The Daily Audio Bible
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Judgment on Mount Seir
35 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, set your face against Mount Seir and prophesy against it,(A) 3 and say to it: Thus says the Lord God:
I am against you, Mount Seir;
I stretch out my hand against you
to make you a desolation and a waste.
4 I lay your towns in ruins;
you shall become a desolation,
and you shall know that I am the Lord.
5 Because you cherished an ancient enmity and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of their final punishment,(B) 6 therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, I will make you bloody, and blood shall pursue you; since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you. 7 I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation, and I will cut off from it all who come and go.(C) 8 I will fill its mountains with the slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses those killed with the sword shall fall.(D) 9 I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall never be inhabited. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.(E)
10 Because you said, “These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will take possession of them”—although the Lord was there(F)— 11 therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, I will deal with you according to the anger and envy that you showed because of your hatred against them, and I will make myself known among you[a] when I judge you.(G) 12 You shall know that I, the Lord, have heard all the abusive speech that you uttered against the mountains of Israel, saying, “They are laid desolate; they are given us to devour.” 13 And you magnified yourselves against me with your mouth and multiplied your words against me; I heard it.(H) 14 Thus says the Lord God: As the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate.(I) 15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, Mount Seir and all Edom, all of it. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.(J)
Blessing on Israel
36 And you, mortal, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy said of you, “Aha!” and, “The ancient heights have become our possession,”(K) 3 therefore prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord God: Because they made you desolate indeed and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and an object of gossip and slander among the people,(L) 4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, the watercourses and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted towns, which have become a source of plunder and an object of derision to the rest of the nations all around;(M) 5 therefore thus says the Lord God: I am speaking in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who, with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, took my land as their possession, because of its pasture, to plunder it.(N) 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and hills, to the watercourses and valleys: Thus says the Lord God: I am speaking in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the insults of the nations;(O) 7 therefore thus says the Lord God: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer insults.
8 But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot out your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they shall soon come home. 9 See now, I am for you; I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown, 10 and I will multiply your population, the whole house of Israel, all of it; the towns shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt,(P) 11 and I will multiply humans and animals upon you. They shall increase and be fruitful, and I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.(Q) 12 I will lead people upon you—my people Israel—and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance. No longer shall you bereave them of children.
13 Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, “You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,” 14 therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, says the Lord God, 15 and no longer will I let you hear the insults of the nations; no longer shall you bear the disgrace of the peoples, and no longer shall you cause your nation to stumble, says the Lord God.(R)
The Renewal of Israel
16 The word of the Lord came to me: 17 Mortal, when the house of Israel lived on their own soil, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds; their conduct in my sight was like the uncleanness of a menstrual period.(S) 18 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land and for the idols with which they had defiled it.(T) 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries; in accordance with their conduct and their deeds I judged them.(U) 20 But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that it was said of them, “These are the people of the Lord, yet they had to go out of his land.”(V) 21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.(W)
22 Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.(X) 23 I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations and which you have profaned among them, and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I display my holiness before their eyes.(Y) 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.(Z) 25 I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.(AA) 26 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.(AB) 27 I will put my spirit within you and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.(AC) 28 Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.(AD) 29 I will save you from all your uncleannesses, and I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you.(AE) 30 I will make the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field abundant, so that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you shall remember your evil ways and your dealings that were not good, and you shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominable deeds.(AF) 32 It is not for your sake that I will act, says the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and dismayed for your ways, O house of Israel.(AG)
33 Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the towns to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. 34 The land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. 35 And they will say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined towns are now inhabited and fortified.”(AH) 36 Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.(AI)
37 Thus says the Lord God: I will also let the house of Israel ask me to do this for them: to multiply their people like sheep. 38 Like a consecrated flock, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals, so shall the ruined towns be filled with flocks of people. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.(AJ)
Salutation
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the dispersion:
Greetings.
Faith and Wisdom
2 My brothers and sisters, whenever you face various trials, consider it all joy,(A) 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance complete its work, so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.(B) 6 But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.(C) 7,8 For the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
Poverty and Riches
9 Let the brother or sister of humble means boast in having a high position 10 and the rich in having been humbled, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field.(D) 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same way with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away.
Trial and Temptation
12 Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord[a] has promised to those who love him.(E) 13 No one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. 14 But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; 15 then, when desire has conceived, it engenders sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death.(F)
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters. 17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.[b](G) 18 In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave birth to us by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.(H)
Psalm 116
Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness
1 I love the Lord because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.(A)
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.(B)
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.(C)
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord,
“O Lord, I pray, save my life!”
5 Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
our God is merciful.(D)
6 The Lord protects the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest,
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.(E)
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.(F)
9 I walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10 [a]I kept my faith, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my consternation,
“Everyone is a liar.”(G)
12 What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord;
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.(H)
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.(I)
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.(J)
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.(K)
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!(L)
23 Know well the condition of your flocks,
and give attention to your herds,
24 for riches do not last forever,
nor a crown for all generations.(A)
25 When the grass is gone, and new growth appears,
and the herbage of the mountains is gathered,(B)
26 the lambs will provide your clothing,
and the goats the price of a field;
27 there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
for the food of your household
and nourishment for your female servants.
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.