The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NET. Switch to the NET to read along with the audio.
Daniel’s Prayer for the People
9 In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, by birth a Mede, who became king over the realm of the Chaldeans,(A) 2 I,[a] Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah, must be fulfilled for the devastation of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.(B)
3 Then I turned to the Lord God to seek an answer by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.(C) 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying,
“Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love with those who love you[b] and keep your[c] commandments,(D) 5 we have sinned and done wrong, acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and ordinances.(E) 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.
7 “Righteousness is on your side, O Lord, but open shame, as at this day, falls on us, the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them because of the treachery that they have committed against you.(F) 8 Open shame, O Lord, falls on us, our kings, our princes, and our ancestors because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, but we have rebelled against him(G) 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by following his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
11 “All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. So the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out upon us because we have sinned against you.(H) 12 He has confirmed his words that he spoke against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a calamity so great that what has been done against Jerusalem has never before been done under the whole heaven.(I) 13 Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us. We did not entreat the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and reflecting on his[d] fidelity.(J) 14 So the Lord kept watch over this calamity until he brought it upon us. Indeed, the Lord our God is right in all that he has done, for we have disobeyed his voice.(K)
15 “And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and made your name renowned even to this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly.(L) 16 O Lord, in view of all your righteous acts, let your anger and wrath, we pray, turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because of our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become a disgrace among all our neighbors.(M) 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, and for your own sake, Lord,[e] let your face shine upon your desolated sanctuary.(N) 18 Incline your ear, O my God, and hear. Open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that bears your name. We do not present our supplication before you on the ground of our righteousness but on the ground of your great mercies.(O) 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and act and do not delay! For your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people bear your name!”(P)
The Seventy Weeks
20 While I was speaking and was praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God on behalf of the holy mountain of my God,(Q) 21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen before in a vision, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.(R) 22 He came[f] and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come out to give you wisdom and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your supplications a word went out, and I have come to declare it, for you are greatly beloved. So consider the word and understand the vision:(S)
24 “Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city: to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.[g](T) 25 Know therefore and understand: from the time that the word went out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the time of an anointed prince, there shall be seven weeks, and for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with streets and moat, but in a troubled time.(U) 26 After the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing, and the troops of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its[h] end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.(V) 27 He shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall make sacrifice and offering cease, and in their place[i] shall be a desolating sacrilege until the decreed end is poured out upon the desolator.”(W)
Conflict of Nations and Heavenly Powers
10 In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar. The word was true, and it concerned a great conflict. He understood the word, having received understanding in the vision.(X)
2 At that time I, Daniel, had been mourning for three weeks.(Y) 3 I had eaten no rich food, no meat or wine had entered my mouth, and I had not anointed myself at all, for the full three weeks. 4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river (that is, the Tigris),(Z) 5 I looked up and saw a man clothed in linen, with a belt of gold from Uphaz around his waist.(AA) 6 His body was like beryl, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the roar of a multitude.(AB) 7 I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; the people who were with me did not see the vision, though a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled and hid themselves.(AC) 8 So I was left alone to see this great vision. My strength left me, and my complexion grew deathly pale, and I retained no strength.(AD) 9 When[j] I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a trance, face to the ground.(AE)
10 But then a hand touched me and roused me to my hands and knees.(AF) 11 He said to me, “Daniel, greatly beloved, pay attention to the words that I am going to speak to you. Stand on your feet, for I have now been sent to you.” So while he was speaking this word to me, I stood up trembling.(AG) 12 He said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.(AH) 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me twenty-one days. So Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I left him there with the prince of the kingdom of Persia[k](AI) 14 and have come to help you understand what is to happen to your people at the end of days. For there is a further vision for those days.”(AJ)
15 While he was speaking these words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and was speechless.(AK) 16 Then one in human form touched my lips, and I opened my mouth to speak and said to the one who stood before me, “My lord, because of the vision such pains have come upon me that I retain no strength.(AL) 17 How can my lord’s servant talk with my lord? For I am exhausted;[l] no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me.”
18 Again one in human form touched me and strengthened me. 19 He said, “Do not fear, greatly beloved; you are safe. Be strong and courageous!” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”(AM) 20 Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Now I must return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I am through with him, the prince of Greece will come. 21 But I am to tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth. There is no one with me who contends against these princes except Michael, your prince.(AN) 11 1
Warning against Antichrists
18 Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. From this we know that it is the last hour.(A) 19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us, for if they had belonged to us they would have remained[a] with us. But by going out they made it plain that none of them belongs to us.(B) 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge.[b](C) 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and you know that no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?[c] This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; everyone who confesses the Son has the Father also.(D) 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father.(E) 25 And this is what he has promised us,[d] eternal life.(F)
26 I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. 27 As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.[e](G)
28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.(H)
Children of God
29 If you perceive that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who does right has been born of him.(I) 3 1
4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.(K) 5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.(L) 6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him.
Psalm 121
Assurance of God’s Protection
A Song of Ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.(A)
3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.(B)
4 He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
27 Whoever gives to the poor will lack nothing,
but one who turns a blind eye will get many a curse.(A)
28 When the wicked prevail, people go into hiding,
but when they perish, the righteous increase.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.