The Daily Audio Bible

¹¹ The Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, says, “Will you ask Me about the things to come for My children? Will you tell Me about the work of My hands? ¹² I made the earth, and made man upon it. I spread out the heavens with My hands, and put all the stars in their places. ¹³ I have sent Cyrus to do what is right and good. And I will make all his ways smooth. He will build My city and without any money will set My people free who were taken away,” says the Lord of All.

¹⁴ The Lord says, “The riches of Egypt and the good things of Cush and the tall Sabeans will come over to you and be yours. They will walk behind you in chains and bow down to you. They will beg you, saying, ‘For sure God is with you, and there is no other God. There is none other.’” ¹⁵ It is true that You are a God Who hides Himself, O God of Israel, the One Who saves! ¹⁶ All of them will be put to shame and troubled. Those who make false gods will go away together in shame. ¹⁷ Israel has been saved forever by the Lord. You will never be put to shame for all time.

¹⁸ This is what the Lord Who made the heavens, the God Who planned and made the earth, and everything in it and did not make it a waste place, but made it a place for people to live in, says, “I am the Lord, and there is no other. ¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret in some dark land. I did not say to the children of Jacob, ‘Look for Me for nothing.’ I the Lord speak the truth. I say what is right.

²⁰ “Gather together and come. Come near together, you who are left of the nations. They have no learning, who carry around their false god made of wood and pray to a god who cannot save. ²¹ Make your need known. Yes, let them talk it over together. Who said this would happen from long ago? Who has been saying it for a long time? Is it not I, the Lord? There is no other God besides Me, a God Who is right and good, a God Who saves. There is none except Me. ²² Look to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other. ²³ By Myself I have sworn. The Word has gone out from My mouth in truth, and will not turn back: ‘Every knee will bow down before Me. And every tongue will say that I am God.’ ²⁴ They will say of Me, ‘Strength and what is right and good are only found in the Lord.’ Men will come to Him, and all who were angry at Him will be put to shame. ²⁵ In the Lord all the children of Israel will be made right, and will give praise.”

False Gods and the Living God

46 The false gods, Bel and Nebo, bow down. Their objects of worship were put on animals and cattle and the wagons had heavy loads making it hard for the tired animals. ² They get down, they bow down together. They could not save the heavy load, but are themselves carried away to another land.

³ “Listen to Me, O family of Jacob, and all who are left of the family of Israel. You have been helped by Me before you were born and carried since you were born. ⁴ Even when you are old I will be the same. And even when your hair turns white, I will help you. I will take care of what I have made. I will carry you, and will save you.

⁵ “To whom will you compare Me? With whom will you make Me the same and compare Me, that we should be alike? ⁶ Those who take much gold from the money bag and weigh silver hire one who works with gold, and he makes it into a god. Then they bow down and worship it. ⁷ They lift it upon their shoulders and carry it. They set it in its place and it stands there. It does not move from its place. When one cries to it, it cannot answer. It cannot take him away from his trouble.

⁸ “Remember this and be men. Bring it to mind again, you sinners. ⁹ Remember the things of long ago. For I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is no one like Me. ¹⁰ I tell from the beginning what will happen in the end. And from times long ago I tell of things which have not been done, saying, ‘My Word will stand. And I will do all that pleases Me.’ ¹¹ I call a strong and hungry bird from the east, the man from a far country who will do what I have planned. I have spoken, and I will make it happen. I have planned it, and I will do it.

¹² “Listen to Me, you strong-willed people who are far from being right and good. ¹³ I bring near what is right and good. It is not far away. And My saving power is ready now. I will save Zion, and will bring My great power to Israel.

Babylon Is Punished

47 “Come down and sit in the dust, O pure daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O people of the Babylonians. For you will no longer be called soft and gentle. ² Take the heavy stones and grind grain. Take off your face-covering and your clothing. Take the covering off your legs, and cross the rivers. ³ Your body will not be covered, and your shame will be seen. I will punish, and will not show pity to any man.” ⁴ The One Who bought us and saves us, the Lord of All is His name, the Holy One of Israel. ⁵ “Sit and be quiet, and go into darkness, O people of the Babylonians. For you will no more be called the queen of nations. ⁶ I was angry with My people. I made My chosen nation unclean, and gave them into your hand. You did not show loving-kindness to them. On the older people you made your load very heavy. ⁷ You said, ‘I will be a queen forever.’ So you did not think about these things, or remember what might happen.

⁸ “So now hear this, you who love the desires of the body, who live without fear of danger. You say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me. I will not sit as a woman whose husband has died, and I will not lose my children.’ ⁹ But these two things will come upon you all at once in one day. You will lose your children and your husband. All this trouble will come to you, even with all your witchcraft and the strong power of your sinful secret ways. ¹⁰ You trusted in your sin and said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and learning have led you the wrong way, for you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’ ¹¹ Much trouble will come upon you, and you will not know how to get away from it. Trouble will fall on you, and there will be no way for you to pay that it might go away. You will not know it but all at once you will be destroyed.

¹² “Keep on with your sinful secret ways and all your witchcraft that you have used since you were young. It might be that you will get something from it. Maybe you can cause fear. ¹³ You are tired with your many wise men. Now call the star watchers, those who tell by the stars what will happen in the future, those who tell the future by the new moons. Have them stand up and save you from what will come upon you. ¹⁴ See, they have become like dry grass. Fire burns them. They cannot take themselves away from the power of the fire. This is no fire for making one warm, or fire to sit by! ¹⁵ This is how those are to you, with whom you have worked since you were young. Each one has gone on in his own wrong way. There is no one who can save you.

Israel Is Not Faithful in Following the Lord

48 “Hear this, O family of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who come from the seed of Judah. They make promises in the name of the Lord, and call upon the God of Israel, but not in truth or by what is right and good. ² For they call themselves people of the holy city, and trust in the God of Israel. The Lord of All is His name. ³ I made known the things that would happen long ago. From My mouth My words went out. Then all at once I did what I said I would, and they came to pass. ⁴ I know that your heart is hard. Your neck is like iron, and your forehead is like brass. ⁵ So I made them known to you long ago. I told you before they happened, or else you might say, ‘My false god has done them. My objects of worship have made them happen.’ ⁶ You have heard, now look at all this. And will you say that you will not tell about it? I tell you new things from this time on, even hidden things which you have not known. ⁷ They are made now, not long ago. Before today you have never heard of them, or you would say, ‘See, I knew them.’ ⁸ You have not heard. You have not known. Even from long ago your ear has not been open, because I knew that you could not be trusted. You have been known to fight against the law and not obey from birth. ⁹ Because of My name I hold back My anger. For My praise I keep Myself from cutting you off. ¹⁰ See, I have tested you, but not as silver. I have tested you in the fire of suffering. ¹¹ For My own good, for My own good, I will do this. For why should I allow My name to be put to shame? I will not give My shining-greatness to another.

Full-Grown Christians

4 I am being held in prison because of working for the Lord. I ask you from my heart to live and work the way the Lord expected you to live and work. ² Live and work without pride. Be gentle and kind. Do not be hard on others. Let love keep you from doing that. ³ Work hard to live together as one by the help of the Holy Spirit. Then there will be peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit. There is one hope in which you were called. ⁵ There is one Lord and one faith and one baptism. ⁶ There is one God. He is the Father of us all. He is over us all. He is the One working through us all. He is the One living in us all.

⁷ Loving-favor has been given to each one of us. We can see how great it is by the gift of Christ. ⁸ The Holy Writings say, “When Christ went up to heaven, He took those who were held with Him. He gave gifts to men.” ^{(A) 9} When they say, “He went up,” what does it mean but that He had first gone down to the deep parts of the earth? ¹⁰ Christ Who went down into the deep also went up far above the heavens. He did this to fill all the world with Himself.

¹¹ Christ gave gifts to men. He gave to some the gift to be missionaries, some to be preachers, others to be preachers who go from town to town. He gave others the gift to be church leaders and teachers. ¹² These gifts help His people work well for Him. And then the church which is the body of Christ will be made strong. ¹³ All of us are to be as one in the faith and in knowing the Son of God. We are to be full-grown Christians standing as high and complete as Christ is Himself. ¹⁴ Then we will not be as children any longer. Children are like boats thrown up and down on big waves. They are blown with the wind. False teaching is like the wind. False teachers try everything possible to make people believe a lie, ¹⁵ but we are to hold to the truth with love in our hearts. We are to grow up and be more like Christ. He is the leader of the church. ¹⁶ Christ has put each part of the church in its right place. Each part helps other parts. This is what is needed to keep the whole body together. In this way, the whole body grows strong in love.

¹⁹ Honor and thanks be to the Lord, Who carries our heavy loads day by day. He is the God Who saves us. ²⁰ Our God is a God Who sets us free. The way out of death belongs to God the Lord. ²¹ But God will break the head of those who hate Him, the hair-covered head of him who goes on in his sins. ²² The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan. I will bring them back from the bottom of the sea. ²³ So your feet may crush them in blood. And the tongue of your dogs may have a share of those who hate you.”

²⁴ They have seen Your people walking together, O God. They have seen the people of my God and King walking into the holy place. ²⁵ Those who sing are in front. Those who play music are behind. And young women who beat timbrels are between. ²⁶ Give thanks to God in the meetings of worship. Give thanks to the Lord, you who are of the family of Israel. ²⁷ There is young Benjamin leading them. The rulers of Judah are among the people, and the rulers of Zebulun, and the rulers of Naphtali.

²⁸ Your God has called for your strength. Show Your strength, O God, Who has acted for us. ²⁹ Kings will bring gifts to You because of Your holy house at Jerusalem. ³⁰ Speak sharp words to the wild animals in the tall grass by the river, the group of bulls with the calves of the people. Walk on those who desire pieces of silver. Divide the people who have joy in war. ³¹ Princes will come from Egypt. Ethiopia will hurry to put her hands out to God.

³² Sing to God, O nations of the earth. Sing praises to the Lord. ³³ Sing to Him Who sits upon the heavens, the heavens of old. Listen, He sends out His voice, His powerful voice. ³⁴ Tell of the power of God. His great power is over Israel and His strength is in the sky. ³⁵ O God, You are honored with fear as You come from Your holy place. The God of Israel Himself gives strength and power to His people. Honor and thanks be to God!

³ A house is built by wisdom. It is made strong by understanding, ⁴ and by much learning the rooms are filled with all riches that are pleasing and of great worth.