The Daily Audio Bible
10 Woe(A) to those who make unjust laws,
to those who issue oppressive decrees,(B)
2 to deprive(C) the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,(D)
making widows their prey
and robbing the fatherless.(E)
3 What will you do on the day of reckoning,(F)
when disaster(G) comes from afar?
To whom will you run for help?(H)
Where will you leave your riches?
4 Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives(I)
or fall among the slain.(J)
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,(K)
his hand is still upraised.
God’s Judgment on Assyria
5 “Woe(L) to the Assyrian,(M) the rod(N) of my anger,
in whose hand is the club(O) of my wrath!(P)
6 I send him against a godless(Q) nation,
I dispatch(R) him against a people who anger me,(S)
to seize loot and snatch plunder,(T)
and to trample(U) them down like mud in the streets.
7 But this is not what he intends,(V)
this is not what he has in mind;
his purpose is to destroy,
to put an end to many nations.
8 ‘Are not my commanders(W) all kings?’ he says.
9 ‘Has not Kalno(X) fared like Carchemish?(Y)
Is not Hamath(Z) like Arpad,(AA)
and Samaria(AB) like Damascus?(AC)
10 As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols,(AD)
kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—
11 shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images
as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?(AE)’”
12 When the Lord has finished all his work(AF) against Mount Zion(AG) and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria(AH) for the willful pride(AI) of his heart and the haughty look(AJ) in his eyes. 13 For he says:
“‘By the strength of my hand(AK) I have done this,(AL)
and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.
I removed the boundaries of nations,
I plundered their treasures;(AM)
like a mighty one I subdued[a] their kings.(AN)
14 As one reaches into a nest,(AO)
so my hand reached for the wealth(AP) of the nations;
as people gather abandoned eggs,
so I gathered all the countries;(AQ)
not one flapped a wing,
or opened its mouth to chirp.(AR)’”
15 Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it,
or the saw boast against the one who uses it?(AS)
As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up,
or a club(AT) brandish the one who is not wood!
16 Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
will send a wasting disease(AU) upon his sturdy warriors;(AV)
under his pomp(AW) a fire(AX) will be kindled
like a blazing flame.
17 The Light of Israel will become a fire,(AY)
their Holy One(AZ) a flame;
in a single day it will burn and consume
his thorns(BA) and his briers.(BB)
18 The splendor of his forests(BC) and fertile fields
it will completely destroy,(BD)
as when a sick person wastes away.
19 And the remaining trees of his forests(BE) will be so few(BF)
that a child could write them down.
The Remnant of Israel
20 In that day(BG) the remnant of Israel,
the survivors(BH) of Jacob,
will no longer rely(BI) on him
who struck them down(BJ)
but will truly rely(BK) on the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel.(BL)
21 A remnant(BM) will return,[b](BN) a remnant of Jacob
will return to the Mighty God.(BO)
22 Though your people be like the sand(BP) by the sea, Israel,
only a remnant will return.(BQ)
Destruction has been decreed,(BR)
overwhelming and righteous.
23 The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out
the destruction decreed(BS) upon the whole land.(BT)
24 Therefore this is what the Lord, the Lord Almighty, says:
“My people who live in Zion,(BU)
do not be afraid(BV) of the Assyrians,
who beat(BW) you with a rod(BX)
and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.
25 Very soon(BY) my anger against you will end
and my wrath(BZ) will be directed to their destruction.(CA)”
26 The Lord Almighty will lash(CB) them with a whip,
as when he struck down Midian(CC) at the rock of Oreb;
and he will raise his staff(CD) over the waters,(CE)
as he did in Egypt.
27 In that day(CF) their burden(CG) will be lifted from your shoulders,
their yoke(CH) from your neck;(CI)
the yoke(CJ) will be broken
because you have grown so fat.[c]
28 They enter Aiath;
they pass through Migron;(CK)
they store supplies(CL) at Mikmash.(CM)
29 They go over the pass, and say,
“We will camp overnight at Geba.(CN)”
Ramah(CO) trembles;
Gibeah(CP) of Saul flees.(CQ)
30 Cry out, Daughter Gallim!(CR)
Listen, Laishah!
Poor Anathoth!(CS)
31 Madmenah is in flight;
the people of Gebim take cover.
32 This day they will halt at Nob;(CT)
they will shake their fist(CU)
at the mount of Daughter Zion,(CV)
at the hill of Jerusalem.
33 See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
will lop off(CW) the boughs with great power.
The lofty trees will be felled,(CX)
the tall(CY) ones will be brought low.(CZ)
34 He will cut down(DA) the forest thickets with an ax;
Lebanon(DB) will fall before the Mighty One.(DC)
The Branch From Jesse
11 A shoot(DD) will come up from the stump(DE) of Jesse;(DF)
from his roots a Branch(DG) will bear fruit.(DH)
2 The Spirit(DI) of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom(DJ) and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,(DK)
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
3 and he will delight in the fear(DL) of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,(DM)
or decide by what he hears with his ears;(DN)
4 but with righteousness(DO) he will judge the needy,(DP)
with justice(DQ) he will give decisions for the poor(DR) of the earth.
He will strike(DS) the earth with the rod of his mouth;(DT)
with the breath(DU) of his lips he will slay the wicked.(DV)
5 Righteousness will be his belt(DW)
and faithfulness(DX) the sash around his waist.(DY)
6 The wolf will live with the lamb,(DZ)
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling[d] together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.(EA)
8 The infant(EB) will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s(EC) nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy(ED)
on all my holy mountain,(EE)
for the earth(EF) will be filled with the knowledge(EG) of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
10 In that day(EH) the Root of Jesse(EI) will stand as a banner(EJ) for the peoples; the nations(EK) will rally to him,(EL) and his resting place(EM) will be glorious.(EN) 11 In that day(EO) the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant(EP) of his people from Assyria,(EQ) from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt,(ER) from Cush,[e](ES) from Elam,(ET) from Babylonia,[f] from Hamath(EU) and from the islands(EV) of the Mediterranean.(EW)
12 He will raise a banner(EX) for the nations
and gather(EY) the exiles of Israel;(EZ)
he will assemble the scattered people(FA) of Judah
from the four quarters of the earth.(FB)
13 Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
and Judah’s enemies[g] will be destroyed;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,
nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.(FC)
14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia(FD) to the west;
together they will plunder the people to the east.(FE)
They will subdue Edom(FF) and Moab,(FG)
and the Ammonites(FH) will be subject to them.(FI)
15 The Lord will dry up(FJ)
the gulf of the Egyptian sea;
with a scorching wind(FK) he will sweep his hand(FL)
over the Euphrates River.(FM)
He will break it up into seven streams
so that anyone can cross over in sandals.(FN)
16 There will be a highway(FO) for the remnant(FP) of his people
that is left from Assyria,(FQ)
as there was for Israel
when they came up from Egypt.(FR)
Paul’s Concern for the Corinthians
11 I have made a fool of myself,(A) but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the “super-apostles,”[a](B) even though I am nothing.(C) 12 I persevered in demonstrating among you the marks of a true apostle, including signs, wonders and miracles.(D) 13 How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you?(E) Forgive me this wrong!(F)
14 Now I am ready to visit you for the third time,(G) and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents,(H) but parents for their children.(I) 15 So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well.(J) If I love you more,(K) will you love me less? 16 Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you.(L) Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery! 17 Did I exploit you through any of the men I sent to you? 18 I urged(M) Titus(N) to go to you and I sent our brother(O) with him. Titus did not exploit you, did he? Did we not walk in the same footsteps by the same Spirit?
19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? We have been speaking in the sight of God(P) as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends,(Q) is for your strengthening.(R) 20 For I am afraid that when I come(S) I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be.(T) I fear that there may be discord,(U) jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,(V) slander,(W) gossip,(X) arrogance(Y) and disorder.(Z) 21 I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved(AA) over many who have sinned earlier(AB) and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery(AC) in which they have indulged.
Psalm 56[a]
For the director of music. To the tune of “A Dove on Distant Oaks.” Of David. A miktam.[b] When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.
1 Be merciful to me,(A) my God,
for my enemies are in hot pursuit;(B)
all day long they press their attack.(C)
2 My adversaries pursue me all day long;(D)
in their pride many are attacking me.(E)
3 When I am afraid,(F) I put my trust in you.(G)
4 In God, whose word I praise—(H)
in God I trust and am not afraid.(I)
What can mere mortals do to me?(J)
5 All day long they twist my words;(K)
all their schemes are for my ruin.
6 They conspire,(L) they lurk,
they watch my steps,(M)
hoping to take my life.(N)
7 Because of their wickedness do not[c] let them escape;(O)
in your anger, God, bring the nations down.(P)
8 Record my misery;
list my tears on your scroll[d](Q)—
are they not in your record?(R)
9 Then my enemies will turn back(S)
when I call for help.(T)
By this I will know that God is for me.(U)
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise—
11 in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can man do to me?
Saying 9
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