The Daily Audio Bible
12 Therefore the Holy One of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message
and have trusted in oppression and deceit,
and have depended on them,
13 this iniquity(A) of yours will be
like a crumbling gap,
a bulge in a high wall
whose collapse will come in an instant—suddenly!
14 Its collapse will be like the shattering
of a potter’s jar,(B) crushed to pieces,
so that not even a fragment of pottery
will be found among its shattered remains—
no fragment large enough to take fire from a hearth
or scoop water from a cistern.”
15 For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said:
“You will be delivered by returning and resting;
your strength will lie in quiet confidence.
But you are not willing.”
16 You say, “No!
We will escape on horses”—
therefore you will escape!—
and, “We will ride on fast horses”—
but those who pursue you will be faster.(C)
17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one,(D)
at the threat of five you will flee,
until you remain
like a solitary pole on a mountaintop
or a banner on a hill.
The Lord’s Mercy to Israel
18 Therefore the Lord is waiting to show you mercy,
and is rising up to show you compassion,(E)
for the Lord is a just God.
All who wait patiently for him are happy.
19 For people will live on Zion in Jerusalem. You will never weep again; he will show favor to you at the sound of your outcry; as soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 The Lord will give you meager bread and water during oppression,(F) but your Teacher[a] will not hide any longer. Your eyes will see your Teacher, 21 and whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”(G) 22 Then you will defile your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, and call them filth.
23 Then he will send rain for your seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food, the produce of the ground, will be rich and plentiful. On that day your cattle will graze in open pastures.(H) 24 The oxen and donkeys that work the ground will eat salted fodder scattered with winnowing shovel(I) and fork. 25 Streams flowing with water will be on every high mountain and every raised hill on the day of great slaughter when the towers fall. 26 The moonlight will be as bright as the sunlight, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter(J)—like the light of seven days—on the day(K) that the Lord bandages his people’s injuries and heals the wounds he inflicted.(L)
Annihilation of the Assyrians
27 Look! The name of the Lord is coming from far away,
his anger burning and heavy with smoke.[b]
His lips are full of fury,
and his tongue is like a consuming fire.
28 His breath is like an overflowing torrent(M)
that rises to the neck.(N)
He comes to sift the nations in a sieve of destruction
and to put a bridle on the jaws of the peoples
to lead them astray.(O)
29 Your singing will be like that
on the night of a holy festival,
and your heart will rejoice
like one who walks to the music of a flute,
going up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the Rock of Israel.(P)
30 And the Lord will make the splendor of his voice heard
and reveal his arm(Q) striking in angry wrath
and a flame of consuming fire,
in driving rain, a torrent, and hailstones.
31 Assyria will be shattered by the voice of the Lord.
He will strike with a rod.
32 And every stroke of the appointed[c] staff
that the Lord brings down on him
will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres;
he will fight against him with brandished weapons.
33 Indeed! Topheth has been ready(R)
for the king for a long time.
Its funeral pyre is deep and wide,
with plenty of fire and wood.
The breath of the Lord,(S) like a torrent of burning sulfur,
kindles it.
The Lord, the Only Help
31 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help(T)
and who depend on horses!
They trust in the abundance of chariots
and in the large number of horsemen.(U)
They do not look(V) to the Holy One of Israel,
and they do not seek the Lord.
2 But he also is wise and brings disaster.(W)
He does not go back on what he says;(X)
he will rise up against the house of the wicked
and against the allies of evildoers.
3 Egyptians are men, not God;
their horses are flesh, not spirit.
When the Lord raises his hand to strike,
the helper will stumble
and the one who is helped will fall;
both will perish together.
4 For this is what the Lord said to me:
As a lion or young lion growls over its prey(Y)
when a band of shepherds is called out against it,
and it is not terrified by their shouting
or subdued by their noise,
so the Lord of Armies will come down
to fight on Mount Zion
and on its hill.(Z)
5 Like hovering birds,
so the Lord of Armies will protect Jerusalem;(AA)
by protecting it, he will rescue it;
by passing over it, he will deliver it.
6 Return to the one the Israelites have greatly rebelled against.(AB) 7 For on that day, every one of you will reject the worthless idols of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.(AC)
8 Then Assyria will fall,
but not by human sword;
a sword will devour him,
but not one made by man.(AD)
He will flee from the sword;
his young men will be put to forced labor.(AE)
9 His rock[d] will pass away because of fear,(AF)
and his officers will be afraid because of the signal flag.(AG)
This is the Lord’s declaration—whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.(AH)
The Righteous Kingdom Announced
32 Indeed, a king will reign righteously,
and rulers will rule justly.(AI)
2 Each will be like a shelter from the wind,
a refuge from the rain,(AJ)
like flowing streams(AK) in a dry land
and the shade of a massive rock in an arid land.
3 Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will listen.(AL)
4 The reckless mind will gain knowledge,
and the stammering tongue(AM) will speak clearly and fluently.
5 A fool will no longer be called a noble,(AN)
nor a scoundrel said to be important.
6 For a fool speaks foolishness
and his mind plots iniquity.
He lives in a godless way
and speaks falsely about the Lord.
He leaves the hungry empty
and deprives the thirsty of drink.(AO)
7 The scoundrel’s weapons are destructive;
he hatches plots to destroy the needy with lies,
even when the poor person says what is right.
8 But a noble person plans noble things;
he stands up for noble causes.
9 Stand up, you complacent women;(AP)
listen to me.
Pay attention to what I say,
you overconfident daughters.
10 In a little more than a year
you overconfident ones will shudder,
for the grapes will fail
and the harvest will not come.
11 Shudder, you complacent ones;
tremble, you overconfident ones!
Strip yourselves bare(AQ)
and put sackcloth around your waists.
12 Beat your breasts in mourning(AR)
for the delightful fields and the fruitful vines,(AS)
13 for the ground of my people
growing thorns and briers,(AT)
indeed, for every joyous house in the jubilant city.
14 For the palace will be deserted,
the busy city abandoned.
The hill and the watchtower will become
barren places forever,
the joy of wild donkeys,
and a pasture for flocks,
15 until the Spirit[e] from on high is poured out on us.(AU)
Then the desert will become an orchard,
and the orchard will seem like a forest.(AV)
16 Then justice will inhabit the wilderness,
and righteousness will dwell in the orchard.
17 The result of righteousness will be peace;(AW)
the effect of righteousness
will be quiet confidence forever.
18 Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place,
in safe and secure dwellings.
19 But hail will level the forest,[f](AX)
and the city will sink into the depths.(AY)
20 You will be happy as you sow seed
beside abundant water,(AZ)
and as you let oxen and donkeys range freely.(BA)
The Lord Rises Up
33 Woe, you destroyer never destroyed,
you traitor never betrayed!
When you have finished destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you have finished betraying,
they will betray you.(BB)
2 Lord, be gracious to us! We wait for you.(BC)
Be our strength every morning
and our salvation in time of trouble.(BD)
3 The peoples flee at the thunderous noise;(BE)
the nations scatter when you rise in your majesty.
4 Your spoil will be gathered as locusts are gathered;
people will swarm over it like an infestation of locusts.
5 The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 There will be times of security for you—
a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.(BF)
7 Listen! Their warriors cry loudly in the streets;
the messengers of peace weep bitterly.(BG)
Freedom of the Christian
5 For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm,(A) then, and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.(B) 2 Take note! I, Paul, am telling you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all. 3 Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to do the entire law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.(C) 5 For we eagerly await(D) through the Spirit, by faith, the hope(E) of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith(F) working through love.(G)
7 You were running well. Who prevented you from obeying the truth?(H) 8 This persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.(I) 9 A little leaven[a] leavens the whole batch of dough. 10 I myself am persuaded in the Lord you will not accept any other view. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.(J) 11 Now brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross(K) has been abolished. 12 I wish those who are disturbing you might also let themselves be mutilated!
Psalm 63
Praise God Who Satisfies
A psalm of David. When he was in the Wilderness of Judah.(A)
1 God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you.
I thirst for you;
my body faints for you
in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.(B)
2 So I gaze on you in the sanctuary
to see your strength and your glory.(C)
3 My lips will glorify you
because your faithful love is better than life.(D)
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
at your name, I will lift up my hands.(E)
5 You satisfy me as with rich food;[a](F)
my mouth will praise you with joyful lips.(G)
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