The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday October 30, 2024 (NIV)

⁴ He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
^(D)he has broken my bones;
^5 (E)he has besieged and enveloped me
with ^(F)bitterness and tribulation;
^6 (G)he has made me dwell in darkness
like the dead of long ago.

^7 (H)He has walled me about so that ^(I)I cannot escape;
he has made my chains heavy;
⁸ though ^(J)I call and cry for help,
he shuts out my prayer;
^9 (K)he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
he has made my paths crooked.

^10 (L)He is a bear lying in wait for me,
a lion in hiding;
^11 (M)he turned aside my steps and ^(N)tore me to pieces;
^(O)he has made me desolate;
^12 (P)he bent his bow ^(Q)and set me
as a target for his arrow.

¹³ He drove into my kidneys
^(R)the arrows of his quiver;
^14 (S)I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
^(T)the object of their taunts all day long.
^15 (U)He has filled me with bitterness;
he has sated me with ^(V)wormwood.

^16 (W)He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
and ^(X)made me cower in ashes;
¹⁷ my soul is bereft of peace;
I have forgotten what happiness^[a] is;
^18 (Y)so I say, “My endurance has perished;
so has my hope from the Lord.”

^19 (Z)Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
^(AA)the wormwood and ^(AB)the gall!
²⁰ My soul continually remembers it
^(AC)and is bowed down within me.
²¹ But this I call to mind,
and ^(AD)therefore I have hope:

^22 (AE)The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;^[b]
(AF)his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new ^(AG)every morning;
^(AH)great is your faithfulness.
^24 (AI)“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
^(AJ)“therefore I will hope in him.”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who ^(AK)wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
^26 (AL)It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
^27 (AM)It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke ^(AN)in his youth.

²⁸ Let him ^(AO)sit alone in silence
when it is laid on him;
^29 (AP)let him put his mouth in the dust—
there may yet be hope;
^30 (AQ)let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
and let him be filled with insults.

^31 (AR)For the Lord will not
cast off forever,
³² but, though he ^(AS)cause grief, ^(AT)he will have compassion
^(AU)according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
^33 (AV)for he does not afflict from his heart
or ^(AW)grieve the children of men.

³⁴ To crush underfoot
all ^(AX)the prisoners of the earth,
^35 (AY)to deny a man justice
in the presence of the Most High,
³⁶ to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
^(AZ)the Lord does not approve.

^37 (BA)Who has spoken and it came to pass,
unless the Lord has commanded it?
^38 (BB)Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
^39 (BC)Why should a living man complain,
a man, about the punishment of his sins?

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

⁴³ “You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
^(BH)killing without pity;
^44 (BI)you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
so that no prayer can pass through.
^45 (BJ)You have made us scum and garbage
among the peoples.

^46 (BK)“All our enemies
open their mouths against us;
^47 (BL)panic and pitfall have come upon us,
devastation and ^(BM)destruction;
^48 (BN)my eyes flow with rivers of tears
because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

^49 (BO)“My eyes will flow without ceasing,
without respite,
^50 (BP)until the Lord from heaven
looks down and sees;
⁵¹ my eyes cause me grief
at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

^52 (BQ)“I have been hunted ^(BR)like a bird
by those who were my enemies ^(BS)without cause;
^53 (BT)they flung me alive into the pit
^(BU)and cast stones on me;
^54 (BV)water closed over my head;
I said, ^(BW)‘I am lost.’

^55 (BX)“I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
^56 (BY)you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
^57 (BZ)You came near when I called on you;
you said, ^(CA)‘Do not fear!’

⁵⁸ “You have ^(CB)taken up my cause, ^(CC)O Lord;
you have ^(CD)redeemed my life.
⁵⁹ You have seen the wrong done to me, ^(CE)O Lord;
judge my cause.
⁶⁰ You have seen all their vengeance,
all ^(CF)their plots against me.

^61 (CG)“You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
all ^(CH)their plots against me.
⁶² The lips and thoughts ^(CI)of my assailants
are against me all the day long.
^63 (CJ)Behold their sitting and their rising;
^(CK)I am the object of their taunts.

^64 (CL)“You will repay them,^[c] O Lord,
^(CM)according to the work of their hands.
⁶⁵ You will give them^[d] dullness of heart;
your curse will be^[e] on them.
⁶⁶ You will pursue them^[f] in anger and ^(CN)destroy them
from under ^(CO)your heavens, O Lord.”^[g]

^(M)“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”?

^(N)“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son”?

^(P)“Let all God's angels worship him.”

^(Q)“He makes his angels winds,
and his ministers a flame of fire.”

^(R)“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, ^(S)has anointed you
with ^(T)the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

^(U)“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the work of your hands;
¹¹ they will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment,
¹² like a robe you will roll them up,
like a garment they will be changed.^[a]
But you are ^(V)the same,
and your years will have no end.”

^(W)“Sit at my right hand
^(X)until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

³ For my days ^(J)pass away like smoke,
and my ^(K)bones burn like a furnace.
⁴ My heart is ^(L)struck down like grass and ^(M)has withered;
I ^(N)forget to eat my bread.
⁵ Because of my loud groaning
my ^(O)bones cling to my flesh.
⁶ I am like ^(P)a desert owl of the wilderness,
like an owl^[a] of the waste places;
⁷ I ^(Q)lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
⁸ All the day my enemies taunt me;
those who ^(R)deride me ^(S)use my name for a curse.
⁹ For I eat ashes like bread
and ^(T)mingle tears with my drink,
¹⁰ because of your indignation and anger;
for you have ^(U)taken me up and ^(V)thrown me down.
¹¹ My days are like ^(W)an evening shadow;
I ^(X)wither away like grass.

¹² But you, O Lord, are ^(Y)enthroned forever;
you ^(Z)are remembered throughout all generations.
¹³ You will ^(AA)arise and have ^(AB)pity on Zion;
it is the time to favor her;
^(AC)the appointed time has come.
¹⁴ For your servants hold her ^(AD)stones dear
and have pity on her dust.
¹⁵ Nations will ^(AE)fear the name of the Lord,
and all ^(AF)the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
¹⁶ For the Lord ^(AG)builds up Zion;
he ^(AH)appears in his glory;
¹⁷ he ^(AI)regards the prayer of the destitute
and does not despise their prayer.

¹⁸ Let this be ^(AJ)recorded for ^(AK)a generation to come,
so that ^(AL)a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
¹⁹ that he ^(AM)looked down from his holy height;
from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
²⁰ to hear ^(AN)the groans of the prisoners,
to set free ^(AO)those who were doomed to die,
²¹ that they may ^(AP)declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
and in Jerusalem his praise,
²² when ^(AQ)peoples gather together,
and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

²³ He has broken my strength in midcourse;
he ^(AR)has shortened my days.
²⁴ “O my God,” ^(AS)I say, “take me not away
in the midst of my days—
^(AT)you whose years endure
throughout all generations!”

^25 (AU)Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
and ^(AV)the heavens are the work of your hands.
^26 (AW)They will perish, but ^(AX)you will remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
²⁷ but ^(AY)you are the same, and your years have no end.
^28 (AZ)The children of your servants ^(BA)shall dwell secure;
^(BB)their offspring shall be established before you.