The Daily Audio Bible
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31 O generation, [a]behold the word of Yahweh.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel
Or a (A)land of thick darkness?
Why do My people say, ‘(B)We are free to roam;
We will no longer come to You’?
32 Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
Or a bride her attire?
Yet My people have (C)forgotten Me
Days without number.
33 How well you prepare your way
To seek love!
Therefore even [b]the wicked women
You have taught your ways.
34 Also on your skirts is found
The (D)lifeblood of the innocent needy;
You did not find them (E)breaking in.
But in spite of all these things,
35 Yet you said, ‘I am innocent;
Surely His anger is turned away from me.’
Behold, I will (F)enter into judgment with you
Because you (G)say, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 Why do you (H)despise Him so much
In changing your way?
Also, (I)you will be put to shame by Egypt
As you were put to shame by (J)Assyria.
37 From this place also you will go out
With (K)your hands on your head;
For Yahweh has rejected (L)those in whom you trust,
And you will not succeed with them.”
The Polluted Land
3 God [c]says, “(M)If a husband divorces his wife
And she goes from him
And belongs to another man,
Will he still return to her?
Will not that land be completely [d]polluted?
But you (N)are a harlot with many [e]lovers;
Yet you (O)turn to Me,” declares Yahweh.
2 “Lift up your eyes to the (P)bare heights and see;
Where have you not been ravished?
By the roads you have (Q)sat for them
Like [f]an Arab in the wilderness,
And you have (R)polluted a land
With your harlotry and with your evil.
3 Therefore the (S)showers have been withheld,
And the [g]late rain has not [h]come.
Yet you had a (T)harlot’s forehead;
You refused to feel dishonor.
4 Have you not just now called to Me,
‘(U)My Father, You are the [i](V)close companion of my (W)youth?
5 (X)Will He be angry forever?
Will He keep it to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken
And have done evil things,
And you have [j]had your way.”
Faithless Israel Called to Repentance
6 Then Yahweh said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She (Y)went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. 7 (Z)I said, ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her (AA)treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and (AB)given her a certificate of divorce, yet her (AC)treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. 9 So it was, because of the lightness of her harlotry, that she (AD)polluted the land and committed adultery with (AE)stones and trees. 10 Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in (AF)lying,” declares Yahweh.
11 And Yahweh said to me, “(AG)Faithless Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and call out these words toward the north and say,
‘[k](AH)Return, faithless Israel,’ declares Yahweh;
‘(AI)I will not [l]look upon you in anger.
For I am (AJ)One of lovingkindness,’ declares Yahweh;
‘I will not be angry forever.
13 Only [m](AK)acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against Yahweh your God
And have (AL)scattered your ways of harlotry to the strangers (AM)under every green tree,
And you have not listened to My voice,’ declares Yahweh.
14 ‘[n]Return, O faithless sons,’ declares Yahweh;
‘For I am a (AN)master to you,
And I will take you one from a city and two from a family,
And (AO)I will bring you to Zion.’
15 “Then I will give you (AP)shepherds after My own heart, who will [o](AQ)shepherd you on knowledge and understanding. 16 It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and fruitful in the land,” declares Yahweh, “they will (AR)no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of Yahweh.’ And it will not come upon the heart, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The (AS)Throne of Yahweh,’ and (AT)all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the (AU)name of Yahweh; nor will they (AV)walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 (AW)In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together (AX)from the land of the north to the (AY)land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.
19 “Then I said,
‘How I would set you among [p]My sons
And give you a pleasant land,
The most (AZ)beautiful inheritance of the nations!’
And I said, ‘You shall call Me, (BA)“My Father,”
And not turn away from following Me.’
20 Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her [q]lover,
So you have (BB)dealt treacherously with Me,
O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh.
21 A voice is heard on the (BC)bare heights,
The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel;
Because they have perverted their way,
They have (BD)forgotten Yahweh their God.
22 [r]“Return, O faithless sons;
(BE)I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to You,
For You are Yahweh our God.
23 Surely, (BF)the hills are a lie,
A tumult on the mountains.
Surely in (BG)Yahweh our God
Is the salvation of Israel.
24 “But (BH)the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our (BI)shame, and let our dishonor cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, (BJ)from our youth even to this day. And we have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God.”
Yahweh Calls Israel to Return to Him
4 “If you will (BK)return, O Israel,” declares Yahweh,
“Then you should return to Me.
And (BL)if you will put away your detested things from My presence
And will not waver
2 And you will (BM)swear, ‘As Yahweh lives,’
(BN)In truth, in justice, and in righteousness;
Then the (BO)nations will [s]be blessed in Him,
And (BP)in Him they will boast.”
3 For thus says Yahweh to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem,
“[t](BQ)Break up your fallow ground,
And (BR)do not sow among thorns.
4 (BS)Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh
And remove the foreskins of your heart,
Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My (BT)wrath go forth like fire
And burn with (BU)none to quench it
Because of the evil of your deeds.”
Evil from the North
5 Declare in Judah and make it heard in Jerusalem and say,
“(BV)Blow the trumpet in the land;
Call out, make your voice full, and say,
‘(BW)Gather yourselves, and let us go
Into the fortified cities.’
6 Lift up a (BX)standard toward Zion!
Seek safety, do not stand still,
For I am bringing (BY)evil from the north,
And great destruction.
7 A (BZ)lion has gone up from his thicket,
And a (CA)destroyer of nations has set out;
He has gone out from his place
To (CB)make your land a desolation.
Your cities will be turned into ruins
Without inhabitant.
8 For this, (CC)I gird myself with sackcloth,
Lament and wail;
For the (CD)burning anger of Yahweh
Has not turned back from us.”
9 “It will be in that day,” declares Yahweh, “that the (CE)heart of the king and the heart of the princes will perish; and the priests will be appalled, and the (CF)prophets will be astonished.”
10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! Surely You have utterly (CG)deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘(CH)You will have peace’; whereas a sword touches the [u]throat.”
11 In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A [v](CI)scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness along the way of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse, 12 a wind too full for these things—will come [w]for My purpose; now I will also speak judgments against them.
13 Behold, he (CJ)goes up like clouds,
And his (CK)chariots like the whirlwind;
His horses are (CL)swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for (CM)we are devastated!”
14 Wash your heart from evil, O Jerusalem,
That you may be saved.
How long will your (CN)wicked thoughts
Lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from (CO)Dan,
And makes wickedness heard from Mount Ephraim.
16 “Make mention of it to the nations, saying, ‘Behold!’
Make it heard over Jerusalem,
‘Besiegers come from a (CP)far country,
And (CQ)give forth their voices against the cities of Judah.
17 Like watchmen of a field they are (CR)against her round about
Because she has (CS)rebelled against Me,’ declares Yahweh.
18 Your (CT)ways and your deeds
Have done these things to you.
This is your evil. How (CU)bitter!
How it has touched your heart!”
Thanksgiving and Prayer
1 (A)Paul, (B)an apostle of Christ Jesus [a](C)by the will of God, and (D)Timothy [b]our brother,
2 To the [c](E)saints and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae: (F)Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
3 (G)We give thanks to God, (H)the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 (I)since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the (J)love which you have [d]for (K)all the [e]saints, 5 because of the (L)hope (M)laid up for you in [f]heaven, of which you previously (N)heard in the word of truth, [g]the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as [h](O)in all the world also it is constantly bearing (P)fruit and [i]multiplying, just as it has been doing in you also since the day you (Q)heard and [j]understood the grace of God in truth; 7 just as you learned it from (R)Epaphras, our (S)beloved fellow slave, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 who also informed us of your (T)love in the Spirit.
9 For this reason also, (U)since the day we heard, (V)we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the [k](W)full knowledge of His will in all spiritual (X)wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may (Y)walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, [l](Z)to please Him in all respects, (AA)bearing fruit in every good work and [m]multiplying in the [n]full knowledge of God; 11 (AB)being strengthened with all power, according to [o]His glorious might, [p]for the attaining of all steadfastness and [q]patience; (AC)joyously 12 giving thanks to (AD)the Father, who has qualified us [r]to share in (AE)the inheritance of the [s]saints in (AF)light. 13 Who rescued us from the (AG)authority of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of (AH)the Son of His love, 14 (AI)in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The Firstborn of All Creation
15 [t]Who is the (AJ)image of the (AK)invisible God, the (AL)firstborn of all creation.
16 For [u](AM)in Him all things were created, (AN)both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether (AO)thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—(AP)all things have been created through Him and for Him.
God’s Name Is Great in Israel
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
76 God is (A)known in Judah;
His name is (B)great in Israel.
2 So His [a](C)tabernacle is in (D)Salem;
His (E)dwelling place is in Zion.
3 There He (F)broke the [b]flaming arrows,
The shield and the sword and the battle. [c]Selah.
4 You are shining,
Majestic from the mountains of prey.
5 The (G)stouthearted were plundered,
[d]They sank into sleep;
And none of the [e]warriors could use his hands.
6 At Your (H)rebuke, O God of Jacob,
Both (I)chariot rider and horse slumbered into a deep sleep.
7 But You, You are [f](J)fearsome;
And (K)who can stand in Your presence when once [g]You are angry?
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