

Ordinary Mystics: From Disciples of the Internet to Experiencing Jesus. Really. By John Eldredge

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch33" data-usfm="EZK.33">
 <div class="label">33</div><div class="s1">Renewal of Ezekiel&#8217;s Call as Watchman</div><div class="p"> 1The word of the Lord came to me: 2&#8220;Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: &#8216;When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, 3and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, 4then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. 5Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. 6But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone&#8217;s life, that person&#8217;s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 7&#8220;Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8When I say to the wicked, &#8216;You wicked person, you will surely die,&#8217; and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for#33:8 Or in; also in verse 9 their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. 9But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.</div><div class="p"> 10&#8220;Son of man, say to the Israelites, &#8216;This is what you are saying: &#8220;Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of#33:10 Or away in them. How then can we live?&#8221;&#8198;&#8217; 11Say to them, &#8216;As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 12&#8220;Therefore, son of man, say to your people, &#8216;If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person&#8217;s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person&#8217;s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.&#8217; 13If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done. 14And if I say to a wicked person, &#8216;You will surely die,&#8217; but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right&#8212; 15if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil&#8212;that person will surely live; they will not die. 16None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.</div><div class="p"> 17&#8220;Yet your people say, &#8216;The way of the Lord is not just.&#8217; But it is their way that is not just. 18If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, they will die for it. 19And if a wicked person turns away from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live by doing so. 20Yet you Israelites say, &#8216;The way of the Lord is not just.&#8217; But I will judge each of you according to your own ways.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Jerusalem&#8217;s Fall Explained</div><div class="p"> 21In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month on the fifth day, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and said, &#8220;The city has fallen!&#8221; 22Now the evening before the man arrived, the hand of the Lord was on me, and he opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer silent.</div><div class="p"> 23Then the word of the Lord came to me: 24&#8220;Son of man, the people living in those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, &#8216;Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as our possession.&#8217; 25Therefore say to them, &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Since you eat meat with the blood still in it and look to your idols and shed blood, should you then possess the land? 26You rely on your sword, you do detestable things, and each of you defiles his neighbor&#8217;s wife. Should you then possess the land?&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 27&#8220;Say this to them: &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those who are left in the ruins will fall by the sword, those out in the country I will give to the wild animals to be devoured, and those in strongholds and caves will die of a plague. 28I will make the land a desolate waste, and her proud strength will come to an end, and the mountains of Israel will become desolate so that no one will cross them. 29Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the detestable things they have done.&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 30&#8220;As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, &#8216;Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.&#8217; 31My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. 32Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.</div><div class="p"> 33&#8220;When all this comes true&#8212;and it surely will&#8212;then they will know that a prophet has been among them.&#8221;</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEZK">
 <div class="chapter ch34" data-usfm="EZK.34">
 <div class="label">34</div><div class="s1">The Lord Will Be Israel&#8217;s Shepherd</div><div class="p"> 1The word of the Lord came to me: 2&#8220;Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: &#8216;This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.</div><div class="p"> 7&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.</div><div class="p"> 11&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.</div><div class="p"> 17&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. 18Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? 19Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?</div><div class="p"> 20&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.</div><div class="p"> 25&#8220;&#8198;&#8216;I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. 26I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing.#34:26 Or I will cause them and the places surrounding my hill to be named in blessings (see Gen. 48:20); or I will cause them and the places surrounding my hill to be seen as blessed I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. 27The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. 28They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. 29I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. 30Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. 31You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.&#8217;&#8198;&#8221;</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk1PE">
 <div class="chapter ch5" data-usfm="1PE.5">
 <div class="label">5</div><div class="s1">To the Elders and the Flock</div><div class="p"> 1To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ&#8217;s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2Be shepherds of God&#8217;s flock that is under your care, watching over them&#8212;not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.</div><div class="p"> 5In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,</div><div class="q1">&#8220;God opposes the proud</div><div class="q2">but shows favor to the humble.&#8221;#5:5 Prov. 3:34</div><div class="m"> 6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God&#8217;s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.</div><div class="p"> 8Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.</div><div class="p"> 10And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.</div><div class="s1">Final Greetings</div><div class="p"> 12With the help of Silas,#5:12 Greek Silvanus, a variant of Silas whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.</div><div class="p"> 13She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14Greet one another with a kiss of love.</div><div class="p">Peace to all of you who are in Christ.</div>
 </div>
 </div>
</div>

We Grow: A Journey of Drawing Closer to GodSample

Scripture

About this Plan

Related Plans