The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NIV. Switch to the NIV to read along with the audio.
David’s Song of Thanksgiving
22 David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.(A) 2 He said,
“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,(B)
3 my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my savior; you save me from violence.(C)
4 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.(D)
5 For the waves of death encompassed me;
the torrents of perdition assailed me;(E)
6 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.(F)
7 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry came to his ears.(G)
8 Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations of the heavens trembled
and reeled because he was angry.(H)
9 Smoke went up from his nostrils
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.(I)
10 He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.(J)
11 He rode on a cherub and flew;
he was seen upon the wings of the wind.(K)
12 He made darkness around him a canopy,
thick clouds, a gathering of water.(L)
13 Out of the brightness before him
coals of fire flamed forth.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High uttered his voice.(M)
15 He sent out arrows and scattered them,
lightning and routed them.
16 Then the channels of the sea were seen;
the foundations of the world were laid bare
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.(N)
17 He reached from on high; he took me;
he drew me out of mighty waters.(O)
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.
19 They came upon me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my stay.(P)
20 He brought me out into a broad place;
he delivered me because he delighted in me.(Q)
21 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.(R)
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not wickedly departed from my God.(S)
23 For all his ordinances were before me,
and from his statutes I did not turn aside.(T)
24 I was blameless before him,
and I kept myself from guilt.(U)
25 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in his sight.(V)
26 With the loyal you show yourself loyal;
with the blameless[a] you show yourself blameless;(W)
27 with the pure you show yourself pure,
and with the crooked you show yourself shrewd.(X)
28 You deliver a humble people,
but your eyes are upon the haughty to bring them down.(Y)
29 Indeed, you are my lamp, O Lord;
the Lord lightens my darkness.(Z)
30 By you I can outrun a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
31 This God—his way is perfect;
the promise of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.(AA)
32 For who is God but the Lord?
And who is a rock except our God?(AB)
33 The God who has girded me with strength[b]
has opened wide my path.[c](AC)
34 He made my feet like the feet of deer
and set me secure on the heights.(AD)
35 He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.(AE)
36 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your help[d] has made me great.
37 You have made me stride freely,
and my feet do not slip;(AF)
38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them
and did not turn back until they were consumed.
39 I consumed them; I struck them down so that they did not rise;
they fell under my feet.(AG)
40 For you girded me with strength for the battle;
you made my assailants sink under me.(AH)
41 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
those who hated me, and I destroyed them.(AI)
42 They looked, but there was no one to save them;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.(AJ)
43 I beat them fine like the dust of the earth;
I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.(AK)
44 You delivered me from strife with the peoples;[e]
you kept me as the head of the nations;
people whom I had not known served me.(AL)
45 Foreigners came cringing to me;
as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.(AM)
46 Foreigners lost heart
and came trembling out[f] of their strongholds.(AN)
47 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock,
and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,(AO)
48 the God who gave me vengeance
and brought down peoples under me,(AP)
49 who brought me out from my enemies;
you exalted me above my adversaries;
you delivered me from the violent.(AQ)
50 For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations
and sing praises to your name.(AR)
51 He is a tower of salvation for his king
and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.”(AS)
The Last Words of David
23 Now these are the last words of David:
The oracle of David, son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man whom God exalted,[g]
the anointed of the God of Jacob,
the favorite of the Strong One of Israel:(AT)
2 The spirit of the Lord speaks through me;
his word is upon my tongue.(AU)
3 The God of Israel has spoken;
the Rock of Israel has said to me:
“One who rules over people justly,
ruling in the fear of God,(AV)
4 is like the light of morning,
like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,
gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.”(AW)
5 Is not my house like this with God?
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and secure.
Will he not cause to prosper
all my help and my desire?(AX)
6 But the godless[h] are all like thorns that are thrown away,
for they cannot be picked up with the hand;(AY)
7 to touch them one uses an iron bar
or the shaft of a spear.
And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot.[i]
David’s Mighty Men
8 These are the names of the warriors whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the Three;[j] he wielded his spear[k] against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.
9 Next to him among the three warriors was Eleazar son of Dodo son of Ahohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle. The Israelites withdrew,(AZ) 10 but he stood his ground. He struck down the Philistines until his arm grew weary, though his hand clung to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. Then the people came back to him—but only to strip the dead.(BA)
11 Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the army fled from the Philistines.(BB) 12 But he took his stand in the middle of the plot, defended it, and killed the Philistines, and the Lord brought about a great victory.
13 Toward the beginning of harvest three of the thirty chiefs went down to join David at the cave of Adullam while a band of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim.(BC) 14 David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem.(BD) 15 David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” 16 Then the three warriors broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it; he poured it out to the Lord, 17 for he said, “The Lord forbid that I should do this. Can I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. The three warriors did these things.(BE)
18 Now Abishai son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, was chief of the Thirty.[l] With his spear he fought against three hundred men and killed them and won a name beside the Three.(BF) 19 He was the most renowned of the Thirty[m] and became their commander, but he did not attain to the Three.
20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant warrior[n] from Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds; he struck down two sons of Ariel[o] of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen.(BG) 21 And he killed an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went against him with a staff, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and killed him with his own spear. 22 Such were the things Benaiah son of Jehoiada did and won a name beside the three warriors. 23 He was renowned among the Thirty, but he did not attain to the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.(BH)
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.(A) 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.(B) 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.(C)
5 Now there were devout Jews from every people under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
Peter Addresses the Crowd
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Fellow Jews[a] and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.(D) 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.(E)
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit,
and they shall prophesy.(F)
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.(G)
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’(H)
22 “Fellow Israelites,[b] listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth,[c] a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know(I)— 23 this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law.(J) 24 But God raised him up, having released him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power.(K) 25 For David says concerning him,
‘I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;(L)
26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
moreover, my flesh will live in hope.
27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades
or let your Holy One experience corruption.(M)
28 You have made known to me the ways of life;
you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’
29 “Fellow Israelites,[d] I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.(N) 30 Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne.(O) 31 Foreseeing this, David[e] spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah,[f] saying,
‘He was not abandoned to Hades,
nor did his flesh experience corruption.’(P)
32 “This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses.(Q) 33 Being therefore exalted at[g] the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you see and hear.(R) 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,(S)
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’
36 “Therefore let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah,[h] this Jesus whom you crucified.”
The First Converts
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers,[i] what should we do?”(T) 38 Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.(U) 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”(V) 40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Life among the Believers
43 Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.(W) 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common;(X) 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds[j] to all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home[k] and ate their food with glad and generous[l] hearts,(Y) 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.(Z)
Psalm 122
Song of Praise and Prayer for Jerusalem
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”(A)
2 Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor
than to divide the spoil with the proud.
20 Those who are attentive to a matter will prosper,
and happy are those who trust in the Lord.(A)
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.