The Daily Audio Bible
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Israel’s Sin and Captivity
10 Israel is a luxuriant vine
that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
the more altars he built;
as his country improved,
he improved his pillars.(A)
2 Their heart is false;
now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord[a] will break down their altars
and destroy their pillars.(B)
3 For now they will say:
“We have no king,
for we do not fear the Lord,
and a king—what could he do for us?”
4 They utter mere words;
with empty oaths they make covenants;
so litigation springs up like poisonous weeds
in the furrows of the field.(C)
5 The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
for the calf[b] of Beth-aven.
Its people shall mourn for it,
and its idolatrous priests shall wail[c] over it,
over its glory that has departed from it.(D)
6 The thing itself shall be carried to Assyria
as tribute to the great king.[d]
Ephraim shall be put to shame,
and Israel shall be ashamed of his idol.[e](E)
7 Samaria’s king shall perish
like a chip on the face of the waters.(F)
8 The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
shall be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle shall grow up
on their altars.
They shall say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
and to the hills, “Fall on us.”(G)
9 Since the days of Gibeah you have sinned, O Israel;
there they have continued.
Shall not war overtake them in Gibeah?(H)
10 I will come[f] against the wayward people to punish them,
and nations shall be gathered against them
when they are punished[g] for their double iniquity.(I)
11 Ephraim was a trained heifer
that loved to thresh,
and I spared her fair neck,
but I will make Ephraim break the ground;
Judah must plow;
Jacob must harrow for himself.(J)
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground,
for it is time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.(K)
13 You have plowed wickedness;
you have reaped injustice;
you have eaten the fruit of lies.
Because you have trusted in your chariots,[h]
in the multitude of your warriors,(L)
14 therefore the tumult of war shall rise against your people,
and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,
as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.(M)
15 Thus it shall be done to you, O Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
shall be utterly cut off.(N)
God’s Compassion Despite Israel’s Ingratitude
11 When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.(O)
2 The more I[i] called them,
the more they went from me;[j]
they kept sacrificing to the Baals
and offering incense to idols.(P)
3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up in my[k] arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.(Q)
4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
with bands of love.
I was to them like those
who lift infants to their cheeks.[l]
I bent down to them and fed them.(R)
5 They shall return to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria shall be their king,
because they have refused to return to me.(S)
6 The sword rages in their cities;
it consumes their oracle priests
and devours because of their schemes.(T)
7 My people are bent on turning away from me.
To the Most High they call,
but he does not raise them up at all.[m](U)
8 How can I give you up, 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 recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.(V)
9 I will not execute my fierce anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim,
for I am God and no mortal,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.[n](W)
10 They shall go after the Lord,
who roars like a lion;
when he roars,
his children shall come trembling from the west.(X)
11 They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt
and like doves from the land of Assyria,
and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.(Y)
12 [o]Ephraim has surrounded me with lies
and the house of Israel with deceit,
but Judah still walks[p] with God
and is faithful to the Holy One.(Z)
12 Ephraim herds the wind
and pursues the east wind all day long;
they multiply falsehood and violence;
they make a treaty with Assyria,
and oil is carried to Egypt.(AA)
The Long History of Rebellion
2 The Lord has an indictment against Judah
and will punish Jacob according to his ways
and repay him according to his deeds.(AB)
3 In the womb he tried to supplant his brother,
and in his manhood he strove with God.(AC)
4 He strove with the angel and prevailed;
he wept and sought his favor;
he met him at Bethel,
and there he spoke with him.[q](AD)
5 The Lord the God of hosts,
the Lord is his name!
6 But as for you, return to your God;
hold fast to love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.(AE)
7 A trader in whose hands are false balances,
he loves to oppress.(AF)
8 Ephraim has said, “Ah, I am rich;
I have gained wealth for myself;
in all of my gain
no offense has been found in me
that would be sin.”[r](AG)
9 I am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
as in the days of the appointed festival.(AH)
10 I spoke to the prophets;
it was I who multiplied visions,
and through the prophets I will bring destruction.(AI)
11 In[s] Gilead there is iniquity;
they shall surely come to nothing.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
so their altars shall be like stone heaps
on the furrows of the field.(AJ)
12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
there Israel served for a wife,
and for a wife he guarded sheep.[t](AK)
13 By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
and by a prophet he was guarded.(AL)
14 Ephraim has given bitter offense,
so his Lord will bring his crimes down on him
and pay him back for his insults.(AM)
Relentless Judgment on Israel
13 When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling;
he was exalted in Israel,
but he incurred guilt through Baal and died.(AN)
2 And now they keep on sinning
and make a cast image for themselves,
idols of silver made according to their understanding,
all of them the work of artisans.
“Sacrifice to these,” they say.[u]
People are kissing calves!(AO)
3 Therefore they shall be like the morning mist
or like the dew that goes away early,
like chaff that swirls from the threshing floor
or like smoke from a window.(AP)
4 Yet I have been the Lord your God
ever since the land of Egypt;
you know no God but me,
and besides me there is no savior.(AQ)
5 It was I who fed[v] you in the wilderness,
in the land of drought.(AR)
6 When I fed[w] them, they were satisfied;
they were satisfied, and their heart was proud;
therefore they forgot me.(AS)
7 So I will become like a lion to them;
like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.(AT)
8 I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs
and will tear open the covering of their heart;
there I will devour them like a lion,
as a wild animal would mangle them.
9 I will destroy you, O Israel;
who can help you?[x]
10 Where now is[y] your king, that he may save you?
Where in all your cities are your rulers,
of whom you said,
“Give me a king and rulers”?(AU)
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him away in my wrath.(AV)
12 Ephraim’s iniquity is bound up;
his sin is kept in store.(AW)
13 The pangs of childbirth come for him,
but he is an unwise son,
for at the proper time he does not present himself
at the mouth of the womb.(AX)
14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where are[z] your plagues?
O Sheol, where is[aa] your destruction?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.(AY)
15 Although he may flourish among rushes,[ab]
the east wind shall come, a blast from the Lord,
rising from the wilderness,
and his fountain shall dry up;
his spring shall be parched.
It shall strip his treasury
of every precious thing.(AZ)
16 [ac]Samaria shall bear her guilt
because she has rebelled against her God;
they shall fall by the sword;
their little ones shall be dashed in pieces,
and their pregnant women ripped open.(BA)
A Plea for Repentance
14 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.(BB)
2 Take words with you
and return to the Lord;
say to him,
“Take away all guilt;
accept that which is good,
and we will offer
the fruit[ad] of our lips.(BC)
3 Assyria shall not save us;
we will not ride upon horses;
we will say no more, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds mercy.”(BD)
Assurance of Forgiveness
4 I will heal their disloyalty;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.(BE)
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
he shall blossom like the lily;
he shall strike root like the forests of Lebanon.[ae](BF)
6 His shoots shall spread out;
his beauty shall be like the olive tree
and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.(BG)
7 They shall again live beneath my[af] shadow;
they shall flourish as a garden;[ag]
they shall blossom like the vine;
their fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon.(BH)
8 O Ephraim, what have I[ah] to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.[ai]
I am like an evergreen cypress;
your fruit comes from me.(BI)
9 Those who are wise understand these things;
those who are discerning know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.(BJ)
Salutation
1 Jude,[a] a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, who are beloved[b] in[c] God the Father and kept safe for[d] Jesus Christ:(A)
2 May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.
Occasion of the Letter
3 Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once and for all handed on to the saints.(B) 4 For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into debauchery and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.[e](C)
Judgment on False Teachers
5 Now I desire to remind you, though you are fully informed, once and for all, that Jesus, who saved[f] a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.(D) 6 And the angels who did not keep their own position but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deepest darkness for the judgment of the great day.(E) 7 Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural lust,[g] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.(F)
8 Yet in the same way these dreamers also defile the flesh, reject authority, and slander the glorious ones.[h](G) 9 But when the archangel Michael disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a condemnation of slander[i] against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”(H) 10 But these people slander whatever they do not understand, and they are destroyed by those things that, like irrational animals, they know by instinct. 11 Woe to them! For they go the way of Cain and abandon themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain and perish in Korah’s rebellion.(I) 12 These are blots[j] on your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, feeding themselves.[k] They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted;(J) 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever.(K)
14 It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “See, the Lord is coming[l] with ten thousands of his holy ones,(L) 15 to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly[m] of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers and malcontents; they indulge their lusts;[n] their mouths utter bombastic nonsense, flattering people to their own advantage.(M)
Warnings and Exhortations
17 But you, beloved, must remember the words previously spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 for they said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts.”(N) 19 It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions. 20 But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;(O) 21 keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to[o] eternal life.(P) 22 And have mercy on some who are wavering; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.[p](Q)
Benediction
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing,(R) 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.(S)
Psalm 127
God’s Blessings in the Home
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
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.