The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the ESV. Switch to the ESV to read along with the audio.
“Yet You Have Not Returned to Me”
4 Hear this word, you cows of (A)Bashan who are on the (B)mountain of Samaria,
Who (C)oppress the poor, who crush the needy,
Who say to [a]your husbands, “Bring now, that we may (D)drink!”
2 The Lord [b]God has (E)sworn by His (F)holiness,
“Behold, the days are coming upon you
When [c]they will take you away with (G)meat hooks,
And the last of you with (H)fish hooks.
3 “You will (I)go out through breaches in the walls,
Each one straight before her,
And you [d]will be cast to Harmon,” declares the Lord.
4 “Enter Bethel and transgress;
In Gilgal multiply transgression!
(J)Bring your sacrifices every morning,
Your tithes every three days.
5 “[e]Offer a (K)thank offering also from that which is leavened,
And proclaim (L)freewill offerings, make them known.
For so you (M)love to do, you sons of Israel,”
Declares the Lord God.
6 “But I gave you also (N)cleanness of teeth in all your cities
And lack of bread in all your places,
Yet you have (O)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
7 “Furthermore, I (P)withheld the rain from you
While there were still three months until harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city
And on (Q)another city I would not send rain;
One part would be rained on,
While the part not rained on would dry up.
8 “So two or three cities would stagger to another city to drink (R)water,
But would (S)not be satisfied;
Yet you have (T)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
9 “I (U)smote you with scorching wind and mildew;
And the (V)caterpillar was devouring
Your many gardens and vineyards, fig trees and olive trees;
Yet you have (W)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
10 “I sent a (X)plague among you after the manner of Egypt;
I (Y)slew your young men by the sword along with your (Z)captured horses,
And I made the (AA)stench of your camp rise up in your nostrils;
Yet you have (AB)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
11 “I overthrew you, as (AC)God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a (AD)firebrand snatched from a blaze;
Yet you have (AE)not returned to Me,” declares the Lord.
12 “Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to (AF)meet your God, O Israel.”
13 For behold, He who (AG)forms mountains and (AH)creates the wind
And (AI)declares to man what are His thoughts,
He who (AJ)makes dawn into darkness
And (AK)treads on the high places of the earth,
(AL)The Lord God of hosts is His name.
“Seek Me that You May Live”
5 Hear this word which I take up for you as a (AM)dirge, O house of Israel:
2 She has fallen, she will (AN)not rise again—
The (AO)virgin Israel.
She lies neglected on her land;
There is (AP)none to raise her up.
3 For thus says the Lord [f]God,
“The city which goes forth a thousand strong
Will have a (AQ)hundred left,
And the one which goes forth a hundred strong
Will have (AR)ten left to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel,
“(AS)Seek Me (AT)that you may live.
5 “But do not [g]resort to (AU)Bethel
And do not come to (AV)Gilgal,
Nor cross over to (AW)Beersheba;
For Gilgal will certainly go into captivity
And Bethel will [h]come to trouble.
6 “(AX)Seek the Lord that you may live,
Or He will break forth like a (AY)fire, [i]O house of Joseph,
And it will consume with none to quench it for Bethel,
7 For those who turn (AZ)justice into wormwood
And [j]cast righteousness down to the earth.”
8 He who made the (BA)Pleiades and Orion
And (BB)changes deep darkness into morning,
[k]Who also (BC)darkens day into night,
Who (BD)calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the surface of the earth,
The (BE)Lord is His name.
9 It is He who (BF)flashes forth with destruction upon the strong,
So that (BG)destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 They hate him who (BH)reproves in the [l]gate,
And they (BI)abhor him who speaks with integrity.
11 Therefore because you [m]impose heavy rent on the poor
And exact a tribute of grain from them,
Though you have built (BJ)houses of well-hewn stone,
Yet you will not live in them;
You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will (BK)not drink their wine.
12 For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great,
You who (BL)distress the righteous and accept bribes
And [n]turn aside the poor in the [o]gate.
13 Therefore at [p]such a time the prudent person (BM)keeps silent, for it is an evil time.
14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live;
And thus may the Lord God of hosts be with you,
(BN)Just as you have said!
15 (BO)Hate evil, love good,
And establish justice in the [q]gate!
Perhaps the Lord God of hosts
(BP)May be gracious to the (BQ)remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, the Lord,
“There is (BR)wailing in all the plazas,
And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They also call the (BS)farmer to mourning
And [r](BT)professional mourners to lamentation.
17 “And in all the (BU)vineyards there is wailing,
Because I will pass through the midst of you,” says the Lord.
18 Alas, you who are longing for the (BV)day of the Lord,
For what purpose will the day of the Lord be to you?
It will be (BW)darkness and not light;
19 As when a man (BX)flees from a lion
And a bear meets him,
[s]Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall
And a snake bites him.
20 Will not the day of the Lord be (BY)darkness instead of light,
Even gloom with no brightness in it?
21 “I hate, I (BZ)reject your festivals,
Nor do I [t](CA)delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 “Even though you (CB)offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
And I will not even look at the (CC)peace offerings of your fatlings.
23 “Take away from Me the noise of your songs;
I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
24 “But let (CD)justice roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 “[u](CE)Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? 26 (CF)You also carried along [v]Sikkuth your king and [w]Kiyyun, your images, [x]the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. 27 Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.
“Those at Ease in Zion”
6 (CG)Woe to those who are at ease in Zion
And to those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria,
The (CH)distinguished men of the foremost of nations,
To whom the house of Israel comes.
2 Go over to (CI)Calneh and look,
And go from there to (CJ)Hamath the great,
Then go down to (CK)Gath of the Philistines.
Are [y]they better than these kingdoms,
Or is their territory greater than yours?
3 Do you (CL)put off the day of calamity,
And would you (CM)bring near the seat of violence?
4 Those who recline on beds of ivory
And sprawl on their (CN)couches,
And (CO)eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the midst of the stall,
5 Who improvise to the sound of the harp,
And like David have [z]composed (CP)songs for themselves,
6 Who (CQ)drink wine from [aa]sacrificial bowls
While they anoint themselves with the finest of oils,
Yet they have not (CR)grieved over the ruin of Joseph.
7 Therefore, they will now (CS)go into exile at the head of the exiles,
And the (CT)sprawlers’ [ab]banqueting will [ac]pass away.
8 The Lord [ad]God has (CU)sworn by Himself, the Lord God of hosts has declared:
“I (CV)loathe the arrogance of Jacob,
And [ae]detest his (CW)citadels;
Therefore I will (CX)deliver up the city and [af]all it contains.”
9 And it will be, if (CY)ten men are left in one house, they will die. 10 Then one’s [ag]uncle, or his [ah](CZ)undertaker, will lift him up to carry out his bones from the house, and he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “No one.” Then he will [ai]answer, “(DA)Keep quiet. For [aj]the name of the Lord is (DB)not to be mentioned.” 11 For behold, the Lord is going to (DC)command that the (DD)great house be smashed to pieces and the small house to fragments.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
Or does one plow [ak]them with oxen?
Yet you have turned (DE)justice into poison
And the fruit of righteousness into [al]wormwood,
13 You who rejoice in [am](DF)Lodebar,
[an]And say, “Have we not (DG)by our own strength taken [ao]Karnaim for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, (DH)I am going to raise up a nation against you,
O house of Israel,” declares the Lord God of hosts,
“And they will afflict you from the (DI)entrance of Hamath
To the (DJ)brook of the Arabah.”
Message to Thyatira
18 “And to the angel of the church in (A)Thyatira write:
(B)The Son of God, (C)who has [a]eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this:
19 ‘(D)I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and [b]perseverance, and that your [c]deeds of late are greater than [d]at first. 20 But (E)I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman (F)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they (G)commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 (H)I gave her time to repent, and she (I)does not want to repent of her immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her [e]on a bed of sickness, and those who (J)commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of [f]her deeds. 23 And I will kill her children with [g]pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who (K)searches the [h]minds and hearts; and (L)I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. 24 But I say to you, the rest who are in (M)Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the (N)deep things of Satan, as they call them—I (O)place no other burden on you. 25 Nevertheless (P)what you have, hold fast (Q)until I come. 26 (R)He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds (S)until the end, (T)to him I will give authority over the [i]nations; 27 and he shall [j](U)rule them with a rod of iron, (V)as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; 28 and I will give him (W)the morning star. 29 (X)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
Message to Sardis
3 “To the angel of the church in (Y)Sardis write:
He who has (Z)the seven Spirits of God and (AA)the seven stars, says this: ‘(AB)I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, [k]but you are (AC)dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. 3 So (AD)remember [l]what you have received and heard; and keep it, and (AE)repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, (AF)I will come (AG)like a thief, and you will not know at (AH)what hour I will come to you. 4 But you have a few [m](AI)people in (AJ)Sardis who have not (AK)soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me (AL)in white, for they are worthy. 5 (AM)He who overcomes will thus be clothed in (AN)white garments; and I will not (AO)erase his name from the book of life, and (AP)I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 (AQ)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.
A Song of Ascents.
130 Out of the (A)depths I have cried to You, O Lord.
2 Lord, (B)hear my voice!
Let (C)Your ears be attentive
To the (D)voice of my supplications.
3 If You, [a]Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could (E)stand?
4 But there is (F)forgiveness with You,
That You may be (G)feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my (H)soul does wait,
And [b](I)in His word do I hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen (J)for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, (K)hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is (L)lovingkindness,
And with Him is (M)abundant redemption.
8 And He will (N)redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.
21 He who pampers his slave from childhood
Will in the end find him to be a son.
22 An (A)angry man stirs up strife,
And a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.