The Daily Audio Bible
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11 The Lord God is the Holy One of Israel. He created Israel, and he says,
“My children, you asked me to show you a sign.
You told me to show you what I have done.[a]
12 I made the earth,
and I created the people on it.
I used my own hands to make the skies.
And I command all the armies in the sky.[b]
13 I was right to give power to Cyrus,[c]
and I will make his work easy.
He will rebuild my city,
and he will set my people free without bribes or payment.”
The Lord All-Powerful said this.
14 The Lord says, “Egypt and Ethiopia are rich,
but, Israel, you will get those riches.
The tall people from Seba will be yours.
They will walk behind you with chains around their necks.
They will bow down before you
and ask you to pray for them and say,
‘The true God really is with you,
and there is no other God.’”
15 You are the God people cannot see.
You are the God who saves Israel.
16 Many people make false gods,
but they will be disappointed.
All of them will go away ashamed.
17 But Israel will be saved by the Lord.
That salvation will continue forever.
Never again will Israel be shamed.
18 The Lord is God.
He made the skies and the earth.
He put the earth in its place.
He did not want the earth to be empty when he made it.
He created it to be lived on.
“I am the Lord.
There is no other God.
19 I have spoken openly, not in secret.
I did not hide my words in a dark and secret place.
I did not tell the people of Jacob
to look for me in empty places.
I am the Lord, and I speak the truth.
I say only what is right.
The Lord Proves He Is the Only God
20 “You people who escaped from other nations, gather together before me. (These people carry statues of false gods. They pray to useless gods, but they don’t know what they are doing. 21 Tell them to come to me. Let them present their case and discuss these things.)
“Who told you about this before it happened? Who told you this so long ago? I, the Lord, am the one who said these things. I am the only God, the one who does what is right. I am the one who saves, and there is no other! 22 So all you people in faraway places, turn to me and be saved, because I am God, and there is no other.
23 “When I make a promise, that promise is true. It will happen. And I swear by my own power that everyone will bow before me and will take an oath to obey me. 24 They will say, ‘Goodness and strength come only from the Lord.’”
And all who show their anger against him will be humiliated. 25 The Lord will help the people of Israel live right[d] and praise their God.
False Gods Are Useless
46 The Lord says, “Bel has fallen to the ground. Nebo[e] is kneeling before me.
“Men put those idols on the backs of animals. They are only heavy burdens that must be carried. They do nothing but make people tired. 2 But they all bowed down and fell to the ground. They couldn’t escape; they were all carried away like prisoners.
3 “Family of Jacob, listen to me! You who are left from the family of Israel, listen! I have carried you since you left your mother’s womb. I carried you when you were born, 4 and I will still be carrying you when you are old. Your hair will turn gray, and I will still carry you. I made you, and I will carry you to safety.
5 “Can you compare me to anyone? No one is equal to me. You cannot understand everything about me. There is nothing like me. 6 Some people are rich with gold and silver. Gold falls from their purses, and they weigh their silver on scales. They pay an artist to make a false god from wood. Then they bow down and worship that false god. 7 They put their false god on their shoulders and carry it. That false god is useless; people have to carry it! People set the statue on the ground, and it cannot move. That false god never walks away from its place. People can yell at it, but it will not answer. That false god is only a statue; it cannot save people from their troubles.
8 “Sinners, change your heart and mind. Think about this again. Remember it and be strong. 9 Remember what happened long ago. Remember, I am God and there is no other God. There is no other like me.
10 “In the beginning, I told you what would happen in the end. A long time ago, I told you things that have not happened yet. When I plan something, it happens. I do whatever I want to do. 11 I am calling a man from the east to do what I want. He will come like an eagle from a faraway country. He will do all that I have planned. Everything I said will happen just as I said it would.
12 “Listen to me, you stubborn[f] people! You are far from doing what is right. 13 But I am close to making things right. Salvation will not be delayed much longer. I will bring salvation to Zion and to my wonderful Israel.”
God’s Message to Babylon
47 “Fall down and sit in the dirt, Virgin Daughter Babylon.
You have no throne, so sit on the ground, daughter of the Chaldeans.[g]
You are not the ruler now.
You are no longer the beautiful young princess that people said you were.
2 Get the millstones ready
and grind the grain into flour.
Take off your veil and fancy clothes.
Lift your skirt and get ready to cross the rivers.[h]
3 Men will see your naked body
and use you for sex.
I will make you pay for the bad things you did,
and I will not let anyone help you.
4 “My people say, ‘God saves us.
His name is the Lord All-Powerful, the Holy One of Israel.’”
5 “So Babylon, sit down and shut up.
Daughter of the Chaldeans, go into the dark prison.
You will no longer be ‘The Queen of the Kingdoms.’
6 “I was angry with my people.
They were mine, but I turned against them.
I let you punish them,
but you showed them no mercy.
Even for those who were old
you made the work hard.
7 You said, ‘I will live forever.
I will always be the queen.’
You didn’t care what you did to my people.
You didn’t think about what might happen later.
8 So now listen, you who love only pleasure!
Feeling so safe, you tell yourself,
‘I alone am important, and no one else matters.
I will never be a widow or lose my children.’
9 These two things will happen to you:
First, you will lose your children and then your husband.
And none of your magic spells will help you.
10 You do bad things but still feel safe.[i]
You say to yourself, ‘No one sees the wrong I do.’
You thought that your wisdom and knowledge would save you.
You tell yourself, ‘I alone am important,
and no one else matters.’
11 “But disaster is coming your way.
You don’t know when it will happen, but disaster is coming.
And there is nothing you can do to stop it.
12 You worked hard all your life
learning magic and spells.
So start using that magic.
Maybe those spells will help you.
Maybe you will be able to frighten someone.
13 You have many advisors.
Are you tired of the advice they give?
Then send out your men who read the stars.
They can tell when the month starts,
so maybe they can tell you when your troubles will come.
14 But they cannot even save themselves.
They will burn like straw.
They will burn so fast that there will be no coals left to cook bread.
There will be no fire left to sit by.
15 That’s what will happen to those you have worked with,
the people you did business with all your life.
They will all go their own way.
There will be no one left to save you.”
God Rules His World
48 “Family of Jacob, listen to me!
You people call yourself ‘Israel,’
but you are from Judah’s family.
When you take an oath, I, the Lord, the God of Israel,
am the one whose name you use,
but you are not honest and sincere.
2 “Yes, you call yourselves citizens of the holy city,[j]
those who depend on the God of Israel.
The Lord All-Powerful is his name.
3 “Long ago I told you what would happen.
I told you about these things.
And suddenly I made them happen.
4 I did that because I knew you were stubborn.
You were like iron that will not bend,
with heads as hard as bronze.
5 So long ago I told you what would happen.
I told you about those things long before they happened.
I did this so that you could not say,
‘The gods we made did this.
Our idols, our statues, made this happen.’”
God Punishes Israel to Make Them Pure
6 “You heard what I said would happen.
And you can see it has all been done.
Shouldn’t you tell this to others?
Now I will tell you about new things,
secrets you have not known before.
7 This is something that is happening now, not long ago.
You have not heard about it before today.
So you cannot say, ‘We already knew that.’
8 But even in the past you didn’t listen.
You didn’t learn anything.
You never listen to what I say.
I have always known that you would turn against me.
You have rebelled against me from the time you were born.
9 “But I will be patient.
I will do this for myself.
People will praise me for not becoming angry and destroying you.
You will praise me for waiting.
10 “Look, I will make you pure,
but not in the way you make silver pure.
I will make you pure by giving you troubles.
11 I will do this for myself—for me!
I will not let you treat me as if I am not important.
I will not let some false god take my glory and praise.
The Unity of the Body
4 So, as a prisoner for the Lord, I beg you to live the way God’s people should live, because he chose you to be his. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient and accept each other with love. 3 You are joined together with peace through the Spirit. Do all you can to continue as you are, letting peace hold you together. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, and God chose you to have one hope. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. 6 There is one God and Father of us all, who rules over everyone. He works through all of us and in all of us.
7 Christ gave each one of us a special gift. Everyone received what he wanted to give them. 8 That is why the Scriptures say,
“He went up high into the sky;
he took prisoners with him,
and he gave gifts to people.” (A)
9 When it says, “He went up,” what does it mean? It means that he first came down low to earth. 10 So Christ came down, and he is the same one who went up. He went up above the highest heaven in order to fill everything with himself. 11 And that same Christ gave these gifts to people: He made some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to care for and teach God’s people.[a] 12 Christ gave these gifts to prepare God’s holy people for the work of serving, to make the body of Christ stronger. 13 This work must continue until we are all joined together in what we believe and in what we know about the Son of God. Our goal is to become like a full-grown man—to look just like Christ and have all his perfection.
14 Then we will no longer be like babies. We will not be people who are always changing like a ship that the waves carry one way and then another. We will not be influenced by every new teaching we hear from people who are trying to deceive us—those who make clever plans and use every kind of trick to fool others into following the wrong way. 15 No, we will speak the truth with love. We will grow to be like Christ in every way. He is the head, 16 and the whole body depends on him. All the parts of the body are joined and held together, with each part doing its own work. This causes the whole body to grow and to be stronger in love.
19 Praise the Lord!
Every day he helps us with the loads we must carry.
He is the God who saves us. Selah
20 He is our God, the God who saves us.
My Lord God saves us from death.
21 God will smash the heads of his enemies.
He will punish those who fight against him.[a]
22 My Lord said, “If they run up to Bashan or down to the depths of the sea,
I will bring them back.
23 So you will march through pools of their blood,
and there will be plenty left for your dogs.”
24 God, everyone can see your victory parade—
the victory march of my God and King into his holy place![b]
25 Singers come marching in front, followed by the musicians;
they are surrounded by young girls playing tambourines.
26 Praise God in the meeting place.[c]
Praise the Lord, people of Israel!
27 There is the smallest tribe, Benjamin, leading them.
And there comes a large group of leaders from Judah.
Following them are the leaders of Zebulun and Naphtali.
28 God, show us your power!
Show us the power you used for us in the past.
29 Kings will bring their wealth to you,
to your Temple in Jerusalem.
30 Punish the people in Egypt.
They are like cattle in the marshes, like bulls among the calves.
You humiliated them.
You scattered them in war.
Now let them come crawling to you,
bringing their pieces of silver.
31 Messengers from Egypt will come bearing gifts.
Ethiopia will offer God their tribute.
32 Kings on earth, sing to God!
Sing songs of praise to our Lord! Selah
33 Sing to him who rides his chariot through the ancient skies.
Listen to his powerful voice!
34 Tell everyone how powerful he is!
He rules over Israel.
His power fills the skies.
35 God, you are awesome in your Temple!
The God of Israel is the one who gives strength and power to his people.
Praise God!
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3 Good homes are built on wisdom and understanding. 4 Knowledge fills the rooms with rare and beautiful treasures.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International