The Daily Audio Bible
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31 See ye the word of the Lord, whether I am made a wilderness to Israel, either a land late bringing forth fruit? Why therefore said my people, We have gone away, we shall no more come to thee? (See ye the word of the Lord, am I made like a wilderness to Israel, or like a land bringing forth late fruit? And so why did my people say, We have gone away, we shall no longer come to thee?)
32 Whether a virgin shall forget her ornament? and a spousess her breast girdle? But my people hath forgotten me by days without number.
33 What enforcest thou to show thy way good to seek love, which furthermore both hast taught thy malices thy ways, (How well thou endeavourest to find thy lovers, even the worst women can learn from thy ways!)
34 and the blood of poor men and innocents is found in thy wings? I found not them in ditches, but in all things which I remembered before. (and the blood of the poor and the innocent is found on thy wings. Yea, it got there not from breaking into houses, but from sacrifices made under every tree.)
35 And thou saidest, I am without sin and innocent; and therefore thy strong vengeance be turned away from me. Lo! I shall strive with thee in doom; for thou saidest, I sinned not. (And still thou saidest, I am without sin and innocent; and so let thy strong vengeance be turned away from me, O Lord. Lo! I shall contend, or shall argue, with thee in judgement; for thou saidest, I did not sin.)
36 How vile art thou made, rehearsing thy ways? and thou shalt be shamed of Egypt, as thou were shamed of Assur. (How vile thou art made, changing thy ways! and thou shalt be shamed by Egypt, as thou were shamed by Assyria.)
37 For why and thou shalt go out of this land, and thine hands shall be on thine head; for why the Lord hath all-broken thy trust, and thou shalt have nothing to prosperity. (And so thou shalt go out of this land, and thy hands shall be upon thy head; for the Lord hath all-broken those in whom thou trusted, and thou shalt get, or gain, nothing from them.)
3 It is said commonly, If a man forsaketh his wife, and she go away from him, and be wedded to another husband, whether he shall turn again [any] more to her? whether that woman shall not be defouled, and made unclean? (shall he return to her again? shall that woman not be defiled, and made unclean?) Forsooth thou hast done fornication with many lovers; nevertheless turn thou again to me, saith the Lord, and I shall receive thee.
2 Raise thine eyes into straight, and see, where thou art not cast down. Thou hast sat in ways, abiding them as a thief in wilderness, and thou hast defouled the earth in thy fornications and in thy malices. (Raise up thine eyes into the high places, and see, if there is any place where thou hast not laid down. Thou hast sat in ways, waiting for them like a thief in the wilderness, and thou hast defiled the earth with thy fornications and thy malices.)
3 Wherefore the drops of rains were forbidden, and no late rain was. The forehead of a woman whore is made to thee; thou wouldest not be ashamed. (And so the drops of rain were forbidden, and there was no late rain for thee. Thou haddest the forehead, or the face, of a whorewoman, but thou wouldest not be ashamed.)
4 Namely from this time forth call thou me, Thou art my father, the leader of my virginity. (Yet now thou sayest to me, Thou art my father, my guide in my younger years.)
5 (And,) Whether thou shalt be wroth without end, either shalt continue (to feel so) into the end? Lo! thou hast spoken, and hast done evils, and thou were mighty (in them). And for words of penance thou blasphemedest by words of pride; and thou filledest thine evil thought(s), and showedest thy strength against thy husband, (so) that thou mayest do that thing that thou treatedest by word.
6 And the Lord said to me, in the days of Josiah, the king, Whether thou hast seen what thing the adversary, Israel, hath done? She went [away] to herself on each high hill, and under each tree full of boughs, and did fornication there. (And the Lord said to me, in the days of King Josiah, Hast thou seen what my adversary, Israel, hath done? She went upon each high hill, and under each tree full of branches, and she did fornication there.)
7 And I said, when she had done all these things, Turn thou again to me; and she turned not again. And her sister, Judah, breaker of the law, saw, (And I said to her, when she had done all these things, Return thou again to me; but she did not return. And her sister, Judah, the law-breaker, saw,)
8 that for the adversary, Israel, did adultery, I had let go her, and I had given to her a libel, (or a little book,) of forsaking; and Judah, her sister, breaker of the law, dreaded not, but also she went, and did fornication. (that my adversary, Israel, had done adultery, and that I had let her go, and that I had given her a note of divorce; and her sister Judah, the law-breaker, did not fear, but she also went, and did fornication.)
9 And by lightness of her fornication she defouled the earth, and did adultery with a stone, and with a tree. (And with the indifference of her fornication she defiled the land, and did idolatry with a stone, and with a piece of wood.)
10 And in all these things her sister, Judah, breaker of the law, turned not again to me, in all her heart, but in a leasing, saith the Lord God. (And in all these things her sister, Judah, the law-breaker, did not return to me, with all her heart, but in a lie, or falsely, saith the Lord God.)
11 And the Lord said to me, The adversary, Israel, hath justified her soul, in comparison of Judah, breaker of the law. (And the Lord said to me, My adversary, Israel, hath justified her soul, in comparison to Judah, the law-breaker.)
12 Go thou, and cry these words against the north; and thou shalt say, Thou adversary, Israel, turn again, saith the Lord, and I shall not turn away my face from you; for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I shall not be wroth without end. (Go thou, and cry out these words against the north; and thou shalt say, O my adversary, Israel, return to me, saith the Lord, and I shall not turn away my face from you; for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I shall not be angry forever.)
13 Nevertheless know thou thy wickedness; for thou hast trespassed against thy Lord God, and thou hast spread abroad thy ways to aliens under each tree full of boughs; and thou heardest not my voice, saith the Lord. (Nevertheless know thou thy wickedness; for thou hast trespassed against the Lord thy God, and thou hast spread abroad thy ways to strangers, or to foreigners, under each tree full of branches; and thou hast not listened to, or obeyed, my voice, saith the Lord.)
14 Be ye converted, sons, turning again, saith the Lord, for I am your husband; and I shall take you, one of a city, and twain of a kindred, and I shall lead you into Zion; (Come back to me/Return to me, ye people who be turned away, saith the Lord, for I am your husband; and I shall take you, one from a city, and two from a tribe, and I shall lead you unto Mount Zion;)
15 and I shall give to you shepherds after mine heart, and they shall feed you with knowing and teaching.
16 And when ye shall be multiplied, and increase(d) in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall no more say, The ark of [the] testament of the Lord (they shall no more speak of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord); neither it shall ascend on the heart, neither they shall think on it, neither it shall be visited, neither it shall be further (needed).
17 In that time they shall call Jerusalem The seat of the Lord, and all heathen men shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem; and they shall not go after the shrewdness of their worst heart. (At that time they shall call Jerusalem The Throne of the Lord, and all the heathen shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the Lord, in Jerusalem; and they shall not go after the depravity of the worst desires of their hearts.)
18 In those days the house of Judah shall go to the house of Israel; and they shall come together from the land of the north to the land which I gave to your fathers.
19 Forsooth I said, How shall I set thee among (my) sons, and shall give to thee a desirable land, a full clear heritage of the hosts of heathen men? And I said, Thou shalt call me, Father, and thou shalt not cease to enter after me. (And I said, Yea, I shall put thee among my sons and daughters, and I shall give thee a desirable land, an inheritance better than anything of the heathen! And I said, Thou shalt call me Father, and thou shalt not cease to follow me.)
20 But as if a woman despiseth her lover (But like a woman can despise her lover), so the house of Israel despised me, saith the Lord.
21 A voice is heard in (the) ways, the weeping and yelling of the sons of Israel; for they made wicked their way, they forgat their Lord God. (A sound is heard on the way, the weeping and yelling of the Israelites; for they made their way wicked, they forgot the Lord their God.)
22 Be ye converted, sons, turning again, and I shall heal your turnings away. Lo! we come to thee; for thou art our Lord God. (Come back to me/Return to me, ye people who be turned away, and I shall heal your turnings away. And ye shall say, Lo! we come to thee; for thou art the Lord our God.)
23 Verily the little hills were liars, the multitude of mountains was false; verily in our Lord God is the health of Israel. (Truly there was no help from our worship on the little hills, or on the mountains; truly in the Lord our God is Israel’s only salvation, or deliverance.)
24 Shame ate the travail of our fathers, from our youth; shame ate the flocks of them, and the droves of them, the sons of them, and the daughters of them. (From our early days, Baal, the god of shame ate the fruits of our forefathers’ labours; yea, the god of shame ate their flocks, and their herds, and their sons, and their daughters.)
25 We shall sleep in our shame, and our shame shall cover us; for we sinned to our Lord God, both we and our fathers, from our youth unto this day; and we have not heard the voice of our Lord God. (We shall sleep in our shame, and our shame shall cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, both we and our forefathers, from our early days until this day; and we have not heard the voice of the Lord our God.)
4 Israel, if thou turnest again, saith the Lord, turn thou (again) to me; if thou takest away thine offendings from my face, thou shalt not be moved. (Israel, if thou shalt return to me, saith the Lord, then return thou to me; if thou takest away thy offences from before my face, then thou shalt not be shaken out.)
2 And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, and in doom, and in rightfulness; and all folks shall bless him, and shall praise him. (And if thou shalt swear, As the Lord liveth, in truth, and in judgement, and in righteousness/in truth, and in justice, and in uprightness; then all the nations shall ask me to bless them like you, and they shall praise me.)
3 For the Lord God saith these things to a man of Judah, and to a dweller of Jerusalem (and to an inhabitant of Jerusalem), Make ye new to you a land tilled of new, either a fallow (land), and do not ye sow on thorns.
4 Men of Judah, and dwellers of Jerusalem, be ye circumcised to the Lord, and do ye away the prepuces, either filths, of your hearts; lest peradventure mine indignation go out as fire, and be kindled, and none there be that quench, for the malice of your thoughts. (People of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, be ye circumcised to the service of the Lord, and do ye away the prepuces, or the filths, of your hearts; lest perhaps my indignation go out like fire, and be kindled, and there be no one who can quench it, for the malice of your thoughts.)
5 Tell ye in Judah, and make ye heard in Jerusalem; speak ye, and sing ye with a trump in the land; cry ye strongly, and say ye, Be ye gathered together, and enter we into [the] strong cities.
6 Raise ye a sign in Zion, comfort ye, and do not ye stand (Raise ye up a sign in Zion, escape ye, and do not ye just stand there); for I [shall] bring evil from the north, and a great sorrow.
7 A lion shall go up from his den, and the robber of folks shall raise himself. He is gone out of his place, to set thy land into wilderness; thy cities shall be destroyed, abiding still without (a) dweller. (A lion shall go up from his den, yea, the robber of the nations shall raise himself up. He is gone out of his place, to make thy land into a wilderness; thy cities shall be destroyed, and their remains, or their ruins, shall be without any inhabitants.)
8 On this thing gird you(rselves) with hair-shirts; wail ye, and yell, for the wrath of the strong vengeance of the Lord is not turned away from you.
9 And it shall be, in that day, saith the Lord, the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of princes; and the priests shall wonder, and the prophets shall be astonied. (And it shall be, on that day, saith the Lord, the heart of the king, and the hearts of the princes, or of the leaders, shall perish, or shall fail them; and the priests shall wonder, and the prophets shall be astonished.)
10 And I said, Alas! alas! alas! Lord God; therefore whether thou hast deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Peace shall be to you, and lo! a sword is come unto the soul? (and lo! a sword is come unto our souls?)
11 In that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A burning wind in the ways that be in desert, be the ways of the daughter of my people, not to winnow, and not to purge. (At that time it shall be said to this people and to Jerusalem, Like a burning wind on the ways that be in the wilderness, be the ways of the daughter of my people, not to winnow, and not to purge.)
12 A spirit full of them shall come to me; and now I, but I shall speak my dooms with them. (A strong wind shall come to them at my command; and now I shall tell out my judgement against them.)
13 Lo! he shall ascend as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest (Lo! the enemy shall ascend like a cloud, and his chariots like a tempest); his horses be swifter than eagles; woe to us, for we be destroyed.
14 Thou Jerusalem, wash thine heart from malice, that thou be made safe (so that thou can be saved). How long shall harmful thoughts dwell in thee?
15 For why the voice of a teller from Dan, and making known an idol from the hill(s) of Ephraim.
16 Raise, ye folks; lo! it is heard in Jerusalem, that keepers be come from a far land, and give their voice on the cities of Judah. (Raise up, ye nations; lo! it is heard in Jerusalem, that enemies have come from a far land, and shout out their voices against the cities of Judah.)
17 As the keepers of fields, they be made on it in compass; for it stirred me to wrathfulness, saith the Lord. (Like the guardians of a field, they stand all around it, and come against it; for it stirred me to anger, saith the Lord.)
18 Thy ways and thy thoughts have made this to thee; this malice of thee, for it is bitter, for it touched thine heart. (Thy ways and thy thoughts have brought these things to thee; this is thy malice, for it is bitter, and it hath touched thy heart.)
1 Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, and Timothy, brother,
2 to them that be at Colosse, holy and faithful brethren in Christ Jesus, grace and peace to you of God our Father [grace to you and peace of God our Father] and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 We do thankings to God, and to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ [and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ], evermore praying for you,
4 [we] hearing your faith in Christ Jesus, and the love that ye have to all holy men,
5 for the hope that is kept to you in heavens. Which ye heard in the word of truth of the gospel,
6 that came to you, as also it is in all the world, and maketh fruit, and waxeth, as [it is] in you, from that day in which ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth.
7 As ye learned of Epaphras, our fellow most dear-worthy [our even-servant most dear-worthy], which is a true minister of Jesus Christ for you;
8 which also showed to us your loving in Spirit.
9 And therefore we from the day in which we heard, cease not to pray for you, and to ask, that ye be filled with the knowing of his will in all wisdom and ghostly understanding;
10 that ye walk worthily to God pleasing by all things, and make fruit in all good work, and wax in the science of God, [that ye walk worthily to God pleasing by all things, making fruit in all good work, and waxing in the science of God,]
11 and be comforted in all virtue by the might of his clearness [after the might of his clearness], in all patience and long abiding with joy,
12 that ye do thankings to God and to the Father, which made you worthy into the part of heritage of holy men in light.[a]
13 Which delivered us from the power of darknesses [The which delivered us from the power of darkness], and translated [us] into the kingdom of the Son of his loving,
14 in whom we have again-buying and remission of sins.
15 Which is the image of God invisible, the first begotten of each creature.
16 For in him all things be made, in heavens and in earth, visible and invisible, either thrones, either dominations, either princehoods, either powers, all things be made of nought by him, and in him,
17 and he is before all, and all things be in him.
76 To the victory in organs, the psalm of the song of Asaph. (To victory, on instruments, the psalm of the song of Asaph.) God is known in Judah; his name is great in Israel.
2 And his place is made in peace; and his dwelling is in Zion. (And his Tabernacle, or his Tent, is pitched in Salem; and his dwelling place is in Zion.)
3 There he brake powers; bow, shield, sword, and battle.
4 And thou, God, lightenest wonderfully (coming back) from everlasting hills; (And thou, O God, wonderfully lightenest, coming back from the everlasting hills;)
5 all unwise men of heart were troubled. They slept their sleep, that is, were dead; and all men found nothing of riches in their hands. (and all who were foolish and ignorant were troubled. But now they have slept their sleep, that is, they be dead; and all their riches be found to be nothing in their hands.)
6 They that ascended on horses; slept for thy blaming, thou God of Jacob. (They who ascended on horses; now be asleep, or dead, after thy rebuke, O God of Jacob.)
7 Thou art fearful, and who shall against-stand thee? from that time (of) thine ire. (Thou art to be feared; and who shall be able to stand against thee, when thou art angry?)
8 From heaven thou madest doom heard; the earth trembled, and rested. (From heaven thou madest thy judgement heard; and the earth trembled, or shook, and kept silent.)
9 When God rose up into doom; to make safe all the mild men of earth. (When God rose up to judge; and to save all the humble of the earth.)
10 For the thought of man shall acknowledge to thee; and the remnants of thought/the leavings of thought shall make a feast day to thee. (For all their anger, people shall still praise thee; and they who be the remnants/who be the survivors shall make a feast day to thee.)
11 Make ye a vow, and yield ye to your Lord God; all that bring gifts in the compass of it. To God fearedful, (Make ye a vow, and pay ye it to the Lord your God; and let those who be all around bring gifts to him. To him who is to be feared,)
12 and to him that taketh away the spirit of princes; to the fearedful at the kings of earth. (to him who breaketh the spirit of princes, or of the leaders; to him who is feared by all the kings of the earth.)
21 My son, dread thou God, and the king; and be thou not meddled with backbiters. (My son, fear thou God/have thou reverence for God, and the king; and be thou not mixed in, or mingled, with backbiters.)
22 For their perdition shall rise together suddenly (For their perdition shall suddenly rise up, or shall happen), and who knoweth the fall of ever either?
2001 by Terence P. Noble