Daily Bible Reading Podcast

EZEKIEL 8-9:Terrible destruction is prophesied against Judah and Jerusalem. The trumpet will sound the battle call, but no one will get ready, because they are under God’s wrath.

SONG OF SOLOMON 5:Yesterday the young man extolled the perfection of his bride.

MATTHEW 25b: Yesterday in Matthew 25, we heard two parables that speak about being ready for Christ’s return. Something that is repeated in the parables on this topic is that, “outside there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus is by those words teaching an important idea: That the punishment in hell will be conscious punishment (shown by the weeping), and it will be painful (as shown by the gnashing of teeth).

NLT Translation notes:Mat. 25:14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted [them to do business with//0] his money [0//to them] while he was gone. 21 “The  master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good andfaithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this smallamount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. [Come! Celebrate together with me!//Let’s celebrate together!]’23 ending same as at the end of 21.25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it [a hole in the ground//in the earth]. Look, here is your money back.’45 “And [I/he] will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

EZEKIEL 6-7: In yesterday’s reading Ezekiel portrayed the punishment of Israel and the siege on Jerusalem for a total of 430 days. Then he took a razor and cut his hair and divided it into three parts with a little left over. This was used as a demonstration that a third of the people would die in the city from disease and famine. The distress will be so severe that parents will eat their children. A third will be killed by the enemy outside the city, and the last third will be scattered by the sword. A small remnant will be saved.

SONG OF SOLOMON 4:Yesterday the woman had an extended speech. Today it is the man’s turn.

MATTHEW 25a:Yesterday was Jesus’ extended teaching about the end times and His own return, and the parables about our Being READY to receive our Master. And at the beginning of this chapter, we have one of my favorite parables.

NLT Translation notes:Mat. 25:14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted [them to do business with//0] his money [0//to them] while he was gone. 21 “The  master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. [Come! Celebrate together with me!//Let’s celebrate together!]’23 ending same as at the end of 2125 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it [a hole in the ground//in the earth]. Look, here is your money back.’40 “And [I, as the King,//the King] will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,f you were doing it to me!’41 “Then [I, as the King,//the King] will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.45 “And [I/he] will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

EZEKIEL 4-5:In Ezekiel 2-3 God commissioned Ezekiel to speak for God to the rebellious people of Israel. God fed Ezekiel a scroll. This tasted sweet, but afterwards I think he would tell us that it produced “bitterness”— as we will see with John who eats a similar scroll in Revelation. God gave these important words to Ezekiel in yesterday’s reading:

Ez. 3:10 NLT …“Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself.

SONG OF SOLOMON 3:As we have seen, this Song of Songs is high poetry. The woman’s stories— such as what we hear today, are better taken as poetic expressions of her deep love than as true narratives.

MATTHEW 24b:Jesus said, “Immediately after those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will give no light.” Here is a story from 20 14, the first year I was recording these podcasts. I wrote: Just three days ago, in the evening, I was with the Orya people at an open-air youth retreat. The pastor pointed out that the Bible says the moon will turn into blood (or be the color of blood). He had come from town and is not an Orya speaker. He told the people that he had seen that morning on the Internet that on that very night there would be a “blood moon”— or a lunar eclipse where the moon would turn red like blood. And while he was speaking about that and other end-times signs, sure enough, it happened! Nothing like God managing a visual presentation for you! I have never seen a more moving sight.

NLT Translation notes:Mat. 24:15 “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” ([May the one who reads out loud note this and explain it to those who listen!//Reader, pay attention!])39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came  came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when [I, the Son of Man come.//the Son of Man comes].44 You also must be ready all the time, for [I,] the Son of Man[,] will come when least expected.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

EZEKIEL 2-3:Yesterday Ezekiel described his vision of the four cherubim, and the chapter ended just as Ezekiel started hearing a Voice. The last verse ends of chapter 1 says: 

Ezk. 1:28 NLT All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground, and I heard someone’s voice speaking to me.

SONG OF SOLOMON 2:Song of Solomon has many speaking parts for the woman, the man, and the chorus parts for people of Jerusalem or the other young women.

MATTHEW 24a:After a full chapter (chapter 23) of Jesus’ stern and harsh criticism and warning to his enemies (the Pharisees and teachers of religious law), Jesus teaches his disciples about what will happen in the future. Some of these warnings are about what will happen to Jerusalem 40 years after Jesus was crucified. But will those prophecies be the kind that will be re-fulfilled at the end times?

NLT Translation notes:Mat. 24:15 “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” ([May the one who reads out loud note this and explain it to those who listen!//Reader, pay attention!])36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or [Me,] the Son himself. Only the Father knows.37 “When [I, the Son of Man return// the Son of Man returns], it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came  came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when [I, the Son of Man come.//the Son of Man comes].44 You also must be ready all the time, for [I,] the Son of Man[,] will come when least expected.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

This seems to me to be a good time to talk with you about how to understand the prophetic books of the Bible, as we now are starting to read the Babylonian exile prophet Ezekiel. And starting in a week and extending to the end of the year, our poetry readings will be from the prophet Isaiah, who lived 200 years before Ezekiel. Near the end of the year we’ll read the minor prophets in quick succession. All the books in the prophetic genre are hands-down the most difficult books to understand in the Bible. So I hope I can give basic pointers in this episode that will be helpful to you from now on to the end of the year.

I will start with quoting a paragraph from How to Read the Bible for all it’s worth (by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart) that gives one reason people have difficulty with the 16 prophetic books of the OT: We come to these books with false expectations. Speaking about the word ‘prophecy’ they state:

For most people this word means what appears as the first definition in most dictionaries: “foretelling or prediction of what is to come.” It often happens, therefore, that many Christians refer to the prophetic books only for predictions about the coming of Jesus and/or certain features of the new-covenant age—as though prediction of events far distant from their own day was the main concern of the prophets. In fact, using the prophets in this way is highly selective. Consider in this connection the following statistics: Less than 2 percent of Old Testament prophecy is messianic. Less than 5 percent specifically describes the new-covenant age [we are currently living in]. Less than 1 percent concerns events yet to come in our time. (p. 166)

The prophets did indeed announce the future. But it was usually the immediate future of Israel, Judah, and other nations surrounding them that they announced rather than our future.

Rather than thinking of prophets as prediction makers, Fee and Stuart give this very accurate job description of them:

• The prophets were covenant enforcement mediators.

This definition explains a lot!

There were hundreds of prophets in the Old Testament, starting with Moses. Many were unnamed. Only 16 were selected to write books for us. Several named prophets wrote historical books that we wish we had. In all cases, the prophets were speaking to the people of their age. So understanding what was happening at the time of the writer is key to understanding the prophetic books. You won’t understand the historical setting without help. This is why I will make several book recommendations at the end of this episode.

I was in a village in Papua adjacent to the Orya area and where many Orya people come to shop for things they need. This was at the very beginning of the Covid Pandemic. I stayed overnight with a hospitable pastor there who said, “I’ve heard that this epidemic has something to do with bats. I found this verse. Is God saying this to us?

Isaiah 2:20 (NET)  At that time men will throw their silver and gold idols, which they made for themselves to worship, into the caves where rodents and bats live,

I replied, “Probably that isn’t for us. We should first figure out what was happening in Isaiah’s time, and then see if that message is appropriate for our time also.” The pastor kind of rolled his eyes and held up the palms of his hands, as if to say, “How in the world can I do that?!”

I must admit, he would have few resources to call on to find answers. But you have many ways to gain the needed background information:

• His translation doesn’t have good section headings. Yours probably does. Good section headings really help the reader, and the listeners. That’s why I read the section headings in prophetic books in my podcasts.

• He wasn’t using a meaning-based translation for reading the prophets. I hope you will! The GNT and NLT convey the meaning as we would say it in normal modern language. Trying to force English to say things like the Hebrew does results in verses that leave the readers scratching their heads. 

• Use some of the extra resources I will recommend at the end to help you to understand the historical context. This will help the prophetic books to come alive for you.

I was rather surprised when one of the elders in our church here in Arkansas complained bitterly about the major prophetic books. He said something like, “I’ve been working to penetrate Jeremiah the last couple of months. I hate reading these chapters that say, ‘Woe to you, king of somewhere…’ What am I supposed to find in these books?” I was shocked that an elder— who is an intelligent and well-educated professional— would speak so negatively about any part of God’s Word.

I was unprepared to answer him. Let me tell you what I wish I had said to him:

• First, he was doing none of the three things I just mentioned. He was clearly not coming with the right expectations for what God has for us in the prophetic books.

• “The prophets were covenant enforcement mediators.” (Fee and Stuart) This means that they often rebuke God’s people for breaking the covenant, or call Israel to come back to obeying the covenant. We can summarize the covenant as being embodied in the Ten Commandments. This is why the prophets continually come back to the same points: Don’t worship idols; don’t commit adultery; don’t lie, cheat, or steal, etc. Therefore, from now on in the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan, please be on the lookout for places where the different prophets say the same thing. After all, the ultimate Author is the same, as Peter says, 

2 Peter 1:20-21 (NET)  Above all, you do well if you recognize this: No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination,

for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

•  Consider this oracle of woe to the king of Egypt from Ezekiel 32:1-2 (NLT):

• On March 3, during the twelfth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, mourn for Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and give him this message: “You think of yourself as a strong young lion among the nations, but you are really just a sea monster, heaving around in your own rivers, stirring up mud with your feet.

First, I think it highly unlikely that Ezekiel would be able to give Pharaoh this message! Ezekiel was a refugee living in Babylon. Rather, I think that the message is actually to encourage the exiles living with Ezekiel, and he may have sent this message to his people still living in Jerusalem. So this can be understood as the figure of speech called ‘apostrophe’, which is basically lambasting an enemy who is not in your audience to encourage your actual readers.

Second, be aware that the kings of Egypt, Tyre,  or Babylon may actually symbolize Satan, who is the ruler behind the evil world system that opposes God.

My favorite places in prophecy are those times when God so wonderfully repeats promises to his people which we count as fulfilled in this age. An example will come soon in day 305, where Ezekiel says, 

Ezekiel 36:25‭-‬28 GNT I will sprinkle clean water on you and make you clean from all your idols and everything else that has defiled you. I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. I will put my spirit in you and will see to it that you follow my laws and keep all the commands I have given you.

Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors. You will be my people, and I will be your God.

That is strikingly similar to the favorite verses found in Jeremiah 31 which are quoted in Hebrews 8, especially verse 10:

Hebrews 8:10 GNT Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Again in Hebrews 10, some of that same Jeremiah 31 passage is referred to, and the writer goes on to explain:

Hebrews 10:21-22 (NET)  since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.

Wait a minute. That’s what we just read in Ezekiel! This gives me goosebumps. These wonderful spiritual realities are true of us today, for all of us who are understanding our unity with Christ, our great high priest. We can appreciate how people in Jeremiah and Ezekiel’s day would have longed for the things that now have been given to us.

Beginning with the writings of the prophet Moses, God keeps repeating, “You will be my people, and I will be your God.” I just love it when so many correspondences line up. To me this proves that God has so wonderfully constructed his Word, and He will keep on fulfilling his plans and promises.

It’s worth it to read God’s prophets in order to more fully appreciate the treasures we have been given.

I am not able to include a discussion of Revelation in this discussion of prophecy. In the Digging Deeper Daily reading plan, we start that book on December 8. Revelation is in a different genre than most OT prophetic books, called the apocalyptic genre. Zechariah, and parts of Ezekiel and Daniel are early examples of apocalyptic writings. Such writings include symbolic numbers, surreal and highly symbolic visions, and cyclical organization. This is NOT what we expect: chronological organization. High examples of the apocalyptic genre are found in Jewish literature.

10. non-canonical (taken from D. S. Russell, The Method and Message of Jewish Apocalyptic, pp. 37-38) (Taken from Utley http://www.freebiblecommentary.org/new_testament_studies/VOL12/VOL12_introduction.html

• a. I Enoch, II Enoch (the Secrets of Enoch)

• b. The Book of Jubilees

• c. The Sibylline Oracles III, IV, V

• d. The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs

• e. The Psalms of Solomon

• f. The Assumption of Moses

• g. The Martyrdom of Isaiah

• h. The Apocalypse of Moses (Life of Adam and Eve)

• i. The Apocalypse of Abraham

• j. The Testament of Abraham

• k. II Esdras (IV Esdras)

• l. II & III Baruch

But the book of Revelation surpasses such books, because it truly is inspired. 

An Indonesian Bible reader asked me about Revelation 6:5-6:

Revelation 6:5-6 (NET)  Then when the Lamb opened the third seal I heard the third living creature saying, “Come!” So I looked, and here came a black horse! The one who rode it had a balance scale in his hand. Then I heard something like a voice from among the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat will cost a day’s pay and three quarts of barley will cost a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine!”

He asked something like, “Has this horse and rider appeared yet, and what effect has it had on our economy?”

No book of the Bible has spawned more wrong interpretations than Revelation. Don’t try to look for highly specific interpretations like my Indonesian friend. Try to understand the major symbolic elements. The two main points of the book are very easy to grasp:

1. In the end, in spite of how things will appear in the world, Jesus will triumph.

2. Your perseverance in suffering and persecution will be rewarded.

So I hope one major take-away point from what I have shared is That I urge you to supplement your Bible reading of all the prophetic books of the Bible with other books. Here are a few recommendations.

Recommended resources:

How to Read the Bible for all it’s worth, Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart

How to Read the Bible Book by Book, Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart

What the Bible is All About, Dr. Henrietta C. Mears (Get the revised NIV edition.)

Free Bible Commentary, Dr. Bob Utley

http://www.freebiblecommentary.org/special_topics/old_testament_prophecy.html

Any study Bible will have helpful notes about how the prophetic writers fit into Israel’s history.

EZEKIEL 1:Yesterday in the last chapter of 2nd Chronicles, we heard of the quick succession of the kings of Judah at the very end before the exile to Babylon: Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. And after the fall of Jerusalem, chapter 36 also told of the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy about Cyrus, who gave the decree to rebuild the Temple of God. While Jeremiah prophesied about the fall of Babylon and specified the 70 year duration of the exile, it was Isaiah who mentioned King Cyrus by name— one of the most stunning of all prophecies.

Ezekiel was not only a prophet, but also a priest. When he was 25 years old, he was carried into exile in Babylon along with the upper class of people in 597 BC. Ezekiel was no doubt a pupil of Jeremiah before Ezekiel was taken into exile. The 48 chapters of this book are divided right in the middle.

*1-24 Pre-siege, prophecies about the destruction of Jerusalem.

*The second half can also be divided into two parts: Chapters 25-32 talk about after the fall of Jerusalem, prophecies dealing with the punishment of Judah’s enemies.

*33-48 Prophecies about the restoration of Judah.

Ezekiel is a book that is highly important for understanding the book of Revelation in the New Testament, because things that Ezekiel saw, John also saw.

SONG OF SOLOMON 1:In this book Solomon extols how wonderful love is. This may be a series of wedding songs. (And Solomon needed such songs frequently!) The main question is: Is this book merely a series of songs calling for sexual faithfulness to one’s spouse? The well-known allegorical interpretation goes back at least to the Puritan period, but probably much farther to the church fathers. However, it seems to me that making this about Christ and the church is a bit forced. Certainly Solomon would not have written this with Christ and the church in mind. However it is possible that the Holy Spirit inspired Solomon to write things with allegorical meanings beyond his own understanding.

MATTHEW 23b:Yesterday we heard the first part of Jesus’ invective against the Pharisees and teachers of religious law. Jesus told the truth. In a way, it was a loving act— to warn them. He already knew that these were the very men who would crucify him.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

2CHRONICLES 36:Josiah’s Passover celebration showed wonderful ability to get everyone to work together and great organizational talent. It is the capstone of the revival that he led. Unfortunately, he was stubborn about going to war with Pharaoh Neco, which cost him both his own life and his son’s life.

ECCLESIASTES 12:Yesterday’s short chapter recorded proverbial advice to young and old, and that theme continues in today’s reading.

MATTHEW 23a:In yesterday’s reading Jesus roundly defeated the Sadducees, telling them that they did not know the Scriptures or the power of God. He answered the question about the most important Law, and he asked the question no one could answer.

NLT Translation notes:[For Ecc. 12:1-6, I prefer the 1996 first edition NLT. That version drops the obscure figures of speech and zeros right in on the meaning. Keeping obscure figures of speech and adding the meaning, in this case, adds an element of strangeness and lessens the impact. HOWEVER, beginning with the 2022 podcast, I read the newest edition of the NLT, making some slight changes to help listeners understand where the next now uses m-dashes. The newer edition is more conservative in retaining the figures of speech in the Hebrew.]1 NLT96 Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and no longer enjoy living.2 It will be too late then to remember him, when the light of the sun and moon and stars is dim to your old eyes, and there is no silver lining left among the clouds.3 Your limbs will tremble with age, and your strong legs will grow weak. Your teeth will be too few to do their work, and you will be blind, too.4 And when your teeth are gone, keep your lips tightly closed when you eat! Even the chirping of birds will wake you up. But you yourself will be deaf and tuneless, with a quavering voice.5 You will be afraid of heights and of falling, white-haired and withered, dragging along without any sexual desire. You will be standing at death's door. And as you near your everlasting home, the mourners will walk along the streets.6 Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don't wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well.Ecc. 12:7 For then the dust [of your body] will return to the earth, and [your//the] spirit will return to God who gave it.====Mat. 23:15 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you [are yourselves//yourselves are]!

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

2CHRONICLES 35:It is simply amazing that we have books like Deuteronomy, since we see that it (or perhaps Leviticus) was almost lost. And it shows how far Judah had slipped that they didn’t know of any copies. Josiah sincerely repented after hearing God’s Word.

ECCLESIASTES 11:Yesterday’s chapter of Ecclesiastes was mainly separate proverbs. As an example I quote verse 3, which I like in the NLT:

3 You can identify fools just by the way they walk down the street!

MATTHEW 22b:Jesus told a pointed parable yesterday in the one about the King’s wedding feast for his son. And the people sent by the Pharisees with friends of King Herod failed miserably to trap Jesus. And why did the man at the wedding feast get thrown out for not wearing wedding clothes? If you don’t know the answer, there’s a golden treasure there waiting for you to find it.

NLT Translation note:Mat. 22:45 Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah [just] be his son?”

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

2CHRONICLES 34:We are definitely in the back-and-forth pendulum period of Judah. After one fantastic king, the next two were terrible. And now Josiah is again like David.

ECCLESIASTES 10:Here is a highlight from yesterday’s reading:

Ecc. 9:11 NLT I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.

MATTHEW 22a:With the parable of the two sons and the parable of the evil farmers, we are in the portion of Jesus’ teaching where he both warns and confronts his enemies, showing divine wisdom that none can refute.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

2CHRONICLES 33:The account in 2 Chronicles of Hezekiah’s victory through prayer over the vast Assyrian army is summarized. It is much more dramatically related in 2nd Kings. Hezekiah’s experience with the envoys from Babylon can also be used as a spiritual parable for us. We need to be careful what we just accept as fate, without asking God for something better.

ECCLESIASTES 9:A nugget of exceptional wisdom from Solomon was in yesterday’s reading, and it brings with it a problem in translation. I like how GNT made the overall pessimistic meaning clear by including quote marks in 12-13. NLT does not interpret that part as an argumentative quote and casts the meaning in an optimistic light.

Ecc. 8:11 GNT Why do people commit crimes so readily? Because crime is not punished quickly enough.12 A sinner may commit a hundred crimes and still live. Oh yes, I know what they say: “If you obey God, everything will be all right, 13 but it will not go well for the wicked. Their life is like a shadow and they will die young, because they do not obey God.”14 But this is nonsense. Look at what happens in the world: sometimes the righteous get the punishment of the wicked, and the wicked get the reward of the righteous. I say it is useless.

MATTHEW 21b:In yesterday’s reading in chapter 21, we heard of the triumphant entry, Jesus cleansing the Temple and cursing the fig tree, and the question about what right he had to do such a thing like cleansing the Temple.

NLT/GNT Translation note:Mat. 21:32 [NLT For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw [that miraculous thing//this] happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.//GNT For John the Baptist came to you showing you the right [way to live//path to take], and you would not believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. Even when you saw [that miraculous thing//this], you [refused to believe him and repent did not later change your minds and believe him.]

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.