The Daily Audio Bible

10 It is bad for those who make laws that are not fair. It is bad for those who make it hard for people. ² They keep what is right and fair from those in need. They take away the rights of the poor of My people. They take from wives after their husbands die, and take what belongs to those who have no parents. ³ Now what will you do in the day of punishment, when the destroying power comes from far away? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? ⁴ Nothing will be left to do but to bow down among those who are being taken to prison, or fall among those who are killed. Even with all this, His anger does not turn away. His hand is still held out.

Assyria Used to Punish Israel

⁵ It is bad for Assyria. I use Assyria like a stick to punish Israel. ⁶ I sent it against a nation without God, against the people of My anger. I sent it to take away the riches of battle, and to step hard on the people like dirt in the streets. ⁷ But this is not what is in Assyria’s mind. It does not plan this in its heart. It plans to destroy and to cut off many nations. ⁸ For it says, “Are not my princes all kings? ⁹ Is not Calno like Carchemish, or Hamath like Arpad, or Samaria like Damascus? ¹⁰ My hand took the nations of the false gods, whose false gods were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria. ¹¹ Should I not do to Jerusalem and her gods just as I have done to Samaria and her gods?”

¹² So when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will punish the proud heart of the king of Assyria and his proud spirit. ¹³ For the king has said, “I did this by the power of my hand and by my wisdom, for I have understanding. I moved the land-marks of the people and took their riches. Like a strong man I have brought down those who sat on thrones. ¹⁴ My hand has taken the riches of the people like one taken from a nest. I gathered all the earth as one gathers eggs that have been left. And there was not one that moved its wing or opened its mouth or made a sound.”

¹⁵ Can an ax say it is more important than the one who uses it? Is the saw more important than the one who saws with it? A stick of wood does not lift up a man. A man lifts up a stick. ¹⁶ So the Lord, the Lord of All, will send a wasting disease among the strong Assyrian soldiers. Under the king’s greatness a fire will be started that will burn and burn. ¹⁷ The light of Israel and his Holy One will become a fire. And it will burn and destroy his thorns and thistles in one day. ¹⁸ The Lord will destroy the greatness of the trees and the fields that give much fruit, both soul and body. It will be as when a sick man wastes away. ¹⁹ And the rest of his trees will be so few that a child could write them down.

A Few of Israel Will Return

²⁰ In that day those of Israel and of the family of Jacob who are still alive will never again trust in the one who destroyed them. But they will trust in the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ²¹ Some people, those who are left of Jacob, will return to the powerful God. ²² Even if there are as many Jews as the sand by the sea, only a few of them will return. The plan is to destroy them and it will be right and complete. ²³ For the Lord of All will destroy everything in the whole land and do what He planned.

Assyria Will Be Punished

²⁴ So the Lord, the Lord of All, says, “O My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrians when they come to fight against you as the Egyptians did. ²⁵ For in a very little while My anger against you will come to an end and it will be turned to destroy them.” ²⁶ The Lord of All will punish them like He punished Midian at the rock of Oreb. His special stick will be over the sea and He will lift it up the way He did in Egypt. ²⁷ In that day the Assyrian’s load will be taken from your shoulders and neck, and it will be broken because you are so fat. ²⁸ He has come against Aiath. He has passed through Migron. At Michmash he left his bags. ²⁹ They have gone through a narrow path. They stayed in Geba during the night. Ramah is afraid, and Gibeah of Saul has run away. ³⁰ Cry out with your voice, O people of Gallim! See, Laishah! Answer her, O Anathoth! ³¹ Madmenah has run away. The people of Gebim have looked for a safe place. ³² Yet today he will stop at Nob. He shakes his hand at the mountain of the people of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem.

³³ See, the Lord, the Lord of All, will cut off the branches with a great noise. Those who stand tall will be cut down. And those who are high will be brought low. ³⁴ He will cut down the many trees with an iron ax. And Lebanon will fall by the Powerful One.

Peace through the One from the Family of Jesse

11 Then One will come from the family of Jesse. A branch will grow out of his roots. ² And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of wise words and strength, the spirit of much learning and the fear of the Lord. ³ He will be glad in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what His eyes see, or decide by what His ears hear. ⁴ But He will judge the poor in a right and good way. He will be fair in what He decides for the people of the earth who have much trouble. He will punish the earth with His powerful mouth, and kill the sinful with the breath of His lips. ⁵ He will wear a belt of what is right and good and faithful around His body.

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb. The leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the young lion and the young fat animal will lie down together. And a little boy will lead them. ⁷ The cow and the bear will eat side by side. And their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra. And another child will put his hand in the hole of a snake whose bite is poison. ⁹ They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain. For the earth will be as full of much learning from the Lord as the seas are full of water.

The People of Israel and Judah Return

¹⁰ In that day the nations will turn to the One from the family of Jesse. He will be honored by the people as someone special to see. And His place of rest will be full of His shining-greatness. ¹¹ In that day the Lord will put out His hand a second time to bring back His people who are left. He will bring them back from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. ¹² He will lift up flags for the nations, and will gather together the people of Israel and of Judah who had been sent away. He will bring them back from the four corners of the earth. ¹³ Ephraim will not be jealous. Those who made it hard for Judah will be cut off. Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, and Judah will not make it hard for Ephraim. ¹⁴ But they will go down against the Philistines in the west. Together they will take what belongs to the sons of the east. They will go against Edom and Moab. And they will rule the sons of Ammon. ¹⁵ The Lord will dry up all the tongue of the Sea of Egypt. He will wave His hand over the Euphrates River with His burning wind, and will break it into seven rivers. Men will be able to walk over it with dry feet. ¹⁶ And there will be a road from Assyria for those of His people who will be left just as it was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

¹¹ I have been making a fool of myself talking like this. But you made me do it. You should be telling what I have done. Even if I am nothing at all, I am not less important than those false missionaries of yours. ¹² When I was with you, I proved to you that I was a true missionary. I did powerful works and there were special things to see. These things were done in the strength and power from God. ¹³ What makes you feel less important than the other churches? Is it because I did not let you give me food and clothing? Forgive me for this wrong!

¹⁴ This is the third time I am ready to come to you. I want nothing from you. I want you, not your money. You are my children. Children should not have to help care for their parents. Parents should help their children. ¹⁵ I am glad to give anything I have, even myself, to help you. When I love you more, it looks as if you love me less.

¹⁶ It is true that I was not a heavy load to you. But some say I set a trap for you. ¹⁷ How could I have done that? Did I get anything from you through the men I sent to you? ¹⁸ I asked Titus and the other Christian brother to visit you. Did Titus get anything from you? Did we not do things that showed we had the same desires and followed the same plan?

¹⁹ It may look to you as if we had been trying to make everything look right for ourselves all this time. God knows and so does Christ that all this is done to help you. ²⁰ I am afraid that when I visit you I will not find you as I would like you to be. And you will not find me as you would like me to be. I am afraid I will find you fighting and jealous and angry and arguing and talking about each other and thinking of yourselves as being too important and making trouble. ²¹ I am afraid when I get there God will take all the pride away from me that I had for you. I will not be happy about many who have lived in sin and done sex sins and have had a desire for such things and have not been sorry for their sins and turned from them.

Prayer of Trust in God

56 Show me Your loving-kindness, O God, for man has walked on me. All day long the one who tries to keep me down fights with me. ² All day long those who hate me have walked on me. For there are many who fight against me with pride. ³ When I am afraid, I will trust in You. ⁴ I praise the Word of God. I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can only a man do to me? ⁵ All day long they change my words to say what I did not say. They are always thinking of ways to hurt me. ⁶ They go after me as in a fight. They hide themselves. They watch my steps, as they have waited to take my life. ⁷ Because they are bad, do not let them get away. Bring down the people in Your anger, O God.

⁸ You have seen how many places I have gone. Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book? ⁹ Then those who hate me will turn back when I call. I know that God is for me. ¹⁰ I praise the Word of God. I praise the Word of the Lord. ¹¹ In God I have put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? ¹² I am under an agreement with You, O God. I will give You gifts of thanks. ¹³ For You have set my soul free from death. You have kept my feet from falling, so I may walk with God in the light of life.

⁶ Do not eat the bread of a man who thinks only about himself. Do not have a desire for his fine food. ⁷ For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. He says to you, “Eat and drink!” But his heart is not with you. ⁸ You will spit up the piece of food you have eaten, and waste your good words.