The Daily Audio Bible

Assyria Will Take the Land

8 Then the Lord said to me, “Take a large piece of stone and write on it in easy-to-read letters: ‘They hurry to get what they can. They run to pick up what is left.’” ² And I took men who could be trusted to watch the writing, Uriah the religious leader and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. ³ Then I went to the woman who spoke for God, and she was able to have a child, and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hashbaz. ⁴ For before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus and everything of any worth in Samaria will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”

⁵ The Lord spoke to me again, saying, ⁶ “These people have turned away from the gentle, flowing waters of Shiloah, and find joy in Rezin and the son of Remaliah. ⁷ So now, see, the Lord is ready to bring on them the strong and powerful waters of the Euphrates, the king of Assyria and all his greatness. It will rise up high and cause a flood. ⁸ Then it will flow into Judah. It will flood and pass through, and come up even to the neck. And the spread of its wings will cover the width of your land, O Immanuel.

⁹ “Be broken, O people, and be afraid. Listen, all you far places of the earth. Get ready, yet be afraid. Get ready, yet be afraid. ¹⁰ Make a plan, but it will come to nothing. Give your plan, but it will not be done. For God is with us.”

The People Are Told to Obey

¹¹ For the Lord said this to me with great power, and told me not to walk in the way of these people. He said, ¹² “Do not call holy all that these people call holy. Do not fear what they fear, or be afraid of it. ¹³ It is the Lord of All Whom you should think of as holy. Let Him be the One you fear. He is the One to be afraid of. ¹⁴ Then He will become a holy place. But He will be a stone of trouble and a rock to fall over for both houses of Israel. He will be a net and a trap for the people of Jerusalem. ¹⁵ Many will fall over them. They will fall and be broken. They will be trapped and caught.”

¹⁶ Put together what I have said. Hold to my teachings among my followers. ¹⁷ I will wait for the Lord Who is hiding His face from the family of Jacob. I trust Him and hope in Him. ¹⁸ See, I and the children the Lord has given me are something special to see and a wonder in Israel from the Lord of All, Who lives on Mount Zion.

¹⁹ When they say to you, “Ask those who speak in secret with the spirits of the dead and who use their secret ways,” should not a people ask their God? Should they speak to the dead for the living? ²⁰ Tell them to put their faith in the teaching and the Law. If they do not speak what this word says, it is because they have no light in them. ²¹ They will pass through the land troubled and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be angry and curse their king and their God as they look up. ²² Then they will look to the earth and see trouble and darkness and suffering and will be driven out into darkness.

Birth and Rule of the Prince of Peace

9 But there will be no more heavy hearts for those who were suffering. In the past God allowed the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali to be put to shame. In the future He will honor Galilee where those who are not Jews live and where the road to the sea is. It is on the other side of the Jordan. ² The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. The light will shine on those living in the land of dark shadows. ³ You will make the nation great. You will give them great joy. They will be glad before You, as with the joy of gathering time, and as men have joy when they divide the riches taken after a battle. ⁴ For You will break the heavy load from their neck and shoulders. You will break the power of those who made it hard for them, as at the battle of Midian. ⁵ For every shoe of the soldiers in the battle, and every coat rolled in blood, will be burned in the fire. ⁶ For to us a Child will be born. To us a Son will be given. And the rule of the nations will be on His shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Teacher, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace. ⁷ There will be no end to His rule and His peace, upon the throne of David and over his nation. He will build it to last and keep it strong with what is right and fair and good from that time and forever. The work of the Lord of All will do this.

Punishment against Israel

⁸ The Lord sends word against Jacob, and it falls on Israel. ⁹ And all the people will know it, that is, Ephraim and the people of Samaria. They say with a proud spirit in their hearts, ¹⁰ “The clay blocks have fallen down, but we will build again with smooth stones. The sycamore trees have been cut down, but we will put cedar trees in their place.” ¹¹ So the Lord brings men from Rezin to fight against them. He makes those who hate them move to action. ¹² The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west swallow Israel with an open mouth. Even with this, the Lord’s anger does not turn away. His hand is still held out.

¹³ Yet the people do not return to Him Who punished them. They do not look to the Lord of All. ¹⁴ So the Lord will cut off the head and tail from Israel, both palm branch and river-grass in one day. ¹⁵ The leaders and men of honor are the head, and the tail is the false preachers who teach lies. ¹⁶ For those who lead these people are leading them from the right way, and those who are led by them are going the wrong way. ¹⁷ So the Lord is not pleased with their young men. He does not have pity on their children who have no parents or on their women whose husbands have died. Every one of them is without God and does sinful things. Every mouth speaks foolish words. Even with all this, His anger does not turn away. His hand is still held out.

¹⁸ For sin burns like a fire. It burns thistles and thorns. It sets the woods on fire, and they go up in smoke. ¹⁹ The land is burned up by the anger of the Lord, and the people are like wood for the fire. No man shows pity on his brother. ²⁰ They take what is on the right hand but still are hungry. They eat what is in the left hand but are not filled. Each of them eats the flesh of his own children. ²¹ Manasseh goes against Ephraim, and Ephraim goes against Manasseh. And together they are against Judah. Even with all this, the Lord’s anger does not turn away. His hand is still held out.

Paul Sees Something True in a Special Dream

12 I have to talk about myself, even if it does no good. But I will keep on telling about some things I saw in a special dream and that which the Lord has shown me. ² I know a man who belongs to Christ. Fourteen years ago he was taken up to the highest heaven. (I do not know if his body was taken up or just his spirit. Only God knows.) ³ I say it again, I know this man was taken up. But I do not know if his body or just his spirit was taken up. Only God knows. ⁴ When he was in the highest heaven, he heard things that cannot be told with words. No man is allowed to tell them. ⁵ I will be proud about this man, but I will not be proud about myself except to say things which show how weak I am. ⁶ Even if I talk about myself, I would not be a fool because it is the truth. But I will say no more because I want no one to think better of me than he does when he sees or hears me.

⁷ The things God showed me were so great. But to keep me from being too full of pride because of seeing these things, I have been given trouble in my body. It was sent from Satan to hurt me. It keeps me from being proud. ⁸ I asked the Lord three times to take it away from me. ⁹ He answered me, “I am all you need. I give you My loving-favor. My power works best in weak people.” I am happy to be weak and have troubles so I can have Christ’s power in me. ¹⁰ I receive joy when I am weak. I receive joy when people talk against me and make it hard for me and try to hurt me and make trouble for me. I receive joy when all these things come to me because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Prayer of a Man Hurt by a Friend

55 Listen to my prayer, O God. Do not hide Yourself from what I ask. ² Hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I have no peace, ³ because of the voice of those who hate me and the power of the sinful. For they bring trouble upon me, and in anger they keep on having bad thoughts against me.

⁴ My heart is in pain within me. The fears of death have come upon me. ⁵ I have begun shaking with fear. Fear has power over me. ⁶ And I say, “If only I had wings like a dove, I would fly away and be at rest. ⁷ Yes, I would go far away. I would live in the desert. ⁸ I would hurry to my safe place, away from the wild wind and storm.”

⁹ Mix them up, O Lord. Divide their tongues. For I have seen fighting and trouble in the city. ¹⁰ They go around on its walls day and night. Sin and wrong-doing are within it. ¹¹ Destroying powers are in the city. Trouble and lies never leave its streets.

¹² I would be able to take it if one who hates me were putting me to shame. I could hide from him. It is not one who hates me who has put himself up against me. ¹³ But it is you, a man like myself, one who has gone with me, my close friend. ¹⁴ We shared together. And we walked with the people in the house of God. ¹⁵ Let death take them by surprise. Let them go down alive to the grave. For sin is with them where they live. ¹⁶ As for me, I will call on God and the Lord will save me. ¹⁷ I will cry out and complain in the evening and morning and noon, and He will hear my voice. ¹⁸ He will save my soul in peace from those who make war against me. For there are many who fight me. ¹⁹ God sits on His throne forever. And He will hear them and bring trouble upon them, because there has been no change in them. They do not fear God. ²⁰ He goes against those who were at peace with him. He has broken his agreement. ²¹ What he says is smoother than butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are raised swords.

²² Give all your cares to the Lord and He will give you strength. He will never let those who are right with Him be shaken. ²³ But You, O God, will bring the sinful down into the hole that destroys. Men who kill and lie will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.

⁴ Do not work hard to be rich. Stop trying to get things for yourself. ⁵ When you set your eyes upon it, it is gone. For sure, riches make themselves wings like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.