The Daily Audio Bible
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5 So, strong city, gather your soldiers together.
We are surrounded and attacked.
The enemy will swing his club.
He will hit the leader of Israel in the face.
The Ruler to Be Born in Bethlehem
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
are one of the smallest towns in Judah.
But from you will come one who will rule Israel for me.
He comes from very old times,
from days long ago.”
3 The Lord will leave his people in Babylon
until Jerusalem, who is in labor, gives birth to her children.
Then his brothers who are in captivity will return.
They will come back to the people of Israel living in Judah.
4 Then the ruler of Israel will stand
and take care of his people.
He will lead them with the Lord’s power.
He will lead them in the wonderful name of the Lord his God.
They will live in safety.
And his greatness will be known all over the earth.
5 He will bring peace.
Rescue and Punishment
The Assyrian army will come into our country.
They will destroy our large houses.
But we will choose seven or eight leaders.
They will shepherd our people.
6 They will destroy the Assyrians with their swords.
They will conquer the land of Assyria with their swords drawn.
The Assyrians will come into our land.
They will come within our borders.
But the leaders of Israel
will save us from them.
7 Then the people of Jacob who are left alive
will be like dew from the Lord to many people.
They will be like rain which does not wait for man.
They will be like showers which do not wait for human beings.
8 Those left alive of Jacob’s people
will be scattered among the nations.
They will be among many peoples.
They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest.
They will be like a young lion going through the flock.
He steps on what is in his way.
No one can save the nations from God’s people.
9 So you will raise your fist in victory over your enemies,
and you will destroy them.
10 The Lord says, “At that time,
I will take your horses from you.
I will destroy your chariots.
11 I will destroy the walled cities in your country.
I will tear down all your defenses.
12 You will no longer be able to do witchcraft.
You will not have anyone who can tell the future.
13 I will destroy your statues of false gods.
I will tear down the stone pillars you worship.
You will no longer worship
what your hands have made.
14 I will destroy the Asherah idols.
I will destroy your cities.
15 Some people won’t obey me.
I will show my anger and punish them.”
The Lord’s Complaint
6 Now hear what the Lord says:
“Get up; plead your case in front of the mountains.
Let the hills hear your story.
2 Mountains, listen to the Lord’s complaint.
Foundations of the earth, listen to the Lord.
The Lord has a complaint against his people.
He will prove that Israel is wrong.”
3 The Lord says, “My people, did I do something wrong to you?
How did I make you tired of me?
Tell me.
4 I brought you from the land of Egypt.
I freed you from slavery.
I sent Moses, Aaron and Miriam to you.
5 My people, remember
the evil plans of Balak king of Moab.
Remember what Balaam son of Beor told Balak.
Remember what happened from Acacia to Gilgal.
Then you will know the Lord does what is right!”
6 You say, “What can I bring with me
when I come before the Lord?
What can I bring
when I bow before God on high?
Should I come before the Lord with burnt offerings,
with year-old calves?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with 1,000 male sheep?
Will he be pleased with 10,000 rivers of oil?
Should I give my first child for the evil I have done?
Should I give my very own child for my sin?”
8 The Lord has told you what is good.
He has told you what he wants from you:
Do what is right to other people.
Love being kind to others.
And live humbly, trusting your God.
9 The voice of the Lord shouts to the city.
The wise person honors the Lord.
So pay attention to the rod of punishment.
Pay attention to the One who threatens to punish.
10 Can the Lord forget that the wicked still hide
treasures they have stolen?
Do they still cheat others?
I curse their false measure!
11 Can I forgive people who cheat others
with wrong weights and scales?
12 The rich men in the city
still do cruel things.
The people still tell lies.
They do not tell the truth.
13 So I have started to punish you.
I will destroy you because of your sins.
14 You will eat, but you won’t become full.
You will still be hungry and empty.
You will store up but save nothing.
What you store up the sword will destroy.
15 You will plant,
but you won’t harvest.
You will squeeze your olives.
But you won’t get any oil from them to put on your skin.
You will crush the grapes.
But you will not drink the wine.
16 This is because you obey the wicked laws of King Omri.
You do all the evil that Ahab’s family does.
You follow their teachings.
So I will let you be destroyed.
The people in your city will be laughed at.
Other nations will make fun of you.
Micah Is Upset at the Evil That People Do
7 Poor me! I am like a hungry man.
And all the summer fruit has been picked.
There are no grapes left to eat.
There are none of the early figs I love.
2 All of the faithful people are gone.
There is not one good person left in this country.
Everyone is waiting to kill someone.
Everyone is trying to trap his brother.
3 People are good at doing evil with both hands.
Rulers ask for money.
And judges’ decisions are bought for a price.
Rich people make their wishes known.
They all join in their evil plans.
4 Even the best of them is like a thornbush.
Even the nicest of them is worse than a thornbush.
Your watchmen[a] warned you about this day.
Now it has come.
Now you will be punished.
Your punishment will amaze you.
5 Don’t trust your neighbor.
Don’t even trust a friend.
Be careful what you say,
even to your wife.
6 A son will not honor his father.
A daughter will turn against her mother.
A daughter-in-law will fight with her mother-in-law.
A person’s enemies will be members of his own family.
The Lord’s Kindness
7 Israel says, “I will look to the Lord for help.
I will wait for God to save me.
My God will hear me.
8 Enemy, don’t laugh at me.
I have fallen, but I will get up again.
I sit in the shadow of trouble now.
But the Lord will be a light for me.
9 I sinned against the Lord.
So he was angry with me.
But he will defend my case in court.
He will do what is right for me.
Then he will bring me out into the light.
I will see him set things right.
10 Then my enemies will see this,
and they will be ashamed.
My enemies said to me,
‘Where is the Lord your God?’
Now I will laugh at them.
They will fall down defeated, like the mud people walk on.”
The Jews to Return
11 The time will come when your walls will be built again.
At that time your country will grow.
12 Your people will come back to your land.
They will come from Assyria and the cities of Egypt.
They will come from the countries
between the river of Egypt and the Euphrates River.
They will come from the countries
between the Mediterranean Sea in the west and the mountains in the east.
13 The rest of the earth will be ruined.
This is because of what the people who lived in it did.
A Prayer to God
14 So shepherd your people with your stick.
Tend the flock of people who belong to you.
That flock now lives alone in the desert.
But there is fertile pasture nearby.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
as they did long ago.
15 The Lord says, “I did many miracles when I brought you out of Egypt.
I will show you more miracles like that.”
16 The nations will see those miracles.
Then they will no longer brag about their power.
They will be amazed and put their hands over their mouths.
They will refuse to listen.
17 They will crawl in the dust like a snake.
They will shake with fear.
They will crawl on the ground
like insects crawling from their holes.
They will come trembling to you, Lord our God.
They will tremble in fear before you.
18 There is no God like you.
You forgive people who are guilty of sin.
You don’t look at the sins of your people
who are left alive.
You, Lord, will not stay angry forever.
You enjoy being kind.
19 Lord, you will have mercy on us again.
You will conquer our sins.
You will throw away all our sins
into the deepest sea.
20 You will be true to the people of Jacob!
You will be kind to the people of Abraham.
You will do what you promised
to our ancestors long ago.
The 144,000 People of Israel
7 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. The angels were holding the four winds of the earth. They were stopping the wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming from the east. This angel had the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels. These were the four angels that God had given power to harm the earth and the sea. He said to the four angels, 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees before we put the sign on the people who serve our God. We must put the sign on their foreheads.” 4 Then I heard how many people were marked with the sign. There were 144,000. They were from every tribe of the people of Israel.
5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were marked with the sign,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
The Great Crowd
9 Then I looked, and there was a great number of people. There were so many people that no one could count them. They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language of the earth. They were all standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and had palm branches in their hands. 10 They were shouting in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 The elders[a] and the four living things were there. All the angels were standing around them and the throne. The angels bowed down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God. 12 They were saying, “Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength belong to our God forever and ever. Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes? Where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “You know who they are, sir.”
And the elder said, “These are the people who have come out of the great suffering. They have washed their robes[b] with the blood of the Lamb. Now they are clean and white. 15 And they are before the throne of God. They worship God day and night in his temple. And the One who sits on the throne will protect them. 16 Those people will never be hungry again. They will never be thirsty again. The sun will not hurt them. No heat will burn them. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of water that give life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
God Saves, Idols Do Not
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord.
Praise him, you servants of the Lord.
2 Praise him, you who stand in the Lord’s Temple
and in the Temple courtyards.
3 Praise the Lord, because he is good.
Sing praises to him, because it is pleasant.
4 The Lord has chosen the people of Jacob for himself.
He has chosen the people of Israel for his very own.
5 I know that the Lord is great.
Our Lord is greater than all the gods.
6 The Lord does what he wants,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and the deep oceans.
7 He brings the clouds from the ends of the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain.
He brings out the wind from his storehouses.
8 He destroyed the firstborn sons in Egypt,
the firstborn of both men and animals.
9 He did many signs and miracles in Egypt.
He did amazing things to the king and his servants.
10 He defeated many nations
and killed powerful kings:
11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan
and all the kings of Canaan.
12 Then he gave their land as a gift.
It was a gift to his people, the Israelites.
13 Lord, your name is everlasting.
Lord, you will be remembered from now on.
14 You defend your people.
You have mercy on your servants.
15 The idols of other nations are made of silver and gold.
They are made by human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
17 They have ears, but they cannot hear.
They have no breath in their mouths.
18 The people who make idols and trust them
are all like them.
19 Family of Israel, praise the Lord.
Family of Aaron, praise the Lord.
20 Family of Levi, praise the Lord.
You people who fear the Lord should praise him.
21 You people of Jerusalem, praise the Lord on Mount Zion.
Praise the Lord!
5 “Every word of God can be trusted.
He protects those who come to him for safety.
6 Do not add to his words.
If you do, he will correct you and prove that you are a liar.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.