The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NIV. Switch to the NIV to read along with the audio.
Yahweh Gives Rain
10 Ask rain from Yahweh in the season of the spring rain—
Yahweh, who makes storm clouds,
and he gives showers of rain to them,
to everyone vegetation in the field.
2 Because the household gods[a] speak deceit,
and those who practice divination see a lie,
and the dreamers of vanity speak in vain.
Therefore the people wander like sheep;[b]
they are afflicted because there is no shepherd.
3 My anger burns[c] against the shepherds,
and I will punish the leaders,[d]
because Yahweh of hosts watches over his flock,[e]
the house of Judah;
and he will make them like his majestic horse in war.
4 From them[f] the cornerstone will go out,
from them[g] the tent peg,
from them[h] the battle bow,
from them[i] every ruler,
all together.
5 And they will be like warriors,
trampling in the mud of the streets in the battle.
They will fight, because Yahweh is with them,
and they will put to shame the riders on horses.
6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah,
and the house of Joseph I will save.
And I will bring them back, because I have compassion on them,
and they will be as if I had not rejected them,
for I am Yahweh their God, and I will answer them.
7 And the people of Ephraim will be like a warrior,
and their heart will be glad as with wine.
And their children will see and rejoice;
their heart will shout in exultation in Yahweh.
8 I will whistle to them and gather them,
for I have redeemed them,
and they will become numerous as they have been numerous before.
9 Though I sow[j] them among the nations,
in the distant places they will remember me,
and they will stay alive with their children, and they will return.
10 And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt,
and from Assyria I will gather them.
To the land of Gilead and Lebanon I will bring them,
until no room will be found for them there.
11 And he[k] will pass through the sea of distress,
and he will strike the waves of the sea,
and all the depths of the Nile will dry up.
The pride of Assyria will be brought low,
and the scepter of Egypt will depart.
12 I will make them strong in Yahweh,
and in his name they will walk,
declares[l] Yahweh.
11 Open your doors, O Lebanon,
so that fire will devour your cedars!
2 Wail, O juniper,[m] for the cedar has fallen,
for the magnificent trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks of Bashan,
for the impenetrable forest has come down!
3 Listen to the wailing of the shepherds,
for their splendor is ruined!
Listen to the roar of the young lions,
for the thickets of the Jordan are ruined!
The Two Shepherds
4 Thus says Yahweh my God: “Shepherd the flock[n] doomed to slaughter. 5 The ones buying them kill them and go unpunished, and the ones selling them say, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, for I have become rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 For I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land,” declares[o] Yahweh. “Look, I am going to cause humankind to fall, each into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king; and they will devastate the land, and I will not deliver anyone from their hand.”
7 And I shepherded the flock[p] doomed to slaughter, even[q] the afflicted[r] of the flock.[s] I took two staffs, one I called Kindness, and the other I called Unity, and I shepherded the flock.[t] 8 And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for I grew impatient[u] with them, and they also became tired of me.[v] 9 So I said, “I will not shepherd you! The one dying will die, and the one to be destroyed will be destroyed. And the ones remaining, let them devour the flesh of each other.”[w] 10 And I took my staff Kindness and broke it, to break my covenant that I had made[x] with all the peoples. 11 And it was broken on that day. Then the afflicted[y] of the flock,[z] the ones who were watching me, knew that it was the word of Yahweh. 12 And I said to them, “If it seems right to you,[aa] give me my wages, but if not, keep them.”[ab] And they weighed out my wages, thirty silver shekels. 13 And Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the potter,”[ac] this noble price[ad] at which I was valued by them!” So I took the thirty silver shekels and I threw them to the potter[ae] in the house of Yahweh. 14 Then I broke my second staff Unity to break the family ties between Judah and Israel.
15 And Yahweh said to me, “Take again the implements[af] of a foolish shepherd. 16 For look, I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will not attend to the ones that are perishing; he will not seek the young man,[ag] he will not heal the ones that are crushed and he will not sustain the healthy ones; he will devour the flesh of the fattened ones[ah] and tear apart even their hoofs.
Lament Over Babylon the Great
18 After these things I saw another angel descending from heaven, who had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 And he cried out with a powerful voice, saying,
“Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great,
and it has become a dwelling place of demons
and a haunt of every unclean spirit
and a haunt of every unclean bird
and a haunt of every unclean and detested animal.
3 For all the nations have drunk[a]
from the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality,
and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth have become rich
from the power of her sensuality.”
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying,
“Come out from her, my people,
so that you will not participate in her sins,
and so that you will not receive her plagues,
5 because her sins have reached up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.
6 Pay back to her as she herself also paid out,
and pay back double[b] according to her deeds;
in the cup that she mixed, mix double for her.
7 As much as she glorified herself and lived in luxury,
give to her so much torment and mourning,
because in her heart she said,
‘I sit as a queen, and am not a widow,
and I will never see mourning!’
8 Because of this her plagues will come in one day—
death and mourning and famine—
and she will be burned up with fire,
because the Lord God who passes judgment on her is powerful!”
9 And the kings of the earth will weep and mourn over her, those who committed sexual immorality and lived sensually with her, when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing far off[c] because of the fear of her torment, saying,
“Woe, woe, the great city,
Babylon the powerful city,
because in one hour your judgment has come!”
11 And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo any more— 12 cargo of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple cloth and silk and scarlet cloth and all kinds of scented wood and all kinds of ivory goods and all kinds of goods of precious wood and bronze and iron and marble 13 and cinnamon and amomum[d] and incense and ointment and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine wheat flour and wheat and domesticated animals and sheep and horses and carriages and slaves[e] and human lives.
14 “And the fruit your soul desires[f] has departed from you,
and all the luxury and the splendor has perished from you,
and they will never find them any more.”
15 The merchants of these things, who became rich from them, will stand far off[g], weeping and mourning because of the fear of her torment, 16 saying,
“Woe, woe, the great city,
dressed in fine linen and purple cloth and scarlet cloth,
and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls,
17 because in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!”
And every shipmaster and every seafarer[h] and sailors and all those who labor on the sea stood far off[i] 18 and began to cry out when they[j] saw the smoke of her burning, saying, “Who is like the great city?” 19 And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying,
“Woe, woe, the great city,
in which all those who had ships on the sea
became rich from her prosperity,
because in one hour she has been laid waste!”
20 Rejoice over her, heaven
and the saints and the apostles and the prophets,
because God has pronounced your judgment on her!”
21 And one powerful angel picked up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying,
“In this way Babylon the great city will be thrown down with violence,
and will never be found again!
22 And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters
will never be heard in you again!
And every craftsman of every trade
will never be found in you again!
And the sound of a mill
will never be heard in you again!
23 And the light of a lamp
will never shine in you again!
And the sound of a bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again!
For your merchants were the most important people of the earth,
because with your sorcery they deceived all the nations.
24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints
and all those who had been slaughtered on the earth.
Praise to Yahweh for His Help
146 Praise Yah.[a]
Praise Yahweh, O my soul.
2 I will praise Yahweh while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I am still alive.
3 Do not place trust in princes,
in a son of humankind with whom there is no deliverance.
4 His breath departs; he returns to his plot;[b]
on that day his plans perish.
5 Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is on Yahweh as his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them,
the one who keeps faith[c] forever,
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food for the hungry.
Yahweh sets prisoners free;
8 Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind;
Yahweh raises up those bowed down;
Yahweh loves the righteous;
9 Yahweh protects[d] the strangers.
He helps up the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.[e]
10 Yahweh will reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.[f]
Praise Yah.[g]
33 For pressing milk produces curd,
and pressing the nose produces blood,
so pressing anger[a] produces strife.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software