The Daily Audio Bible
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6 “‘Come, let us return to the Lord; it is he who has torn us—he will heal us. He has wounded—he will bind us up. 2 In just a couple of days,[a] or three at the most, he will set us on our feet again to live in his kindness! 3 Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him, and he will respond to us as surely as the coming of dawn or the rain of early spring.’”
4 “O Ephraim and Judah, what shall I do with you? For your love vanishes like morning clouds, and disappears like dew. 5 I sent my prophets to warn you of your doom; I have slain you with the words of my mouth, threatening you with death. Suddenly, without warning, my judgment will strike you as surely as day follows night.
6 “I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me.
7 “But like Adam, you broke my covenant; you refused my love. 8 Gilead is a city of sinners, tracked with footprints of blood. 9 Her citizens are gangs of robbers, lying in ambush for their victims; packs of priests murder along the road to Shechem and practice every kind of sin. 10 Yes, I have seen a horrible thing in Israel—Ephraim chasing other gods, Israel utterly defiled.
11 “O Judah, for you also there is a plentiful harvest of punishment waiting—and I wanted so much to bless you!
7 “I wanted to forgive Israel, but her sins were far too great—no one can even live in Samaria without being a liar, thief, and bandit!
2 “Her people never seem to recognize that I am watching them. Their sinful deeds give them away on every side; I see them all. 3 The king is glad about their wickedness; the princes laugh about their lies. 4 They are all adulterers; as a baker’s oven is constantly aflame—except after he kneads the dough and waits for it to rise again—so are these people constantly aflame with lust.
5 “On the king’s birthday, the princes get him drunk; he makes a fool of himself and drinks with those who mock him. 6 Their hearts blaze like a furnace with intrigue. Their plot smolders through the night, and in the morning it flames forth like raging fire.
7 “They kill their kings one after another,[b] and no one cries out to me for help.
8 “My people mingle with the heathen, picking up their evil ways; thus they become as good-for-nothing as a half-baked cake!
9 “Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength, but they don’t know it. Ephraim’s hair is turning gray, and he doesn’t even realize how weak and old he is. 10 His pride in other gods has openly condemned him; yet he doesn’t return to his God, nor even try to find him.
11 “Ephraim is a silly, witless dove, calling to Egypt, flying to Assyria. 12 But as she flies, I throw my net over her and bring her down like a bird from the sky; I will punish her for all her evil ways.
13 “Woe to my people for deserting me; let them perish, for they have sinned against me. I wanted to redeem them but their hard hearts would not accept the truth. 14 They lie there sleepless with anxiety but won’t ask my help. Instead, they worship heathen gods, asking them for crops and for prosperity.
15 “I have helped them and made them strong, yet now they turn against me.
16 “They look everywhere except to heaven, to the Most High God. They are like a crooked bow that always misses targets; their leaders will perish by the sword of the enemy for their insolence to me. And all Egypt will laugh at them.
8 “Sound the alarm! They are coming! Like a vulture, the enemy descends upon the people of God because they have broken my treaty and revolted against my laws.
2 “Now Israel pleads with me and says, ‘Help us, for you are our God!’ 3 But it is too late! Israel has thrown away her chance with contempt, and now her enemies will chase her. 4 She has appointed kings and princes, but not with my consent. They have cut themselves off from my help by worshiping the idols that they made from their silver and gold.
5 “O Samaria, I reject this calf—this idol you have made. My fury burns against you. How long will it be before one honest man is found among you? 6 When will you admit this calf you worship was made by human hands! It is not God! Therefore, it must be smashed to bits.
7 “They have sown the wind, and they will reap the whirlwind. Their cornstalks stand there barren, withered, sickly, with no grain; if it has any, foreigners will eat it.
8 “Israel is destroyed; she lies among the nations as a broken pot. 9 She is a lonely, wandering wild ass. The only friends she has are those she hires; Assyria is one of them.
10 “But though she hires ‘friends’ from many lands, I will send her off to exile. Then for a while at least she will be free of the burden of her wonderful king! 11 Ephraim has built many altars, but they are not to worship me! They are altars of sin! 12 Even if I gave her ten thousand laws, she’d say they weren’t for her—that they applied to someone far away. 13 Her people love the ritual of their sacrifice, but to me it is meaningless! I will call for an accounting of their sins and punish them; they shall return to Egypt.
14 “Israel has built great palaces; Judah has constructed great defenses for her cities, but they have forgotten their Maker. Therefore, I will send down fire upon those palaces and burn those fortresses.”
9 O Israel, rejoice no more as others do, for you have deserted your God and sacrificed to other gods on every threshing floor.
2 Therefore your harvests will be small; your grapes will blight upon the vine.
3 You may no longer stay here in this land of God; you will be carried off to Egypt and Assyria and live there on scraps of food. 4 There, far from home, you are not allowed to pour out wine for sacrifice to God. For no sacrifice that is offered there can please him; it is polluted, just as food of mourners is; all who eat such sacrifices are defiled. They may eat this food to feed themselves, but may not offer it to God. 5 What then will you do on holy days, on days of feasting to the Lord, 6 when you are carried off to Assyria as slaves? Who will inherit your possessions left behind? Egypt will! She will gather your dead; Memphis will bury them. And thorns and thistles will grow up among the ruins.
7 The time of Israel’s punishment has come; the day of recompense is almost here, and soon Israel will know it all too well. “The prophets are crazy”; “The inspired men are mad.” Yes, so they mock, for the nation is weighted with sin and shows only hatred for those who love God.
8 “I appointed the prophets to guard my people, but the people have blocked them at every turn and publicly declared their hatred, even in the Temple of the Lord. 9 The things my people do are as depraved as what they did in Gibeah[c] long ago. The Lord does not forget. He will surely punish them.
10 “O Israel, how well I remember those first delightful days when I led you through the wilderness! How refreshing was your love! How satisfying, like the early figs of summer in their first season! But then you deserted me for Baal-peor,[d] to give yourselves to other gods, and soon you were as foul as they. 11 The glory of Israel flies away like a bird, for your children will die at birth, or perish in the womb, or never even be conceived. 12 And if your children grow, I will take them from you; all are doomed. Yes, it will be a sad day when I turn away and leave you alone.”
13 In my vision I have seen the sons of Israel doomed. The fathers are forced to lead their sons to slaughter. 14 O Lord, what shall I ask for your people? I will ask for wombs that don’t give birth, for breasts that cannot nourish.
15 “All their wickedness began at Gilgal;[e] there I began to hate them. I will drive them from my land because of their idolatry. I will love them no more, for all their leaders are rebels. 16 Ephraim is doomed. The roots of Israel are dried up; she shall bear no more fruit. And if she gives birth, I will slay even her beloved child.”
17 My God will destroy the people of Israel because they will not listen or obey. They will be wandering Jews, homeless among the nations.
1 From: John, the Elder.
To: Dear Gaius, whom I truly love.
2 Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is. 3 Some of the brothers traveling by have made me very happy by telling me that your life stays clean and true and that you are living by the standards of the Gospel. 4 I could have no greater joy than to hear such things about my children.
5 Dear friend, you are doing a good work for God in taking care of the traveling teachers and missionaries who are passing through. 6 They have told the church here of your friendship and your loving deeds. I am glad when you send them on their way with a generous gift. 7 For they are traveling for the Lord and take neither food, clothing, shelter, nor money from those who are not Christians, even though they have preached to them. 8 So we ourselves should take care of them in order that we may become partners with them in the Lord’s work.
9 I sent a brief letter to the church about this, but proud Diotrephes, who loves to push himself forward as the leader of the Christians there, does not admit my authority over him and refuses to listen to me. 10 When I come I will tell you some of the things he is doing and what wicked things he is saying about me and what insulting language he is using. He not only refuses to welcome the missionary travelers himself but tells others not to, and when they do he tries to put them out of the church.
11 Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do what is right prove that they are God’s children; and those who continue in evil prove that they are far from God. 12 But everyone, including Truth itself, speaks highly of Demetrius. I myself can say the same for him, and you know I speak the truth.
13 I have much to say, but I don’t want to write it, 14 for I hope to see you soon and then we will have much to talk about together. 15 So good-bye for now. Friends here send their love, and please give each of the folks there a special greeting from me.
Sincerely, John
126 When Jehovah brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! 2 How we laughed and sang for joy. And the other nations said, “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.”
3 Yes, glorious things! What wonder! What joy! 4 May we be refreshed[a] as by streams in the desert.
5 Those who sow tears shall reap joy. 6 Yes, they go out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, and return singing, carrying their sheaves.
12 A wicked ruler will have wicked aides on his staff.
13 Rich and poor are alike in this: each depends on God for light.
14 A king who is fair to the poor shall have a long reign.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.