The Daily Audio Bible

⁶ “Since this people has rejected
the gently flowing waters from Shilo’ach
and takes joy in Retzin and the son of Remalyah;
⁷ now Adonai will bring upon them
the mighty floodwaters of the [Euphrates] River —
that is, the king of Ashur and his power.
It will rise above all its channels
and overflow all its banks.
⁸ It will sweep through Y’hudah,
flooding everything and passing on.
It will reach even up to the neck,
and its outspread wings
will fill the whole expanse of the land.”

God is with us! ^[a]
9 You may make an uproar, peoples;
but you will be shattered.
Listen, all of you from distant lands:
arm yourselves, but you will be shattered;
yes, arm yourselves,
but you will be shattered;
¹⁰ devise a plan, but it will come to nothing;
say anything you like, but it won’t happen;
because God is with us ^[b].

¹¹ For this is what Adonai said to me, speaking with a strong hand, warning me not to live the way this people does:

¹² “Don’t regard as alliance what this people calls alliance,
and don’t fear what they fear or be awestruck by it;
¹³ but Adonai-Tzva’ot — consecrate him!
Let him be the object of your fear and awe!
¹⁴ He is there to be a sanctuary.
But for both the houses of Isra’el
he will be a stone to stumble over,
a rock obstructing their way;
a trap and a snare
for the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.
¹⁵ Many of them will stumble and fall,
be broken and trapped and captured.

¹⁶ Wrap up this document, and confine its teaching to those I have instructed.”

¹⁷ I will wait for Adonai,
who is hiding his face
from the house of Ya‘akov;
yes, I will look for him.
¹⁸ Meanwhile, I and the children
whom Adonai has given me
will become for Isra’el
signs and wonders
from Adonai-Tzva’ot
living on Mount Tziyon.
¹⁹ So when they tell you to consult
those squeaking, squawking mediums and fortune-tellers;
[you are to answer],
“Shouldn’t a people seek their God?
Must the living ask the dead
²⁰ for teaching and instruction?”
For they will indeed give you
this unenlightened suggestion.

²¹ Distressed and hungry
they will pass through the land;
and because of their hunger they will grow angry
and curse by their king and by their God.
But whether they look up [to God]
²² or [down] at the earth,
they will see only trouble and darkness,
anguished gloom and pervasive darkness.

^23 (9:1) But there will be no more gloom
for those who are now in anguish.
In the past the land of Z’vulun
and the land of Naftali were regarded lightly;
but in the future he will honor the way to the lake,
beyond the Yarden, Galil-of-the-Goyim.
9 ⁽²⁾ The people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
upon those living in the land that lies
in the shadow of death, light has dawned.
^2 (3) You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice in your presence
as if rejoicing at harvest time,
the way men rejoice
when dividing up the spoil.
^3 (4) For the yoke that weighed them down,
the bar across their shoulders,
and their driver’s goad
you have broken as on the day of Midyan[’s defeat].
^4 (5) For all the boots of soldiers marching
and every cloak rolled in blood
is destined for burning,
fuel for the fire.

^5 (6) For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us;
dominion will rest on his shoulders,
and he will be given the name
Pele-Yo‘etz El Gibbor
Avi-‘Ad Sar-Shalom
[Wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God,
Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace],
^6 (7) in order to extend the dominion
and perpetuate the peace
of the throne and kingdom of David,
to secure it and sustain it
through justice and righteousness
henceforth and forever.
The zeal of Adonai-Tzva’ot
will accomplish this.

^7 (8) Adonai sent a word to Ya‘akov,
and it has fallen on Isra’el.
^8 (9) All the people know it,
Efrayim and the inhabitants of Shomron.
But they say in pride,
in the arrogance of their hearts,
^9 (10) “The bricks have fallen,
but we will rebuild with cut stone;
the sycamore-fig trees have been chopped down,
but we will replace them with cedars.”
^10 (11) So Adonai has raised up Retzin’s foes against him
and spurred on his enemies —
^11 (12) Aram from the east, P’lishtim from the west;
and they devour Isra’el with an open mouth.

Even after all this, his anger remains,
his upraised hand still threatens.

^12 (13) Yet the people do not turn to the one striking them,
they don’t seek Adonai-Tzva’ot.
^13 (14) Therefore Adonai will cut off
Isra’el’s head and tail,
[tall] palm frond and [lowly] reed in a single day.
^14 (15) The old and the honored are the head,
while prophets teaching lies are the tail.
^15 (16) For those leading this people lead them astray,
and those led by them are destroyed.
^16 (17) Therefore Adonai takes no joy in their young men
and has no compassion on their orphans and widows;
for everyone is ungodly and does evil,
every mouth speaks foolishly.

Even after all this, his anger remains,
his upraised hand still threatens.
^17 (18) For wickedness burns like fire,
it devours briars and thorns;
it sets the forest underbrush ablaze,
with clouds of smoke whirling upward.
^18 (19) The anger of Adonai-Tzva’ot
is burning up the land;
the people, too, are fuel for the fire —
no one spares even his brother.
^19 (20) The one on the right grabs but stays hungry,
the one on the left eats but is unfilled.
Everyone devours his own arm’s flesh —
^20 (21) M’nasheh devours Efrayim;
and Efrayim, M’nasheh;
while together they oppose Y’hudah.

Even after all this, his anger remains,
his upraised hand still threatens.

^2 (1) Listen, God, to my prayer!
Don’t hide yourself from my plea!
^3 (2) Pay attention to me, and answer me!

I am panic-stricken as I make my complaint,
I shudder ^4 (3) at how the enemy shouts,
at how the wicked oppress;
for they keep heaping trouble on me
and angrily tormenting me.
^5 (4) My heart within me is pounding in anguish,
the terrors of death press down on me,
^6 (5) fear and trembling overwhelm me,
horror covers me.

^7 (6) I said, “I wish I had wings like a dove!
Then I could fly away and be at rest.
^8 (7) Yes, I would flee to a place far off,
I would stay in the desert. (Selah)
^9 (8) I would quickly find me a shelter
from the raging wind and storm.”

^10 (9) Confuse, Adonai, confound their speech!
For I see violence and fighting in the city.
^11 (10) Day and night they go about its walls;
within are malice and mischief.
^12 (11) Ruin is rife within it,
oppression and fraud never leave its streets.

^13 (12) For it was not an enemy who insulted me;
if it had been, I could have borne it.
It was not my adversary who treated me with scorn;
if it had been, I could have hidden myself.
^14 (13) But it was you, a man of my own kind,
my companion, whom I knew well.

^15 (14) We used to share our hearts with each other;
in the house of God we walked with the crowd.

^16 (15) May he put death on them;
let them go down alive to Sh’ol;
for evil is in their homes
and also in their hearts.

^17 (16) But I will call on God,
and Adonai will save me.
^18 (17) Evening, morning and noon I complain
and moan; but he hears my voice.
^19 (18) He redeems me and gives me peace,
so that no one can come near me.
For there were many who fought me.
^20 (19) God will hear and will humble them,
yes, he who has sat on his throne from the start. (Selah)
For they never change,
and they don’t fear God.

^21 (20) [My companion] attacked those
who were at peace with him;
he broke his solemn word.
^22 (21) What he said sounded smoother than butter,
but his heart was at war.
His words seemed more soothing than oil,
but in fact they were sharp swords.

^23 (22) Unload your burden on Adonai,
and he will sustain you.
He will never permit
the righteous to be moved.

^24 (23) But you will bring them down, God,
into the deepest pit.
Those men, so bloodthirsty and treacherous,
will not live out half their days.

But for my part, [Adonai,]
I put my trust in you.