The Daily Audio Bible
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The Humiliation of the Daughter of Zion[a]
1 How lonely the city sits, which once was full of people!
She, who was great among the nations, is now a widow.
She, who was a princess among the provinces, now works as a slave.
2 At night she weeps bitterly, and her tears linger on her cheek.
Not one of her lovers is there to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her. They are now her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into exile. She endures affliction and harsh labor.
She lives among the nations. She finds no rest.
All her pursuers caught up with her when she was in great distress.
4 The roads to Zion are mourning,
because there are no travelers going to the appointed assemblies.
All her gates are deserted. Her priests groan.
Her virgins grieve. Her grief is bitter.
5 Her foes have risen to the top. Her enemies prosper.
Because of her many acts of rebellion, the Lord has brought grief to her.
Her children have gone into captivity in the presence of the foe.
6 The daughter of Zion[b] has lost all her splendor.
Her officials have become like deer that find no pasture.
Powerless, they fled before[c] the pursuer.
7 Jerusalem remembers the days of her affliction and her homeless wandering.
She remembers all her precious things which were hers from long ago.
When her people fell under the hand of the foe, there was no one to help her.
Foes saw her and laughed at the end she has come to.
8 Jerusalem has sinned terribly, so she is unclean.[d]
All who once honored her now despise her, because they have seen her nakedness.
She can only sigh and turn away.
9 Her flow of blood stains her skirt. She did not consider the outcome of her sin.
Her collapse was astonishing. There was no one to comfort her.
Look, Lord, at my affliction, for the enemy has done awful things.
10 The foe has laid hands on all her precious things.
She has even seen nations enter her sanctuary,
nations about whom you commanded, “They shall not enter your assembly.”
11 All her people are sighing as they search for bread.
They traded their precious things for food in order to stay alive.
Look, Lord, and see that I have become despised.
12 But nothing like this is happening to you, all you who pass me by.[e]
Look and see if there is any pain like my pain, which was dealt out to me,
which the Lord caused me to suffer on the day of his burning anger.
13 From on high he sent fire into my bones and overpowered[f] me.
He spread a net for my feet. He turned me back.
He made me desolate. I was sick all day long.
14 The yoke of my sinful rebellion is fastened to my neck.
My sins are bound together by his hand.
They have risen up as high as my neck. He has weakened my strength.[g]
The Lord has given me into the hands of people I cannot resist.
15 The Lord has tossed aside all the strong men in my midst.
He called an assembly against me to break my best young men.
The Lord has trampled the virgin daughter of Judah in a winepress.
16 Because of these things, I am weeping. My eye, my eye flows with water,
because the comforter, the one who restores my soul, is far away from me.
My children have become desolate, because the enemy has prevailed.
17 Zion spreads out her hands, but there is no one to comfort her.
The Lord has commanded those who surround Jacob to be his foes.
Among them, Jerusalem has become an unclean thing.
18 The Lord is righteous. I am the one who rebelled against the word from his mouth.
Please listen, all you peoples, and see my pain.
My virgins and my best young men have gone into captivity.
19 I called to my lovers, but they deceived me.
My priests and my elders perished in the city,
as they sought food for themselves to restore their lives.
20 See, Lord, I am in distress. My emotions are in turmoil.
My heart turns over inside me, because I have been very rebellious.
Outside, the sword takes away my children.
Inside, there is death.
21 People have heard that I am groaning. There is no one who comforts me.
All my enemies have heard about my misery, and they rejoiced that you did this.
Bring on the day that you have announced, so that they may become like me.
22 May all their wickedness come before you. Deal harshly with them,
just as you dealt harshly with me because of all my rebellion.
Yes, my groans are many, and my heart is sick.
Under the Wrath of the Lord[h]
2 How the Lord, in his anger, has covered the daughter of Zion with a dark cloud!
He threw down the beauty of Israel from heaven to earth.
He did not remember his footstool[i] in the day of his anger.
2 The Lord swallowed up and did not spare the pastures[j] of Jacob.
In his fury he tore down the fortifications of the daughter of Judah.
He brought them down to the ground. He brought dishonor to the kingdom and its officials.
3 He completely chopped off the horn[k] of Israel in burning anger.
He withdrew his right hand in the presence of the enemy.
He burned in Jacob like a flaming fire, which consumed all around.
4 He bent his bow like an enemy. His right hand was ready like a foe,
and he killed everyone who was precious in his eyes.
On the tent of the daughter of Zion, he poured out his wrath like fire.
5 The Lord was like an enemy. He swallowed up Israel.
He swallowed up all her citadels. He left her fortresses in ruins.
He increased mourning and lamenting for the daughter of Judah.
6 He dealt violently with his shelter like a shed in a garden.[l] He ruined his meeting place.
The Lord has caused the appointed assembly and the Sabbath to be forgotten in Zion.
In his indignation and anger he showed contempt for king and priest.
7 The Lord rejected his altar. He abandoned his holy place.
He delivered her walls and palaces into the hand of the enemy.
They gave a shout in the House of the Lord,
like that on the day of an appointed assembly.
8 The Lord had in mind to ruin the wall of the daughter of Zion.
He stretched out a measuring line. He did not restrain his hand from swallowing her up.
He made its rampart and wall mourn. Together they became weak.
9 Her gates have sunk down to the ground. He destroyed and shattered her bars.
Her king and her officials are exiled among the nations. There is no law.
Even her prophets have not received a vision from the Lord.
10 The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground and are silent.
They throw dust on their heads and put on sackcloth.
The virgins of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground.
11 My eyes are worn out with tears. I am troubled in my heart.
I am emotionally drained[m] over the breaking of the daughter of my people,
while children and infants grow weak in the public squares of the city.
12 They ask their mothers, “Where are the grain and wine?”
while they faint in the public squares of the city, like someone wounded,
while they take their last breath in their mothers’ laps.
13 What testimony can I give on your behalf?
What can I compare to you, daughter of Jerusalem?
What can I place next to you, so that I may comfort you, virgin daughter of Zion?
Your wound is as wide as the sea. Who can heal you?
14 Your prophets saw visions for you, but they were empty and worthless.
They did not reveal your guilt, in order to turn away your captivity.
They saw oracles for you that were empty and misleading.
15 All who passed by clapped their hands over you.
They hissed and shook their head over the daughter of Jerusalem:
“Is this the city that was said to be the perfection of beauty,
the joy of the whole earth?”
16 All your enemies opened their mouth against you.
They hissed and gnashed their teeth. They said, “We swallowed her up.
Yes, this is the day we were waiting for. We found it. We saw it.”
17 The Lord has done what he planned. He carried out his word,
which he commanded long ago. He tore down and did not spare.
He let the enemy rejoice over you. He raised up the horn of your foes.
18 Their heart cried out to the Lord.
O wall of the daughter of Zion,
let your tears flow like a torrent, day and night.
Do not let yourself become numb. Do not let your eye stop crying.
19 Get up! Shout out during the night, as the night watches begin!
Pour out your heart like water before the Lord’s face.
Lift up your hands to him to pray for the life of your children,
who are faint with hunger at every street corner.
20 Look, Lord, and see! With whom have you dealt so harshly?
Should women eat the children they produced,
the children they played with on their knee?
Should priest and prophet be killed in the Lord’s holy place?
21 In the streets young and old lie dead on the ground.
My virgins and my best young men have fallen by the sword.
You killed them on the day of your anger. You slaughtered and did not spare.
22 As you do on a day of assembly, you summoned from every side the things I dread.
On the day of the Lord’s anger, there was no one who escaped or survived.
The enemy destroyed the children I played with on my knee and raised.[n]
Greeting
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,
To Philemon, our dear friend and coworker, 2 to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets in your house:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philemon’s Love and Faith
4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear about your love and faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints. 6 I pray that this fellowship of your faith may become active in understanding every good thing that belongs to us[a] in Christ. 7 For I have received great joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.
Appeal on Behalf of Onesimus
8 For that reason, even though I have plenty of boldness in Christ to order you to do what is proper, 9 I am appealing to you, instead, on the basis of love, just as I, Paul, am an old man and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ. 10 I am appealing to you on behalf of my child Onesimus.[b] I became his father while I was in chains. 11 There was a time when he was useless to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me. 12 I have sent him (who is my very heart) back to you. Welcome him.[c] 13 I wanted to keep him with me, so that he might serve me in your place while I am in chains for the gospel. 14 But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your kindness would not be the result of compulsion, but of willingness. 15 Perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while: so that you would have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave, but as more than a slave, as a dear brother. He certainly is dear to me, but he is even more of a dear brother to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17 So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 And if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, Paul, have written this with my own hand: I will repay it—not to mention that you owe me your very self. 20 Yes, brother, I am asking for a favor from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.
22 Just one more thing: Prepare a guest room for me, because I am hoping to be given back to you in answer to your prayers.
Closing Words
23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends his greetings to you, 24 as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my coworkers. 25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your[d] spirit. Amen.
Psalm 101
The Good Ruler
Heading
By David. A psalm.
The Righteousness of the Lord
1 I will sing about your mercy and justice.
To you, O Lord, I will make music.
The Righteousness of the King
2 I will act wisely, following the way that is honest.
When will you come to me?
Within my palace I will conduct myself with integrity.[a]
Righteousness in His Court
3 I will not tolerate an evil[b] cause in my sight.
I hate unfaithfulness and apostasy.[c]
It will not stick to me.
4 A perverted heart shall be kept far from me.
I will not acknowledge evil.
5 I will silence anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.
I cannot tolerate anyone who has arrogant eyes and a proud heart.
6 My eyes will watch for the faithful in the land,
so that they can be seated with me.
Those who walk in the way of integrity will serve as my ministers.
7 Anyone who practices deceit will not sit inside my palace.
Anyone who is a liar will not stand in my sight.
8 Every morning I will silence all the wicked in the land,
in order to cut off every evildoer from the city of the Lord.
20 When there is no more wood, a fire goes out,
and without gossip, a quarrel dies down.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.