The Daily Audio Bible
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A Song of Praise
25 O Lord, You are my God. I will praise You. I will give thanks to Your name. For You have been faithful to do great things, plans that You made long ago. 2 For You have laid waste a city. You have destroyed a strong city. The beautiful house of strangers is a city no more. And it will never be built again. 3 So strong people will honor You. Cities of nations that show no pity will fear You. 4 For You have been a strong-place for those who could not help themselves and for those in need because of much trouble. You have been a safe place from the storm and a shadow from the heat. For the breath of the one who shows no pity is like a storm against a wall. 5 Like heat in a dry place, You quiet the noise of the strangers. Like heat by the shadow of a cloud, the song of the one who shows no pity is made quiet.
A Supper for All People
6 On this mountain the Lord of All will make a supper of good things ready for all people. It will be a supper of good wine, of the best foods, and of fine wine. 7 And on this mountain He will destroy the covering which is over all people, the covering which is spread over all nations. 8 He will take away death for all time. The Lord God will dry tears from all faces. He will take away the shame of His people from all the earth. For the Lord has spoken. 9 It will be said in that day, “See, this is our God. We have waited for Him, that He might save us. This is the Lord for Whom we have waited. Let us be glad and full of joy because He saves us.”
Moab Will Be Punished
10 For the hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain. And Moab will be crushed in his place, as straw is crushed down in animal waste. 11 Moab will spread out his hands in it, as a man spreads out his hands to swim. But the Lord will put his pride to shame, together with the sinful work of his hands. 12 And the Lord will bring down your high walls built for war and lay them low. He will throw them to the ground, even to the dust.
A Song of Trust in God
26 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city. The Lord saves us and puts up walls to keep us safe. 2 Open the gates, that the nation that is right with God may come in, the one that keeps faithful. 3 You will keep the man in perfect peace whose mind is kept on You, because he trusts in You. 4 Trust in the Lord forever. For the Lord God is a Rock that lasts forever. 5 For He has brought down low those who live on a high place, the high city. He lays it low. He lays it low to the ground. He throws it to the dust. 6 It will be crushed under foot, under the feet of those who have suffered and the steps of those who cannot help themselves.”
7 The way of the man who is right with God is smooth. O Upright One, make the path straight of those who are right with You. 8 While following in Your ways, O Lord, we have waited for You. To remember You and Your name is the desire of our souls. 9 My soul has a desire for You in the night. Yes, my spirit within me looks for You in the morning. For when you punish the earth, the people of the world learn what is right and good. 10 When favor is shown to the sinful, he does not learn what is right and good. He goes on doing what is wrong in the land of those who are right. He does not see the wonderful power of the Lord.
11 O Lord, Your hand is lifted up but they do not see it. Let them see Your care for Your people and be ashamed. Let fire destroy those who hate You. 12 O Lord, You will give us peace, for You have done all our works for us. 13 O Lord our God, other lords than You have ruled us, but Your name alone is the One we honor. 14 They are dead, and will not live. Their spirits will not return. So You have punished and destroyed them. You have caused them all to be forgotten. 15 You have made the nation great, O Lord. You have made the nation great. You have received much praise. You have made the land larger. 16 O Lord, they looked for You in their trouble. They could only say a quiet prayer while You were punishing them. 17 As the woman who is going to have a baby comes close to the time to give birth, she suffers and cries out in her pains. This is how we were before You, O Lord. 18 We suffered in pain. We gave birth, as it were, only to wind. We could not bring the world out of its trouble. And no people of the earth were born. 19 Your dead will live. Their dead bodies will rise. You who lie in the dust, wake up and call out for joy. For as the water on the grass in the morning brings new life, the earth will bring back to life those who have been dead.
Punishment of Sinners
20 Come, my people, go into your rooms. Close your doors behind you. Hide for a little while until God’s anger is past. 21 For see, the Lord is about to come out from His place to punish the people of the earth for their sin. And the earth will let the blood be seen that has poured on her. She will no longer cover her dead.
Israel Set Free
27 In that day the Lord will punish Leviathan, the large snake-like sea animal, with His sharp and great and powerful sword. He will punish Leviathan the turning snake, and kill the big dragon that lives in the sea.
2 In that day it will be said: “Sing about a grape-field of wine! 3 I, the Lord, am its keeper. I water it all the time. I watch over it day and night so no one will hurt it. 4 I am not angry. If someone were to give Me thistles and thorns in battle, I would step on them. I would burn them together. 5 Or let him trust in Me to keep him safe. Let him make peace with Me. Yes, let him make peace with Me.” 6 In the days to come Jacob will take root. Israel will flower and begin to grow, and fill the whole world with fruit.
7 Has the Lord punished Israel as He punished those who went against Israel? Or have as many people of Israel been killed as their killers were killed? 8 You showed Your anger towards them by driving them out of the land. You moved them out with Your strong wind on the day of the east wind. 9 So by this Jacob’s sin will be forgiven. This will be the full price of taking his sin away: When he crushes all the altar stones into fine pieces, so the wooden female goddess Asherah and the altars of special perfume will not stand. 10 The city made strong for battle is empty and alone, a place left alone like the desert. The calves eat there, and they lie down and eat from its branches. 11 When its branches are dry, they are broken off. Women come and make a fire with them. They are not a people of understanding, so their Maker will not have pity on them. The One Who made them will not show kindness to them.
12 In that day the Lord will beat out His grain from the flowing river of the Euphrates to the river of Egypt. And you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel. 13 In that day a great horn will be blown. Those who were dying in the land of Assyria and those who were sent everywhere through the land of Egypt will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Time of Trouble for Ephraim and Jerusalem
28 It is a time of trouble to the crown of pride and to the drunk men of Ephraim, whose shining beauty is a dying flower. It is at the head of the rich valley of those who have taken too much wine! 2 See, the Lord has one who is strong and powerful, like a storm of hail, a destroying storm. As with a flood of powerful waters flowing over, He will bring them down to the earth with His hand. 3 The crown of pride, the drunk men of Ephraim, will be crushed under foot. 4 The dying flower of its shining beauty which is at the head of the rich valley will be like the first fig grown before the summer. When one sees it, he takes it in his hand and eats it. 5 In that day the Lord of All will be a crown of shining-greatness, a beautiful crown to those who are left of His people. 6 He will be a spirit of what is fair to him who judges the people. He will be a strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. 7 These also walk from one side to the other side because of wine and strong drink. The religious leaders and the men who tell what will happen in the future make mistakes because of strong drink. They are troubled by wine. They walk from side to side because of strong drink. They make mistakes as they have special dreams. And they make mistakes when judging between right and wrong. 8 All the tables are covered with what they have spit up. There is no place that is clean.
9 “Who is it He is trying to teach? To whom will He tell what He has to say? Children finished with their nursing and just taken from the breast? 10 For He says, ‘Law on law, law on law, rule on rule, rule on rule, a little here, a little there.’” 11 The Lord will speak to these people through men from other lands and in strange languages. 12 He Who said to them, “This is rest, give rest to the tired and weak.” And, “This is the place to rest,” but they would not listen. 13 So the Word of the Lord to them will be, “Law on law, law on law, rule on rule, rule on rule, a little here, a little there,” that they may go and fall back, be broken, trapped, and taken away by those who hate them.
10 All those who expect the Law to save them from the punishment of sin will be punished. Because it is written, “Everyone who does not keep on doing all the things written in the Book of the Law will be punished.” (A) 11 No one is made right with God by doing what the Law says. For, “The man right with God will live by faith.” (B) 12 The Law does not use faith. It says, “You must obey all the Law or you will die.” (C) 13 Christ bought us with His blood and made us free from the Law. In that way, the Law could not punish us. Christ did this by carrying the load and by being punished instead of us. It is written, “Anyone who hangs on a cross is hated and punished.” (D) 14 Because of the price Christ Jesus paid, the good things that came to Abraham might come to the people who are not Jews. And by putting our trust in Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit He has promised.
15 Christian brothers, let me show you what this means. If two men agree to something and sign their names on a paper promising to stay true to what they agree, it cannot be changed. 16 Now the promise was made to Abraham and to his son. He does not say, “And to sons,” speaking of many. But instead, “And to your Son,” which means Christ. 17 This is what I am saying: The Law which came 430 years later could not change the promise. The promise had already been made by God. The Law could not put that promise aside. 18 If it had been possible to be saved from the punishment of sin by obeying the Law, the promise God gave Abraham would be worth nothing. But since it is not possible to be saved by obeying the Law, the promise God gave Abraham is worth everything.
19 Then why do we have the Law? It was given because of sin. It was to be used until Christ came. The promise had been made looking toward Christ. The Law was given by angels through Moses who stood between God and man. 20 But when the promise was given to Abraham, God gave it without anyone standing between them. 21 Is the Law against the promise of God? No! Never! If it had been possible to be saved from the punishment of sin by obeying the Law, then being right with God would have come by obeying the Law. 22 But the Holy Writings say that all men are guilty of sin. Then that which was promised might be given to those who put their trust in Christ. It will be because their faith is in Him.
A Safe Place in God
61 Hear my cry, O God. Listen to my prayer. 2 I call to You from the end of the earth when my heart is weak. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. 3 For You have been a safe place for me, a tower of strength where I am safe from those who fight against me. 4 Let me live in Your tent forever. Let me be safe under the covering of Your wings. 5 For You have heard my promises, O God. You have given me that which You give to those who fear Your name. 6 You will add days to the life of the king. His years will be as long as the lives of many children and grandchildren added together. 7 He will stay forever with God. Set apart loving-kindness and truth to keep him safe. 8 So I will sing thanks to Your name forever and keep my promises day by day.
17 Do not let your heart be jealous of sinners, but live in the fear of the Lord always. 18 For sure there is a future and your hope will not be cut off.
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