The Daily Audio Bible
66 This is what the Lord says:
“The heavens are my throne
and the earth is my footstool.
Where then is the house you will build for me?
Where is the place where I will rest?
2 My hand made them;[a]
that is how they came to be,”[b] says the Lord.
“I show special favor[c] to the humble and contrite,
who respect what I have to say.[d]
3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man;[e]
the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck;[f]
the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it;[g]
the one who offers incense also praises an idol.[h]
They have decided to behave this way;[i]
they enjoy these disgusting practices.[j]
4 So I will choose severe punishment[k] for them;
I will bring on them what they dread,
because I called, and no one responded.
I spoke and they did not listen.
They did evil before me;[l]
they chose to do what displeases me.”
5 Listen to the Lord’s message,
you who respect[m] his word!
“Your countrymen,[n] who hate you
and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name,
say, ‘May the Lord be glorified,
then we will witness your joy.’[o]
But they will be put to shame.
6 The sound of battle comes from the city;
the sound comes from the temple!
It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies.
7 Before she goes into labor, she gives birth!
Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!
8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?
Who has ever seen this?
Can a country[p] be brought forth in one day?
Can a nation be born in a single moment?
Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!
9 Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?”
asks the Lord.
“Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?”
asks your God.[q]
10 “Be happy for Jerusalem
and rejoice with her, all you who love her!
Share in her great joy,
all you who have mourned over her!
11 For[r] you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished;[s]
you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts.[t]
12 For this is what the Lord says:
“Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,
the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks.[u]
You will nurse from her breast[v] and be carried at her side;
you will play on her knees.
13 As a mother consoles a child,[w]
so I will console you,
and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”
14 When you see this, you will be happy,[x]
and you will be revived.[y]
The Lord will reveal his power to his servants
and his anger to his enemies.[z]
15 For look, the Lord comes with fire,
his chariots come like a windstorm,[aa]
to reveal his raging anger,
his battle cry, and his flaming arrows.[ab]
16 For the Lord judges all humanity[ac]
with fire and his sword;
the Lord will kill many.[ad]
17 “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards,[ae] those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice[af]—they will all be destroyed together,”[ag] says the Lord. 18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming[ah] to gather all the nations and ethnic groups;[ai] they will come and witness my splendor. 19 I will perform a mighty act among them[aj] and then send some of those who remain to the nations—to Tarshish, Pul,[ak] Lud[al] (known for its archers[am]), Tubal, Javan,[an] and to the distant coastlands[ao] that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor. 20 They will bring back all your countrymen[ap] from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them[aq] on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels[ar] to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers. 21 And I will choose some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord. 22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain. 23 From one month[as] to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people[at] will come to worship me,”[au] says the Lord. 24 “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die,[av] and the fire that consumes them will not die out.[aw] All people will find the sight abhorrent.”[ax]
4 —though mine too are significant.[a] If someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials,[b] I have more: 5 I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as a Pharisee.[c] 6 In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless. 7 But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. 8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things—indeed, I regard them as dung![d]—that I may gain Christ, 9 and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness[e]—a righteousness from God that is in fact[f] based on Christ’s[g] faithfulness.[h] 10 My aim is to know him,[i] to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings,[j] and to be like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow,[k] to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Keep Going Forward
12 Not that I have already attained this—that is, I have not already been perfected—but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me.[l] 13 Brothers and sisters,[m] I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded:[n] Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, 14 with this goal in mind,[o] I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God[p] in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view.[q] If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways.[r] 16 Nevertheless, let us live up to the standard[s] that we have already attained.[t]
17 Be imitators of me,[u] brothers and sisters,[v] and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example. 18 For many live, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears, I tell you that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, they exult in their shame, and they think about earthly things.[w] 20 But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform these humble bodies of ours[x] into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.
Psalm 74[a]
A well-written song[b] by Asaph.
74 Why, O God, have you permanently rejected us?[c]
Why does your anger burn[d] against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your people[e] whom you acquired in ancient times,
whom you rescued[f] so they could be your very own nation,[g]
as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell.
3 Hurry[h] to the permanent ruins,
and to all the damage the enemy has done to the temple.[i]
4 Your enemies roar[j] in the middle of your sanctuary;[k]
they set up their battle flags.[l]
5 They invade like lumberjacks
swinging their axes in a thick forest.[m]
6 And now[n] they are tearing down[o] all its engravings[p]
with axes[q] and crowbars.[r]
7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they desecrate your dwelling place by knocking it to the ground.[s]
8 They say to themselves,[t]
“We will oppress all of them.”[u]
They burn down all the places in the land where people worship God.[v]
9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence;[w]
there are no longer any prophets,[x]
and we have no one to tell us how long this will last.[y]
10 How long, O God, will the adversary hurl insults?
Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
11 Why do you remain inactive?
Intervene and destroy him.[z]
12 But God has been my[aa] king from ancient times,
performing acts of deliverance on the earth.[ab]
13 You destroyed[ac] the sea by your strength;
you shattered the heads of the sea monster[ad] in the water.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;[ae]
you fed[af] him to the people who live along the coast.[ag]
15 You broke open the spring and the stream;[ah]
you dried up perpetually flowing rivers.[ai]
16 You established the cycle of day and night;[aj]
you put the moon[ak] and sun in place.[al]
17 You set up all the boundaries[am] of the earth;
you created the cycle of summer and winter.[an]
18 Remember how[ao] the enemy hurls insults, O Lord,[ap]
and how a foolish nation blasphemes your name.
19 Do not hand the life of your dove[aq] over to a wild animal.
Do not continue to disregard[ar] the lives of your oppressed people.
20 Remember your covenant promises,[as]
for the dark regions of the earth are full of places where violence rules.[at]
21 Do not let the afflicted be turned back in shame.
Let the oppressed and poor praise your name.[au]
22 Rise up, O God. Defend your honor.[av]
Remember how fools insult you all day long.[aw]
23 Do not disregard[ax] what your enemies say,[ay]
or the unceasing shouts of those who defy you.[az]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.