The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NLT. Switch to the NLT to read along with the audio.
Israel Is Punished
10 Israel is a luxuriant vine;[a]
he yields fruit for himself.
The more his fruit increased,
the more he made numerous altars.
The more his land prospered,
the more he[b] improved[c] his stone pillars.
2 Their heart is false;
now they must bear their guilt.
He himself[d] will break down their altars;
he will destroy their stone pillars.
3 For now they will say,
“We have no king;
indeed, we did not fear Yahweh,
and what can a king do for us?”
4 They utter words of vain oaths
when making covenants,[e]
and judgment blossoms like a poisonous plant
on the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants[f] of Samaria tremble
for the calf[g] of Beth-aven.
Indeed, his people will mourn for it,
and his idolatrous priests will wail[h] over it—
over its glory because it has departed from it.
6 It will also be brought to Assyria,
as tribute to the great king.[i]
Ephraim will obtain disgrace
and Israel will be ashamed from his advice.[j]
7 Samaria will be destroyed;
her king is like a chip on the surface of the water.
8 The high places of Aven,
the sin of Israel, will be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle will grow
on their altars.
They will say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
and to the hills, “Fall on us.”
9 From the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;
there they have remained.[k]
Will not war in Gibeah overtake them
against the children of evil?
10 In my desire[l] I will punish them;
nations will be gathered against them
when they are punished for their double iniquities.[m]
11 Ephraim was a trained heifer,
that loved to thresh grain,
and I myself spared[n]
the fairness of her neck;
I will make Ephraim break the ground,
Judah will plow,
Jacob must till for himself.
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap loyal love.[o]
Break up for yourself fallow ground;
it is time to seek Yahweh
so he will come and rain
righteousness upon you.
13 You have plowed wickedness,
you have reaped injustice,
you have eaten the fruit of lies,[p]
because you have trusted in your strength,
in the multitude of your warriors.
14 The tumult of war will rise up against your people,
and all your fortresses will be destroyed,
as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel;
on the day of war
mothers were dashed to pieces with their children.[q]
15 So it will be done to you, O Bethel,
because of the evil of your wickedness;
at dawn, the king of Israel
will be utterly destroyed.
God Will Have Compassion
11 When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 When I called[r] them, they went from my face.[s]
They sacrificed to the Baals, and they sacrificed to idols.
3 And I myself taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them[t] in my[u] arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
4 I drew them with human ties,[v]
with the bands of love.
I was to them like one who lifted up[w] a yoke on their jaws,[x]
though I bent down to them[y] and let them[z] eat.
5 He will return[aa] to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria will be his king,[ab]
because they refused to return.
6 The sword rages in his cities;
it consumes his false prophets
and devours because of their plans.
7 My people are bent on backsliding from me.
To the Most High they call,
he does not raise them at all.
8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart is disturbed[ac] within me;
all[ad] my compassions are aroused.
9 I will not execute[ae] my fierce anger,[af]
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
because I am God
and not a mortal,[ag]
the Holy One in your midst;
and I will not come in wrath.
10 They will go after Yahweh;
he roars like a lion.
When he roars,
his children will come trembling
from the sea.[ah]
11 They will tremble like birds[ai] from Egypt,
and like doves[aj] from the land of Assyria;
and I will let them return[ak] to their homes—
a declaration of Yahweh.
Israel’s History
12 [al] Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,[am]
and the house of Israel with deceit;
and Judah is still wandering with God
and is faithful to the Holy One.
12 Ephraim herds the wind[an]
and is pursuing the east wind all day long;
he multiplies deception and violence
and he[ao] makes a treaty with Assyria,[ap]
and oil is brought to Egypt.
2 Yahweh has a quarrel[aq] with Judah
and will punish Jacob according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.
3 In the womb he deceived his brother,
and in his manhood he struggled with God.
4 He struggled with the angel and prevailed;
he pleaded for his mercy.
He met him at Bethel,
and there he spoke with him.[ar]
5 Yahweh the God of hosts,
Yahweh is his renowned name!
6 But you, you must return to your God;
keep love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.
7 The trader, in his hand are scales of deceit;[as]
he loves to oppress.
8 And Ephraim said, “Surely, I am rich,
I gained[at] wealth for myself;
in all my toil they have not found guilt in me
that is sin.
9 But I am Yahweh your God
since[au] the land of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
like the days of the appointed festival.
10 I spoke to the prophets;
I myself multiplied revelations[av]
and through the hand of the prophets I will destroy.
11 If in Gilead there is evil,
surely they will come to nothing.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
also their altars will be like stone heaps
on furrows of the field.
12 Jacob fled to the open field of Aram,[aw]
and Israel served for a wife,
and for a wife he watched over sheep.
13 And by a prophet Yahweh brought
Israel up from Egypt,
and by a prophet
he[ax] was watched over.
14 Ephraim has caused bitter provocation,
and his Lord will hold him responsible for his crimes[ay]
and pay back to him his insults.
Yahweh’s Judgment on Idolatrous Israel
13 When Ephraim spoke,[az] there was terror;
he was exalted in Israel,
but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.
2 And now they sin again,
and they make for themselves a molten idol,
idols from their silver metal according to their understanding,
all of them the work of skilled craftsmen.
To these they say, “Sacrifice!”
People are kissing bull calves.
3 Therefore, they will be like the morning cloud,
and like the dew of early morning going away,
like chaff swirling from the threshing floor,
or like smoke from a window.
4 I am Yahweh your God
since[ba] the land of Egypt;
you know no god except me,
and no one saves besides me.
5 I fed you[bb] in the desert,
in the land of drought.
6 When I fed them,[bc] they were satisfied;
they were satisfied and their heart was lifted up;
therefore they forgot me.
7 And I will be like a lion to them;
I lie in wait beside the way, like a leopard.
8 I will attack them like a bear robbed of her offspring,
and I will tear open the covering of their heart;
there I will devour them like a lion,
like an animal of the field would mutilate them.
9 I will destroy you,[bd] O Israel;
who will help you?[be]
10 Where now is your king that he may save you?
Where in all your cities are your judges,
of whom you said, “Give to
me a king and rulers?”
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him in my wrath.
12 The sin of Ephraim is wrapped up;
his sin is concealed.
13 The labor pains of childbirth come for him;
he is an unwise son
because at the proper time, he does not present himself
at the mouth of the womb.[bf]
14 Should I redeem them from the power[bg] of Sheol? [bh]
Should I deliver them from death?
Where are your plagues, O Death?
Where is your destruction, O Sheol?[bi]
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
15 Although he may flourish among reeds,[bj]
the east wind will come, a wind of Yahweh
rising from the desert;
his fountain will dry up,
his spring will be parched.
It will plunder his treasury,[bk]
every object of desire.
16 [bl] Samaria will be guilty,
because she has rebelled against her God;
they will fall by the sword,
their children will be dashed to pieces,
and their pregnant women will be ripped open.
Return to Yahweh
14 Return to Yahweh your God, O Israel,
for you have stumbled because of your sin.
2 Take words with you,
and return to Yahweh.
Say to him,
“Take away all guilt;
accept good, and we will offer
the fruit[bm] of our lips.
3 Assyria will not save us;
we will not ride on horses,[bn]
and we will say no more, “Our God,”
to the work of our hands
because in you the fatherless child finds mercy.
4 I will heal their disloyalty;[bo]
I will love them freely
because my anger has turned back
from them.[bp]
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like the lily plant,
and he will strike his roots like the trees of Lebanon.
6 His new plant shoots will spread out;
his splendor will be like the olive tree,
and his scent like the trees of Lebanon.
7 They will again dwell[bq] in my[br] shadow;
they will grow grain
and they will blossom like the plant vine;
his fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8 O Ephraim, what have I to do[bs] with idols?
I myself have answered and looked after you.[bt]
I am like a luxuriant cypress;
your fruit[bu] comes from me.
9 Who is wise that he can understand these things?
Who is discerning that he knows them?
The ways of Yahweh are right,
and the righteous walk in them;
but transgressors stumble in them.
Greeting
1 Jude,[a] a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, loved in God the Father and kept for[b] Jesus Christ. 2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.
Contend for the Faith
3 Dear friends, although I[c] was making every effort to write to you concerning our common salvation, I considered it a necessity to write to you to encourage you to contend for the faith delivered once and for all to the saints. 4 For certain men[d] have slipped in stealthily, who were designated long ago for this condemnation, ungodly ones, who change the grace of our God into licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.
Condemnation of the Ungodly False Teachers
5 Now I want to remind you, although you know everything once and for all,[e] that Jesus,[f] having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, the second time destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling place, he has kept in eternal bonds under deep gloom for the judgment of the great day, 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire[g] in the same way as these, are exhibited as an example by[h] undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
8 Despite that, in the same way also these men, because of their[i] dreams, defile the flesh and reject authority and blaspheme majestic beings. 9 But Michael the archangel, when he argued with the devil, disputing concerning the body of Moses, did not dare to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these persons blaspheme all that they do not understand, and all that they understand by instinct like the irrational animals, by these things they are being destroyed. 11 Woe to them! For they have traveled in the way of Cain, and have given themselves up to the error of Balaam for gain, and have perished[j] in the rebellion of Korah. 12 These are the ones feasting together without reverence, hidden reefs at your love feasts, caring for themselves, waterless clouds carried away by winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted, 13 wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shameful deeds, wandering stars, for whom the deep gloom of darkness has been reserved for eternity.
14 And Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about[k] these people, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with tens of thousands of his holy ones 15 to execute judgment against all, and to convict all the ungodly[l] concerning all their ungodly deeds that they have committed in an ungodly way, and concerning all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 16 These people are grumblers, discontented, proceeding according to their[m] desires, and their mouths speaking pompous words, showing partiality to gain an advantage[n].
Persevere in the Love of God
17 But you, dear friends, remember the words proclaimed beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 for they said to you,[o] “In the end time there will be scoffers following according to their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly, not having the Spirit. 20 But you, dear friends, by[p] building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by[q] praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt, 23 and save others by[r] snatching them from the fire, and have mercy on others with fear, hating even the tunic stained by the flesh.
Benediction
24 Now to the one who is able to protect you from stumbling and make you to stand before his glory blameless[s] with exultation, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time and now and for all eternity. Amen.
A Prayer for Protection and Prosperity
A song of ascents. Of Solomon.[a]
127 Unless Yahweh builds a house,
its builders labor at it in vain.
Unless Yahweh guards a city,
a guard watches in vain.
2 It is in vain for you who rise early and sit late,
eating the bread of anxious toil,
when thus he[b] provides[c] for his beloved in his sleep.[d]
3 Look, children[e] are the heritage[f] of Yahweh;
the fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
so are the children[g] of one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.[h]
They shall not be put to shame
when they speak with enemies at the gate.
15 As for a rod and reproof, they[a] will give wisdom,
but a neglected child is disgraced by his mother.
16 With the increase of the wicked, transgression will increase,
but the righteous will look on his downfall.
17 Discipline your children, and they will give you rest,
and they will give delight to your soul.[b]
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software