The Daily Audio Bible

¹⁵ For the highest God above,
    who is and always will be, the only One who is holy has this to say:

Eternal One: I live in the high and holy place,
        yet I am with the low, the weak, and the humble.
    I renew their vitality and revive their strength.
¹⁶     For I will not struggle against them forever,
        and I won’t always be angry.
    For the human spirit would grow faint—
        the breath of life I created would soon grow weak.
¹⁷     Yes, they infuriated Me with how they profited from their greed and violence,
        so I struck them down and turned My back on them,
    And still they persisted in their wrongdoing.
¹⁸     I have seen how they act, but I will still bind them up and make them well again.
        I will show them the way, comfort and console them.
¹⁹     I will create in them a desire to praise.
        “Peace, peace, to those far away.
    All will be well, wherever you are.”
        And I will heal them.
²⁰     By contrast, the wicked are all riled up
        like a storm-tossed sea that cannot be calmed.
    Its crashing waves wash up muck and dirt on the shore.
²¹     But there will be no peace for the wicked.

58 Eternal One: Tell My people about their wrongdoing;
        shout with a voice like a trumpet;
    Hold nothing back: say this people of Jacob’s line and heritage
        have failed to do what is right.

²     And yet they look for Me every day.
        They pretend to want to learn what I teach,
    As if they are indeed a nation good and true,
        as if they hadn’t really turned their backs on My directives.
    They even ask Me, as though they care,
        about what I want them to be and do, as if they really want Me in their lives.

³ People: Why didn’t You notice how diligently we fasted before You?
        We humbled ourselves with pious practices and You paid no attention.

Eternal One: I have to tell you, on those fasting days,
        all you were really seeking was your own pleasure;
    Besides you were busy defrauding people and abusing your workers.
⁴     Your kind of fasting is pointless, for it only leads to bitter quarrels,
        contentious backbiting, and vicious fighting.
    You are not fasting today because you want Me to hear your voice.
⁵     What kind of a fast do I choose? Is a true fast simply
        some religious exercise for making a person feel miserable and woeful?
    Is it about how you bow your head (like a bent reed), how you dress (in sackcloth), and where you sit (in a bed of ashes)?
        Is this what you call a fast, a day the Eternal One finds good and proper?
⁶     No, what I want in a fast is this:
        to liberate those tied down and held back by injustice,
        to lighten the load of those heavily burdened,
        to free the oppressed and shatter every type of oppression.
⁷     A fast for Me involves sharing your food with people who have none,
        giving those who are homeless a space in your home,
    Giving clothes to those who need them, and not neglecting your own family.

⁸ Then, oh then, your light will break out like the warm, golden rays of a rising sun;
    in an instant, you will be healed.
Your rightness will precede and protect you;
    the glory of the Eternal will follow and defend you.
⁹ Then when you do call out, “My God, Where are You?”
    The Eternal One will answer, “I am here, I am here.”
If you remove the yoke of oppression from the downtrodden among you,
    stop accusing others, and do away with mean and inflammatory speech,
¹⁰ If you make sure that the hungry and oppressed have all that they need,
    then your light will shine in the darkness,
And even your bleakest moments will be bright as a clear day.
¹¹ The Eternal One will never leave you;
    He will lead you in the way that you should go.
When you feel dried up and worthless,
    God will nourish you and give you strength.
And you will grow like a garden lovingly tended;
    you will be like a spring whose water never runs out.
¹² You will discover there are people among your own
    who can rebuild this broken-down city out of the ancient ruins;
You will firm up its ancient foundations.
    And all around, others will call you
“Repairer of Broken Down Walls” and “Rebuilder of Livable Streets.”

¹³ Eternal One: If because of the Sabbath you set aside your own pursuits and pleasure,
        and you honor the Sabbath and sanctify that day by leaving it to and for the Eternal—
    If you speak of Sabbath-delight but avoid speaking idle words,
        and refuse to get caught up and busy with your interests and concerns—
¹⁴     Then you will discover joy such as only the Eternal can give.
        And I will raise you high and make your reach as wide as the earth,
    And you will live on all that I promised to Jacob,
        your ancestor, the heart of Israel.

59 The Eternal One’s reach is not so short that He cannot save you.
    His ear is not so deaf that He cannot hear you.

² Your persistent wrongdoing has come between you and your God;
    since you constantly reject and push God away,
He had to turn aside and ignore your cries.
³ For your hands are covered with blood;
    your fingers are sticky with all manner of crimes;
Your lips drip vicious lies;
    your tongue mutters all manner of wickedness.
⁴ Everyone misuses the judicial system,
    clogging it with twisted accusations and misleading testimony.
With empty charges and baseless lies
    they conceive trouble and give birth to injustice.
⁵ They concoct and create the most poisonous things;
    it’s as if they hatch vipers’ eggs or weave spiders’ webs.
Eat their eggs and die; crush one and a viper is hatched—
    yet more poison, hurt, and distrust.
⁶ There is nothing of value in their creations—
    the webs they weave are not fit to clothe or cover anyone.
The products they make are nothing but trouble;
    violence comes naturally to them.
⁷ Their feet race to do evil;
    they rush to shed innocent blood;
Their thoughts are bent toward injustice;
    destruction and trouble line the roads of their lives.
⁸ They never travel the path of peace;^[a]
    no justice is found where they have been.
They set a course down crooked roads;
    no one who follows their lead has a chance of knowing peace.

⁹ People: That’s why we can’t make things right;
        good and true can’t gain any ground on us.
    We look earnestly for a bright spot, but there isn’t
        even a glimmer of hope; it’s darkness all around.
¹⁰     We are left to stumble along, grabbing at whatever seems solid,
        like the blind finding their way down a strange and threatening street.
    In broad daylight—when we should have sight—we stumble and fall as in the dark.
        We are already like the dead among those brimming with health.
¹¹     We growl like bears and moan like doves.
        We hope that maybe, just maybe, it will all turn out right;
    But it doesn’t. We look for liberation, but it’s too far away.
¹²     For our wrongdoing runs too deep before You.
        Our sins stack up against us—sure evidence of our guilt.
    For our offenses are always with us; they are insidious and lasting, as You know.
        Our guilt says it all. We know it, too.
¹³     We took You for nothing, and did just the opposite of Your commands.
        We broke our promises to You, ignored and rejected You.
    We hatched up schemes to oppress others and rebel, to twist the truth for our gain
        while presenting it as honest-to-God fact.
¹⁴     When justice calls, we turn it away.
        Righteousness knows to keep its distance,
    For truth stumbles in the public square,
        and honesty is not allowed to enter.
¹⁵     There is no truth-telling anymore,
        and anyone who tries to do right finds he is the next target.

It’s true. The Eternal One saw it all
    and was understandably perturbed at the absence of justice.
¹⁶ God looked long and hard, but there wasn’t a single person
    who tried to put a stop to the injustice and lies.
So God took action. His own strong arm reached out and brought salvation.
    His own righteousness—good and pure—sustained Him.
¹⁷ But God’s equipment was that of no ordinary warrior:
    He strapped on righteousness as His breastplate,
And put on the helmet of salvation.
    Wrapped in vengeance for clothing and passion as a cloak, God prepared for war.
¹⁸ Finally, God determined they must get what they’ve earned:
    fury to those who oppose Him, vengeance against those who are against Him.
To the ends of the known world, God will go to render justice.
¹⁹ This is how people from east to west will come to respect the name
    and honor the glory of the Eternal.
For He will come on like a torrential flood driven by the Eternal’s winds.

²⁰ Eternal One: The Redeemer will come to make Zion right again,
        to rescue those of Jacob’s holy line who turn their backs on wrongdoing.

⁴ Save me from the power of sinful people, O my God,
    from the grip of unjust and cruel men.
⁵ For You are my hope, Eternal One;
    You, Lord, have been the source of my confidence since I was young.
⁶ I have leaned upon You since I came into this world;
    I have relied on You since You took me safely from my mother’s body,
So I will ever praise You.

⁷ Many find me a mystery,
    but You are my rock and my shelter—my soul’s asylum.
⁸ My mouth overflows with praise to You
    and proclaims Your magnificence all day long.
⁹ Do not set me aside when I am old;
    do not abandon me when I am worn out.
¹⁰ For my enemies often voice evil against me;
    those who desire to kill me plot together in secret.
¹¹ They say, “God has abandoned him;
    let’s go after him right now and seize him.
    There’s no one around to rescue him.”

¹² God, stay close by me.
    Come quick, O my God, and help me!
¹³ May my enemies be covered in shame and then die;
    may those who seek to harm me
    be overwhelmed with contempt and disgrace.
¹⁴ But I will keep hope alive,
    and my praise to You will grow exponentially.
¹⁵ I will bear witness to Your merciful acts;
    throughout the day I will speak of all the ways You deliver,
    although, I admit, I do not know the entirety of either.
¹⁶ I will come with stories of Your great acts, my Lord, the Eternal.
    I will remind them of Your justice, only Yours.

¹⁷ You have taught me since I was young, O God,
    and I still proclaim the wonderful things You have done.
¹⁸ Now as I grow old and my hair turns gray,
    I ask that You not abandon me, O God.
Allow me to share with the generation to come
    about Your power;
Let me speak about Your strength and wonders
    to all those yet to be born.
¹⁹ God, Your justice stretches to the heavens,
    You who have done mighty things!
    Who is like You, O God?

²⁰ You have made me see hard times: I’ve experienced many miserable days,
    but You will restore me again.
You will raise me up
    from the deep pit.
²¹ You will greatly increase my status
    and be my comfort once again.

²² I will praise You with music played on a harp
    because You have been faithful, O my God.
I will sing praises to You with the lyre,
    O Holy One of Israel.
²³ I will shout for joy
    as I sing Your praises;
    my soul will celebrate because You have rescued me.
²⁴ All day long I will declare how Your justice saved me,
    for those who have plotted to bring me harm
    are now ashamed and humiliated.

¹⁰ If you fall apart during a crisis,
    then you weren’t very strong to begin with.