The Daily Audio Bible

Prophecy against Mount Seir

35 Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, set your face against ^(A)Mount Seir, and prophesy against it ³ and say to it, ‘Thus says the Lord ^[a]God,

⁵ Because you have had everlasting ^(E)enmity and have ^[b]delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of the ^[c](F)punishment of the end, ⁶ therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will ^[d]give you over to ^(G)bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you. ⁷ I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation and I will cut off from it the one who passes through and returns. ⁸ I will ^(H)fill its mountains with its slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain by the sword will ^[e]fall. ⁹ I will make you an everlasting ^(I)desolation and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰ “Because you have ^(J)said, ‘These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess ^[f]them,’ although the ^(K)Lord was there, ¹¹ therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will deal with you ^(L)according to your anger and according to your envy which you showed because of your hatred against them; so I will ^(M)make Myself known among them when I judge you. ¹² Then you will know ^[g]that I, the Lord, have heard all your revilings which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel saying, ‘They are laid desolate; they are ^(N)given to us for food.’ ¹³ And you have ^[h](O)spoken arrogantly against Me and have multiplied your words against Me; ^(P)I have heard it.” ¹⁴ Thus says the Lord God, “As all the ^(Q)earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation. ¹⁵ As you ^(R)rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, ^(S)so I will do to you. You will be a ^(T)desolation, O Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”’

The Mountains of Israel to Be Blessed

36 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. ² Thus says the Lord ^[i]God, “Because the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The everlasting ^[j](U)heights have become our possession,’ ³ therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “^[k]For good reason they have made you ^(V)desolate and crushed you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations and you have been taken up in the ^[l](W)talk and the whispering of the people.”’” ⁴ Therefore, O ^(X)mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a ^(Y)prey and a derision to the rest of the nations which are round about, ⁵ therefore thus says the Lord God, “Surely in the fire of My ^(Z)jealousy I have spoken against the ^(AA)rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who ^[m]appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted ^(AB)joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.” ⁶ Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have ^(AC)endured the insults of the nations.’ ⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘I have ^[n]sworn that surely the nations which are around you will themselves endure their insults. ⁸ But you, O mountains of Israel, you will ^(AD)put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. ⁹ For, behold, I am for you, and I will ^(AE)turn to you, and you will be ^(AF)cultivated and sown. ¹⁰ I will multiply men on you, ^(AG)all the house of Israel, all of it; and the ^(AH)cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt. ¹¹ I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were ^(AI)formerly and will ^[o]treat you ^(AJ)better than at the first. Thus you will know that I am the Lord. ¹² Yes, I will cause ^(AK)men—My people Israel—to walk on you and possess you, so that you will become their ^(AL)inheritance and never again ^(AM)bereave them of children.’

¹³ “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Because they say to you, “You are a ^(AN)devourer of men and have bereaved your ^[p]nation of children,” ¹⁴ therefore you will no longer devour men and no longer bereave your nation of children,’ declares the Lord God. ¹⁵ “I will not let you hear ^(AO)insults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear ^(AP)disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to ^(AQ)stumble any longer,” declares the Lord God.’”

¹⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, ¹⁷ “Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they ^(AR)defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like ^(AS)the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. ¹⁸ Therefore I ^(AT)poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols. ¹⁹ Also I ^(AU)scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. ^(AV)According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. ²⁰ When they came to the nations where they went, they ^(AW)profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the ^(AX)people of the Lord; yet they have come out of His land.’ ²¹ But I had ^[q]concern for My ^(AY)holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.

Israel to Be Renewed for His Name’s Sake

²² “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It is ^(AZ)not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. ²³ I will ^(BA)vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the ^(BB)nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. ²⁴ For I will ^(BC)take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. ²⁵ Then I will ^(BD)sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your ^(BE)filthiness and from all your ^(BF)idols. ²⁶ Moreover, I will give you a ^(BG)new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the ^(BH)heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will ^(BI)put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. ²⁸ You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be ^(BJ)My people, and I will be your God. ²⁹ Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I ^(BK)will not ^[r]bring a famine on you. ³⁰ I will ^(BL)multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. ³¹ Then you will ^(BM)remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. ³² I am not doing this ^(BN)for your sake,” declares the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!”

³³ ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the ^(BO)cities to be inhabited, and the ^(BP)waste places will be rebuilt. ³⁴ The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. ³⁵ They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the ^(BQ)garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ ³⁶ Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken and ^(BR)will do it.”

³⁷ ‘Thus says the Lord God, “This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock. ³⁸ Like the ^(BS)flock ^[s]for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with ^(BT)flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”’”

Testing Your Faith

1 ^[a](A)James, a ^(B)bond-servant of God and ^(C)of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To ^(D)the twelve tribes who are ^[b](E)dispersed abroad: ^(F)Greetings.

^2 (G)Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter ^(H)various ^[c]trials, ³ knowing that ^(I)the testing of your ^(J)faith produces ^[d](K)endurance. ⁴ And let ^[e](L)endurance have its perfect ^[f]result, so that you may be ^[g](M)perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵ But if any of you ^(N)lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and ^[h]without reproach, and ^(O)it will be given to him. ⁶ But he must ^(P)ask in faith ^(Q)without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, ^(R)driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸ being a ^[i](S)double-minded man, ^(T)unstable in all his ways.

^9 (U)But the ^[j]brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; ¹⁰ and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because ^(V)like ^[k]flowering grass he will pass away. ¹¹ For the sun rises with ^[l](W)a scorching wind and ^(X)withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away.

^12 (Y)Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has ^[m]been approved, he will receive ^(Z)the crown of life which the Lord ^(AA)has promised to those who ^(AB)love Him. ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “^(AC)I am being tempted ^[n]by God”; for God cannot be tempted ^[o]by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵ Then ^(AD)when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when ^(AE)sin ^[p]is accomplished, it brings forth death. ^16 (AF)Do not be ^[q]deceived, ^(AG)my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good thing given and every perfect gift is ^(AH)from above, coming down from ^(AI)the Father of lights, ^(AJ)with whom there is no variation or ^[r]shifting shadow. ¹⁸ In the exercise of ^(AK)His will He ^(AL)brought us forth by ^(AM)the word of truth, so that we would be ^[s]a kind of ^(AN)first fruits ^[t]among His creatures.

Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death.