The Daily Audio Bible
11 Thus says the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel and its Maker:
Will you question me[a] about my children
or command me concerning the work of my hands?(A)
12 I made the earth
and created humankind upon it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their host.(B)
13 I have aroused Cyrus[b] in righteousness,
and I will make all his paths straight;
he shall build my city
and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,
says the Lord of hosts.(C)
14 Thus says the Lord:
The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush
and the Sabeans, tall of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours;
they shall follow you;
they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying,
“God is with you alone, and there is no other;
there is no god besides him.”(D)
15 Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.(E)
16 All of them are put to shame and confounded;
the makers of idols go in disgrace together.(F)
17 But Israel is saved by the Lord
with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
ever again.(G)
18 For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
(he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
(he established it;
he did not create it a chaos;
he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the Lord, and there is no other.(H)
19 I did not speak in secret
in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
“Seek me in chaos.”
I the Lord speak the truth;
I declare what is right.(I)
Idols Cannot Save Babylon
20 Assemble yourselves and come together;
draw near, you survivors of the nations!
They have no knowledge—
those who carry about their wooden idols
and keep on praying to a god
that cannot save.(J)
21 Declare and present your case;
take counsel together![c]
Who told this long ago?
Who declared it of old?
Was it not I, the Lord?
There is no other god besides me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is no one besides me.(K)
22 Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.(L)
23 By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
“To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear.”(M)
24 Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me,
are righteousness and strength;
all who were incensed against him
shall come to him and be ashamed.(N)
25 In the Lord all the offspring of Israel
shall triumph and glory.(O)
46 Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
their idols are on beasts and cattle;
these things you carry are loaded
as burdens on weary animals.(P)
2 They stoop; they bow down together;
they cannot save the burden
but themselves go into captivity.(Q)
3 Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from your birth,
carried from the womb;(R)
4 even to your old age I am he;
even when you turn gray I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.(S)
5 To whom will you liken me and make me equal
and compare me, as though we were alike?(T)
6 Those who lavish gold from the purse
and weigh out silver in the scales—
they hire a goldsmith, who makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship!(U)
7 They lift it to their shoulders; they carry it;
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries out to it, it does not answer
or save anyone from trouble.(V)
8 Remember this and consider;[d]
recall it to mind, you transgressors;(W)
9 remember the former things of old,
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is no one like me,(X)
10 declaring the outcome from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, “My purpose shall stand,
and I will fulfill my intention,”(Y)
11 calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man for my purpose from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have planned, and I will do it.(Z)
12 Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
you who are far from deliverance:(AA)
13 I bring near my deliverance; it is not far off,
and my salvation will not tarry;
I will put salvation in Zion,
for Israel my glory.(AB)
The Humiliation of Babylon
47 Come down and sit in the dust,
virgin daughter Babylon!
Sit on the ground without a throne,
daughter Chaldea!
For you shall no more be called
tender and delicate.(AC)
2 Take the millstones and grind meal;
remove your veil;
strip off your robe; uncover your legs;
pass through the rivers.
3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
and your shame shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
and I will spare no one.[e](AD)
4 Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—
is the Holy One of Israel.(AE)
5 Sit in silence, and go into darkness,
daughter Chaldea!
For you shall no more be called
the mistress of kingdoms.(AF)
6 I was angry with my people;
I profaned my heritage;
I gave them into your hand;
you showed them no mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke
exceedingly heavy.(AG)
7 You said, “I shall be mistress forever,”
so that you did not lay these things to heart
or remember their end.(AH)
8 Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,
who sit securely,
who say in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me;
I shall not sit as a widow
or know the loss of children”—(AI)
9 both these things shall come upon you
in a moment, in one day:
the loss of children and widowhood
shall come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries
and the great power of your enchantments.(AJ)
10 You felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, “No one sees me.”
Your wisdom and your knowledge
led you astray,
and you said in your heart,
“I am, and there is no one besides me.”(AK)
11 But evil shall come upon you,
which you cannot charm away;
disaster shall fall upon you,
which you will not be able to ward off,
and ruin shall come on you suddenly,
of which you know nothing.(AL)
12 Stand fast in your enchantments
and your many sorceries,
with which you have labored from your youth;
perhaps you may be able to succeed;
perhaps you may inspire terror.(AM)
13 You are wearied with your many consultations;
let those who study[f] the heavens
stand up and save you,
those who gaze at the stars
and at each new moon predict
what[g] shall befall you.(AN)
14 See, they are like stubble;
the fire consumes them;
they cannot deliver themselves
from the power of the flame.
No coal for warming oneself is this,
no fire to sit before!(AO)
15 Such to you are those with whom you have labored,
who have trafficked with you from your youth;
they all wander about in their own paths;
there is no one to save you.(AP)
God the Creator and Redeemer
48 Hear this, O house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel
and who came forth from the loins[h] of Judah,
who swear by the name of the Lord
and invoke the God of Israel
but not in truth or right.(AQ)
2 For they call themselves after the holy city
and lean on the God of Israel;
the Lord of hosts is his name.(AR)
3 The former things I declared long ago;
they went out from my mouth, and I made them known;
then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.(AS)
4 Because I know that you are obstinate,
and your neck is an iron sinew
and your forehead brass,(AT)
5 I declared them to you from long ago,
before they came to pass I announced them to you,
so that you would not say, “My idol did them;
my carved image and my cast image commanded them.”(AU)
6 You have heard; now see all this;
and will you not declare it?
From this time forward I tell you new things,
hidden things that you have not known.(AV)
7 They are created now, not long ago;
before today you have never heard of them,
so that you could not say, “I already knew them.”
8 You have never heard; you have never known;
from of old your ear has not been opened.
For I knew that you would act very treacherously
and that from birth you were called a rebel.(AW)
9 For my name’s sake I defer my anger;
for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
so that I may not cut you off.(AX)
10 See, I have refined you but not like[i] silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of adversity.(AY)
11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for why should my name[j] be profaned?
My glory I will not give to another.(AZ)
Unity in the Body of Christ
4 I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,(A) 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,(B) 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: 4 there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,(C) 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.[a]
7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.(D) 8 Therefore it is said,
9 (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended[c] into the lower parts of the earth?[d] 10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) 11 He himself granted that some are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers(F) 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,(G) 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity,[e] to the measure of the full stature of Christ.(H) 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming;(I) 15 but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,(J) 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
19 Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation. Selah(A)
20 Our God is a God of salvation,
and to God, the Lord, belongs escape from death.(B)
21 But God will shatter the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crown of those who walk in their guilty ways.(C)
22 The Lord said,
“I will bring them back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,(D)
23 so that you may bathe[a] your feet in blood,
so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe.”(E)
24 Your solemn processions are seen,[b] O God,
the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—(F)
25 the singers in front, the musicians last,
between them young women playing tambourines:(G)
26 “Bless God in the great congregation,
the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”(H)
27 There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
the princes of Judah in a body,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.(I)
28 Summon your might, O God;
show your strength, O God, as you have done for us before.
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem,
kings bear gifts to you.(J)
30 Rebuke the wild animals that live among the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample[c] under foot those who lust after tribute;
scatter the peoples who delight in war.[d](K)
31 Let bronze be brought from Egypt;
let Cush hasten to stretch out its hands to God.(L)
32 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;
sing praises to the Lord, Selah
33 O rider in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.(M)
34 Ascribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel
and whose power is in the skies.(N)
35 Awesome is God in his[e] sanctuary,
the God of Israel;
he gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!(O)
3 By wisdom a house is built,
and by understanding it is established;(A)
4 by knowledge the rooms are filled
with all precious and pleasant riches.
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.