The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday October 30, 2021 (NIV)

3 ^[a]I am the man who has seen affliction^(A)
by the rod of the Lord’s wrath.^(B)
2 He has driven me away and made me walk
in darkness^(C) rather than light;
³ indeed, he has turned his hand against me^(D)
again and again, all day long.

⁴ He has made my skin and my flesh grow old^(E)
and has broken my bones.^(F)
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me
with bitterness^(G) and hardship.^(H)
6 He has made me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.^(I)

⁷ He has walled me in so I cannot escape;^(J)
he has weighed me down with chains.^(K)
8 Even when I call out or cry for help,^(L)
he shuts out my prayer.^(M)
9 He has barred^(N) my way with blocks of stone;
he has made my paths crooked.^(O)

¹⁰ Like a bear lying in wait,
like a lion^(P) in hiding,^(Q)
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled^(R) me
and left me without help.
¹² He drew his bow^(S)
and made me the target^(T) for his arrows.^(U)

¹³ He pierced^(V) my heart
with arrows from his quiver.^(W)
14 I became the laughingstock^(X) of all my people;^(Y)
they mock me in song^(Z) all day long.
¹⁵ He has filled me with bitter herbs
and given me gall to drink.^(AA)

¹⁶ He has broken my teeth with gravel;^(AB)
he has trampled me in the dust.^(AC)
17 I have been deprived of peace;
I have forgotten what prosperity is.
¹⁸ So I say, “My splendor is gone
and all that I had hoped from the Lord.”^(AD)

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness^(AE) and the gall.^(AF)
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast^(AG) within me.^(AH)
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the Lord’s great love^(AI) we are not consumed,^(AJ)
for his compassions never fail.^(AK)
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.^(AL)
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;^(AM)
therefore I will wait for him.”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;^(AN)
26 it is good to wait quietly^(AO)
for the salvation of the Lord.^(AP)
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.

²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence,^(AQ)
for the Lord has laid it on him.
²⁹ Let him bury his face in the dust^(AR)—
there may yet be hope.^(AS)
30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him,^(AT)
and let him be filled with disgrace.^(AU)

³¹ For no one is cast off
by the Lord forever.^(AV)
32 Though he brings grief, he will show compassion,
so great is his unfailing love.^(AW)
33 For he does not willingly bring affliction
or grief to anyone.^(AX)

³⁴ To crush underfoot
all prisoners in the land,
³⁵ to deny people their rights
before the Most High,^(AY)
36 to deprive them of justice—
would not the Lord see such things?^(AZ)

³⁷ Who can speak and have it happen
if the Lord has not decreed it?^(BA)
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that both calamities and good things come?^(BB)
39 Why should the living complain
when punished for their sins?^(BC)

⁴⁰ Let us examine our ways and test them,^(BD)
and let us return to the Lord.^(BE)
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven,^(BF) and say:
⁴² “We have sinned and rebelled^(BG)
and you have not forgiven.^(BH)

⁴³ “You have covered yourself with anger and pursued^(BI) us;
you have slain without pity.^(BJ)
44 You have covered yourself with a cloud^(BK)
so that no prayer^(BL) can get through.^(BM)
45 You have made us scum^(BN) and refuse
among the nations.

⁴⁶ “All our enemies have opened their mouths
wide^(BO) against us.^(BP)
47 We have suffered terror and pitfalls,^(BQ)
ruin and destruction.^(BR)”
⁴⁸ Streams of tears^(BS) flow from my eyes^(BT)
because my people are destroyed.^(BU)

⁴⁹ My eyes will flow unceasingly,
without relief,^(BV)
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.^(BW)
51 What I see brings grief to my soul
because of all the women of my city.

⁵² Those who were my enemies without cause
hunted me like a bird.^(BX)
53 They tried to end my life in a pit^(BY)
and threw stones at me;
⁵⁴ the waters closed over my head,^(BZ)
and I thought I was about to perish.^(CA)

⁵⁵ I called on your name, Lord,
from the depths^(CB) of the pit.^(CC)
56 You heard my plea:^(CD) “Do not close your ears
to my cry for relief.”
⁵⁷ You came near^(CE) when I called you,
and you said, “Do not fear.”^(CF)

⁵⁸ You, Lord, took up my case;^(CG)
you redeemed my life.^(CH)
59 Lord, you have seen the wrong done to me.^(CI)
Uphold my cause!^(CJ)
60 You have seen the depth of their vengeance,
all their plots against me.^(CK)

⁶¹ Lord, you have heard their insults,^(CL)
all their plots against me—
⁶² what my enemies whisper and mutter
against me all day long.^(CM)
63 Look at them! Sitting or standing,
they mock me in their songs.^(CN)

⁶⁴ Pay them back what they deserve, Lord,
for what their hands have done.^(CO)
65 Put a veil over their hearts,^(CP)
and may your curse be on them!
⁶⁶ Pursue^(CQ) them in anger and destroy them
from under the heavens of the Lord.

“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father”^[a]?^(O)

“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son”^[b]?^(P)

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”^[c](S)

“He makes his angels spirits,
and his servants flames of fire.”^[d](T)

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;^(U)
a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions^(V)
by anointing you with the oil^(W) of joy.”^[e](X)

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.^(Y)
11 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.^(Z)
12 You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,^(AA)
and your years will never end.”^[f](AB)

“Sit at my right hand^(AC)
until I make your enemies
a footstool^(AD) for your feet”^[g]?^(AE)

³ For my days vanish like smoke;^(E)
my bones^(F) burn like glowing embers.
⁴ My heart is blighted and withered like grass;^(G)
I forget to eat my food.^(H)
5 In my distress I groan aloud^(I)
and am reduced to skin and bones.
⁶ I am like a desert owl,^(J)
like an owl among the ruins.
⁷ I lie awake;^(K) I have become
like a bird alone^(L) on a roof.
⁸ All day long my enemies^(M) taunt me;^(N)
those who rail against me use my name as a curse.^(O)
9 For I eat ashes^(P) as my food
and mingle my drink with tears^(Q)
10 because of your great wrath,^(R)
for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
¹¹ My days are like the evening shadow;^(S)
I wither^(T) away like grass.

¹² But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;^(U)
your renown endures^(V) through all generations.^(W)
13 You will arise^(X) and have compassion^(Y) on Zion,
for it is time^(Z) to show favor^(AA) to her;
the appointed time^(AB) has come.
¹⁴ For her stones are dear to your servants;
her very dust moves them to pity.
¹⁵ The nations will fear^(AC) the name of the Lord,
all the kings^(AD) of the earth will revere your glory.
¹⁶ For the Lord will rebuild Zion^(AE)
and appear in his glory.^(AF)
17 He will respond to the prayer^(AG) of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.

¹⁸ Let this be written^(AH) for a future generation,
that a people not yet created^(AI) may praise the Lord:
¹⁹ “The Lord looked down^(AJ) from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
²⁰ to hear the groans of the prisoners^(AK)
and release those condemned to death.”
²¹ So the name of the Lord will be declared^(AL) in Zion
and his praise^(AM) in Jerusalem
²² when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship^(AN) the Lord.

²³ In the course of my life^[b] he broke my strength;
he cut short my days.^(AO)
24 So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
your years go on^(AP) through all generations.
²⁵ In the beginning^(AQ) you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens^(AR) are the work of your hands.^(AS)
26 They will perish,^(AT) but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
²⁷ But you remain the same,^(AU)
and your years will never end.^(AV)
28 The children of your servants^(AW) will live in your presence;
their descendants^(AX) will be established before you.”

²¹ As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.^(A)
22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to the inmost parts.^(B)