The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday November 29, 2022 (NIV)

6 Darius decided to rule by stationing 120 officers strategically over the entire empire. ² Over the officers he appointed 3 governors, including Daniel, and required each officer to report directly to them. This way the new king hoped not to lose any territories from his recent conquests or the revenue they provided. ³ Because of Daniel’s exceptional abilities, it wasn’t long before he distinguished himself over the other governors and officers. So the king decided to appoint him as head over the entire realm. ⁴ This appointment did not sit well with the other leaders, so the governors and officers tried to find reasons to level charges against Daniel for the way he supervised the kingdom. Though they tried, they could find no basis for charges or any corruption in his office. Daniel was loyal and attentive in his duties.

⁶ The governors and officers agreed and went to the king with what they thought would be a way to entrap Daniel.

⁹ After considering their proposal, King Darius signed the ordinance and made it law. ¹⁰ Even though Daniel was aware the king had signed the ordinance into law, he continued to do what he always did. He would go home, ascend the stairs to the upper room—which had windows facing toward Jerusalem—and get down on his knees three times a day and pray to his God and praise Him. ¹¹ One day the conspirators came to his house and found Daniel on his knees praying and seeking God’s help. ¹² So they went back to the king and asked to speak to him about the edict he had made.

¹⁴ When the king heard the charge, he was very upset. He thought a great deal of Daniel, so he tried to figure out a way to help him. All day long until evening he looked for some loophole in the law to keep Daniel from falling victim to his edict. ¹⁵ The conspirators returned to press the matter further.

¹⁶ With his honor at stake, the king had no choice. He gave the order for Daniel to be captured. Before Daniel was thrown into the pit with the lions, the king spoke to him.

¹⁷ Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den and a stone was brought in and placed over the opening to shut the mouth of the den. The king himself sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his nobles. That way no one could tamper with the pit and nothing could happen to change Daniel’s fate. ¹⁸ The king retired to his palace and spent the night fasting. That evening he stayed to himself, turning down his regular evening musical entertainment. When he finally went to bed, he could not sleep.

¹⁹ When first light of morning finally arrived, the king got up and didn’t waste any time returning to the lions’ den.

²⁰ As he drew near the den, with anguish in his voice he called out to Daniel, hoping somehow he was still alive.

²³ The king could hardly contain his excitement and joy. He ordered that Daniel be taken up out of the lions’ den. He was removed and examined carefully, but not even a scratch was found on him—all because he put his trust in His God. ²⁴ The king gave yet another order; this time he demanded that those who accused Daniel of wrongdoing be captured and thrown into the lions’ den—but not only them—their wives and children too. As they were being pushed into the den, before they even hit the bottom, the lions jumped on them, overpowered them, and crushed their bones in their powerful jaws.

²⁵ Afterward King Darius sent a message to all the peoples through the world, regardless of their heritage, nationality, or language.

²⁸ With his enemies defeated, Daniel continued to thrive during the reign of Darius and into the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

3 This is now, my dear friends, my second letter to you. In both of them, I have tried to inspire you to a sincere and pure way of thinking by reminding you of what you already know. ² Remember the words spoken earlier by God’s holy prophets and the commandment that our Lord and Savior gave to you through your emissaries.^{[a] 3} Above all, be sure to remember that in the last days mockers will come, following their own desires and taunting you, ⁴ saying, “So what happened to the promised second coming of Jesus? For everything keeps going just the way it has since our ancestors fell asleep in death; since the beginning of creation, nothing’s changed.”

⁵ When they make fun of you, it’s as if the scoffers are deliberately forgetting that long ago when God spoke the word, the heavens came into existence and the earth formed from water and by water. ⁶ The waters later flooded and destroyed that world. ⁷ By that same word, the heavens and earth we see now are being reserved for destruction by fire, preserved until the time comes for the godless on the day of judgment.

⁸ Don’t imagine, dear friends, that God’s timetable is the same as ours; as the psalm says, for with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day.^[b]

⁹ Now the Lord is not slow about enacting His promise—slow is how some people want to characterize it—no, He is not slow but patient and merciful to you, not wanting anyone to be destroyed, but wanting everyone to turn away from following his own path and to turn toward God’s.^[c]

¹⁰ The day of the Lord will come unexpectedly like a thief in the night; and on that day, the sky will vanish with a roar, the elements will melt with intense heat, and the earth and all the works done on it will be seen as they truly are.^{[d] 11} Knowing that one day all this will come to pass, think what sort of people you ought to be—how you should be living faithful and godly lives, ¹² waiting hopefully for and hastening the coming of God’s day when the heavens will vanish in flames and the elements melt away with intense heat. ¹³ What will happen next, and what we hope for, is what God promised: a new heaven and a new earth where justice reigns.

¹⁴ So, my friends, while we wait for the day of the Lord, work hard to live in peace, without flaw or blemish; ¹⁵ and look at the patience of the Lord as your salvation. Our dearly loved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, has written about this. ¹⁶ He says essentially the same in all of his letters, although uneducated and unstable readers misinterpret the difficult passages, just as they always misread Scripture, to their spiritual ruin.

¹⁷ So hear my final words, my friends. Now that I have warned you about what’s ahead, keep up your guard and don’t let unprincipled people pull you away from the sure ground of the truth with their lies and misunderstandings. ¹⁸ Instead, grow in grace and in the true knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Anointed, to whom be glory, now and until the coming of the new age. Amen.

Pe

Tsadhe

Qoph