The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the CEV. Switch to the CEV to read along with the audio.
Retribution for Israel’s Sin
10 Israel is a luxuriant (A)vine;
He produces fruit for himself.
The more his fruit,
The more altars he (B)made;
The [a]richer his land,
The better [b]he made the (C)memorial stones.
2 Their heart is [c](D)deceitful;
Now they must suffer for their (E)guilt.
[d]The Lord will (F)break down their altars
And destroy their memorial stones.
3 Certainly now they will say, “We have (G)no king,
For we do not revere the Lord.
As for the king, what can he do for us?”
4 They speak mere words,
[e]With (H)worthless oaths they make covenants;
And (I)judgment sprouts like poisonous weeds in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria will fear
For the [f](J)calf of (K)Beth-aven.
Indeed, its people will mourn for it,
And its (L)idolatrous priests [g]will cry out over it,
Over its (M)glory, since it has left it.
6 The thing itself will be brought to (N)Assyria
As a gift of tribute to [h](O)King Jareb;
Ephraim will [i]be (P)seized with shame,
And Israel will be ashamed of its (Q)own plan.
7 Samaria will be (R)destroyed with her king,
Like a twig on the surface of the water.
8 Also the (S)high places of Aven, the (T)sin of Israel, will be destroyed;
(U)Thorns and thistles will grow on their altars;
Then they will (V)say to the mountains,
“Cover us!” And to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, Israel;
There they stand!
Will the battle against the sons of injustice not overtake them in Gibeah?
10 When it is My (W)desire, I will [j](X)discipline them;
And (Y)the peoples will be gathered against them
When they are bound for their double guilt.
11 Ephraim is a trained (Z)heifer that loves to thresh,
[k]And I (AA)passed over her lovely neck;
I will harness Ephraim,
Judah will plow, Jacob will [l]harrow for himself.
12 (AB)Sow for yourselves, with a view to righteousness;
Harvest in accordance with [m]kindness.
(AC)Break up your uncultivated ground,
For it is time to (AD)seek the Lord
Until He (AE)comes and (AF)rains righteousness on you.
13 You have (AG)plowed wickedness, you have harvested injustice,
You have eaten the fruit of (AH)lies.
Because you have trusted in your way, in your (AI)many warriors,
14 An uproar will arise among your people,
And all your (AJ)fortresses will be destroyed,
As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,
When (AK)mothers were [n]slaughtered with their children.
15 So it will be done to you at Bethel because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.
God Yearns over His People
11 When Israel was a youth I loved him,
And (AL)out of Egypt I (AM)called My son.
2 The more [o](AN)they called them,
The more they went away from [p]them;
They kept (AO)sacrificing to the Baals
And (AP)burning incense to idols.
3 Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk,
[q]I (AQ)took them in My arms;
But they did not know that I (AR)healed them.
4 I (AS)pulled them along with cords of a man, with ropes of love,
And (AT)I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws;
And I bent down and (AU)fed them.
5 [r]They will not return to the land of Egypt;
But Assyria—he will be [s]their king
Because they (AV)refused to return to Me.
6 And the (AW)sword will whirl against [t]their cities,
And will destroy [u]their oracle priests
And (AX)consume them, because of their (AY)counsels.
7 So My people are determined to (AZ)turn from Me.
Though [v]they call [w]them to the One on high,
None at all exalts Him.
8 (BA)How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I surrender you, Israel?
How can I [x]make you like (BB)Admah?
How can I treat you like (BC)Zeboiim?
My heart is turned over within Me,
[y]All My compassions are kindled.
9 I will (BD)not carry out My fierce anger;
I will not destroy Ephraim (BE)again.
For (BF)I am God and not a man, the (BG)Holy One in your midst,
And I will not come in [z]wrath.
10 They will (BH)walk after the Lord,
He will (BI)roar like a lion;
Indeed He will roar,
And His sons will come (BJ)trembling from the west.
11 They will come trembling like birds from (BK)Egypt,
And like (BL)doves from the land of (BM)Assyria;
And I will (BN)settle them in their houses, declares the Lord.
12 [aa]Ephraim surrounds Me with (BO)lies
And the house of Israel with deceit;
[ab]Judah is still unruly against God,
Even against the Holy One who is faithful.
Ephraim Reminded
12 [ac]Ephraim feeds on (BP)wind,
And pursues the (BQ)east wind continually;
He multiplies lies and violence.
Moreover, [ad]he makes a covenant with Assyria,
And oil is brought to Egypt.
2 The Lord also has a (BR)case against Judah,
And will punish Jacob (BS)according to his ways;
He will repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he (BT)took his brother by the heel,
And in his mature strength he (BU)contended with God.
4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and prevailed;
He wept and (BV)implored His favor.
He found Him at (BW)Bethel,
And there He spoke with us,
5 And the Lord, the God of armies,
The Lord is His [ae](BX)name.
6 So as for you, (BY)return to your God,
(BZ)Maintain [af]kindness and justice,
And (CA)wait for your God continually.
7 A [ag]merchant, in whose hands are fraudulent (CB)balances,
Loves to exploit.
8 And Ephraim said, “I have certainly become (CC)rich,
I have found wealth for myself;
In all my labors they will find in me
(CD)No wrongdoing, which would be sin.”
9 But I have been the Lord your God since the land of Egypt;
I will make you (CE)live in tents again,
As in the days of the appointed festival.
10 I have also spoken to the (CF)prophets,
And I [ah]provided many visions,
And through the prophets I spoke in (CG)parables.
11 Is there injustice in Gilead?
Certainly they are worthless.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
Yes, (CH)their altars are like stone heaps
Beside the furrows of a field.
12 Now (CI)Jacob fled to the [ai]land of Aram,
And (CJ)Israel worked for a wife,
And for a wife he kept sheep.
13 But by a (CK)prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
And by a prophet he was protected.
14 (CL)Ephraim has provoked God to bitter anger;
So his Lord will leave his (CM)guilt for bloodshed on him
And bring his (CN)disgrace back to him.
Ephraim’s Idolatry
13 (CO)When Ephraim [aj]spoke, there was trembling.
He (CP)exalted himself in Israel,
But through (CQ)Baal he incurred guilt and died.
2 And now they sin more and more,
And make for themselves (CR)cast metal images,
Idols [ak](CS)skillfully made from their silver,
All of them the (CT)work of craftsmen.
They say of them, “Let the [al]people who sacrifice kiss the (CU)calves!”
3 Therefore they will be like the (CV)morning cloud
And like dew which [am]soon disappears,
Like (CW)chaff which is blown away from the threshing floor,
And like (CX)smoke from a chimney.
4 Yet I have been the (CY)Lord your God
Since the land of Egypt;
And you were not to know (CZ)any god except Me,
For there is no savior (DA)besides Me.
5 I [an](DB)cared for you in the wilderness,
(DC)In the land of drought.
6 As they had their pasture, they became (DD)satisfied,
And as they became satisfied, their (DE)heart became proud;
Therefore they (DF)forgot Me.
7 So I will be (DG)like a lion to them;
Like a (DH)leopard I will [ao]lie in wait by the wayside.
8 I will confront them (DI)like a bear deprived of her cubs,
And I will tear open [ap]their chests;
I will also (DJ)devour them there like a lioness,
As a wild animal would tear them to pieces.
9 [aq]It is to your own destruction, Israel,
That you are (DK)against Me, against your (DL)help.
10 Where then is your (DM)king,
That he might save you in all your cities;
And your (DN)judges, to whom you said,
“Give me a king and princes”?
11 I (DO)gave you a king in My anger,
And (DP)took him away in My wrath.
12 The guilt of Ephraim is wrapped up;
His sin is (DQ)stored up.
13 The pains of (DR)childbirth come on him;
He is (DS)not a wise son,
For [ar]it is not the time that he should (DT)delay at the opening of the womb.
14 Shall I (DU)ransom them from the [as]power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
(DV)Death, where are your [at]thorns?
Sheol, where is your sting?
(DW)Compassion will be hidden from My sight.
15 Though he (DX)flourishes among the [au]reeds,
An (DY)east wind will come,
The wind of the Lord coming up from the wilderness;
And his fountain will (DZ)become dry
And his spring will dry up;
It will (EA)plunder his treasury of every precious article.
16 [av]Samaria will pay the penalty for her (EB)guilt,
Because she has (EC)rebelled against her God.
(ED)They will fall by the (EE)sword,
Their children will be [aw](EF)slaughtered,
And their pregnant (EG)women will be ripped open.
Israel’s Future Blessing
14 [ax](EH)Return, Israel, to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled [ay]because of your (EI)wrongdoing.
2 Take words with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him, “(EJ)Take away all guilt
And [az]receive us graciously,
So that we may (EK)present [ba]the fruit of our lips.
3 Assyria will not save us,
We will (EL)not ride on horses;
Nor will we say again, ‘(EM)Our god’
To the (EN)work of our hands;
For in (EO)You the [bb]orphan finds mercy.”
4 I will (EP)heal their apostasy,
I will (EQ)love them freely,
Because My anger has (ER)turned away from them.
5 I will be like the (ES)dew to Israel;
He will blossom like the (ET)lily,
And he will [bc]take root like the cedars of (EU)Lebanon.
6 His shoots will [bd]sprout,
His [be]majesty will be like the (EV)olive tree,
And his fragrance like the cedars of (EW)Lebanon.
7 Those who (EX)live in his shadow
Will [bf]again raise (EY)grain,
And they will blossom like the vine.
His fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
The Warnings of History to the Ungodly
1 [a](A)Jude, a (B)bond-servant of Jesus Christ and brother of [b]James,
To (C)those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and (D)kept for Jesus Christ: 2 (E)May mercy, peace, and love (F)be multiplied to you.
3 (G)Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our (H)common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you (I)contend earnestly for (J)the faith that was once for all time (K)handed down to (L)the [c]saints. 4 For certain people have (M)crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand [d](N)marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn (O)the grace of our God into (P)indecent behavior and (Q)deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 Now I want to (R)remind you, though (S)you know everything once and for all, that [e]the Lord, (T)after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, [f]subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And (U)angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling place, these He has (V)kept in eternal restraints under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7 just as (W)Sodom and Gomorrah and the (X)cities around them, since they in the same way as these angels indulged in sexual perversion and (Y)went after [g]strange flesh, are exhibited as an [h](Z)example in undergoing the (AA)punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet in the same way these people also, dreaming, (AB)defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak abusively of angelic [i]majesties. 9 But (AC)Michael (AD)the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about (AE)the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him an abusive judgment, but said, “(AF)The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But (AG)these people disparage all the things that they do not understand; and (AH)all the things that they know by instinct, (AI)like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. 11 Woe to them! For they have gone (AJ)the way of Cain, and for pay [j]they have given themselves up to (AK)the error of Balaam, and (AL)perished in the rebellion of Korah. 12 These are the ones who are [k]hidden reefs (AM)in your love feasts when they feast with you (AN)without fear, like shepherds caring only for themselves; (AO)clouds without water, (AP)carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, [l]doubly dead, (AQ)uprooted; 13 (AR)wild waves of the sea, churning up (AS)their own shameful deeds like dirty foam; wandering stars, (AT)for whom the [m]gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.
14 It was also about these people that (AU)Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “(AV)Behold, the Lord has come with [n]many thousands of His holy ones, 15 (AW)to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which (AX)ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” 16 These are (AY)grumblers, finding fault, (AZ)following after their own lusts; [o]they speak (BA)arrogantly, flattering people (BB)for the sake of gaining an advantage.
Keep Yourselves in the Love of God
17 But you, (BC)beloved, (BD)ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by (BE)the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 that they were saying to you, “(BF)In the last time there will be mockers, (BG)following after their own ungodly lusts.” 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, [p](BH)worldly-minded, [q]devoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, (BI)beloved, (BJ)building yourselves up on your most holy (BK)faith, (BL)praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, (BM)looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on some, who are doubting; 23 save others, (BN)snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, (BO)hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.
24 (BP)Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling, and to (BQ)make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with (BR)great joy, 25 to the (BS)only (BT)God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, (BU)be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority (BV)before all time and now and [r]forever. Amen.
Prosperity Comes from the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of Solomon.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.