The Daily Audio Bible

10 Woe to those [judges] who issue unrighteous decrees, and to the magistrates who keep causing unjust and oppressive decisions to be recorded,

² To turn aside the needy from justice and to make plunder of the rightful claims of the poor of My people, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!

³ And what will you do in the day of visitation [of God’s wrath], and in the desolation which shall come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you deposit [for safekeeping] your wealth and with whom leave your glory?

⁴ Without Me they shall bow down among the prisoners, and they shall fall [overwhelmed] under the heaps of the slain [on the battlefield]. For all this, [God’s] anger is not turned away, but His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

⁵ Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of My anger, the staff in whose hand is My indignation and fury [against Israel’s disobedience]!

⁶ I send [the Assyrian] against a hypocritical and godless nation and against the people of My wrath; I command him to take the spoil and to seize the prey and to tread them down like the mire in the streets.

⁷ However, this is not his intention [nor is the Assyrian aware that he is doing this at My bidding], neither does his mind so think and plan; but it is in his mind to destroy and cut off many nations.

⁸ For [the Assyrian] says, Are not my officers all either [subjugated] kings or their equal?

⁹ Is not Calno [of Babylonia conquered] like Carchemish [on the Euphrates]? Is not Hamath [in Upper Syria] like Arpad [her neighbor]? Is not Samaria [in Israel] like Damascus [in Syria]? [Have any of these cities been able to resist Assyria? Not one!]

¹⁰ As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols [which were unable to defend them,] whose graven images were more to be feared and dreaded and more mighty than those of Jerusalem and of Samaria—

¹¹ Shall I not be able to do to Jerusalem and her images as I have done to Samaria and her idols? [says the Assyrian]

¹² Therefore when the Lord has completed all His work [of chastisement and purification to be executed] on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, it shall be that He will inflict punishment on the fruit [the thoughts, words, and deeds] of the stout and arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the haughtiness of his pride.

¹³ For [the Assyrian king] has said, I have done it solely by the power of my own hand and wisdom, for I have insight and understanding. I have removed the boundaries of the peoples and have robbed their treasures; and like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones and the inhabitants.

¹⁴ And my hand has found like a nest the wealth of the people; and as one gathers eggs that are forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved its wing, or that opened its mouth or chirped.

¹⁵ Shall the ax boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw magnify itself against him who wields it back and forth? As if a rod should wield those who lift it up, or as if a staff should lift itself up as if it were not wood [but a man of God]!

¹⁶ Therefore will the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send leanness among [the Assyrian’s] fat ones; and instead of his glory or under it He will kindle a burning like the burning of fire.

¹⁷ And the Light of Israel shall become a fire and His Holy One a flame, and it will ^[a]burn and devour [the Assyrian’s] thorns and briers in one day.^(A)

¹⁸ [The Lord] will consume the glory of the [Assyrian’s] forest and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; and it shall be as when a sick man pines away or a standard-bearer faints.

¹⁹ And the remnant of the trees of his forest shall be few, so that a child may make a list of them.

²⁰ And it shall be in that day that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more lean upon him who smote them, but will lean upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.

²¹ A remnant will return [Shear-jashub, name of Isaiah’s son], a remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.

²² For though your population, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of it will return [and survive]. The [fully completed] destruction is decreed (decided upon and brought to an issue); it overflows with justice and righteousness [the infliction of just punishment].^(B)

²³ For the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will make a full end, whatever is determined or decreed [in Israel], in the midst of all the earth.

²⁴ Therefore thus says the Lord, the Lord of hosts, O My people who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian, who smites you with a rod and lifts up his staff against you, as [the king of] Egypt did.^(C)

²⁵ For yet a little while and My indignation against you shall be accomplished, and My anger shall be directed to destruction [of the Assyrian].

²⁶ And the Lord of hosts shall stir up and brandish a scourge against them as when He smote Midian at the rock of Oreb; and as His rod was over the [Red] Sea, so shall He lift it up as He did in [the flight from] Egypt.^(D)

²⁷ And it shall be in that day that the burden of [the Assyrian] shall depart from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck. The yoke shall be destroyed because of fatness [which prevents it from going around your neck].^(E)

²⁸ [The Assyrian with his army comes to Judah]. He arrives at Aiath; he passes through Migron; at Michmash he gets rid of his baggage [by storing it].

²⁹ They go through the pass, they make Geba their camping place for the night; Ramah is afraid and trembles, Gibeah [the city] of [King] Saul flees.

³⁰ Cry aloud [in consternation], O Daughter of Gallim! Hearken, O Laishah! [Answer her] O you poor Anathoth!

³¹ Madmenah is in flight; the inhabitants of Gebim seize their belongings and make their households flee for safety.

³² This very day [the Assyrian] will halt at Nob [the city of priests], shaking his fist at the mountain of the Daughter of Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.

³³ [But just when the Assyrian is in sight of his goal] behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, will lop off the beautiful boughs with terrorizing force; the high in stature will be hewn down and the lofty will be brought low.

³⁴ And He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an ax, and Lebanon [the Assyrian] with its majestic trees shall fall by the Mighty One and mightily.^(F)

11 And there shall come forth a Shoot out of the stock of Jesse [David’s father], and a Branch out of his roots shall grow and bear fruit.^(G)

² And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him—the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord—

³ And shall make Him of quick understanding, and His delight shall be in the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord. And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, neither decide by the hearing of His ears;

⁴ But with righteousness and justice shall He judge the poor and decide with fairness for the meek, the poor, and the downtrodden of the earth; and He shall smite the earth and the oppressor with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

⁵ And righteousness shall be the girdle of His waist and faithfulness the girdle of His loins.

⁶ And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatted domestic animal together; and a little child shall lead them.

⁷ And the cow and the bear shall feed side by side, their young shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

⁸ And the sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.

⁹ They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

¹⁰ And it shall be in that day that the Root of Jesse shall stand as a signal for the peoples; of Him shall the nations inquire and seek knowledge, and His dwelling shall be glory [His rest glorious]!^(H)

¹¹ And in that day the Lord shall again lift up His hand a second time to recover (acquire and deliver) the remnant of His people which is left, from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Pathros, from Ethiopia, from Elam [in Persia], from Shinar [Babylonia], from Hamath [in Upper Syria], and from the countries bordering on the [Mediterranean] Sea.^(I)

¹² And He will raise up a signal for the nations and will assemble the outcasts of Israel and will gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

¹³ The envy and jealousy of Ephraim also shall depart, and they who vex and harass Judah from outside or inside shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex and harass Ephraim.

¹⁴ But [with united forces Ephraim and Judah] will swoop down upon the shoulders of the Philistines’ [land sloping] toward the west; together they will strip the people on the east [the Arabs]. They will lay their hands upon Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will obey them.

¹⁵ And the Lord will utterly destroy (doom and dry up) the tongue of the Egyptian sea [the west fork of the Red Sea]; and with His [mighty] scorching wind He will wave His hand over the river [Nile] and will smite it into seven channels and will cause men to cross over dry-shod.

¹⁶ And there shall be a highway from Assyria for the remnant left of His people, as there was for Israel when they came up out of the land of Egypt.

¹¹ Now I have been [speaking like] a fool! But you forced me to it, for I ought to have been [^[a]saved the necessity and] commended by you. For I have not fallen short one bit or proved myself at all inferior to those superlative [false] apostles [of yours], even if I am nothing (a nobody).

¹² Indeed, the signs that indicate a [genuine] apostle were performed among you fully and most patiently in miracles and wonders and mighty works.

¹³ For in what respect were you put to a disadvantage in comparison with the rest of the churches, unless [it was for the fact] that I myself did not burden you [with my financial support]? Pardon me [for doing you] this injustice!

¹⁴ Now for the third time I am ready to come to [visit] you. And I will not burden you [financially], for it is not your [money] that I want but you; for children are not duty bound to lay up store for their parents, but parents for their children.

¹⁵ But I will most gladly spend [myself] and be utterly spent for your souls. If I love you exceedingly, am I to be loved [by you] the less?

¹⁶ But though granting that I did not burden you [with my support, some say that] I was crafty [and that] I cheated and got the better of you with my trickery.

¹⁷ Did I [then] take advantage of you or make any money out of you through any of those [messengers] whom I sent to you?

¹⁸ [Actually] I urged Titus [to go], and I sent the brother with [him]. Did Titus overreach or take advantage of you [in anything]? Did he and I not act in the same spirit? Did we not [take the] same steps?

¹⁹ Have you been supposing [all this time] that we have been defending ourselves and apologizing to you? [It is] in the sight and the [very] presence of God [and as one] in Christ (the Messiah) that we have been speaking, dearly beloved, and all in order to build you up [spiritually].

²⁰ For I am fearful that somehow or other I may come and find you not as I desire to find you, and that you may find me too not as you want to find me—that perhaps there may be factions (quarreling), jealousy, temper (wrath, intrigues, rivalry, divided loyalties), selfishness, whispering, gossip, arrogance (self-assertion), and disorder among you.

²¹ [I am fearful] that when I come again, my God may humiliate and humble me in your regard, and that I may have to sorrow over many of those who sinned before and have not repented of the impurity, sexual vice, and sensuality which they formerly practiced.

Psalm 56

To the Chief Musician; [set to the tune of] “Silent Dove Among Those Far Away.” Of David. A record of memorable thoughts when the Philistines seized him in Gath.

¹ Be merciful and gracious to me, O God, for man would trample me or devour me; all the day long the adversary oppresses me.

² They that lie in wait for me would swallow me up or trample me all day long, for they are many who fight against me, O Most High!

³ What time I am afraid, I will have confidence in and put my trust and reliance in You.

⁴ By [the help of] God I will praise His word; on God I lean, rely, and confidently put my trust; I will not fear. What can man, who is flesh, do to me?

⁵ All day long they twist my words and trouble my affairs; all their thoughts are against me for evil and my hurt.

⁶ They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they watch my steps, even as they have [expectantly] waited for my life.

⁷ They think to escape with iniquity, and shall they? In Your indignation bring down the peoples, O God.

⁸ You number and record my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle—are they not in Your book?

⁹ Then shall my enemies turn back in the day that I cry out; this I know, for God is for me.^(A)

¹⁰ In God, Whose word I praise, in the Lord, Whose word I praise,

¹¹ In God have I put my trust and confident reliance; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

¹² Your vows are upon me, O God; I will render praise to You and give You thank offerings.

¹³ For You have delivered my life from death, yes, and my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life and of the living.

⁶ Eat not the bread of him who has a hard, grudging, and envious eye, neither desire his dainty foods;

⁷ For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. As one who reckons, he says to you, eat and drink, yet his heart is not with you [but is grudging the cost].

⁸ The morsel which you have eaten you will vomit up, and your complimentary words will be wasted.