The Daily Audio Bible

¹² So the Holy One of Israel says, “Because you have turned away from this Word, and have put your trust in a power that makes it hard for others and fools them, ¹³ this sin will be to you like a high wall, ready to break and fall apart. It will fall all at once. ¹⁴ Its fall is like the breaking of a pot-maker’s jar. It is broken in so many pieces that a piece will not be found big enough to pick up hot coals from the fire or to get water from the well.” ¹⁵ The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In turning away from sin and in rest, you will be saved. Your strength will come by being quiet and by trusting.” But you would not. ¹⁶ You said, “No, we will go away fast on horses.” So you will go away in a hurry! You say, “We will go on fast horses.” So those who come to take you will be fast. ¹⁷ One thousand will run away as one man stands up against them. You will all run away when five stand up against them, until you are like flags lifted up on a mountain top, like something special to see on a hill.

Good Will Come to God’s People

¹⁸ So the Lord wants to show you kindness. He waits on high to have loving-pity on you. For the Lord is a God of what is right and fair. And good will come to all those who hope in Him. ¹⁹ O people in Zion who live in Jerusalem, you will cry no more. For sure He will show loving-kindness to you at the sound of your cry. When He hears it, He will answer you. ²⁰ The Lord has given you the bread of trouble and water of suffering. But He, your Teacher, will not hide Himself any more. Your eyes will see your Teacher. ²¹ Your ears will hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. ²² You will take your sinful objects of worship, covered with silver and gold and will throw them away as an unclean cloth, and say to them, “Be gone!”

²³ Then He will give you rain for the seed you will plant in the ground. And He will give you bread from the grain from the ground. It will be good, and more than you need. In that day your cattle will eat in a large field. ²⁴ The oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted grain, which has been spread out with certain tools. ²⁵ On every high mountain and on every high hill there will be rivers flowing with water in the day when many will be killed, when the towers fall. ²⁶ The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the Lord takes care of the hurts of His people and heals the sores He has given them.

God Will Punish Assyria

²⁷ See, the name of the Lord comes from a far away place, with His anger burning, and with dark smoke rising. His lips are full of anger and His tongue is like a destroying fire. ²⁸ His breath is like a river flowing over, that comes up to the neck. It shakes the nations back and forth putting them through a test of pride. And it puts a piece of iron in the mouths of the people to lead them the wrong way.

²⁹ You will have a song as in the night when you have a special holy supper. You will be glad in your heart as when one steps to the sound of the horn going to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. ³⁰ The Lord will make His voice of great power heard. And He will let His arm be seen coming down in the destroying fire, hard rain, storm, and hailstones. ³¹ The Assyrians will be filled with fear at the voice of the Lord, when He punishes them with His power. ³² Every beat from the special stick of punishment which the Lord will give them will be to the sound of timbrels and of harps. He will fight them in battle with a strong arm. ³³ For a place of fire has long been ready. Yes, it has been made ready for the king. It has been made deep and wide, with fire and much wood. The breath of the Lord starts the fire and it is like a river of sulphur.

Help Comes from the Lord, Not Egypt

31 It is bad for those who go down to Egypt for help, and trust in the many horses and war-wagons, and in the much strength of their horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel or ask the Lord for help. ² Yet He is wise and brings trouble, and does not take back His words. He will go against the house of wrong-doers, and against the helpers of those who sin. ³ The Egyptians are men, and not God. Their horses are flesh and not spirit. The Lord puts out His hand, and the helper and the one who is helped will fall. All of them will be destroyed together.

⁴ For the Lord has said to me, “As the lion or the young lion makes noise over the food he has killed, and when a group of shepherds go against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, or troubled by their noise. In the same way, the Lord of All will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill.” ⁵ Like flying birds, the Lord of All will keep Jerusalem safe. He will keep it safe and bring it out of trouble. He will pass over and save it. ⁶ O sons of Israel, return to Him against Whom you have sinned much. ⁷ For in that day every man will throw away his silver and gold objects of worship, which his sinful hands have made. ⁸ And the Assyrian will fall by a sword that is not of man, a sword that man has had no part of will destroy him. He will run from the sword, and his young men will be made to work hard. ⁹ “His safe place will pass away because of fear. And his rulers will be afraid of the flags lifted up,” says the Lord, Whose fire is in Zion and Whose place of burning is in Jerusalem.

A Nation of Right Living

32 See, a king will rule by what is right and good and princes will be fair. ² Each will be like a safe place from the wind, and a covering from the storm. Each will be like rivers of water in a dry country, and like the shadow of a large rock in a waste land. ³ Then the eyes of those who see will be able to see. And the ears of those who hear will listen. ⁴ The mind of those who act in a hurry will understand the truth. And the tongue of those who have trouble speaking will hurry to speak well. ⁵ The fool will no more be called great. The bad man will no more be called a man of honor. ⁶ For a fool speaks foolish things. His mind plans wrong-doing, to sin and to say false things against the Lord, to keep the hungry person hungry, and to keep drink from the thirsty. ⁷ The ways of the bad man are sinful. He makes sinful plans to destroy the suffering with lies, even when the one in need asks for what is right. ⁸ But the man of honor makes good plans, and he stands for what is good.

The Women of Jerusalem

⁹ Rise up, you women who live an easy life, and hear my voice. Listen to what I say, you daughters. ¹⁰ In a little more than a year, you will be troubled. There will be no grapes to gather, the wine will not be made. ¹¹ Shake with fear, you women who live an easy life. Be troubled, you daughters, who feel safe. Take off your clothes and cover your bodies with cloth made from hair. ¹² Beat your breasts for the good fields, for the vine full of fruit, ¹³ and for the land of my people in which thorns and thistles will come up. Yes, be sorry for all the houses of joy, and for the happy city, ¹⁴ because the king’s house will be empty. The city full of people will be left empty. The hill and the watch-tower will become a place for wild animals forever, a happy place for wild donkeys, a field for flocks. ¹⁵ It will be this way until the Spirit is poured out upon us from heaven, and the desert becomes a field giving so much fruit, that it seems as if it has many trees. ¹⁶ Then what is right and fair will be in the desert. What is right and good will be in the field of much fruit. ¹⁷ The work of being right and good will give peace. From the right and good work will come quiet trust forever. ¹⁸ Then my people will live in a place of peace, in safe homes, and in quiet resting places. ¹⁹ But it will hail when the many trees come down and all the city will be laid waste. ²⁰ How happy will you be, you who plant seeds beside all waters, and let the cattle and donkeys eat in any field.

A Prayer for Help

33 It is bad for you, O destroyer, you who were not destroyed yourself! You cannot be trusted, but others have trusted you. As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed. As soon as you stop lying, others will lie to you. ² O Lord, be kind to us. We have waited for You. Be our strength every morning. Save us in the time of trouble. ³ At the loud noise of battle, the people run. When You lift Yourself up, nations divide and run. ⁴ The things taken in war will be gathered as the caterpillar gathers. Men rush upon it like locusts. ⁵ The Lord is honored, for He lives on high. He has filled Zion with what is right and fair and good. ⁶ He will be for you what is sure and faithful for your times, with much saving power, wisdom and learning. The fear of the Lord is worth much. ⁷ See, their men with strength of heart cry in the streets. The men sent to bring peace cry many tears. ⁸ The roads are empty. The traveler does not travel. He has broken the agreement. He has hated the cities. He does not care for man. ⁹ The land is filled with sorrow and wastes away. Lebanon is put to shame and wastes away. Sharon is like a desert. And Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

Christ Made Us Free

5 Christ made us free. Stay that way. Do not get chained all over again in the Law and its kind of religious worship.

² Listen to me! I, Paul, tell you that if you have the religious act of becoming a Jew done on you, Christ will be of no use to you at all. ³ I say it again. Every man who has the religious act of becoming a Jew done on him must obey every Law. ⁴ If you expect to be made right with God by obeying the Law, then you have turned away from Christ and His loving-favor. ⁵ We are waiting for the hope of being made right with God. This will come through the Holy Spirit and by faith. ⁶ If we belong to Jesus Christ, it means nothing to have or not to have gone through the religious act of becoming a Jew. But faith working through love is important.

⁷ You were doing well. Who stopped you from obeying the truth? ⁸ Whatever he used did not come from the One Who chose you to have life. ⁹ It only takes a little yeast to make the whole loaf of bread rise. ¹⁰ I feel I can trust you because of what the Lord has done in your life. I believe you will not follow another way. Whoever is trying to lead you in the wrong way will suffer for it. ¹¹ Christian brothers, if I would still preach that people must go through the religious act of becoming a Jew to be a Christian, I would not be suffering from those who are making it hard for me. If I preached like that, the Jews would have no reason to be against the cross of Christ. ¹² I wish those who are so willing to cut your bodies would complete the job by cutting themselves off from you.

Giving Thanks to God

63 O God, You are my God. I will look for You with all my heart and strength. My soul is thirsty for You. My flesh is weak wanting You in a dry and tired land where there is no water. ² So I have seen You in the holy place. And I have seen Your power and Your shining-greatness. ³ My lips will praise You because Your loving-kindness is better than life. ⁴ So I will give honor to You as long as I live. I will lift up my hands in Your name. ⁵ My soul will be filled as with rich foods. And my mouth praises You with lips of joy.

⁶ On my bed I remember You. I think of You through the hours of the night. ⁷ For You have been my help. And I sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings. ⁸ My soul holds on to You. Your right hand holds me up.

⁹ But those who want to take my life and destroy it will go deep into the earth. ¹⁰ They will be given over to the power of the sword. They will become food for foxes. ¹¹ But the king will be full of joy in God. All who are faithful to God will be full of joy. For the mouth of those who speak lies will be stopped.

²² Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not hate your mother when she is old.