The Daily Audio Bible
17 When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the Lord will answer them,
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.(A)
18 I will open rivers on the bare heights
and fountains in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water
and the dry land springs of water.(B)
19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the plane and the pine together,
20 so that all may see and know,
all may consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.(C)
The Futility of Idols
21 Set forth your case, says the Lord;
bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.(D)
22 Let them bring them and tell us
what is to happen.
Tell us the former things, what they were,
so that we may consider them
and that we may know their outcome
or declare to us the things to come.(E)
23 Tell us what is to come hereafter,
that we may know that you are gods;
do good, or do harm,
that we may be afraid and terrified.(F)
24 You, indeed, are nothing,
and your work is nothing at all;
whoever chooses you is an abomination.(G)
25 I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
from the rising of the sun he was summoned by name.[a]
He shall trample[b] on rulers as on mortar,
as the potter treads clay.(H)
26 Who declared it from the beginning, so that we might know,
and beforehand, so that we might say, “He is right”?
There was no one who declared it, none who proclaimed,
none who heard your words.(I)
27 I first have declared it to Zion,[c]
and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good tidings.(J)
28 But when I look there is no one;
among these there is no counselor
who, when I ask, gives an answer.(K)
29 No, they are all a delusion;
their works are nothing;
their images are empty wind.(L)
The Servant, a Light to the Nations
42 Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.(M)
2 He will not cry out or lift up his voice
or make it heard in the street;
3 a bruised reed he will not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.(N)
4 He will not grow faint or be crushed
until he has established justice in the earth,
and the coastlands wait for his teaching.(O)
5 Thus says God, the Lord,
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it:(P)
6 I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,[d]
a light to the nations,(Q)
7 to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.(R)
8 I am the Lord; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to idols.(S)
9 See, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
I tell you of them.(T)
A Hymn of Praise
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the end of the earth!
Let the sea roar[e] and all that fills it,
the coastlands and their inhabitants.(U)
11 Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice,
the villages that Kedar inhabits;
let the inhabitants of Sela shout for joy;
let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord
and declare his praise in the coastlands.(V)
13 The Lord goes forth like a soldier;
like a warrior he stirs up his fury;
he cries out; he shouts aloud;
he shows himself mighty against his foes.(W)
14 For a long time I have held my peace;
I have kept still and restrained myself;
now I will cry out like a woman in labor;
I will gasp and pant.(X)
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills
and dry up all their herbage;
I will turn the rivers into islands
and dry up the pools.(Y)
16 I will lead the blind
by a road they do not know;
by paths they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
and I will not forsake them.(Z)
17 They shall be turned back and utterly put to shame—
those who trust in carved images,
who say to cast images,
“You are our gods.”(AA)
18 Listen, you who are deaf,
and you who are blind, look up and see!
19 Who is blind but my servant
or deaf like my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind like my dedicated one
or blind like the servant of the Lord?(AB)
20 He sees many things, but he does[f] not observe them;
his ears are open, but he does not hear.(AC)
Israel’s Disobedience
21 The Lord was pleased, for the sake of his righteousness,
to magnify his teaching and make it glorious.(AD)
22 But this is a people robbed and plundered;
all of them are trapped in holes
and hidden in prisons;
they have become a prey with no one to rescue,
a spoil with no one to say, “Restore!”(AE)
23 Who among you will give heed to this;
who will attend and listen for the time to come?
24 Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler
and Israel to the robbers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom they sinned,[g]
in whose ways they would not walk,
and whose law they would not obey?(AF)
25 So he poured upon him the heat of his anger
and the fury of war;
it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;
it burned him, but he did not take it to heart.(AG)
Restoration and Protection Promised
43 But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are mine.(AH)
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you,
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.(AI)
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Cush and Seba in exchange for you.(AJ)
4 Because you are precious in my sight
and honored and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.(AK)
5 Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;(AL)
6 I will say to the north, “Give them up,”
and to the south, “Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—(AM)
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”(AN)
8 Bring forth the people who are blind yet have eyes,
who are deaf yet have ears!(AO)
9 Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them declared this
and foretold to us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, “It is true.”(AP)
10 You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.(AQ)
11 I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no savior.(AR)
12 I am the one who declared and saved and proclaimed,
not some strange god among you;
you are my witnesses, says the Lord, and I am God.(AS)
13 Indeed, since that day I am he;
there is no one who can deliver from my hand;
I work, and who can hinder it?(AT)
From Death to Life
2 You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world,[a] following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.[b](A) 3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, doing the will of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else,(B) 4 but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us(C) 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ[c]—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places[d] in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.(D)
One in Christ
11 So then, remember that at one time you gentiles by birth,[e] called “the uncircumcision” by those who are called “the circumcision”—a circumcision made in the flesh by human hands(E)— 12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.(F) 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.(G) 14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us,(H) 15 abolishing the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace,(I) 16 and might reconcile both to God in one body[f] through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.[g](J) 17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.(K) 19 So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,(L) 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone;[h](M) 21 in him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord,(N) 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually[i] into a dwelling place for God.
Psalm 67
The Nations Called to Praise God
To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us, Selah(A)
2 that your way may be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations.(B)
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?(A)
30 Those who linger late over wine,
those who keep trying mixed wines.(B)
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32 At the last it bites like a serpent
and stings like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
and your mind utter perverse things.(C)
34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.[a]
35 “They struck me,” you will say,[b] “but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I will seek another drink.”(D)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.