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December 13, 2022

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday December 13, 2022 (NIV)

Obadiah

¹The vision of Obadiah.

Edom Will Be Humbled

Thus says the Lord God ^(A)concerning Edom:
^(B)We have heard a report from the Lord,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations:
“Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!”
²Behold, I will make you small among the nations;
you shall be utterly despised.^[a]
³^(C)The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,^[b]
in your lofty dwelling,
^(D)who say in your heart,
“Who will bring me down to the ground?”
⁴Though you soar aloft like the eagle,
though your nest is set among the stars,
from there I will bring you down,
declares the Lord.

⁵If ^(E)thieves came to you,
if plunderers came by night—
how you have been destroyed!—
would they not steal only enough for themselves?
If ^(F)grape gatherers came to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
⁶^(G)How Esau has been pillaged,
his treasures sought out!
⁷All your allies have driven you to your border;
those at peace with you have deceived you;
they have prevailed against you;
^(H)those who eat your bread^[c] have set a trap beneath you—
^(I)you have^[d] no understanding.

⁸^(J)Will I not on that day, declares the Lord,
destroy the wise men out of Edom,
and understanding out of ^(K)Mount Esau?
⁹And your mighty men shall be dismayed, ^(L)O Teman,
so that every man from ^(M)Mount Esau will be cut off by slaughter.

Edom's Violence Against Jacob

¹⁰^(N)Because of the violence done to your brother Jacob,
shame shall cover you,
^(O)and you shall be cut off forever.
¹¹^(P)On the day that you stood aloof,
^(Q)on the day that strangers carried off his wealth
and foreigners entered his gates
^(R)and cast lots for Jerusalem,
you were like one of them.
¹²^(S)But do not gloat over the day of your brother
in the day of his misfortune;
^(T)do not rejoice over the people of Judah
in the day of their ruin;
^(U)do not boast^[e]
in the day of distress.
¹³^(V)Do not enter the gate of my people
in the day of their calamity;
^(W)do not gloat over his disaster
in the day of his calamity;
^(X)do not loot his wealth
in the day of his calamity.
¹⁴^(Y)Do not stand at the crossroads
to cut off his fugitives;
do not hand over his survivors
in the day of distress.

The Day of the Lord Is Near

¹⁵For ^(Z)the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations.
^(AA)As you have done, it shall be done to you;
your deeds shall return on your own head.
¹⁶^(AB)For as you have drunk on ^(AC)my holy mountain,
so all the nations shall drink continually;
they shall drink and swallow,
and shall be as though they had never been.
¹⁷^(AD)But in Mount Zion there shall be those who escape,
and it shall be holy,
^(AE)and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions.
¹⁸^(AF)The house of Jacob shall be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame,
and the house of Esau ^(AG)stubble;
they shall burn them and consume them,
^(AH)and there shall be no survivor for the house of Esau,
for the Lord has spoken.

The Kingdom of the Lord

¹⁹Those of ^(AI)the Negeb ^(AJ)shall possess ^(AK)Mount Esau,
and those of the Shephelah shall possess ^(AL)the land of the Philistines;
they shall possess the land of Ephraim and the land of ^(AM)Samaria,
and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.
²⁰The exiles of this host of the people of Israel
shall possess the land of the Canaanites as far as ^(AN)Zarephath,
and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
shall possess the cities of the Negeb.
²¹^(AO)Saviors shall go up to Mount Zion
to rule ^(AP)Mount Esau,
and ^(AQ)the kingdom shall be the Lord's.

Footnotes:

Obadiah 1:2 Or Behold, I have made you small among the nations; you are utterly despised
Obadiah 1:3 Or of Sela
Obadiah 1:7 Hebrew lacks those who eat
Obadiah 1:7 Hebrew he has
Obadiah 1:12 Hebrew do not enlarge your mouth

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Revelation 4

The Throne in Heaven

4 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me ^(A)like a trumpet, said, ^(B)“Come up here, and ^(C)I will show you what must take place after this.” ²At once ^(D)I was in the Spirit, and behold, ^(E)a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. ³And he who sat there had the appearance of ^(F)jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was ^(G)a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. ⁴Around the throne were ^(H)twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, ^(I)clothed in white garments, with ^(J)golden crowns on their heads. ⁵From the throne came ^(K)flashes of lightning, and rumblings^[a] and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning ^(L)seven torches of fire, ^(M)which are the seven spirits of God, ⁶and before the throne there was ^(N)as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are ^(O)four living creatures, ^(P)full of eyes in front and behind: ⁷^(Q)the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. ⁸And the four living creatures, ^(R)each of them with six wings, are ^(S)full of eyes all around and within, and ^(T)day and night they never cease to say,

^(U)“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
^(V)who was and is and is to come!”

⁹And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, ^(W)who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰the twenty-four elders ^(X)fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast ^(Y)their crowns before the throne, saying,

¹¹^(Z)“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for ^(AA)you created all things,
and ^(AB)by your will they existed and were created.”

Footnotes:

Revelation 4:5 Or voices, or sounds

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Psalm 132

The Lord Has Chosen Zion

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

132 Remember, O Lord, in David's favor,
all ^(B)the hardships he endured,
²how he swore to the Lord
and ^(C)vowed to ^(D)the Mighty One of Jacob,
³“I will not enter my house
or get into my bed,
⁴I will not ^(E)give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
⁵until I ^(F)find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for ^(G)the Mighty One of Jacob.”

⁶Behold, we heard of it in ^(H)Ephrathah;
we found it in ^(I)the fields of Jaar.
⁷“Let us go to his dwelling place;
let us ^(J)worship at his ^(K)footstool!”

⁸^(L)Arise, O Lord, and go to your ^(M)resting place,
you and the ark of your ^(N)might.
⁹Let your ^(O)priests be ^(P)clothed with righteousness,
and let your ^(Q)saints shout for joy.
¹⁰For the sake of your servant David,
^(R)do not turn away the face of ^(S)your anointed one.

¹¹^(T)The Lord swore to David a sure oath
^(U)from which he will not turn back:
^(V)“One of the sons of your body^[a]
I will set on your throne.
¹²If your sons keep my covenant
and my testimonies that I shall teach them,
their sons also forever
shall ^(W)sit on your throne.”

¹³For the Lord has ^(X)chosen Zion;
he has ^(Y)desired it for his dwelling place:
¹⁴“This is my ^(Z)resting place forever;
here I will ^(AA)dwell, for I have desired it.
¹⁵I will abundantly ^(AB)bless her provisions;
I will ^(AC)satisfy her poor with bread.
¹⁶Her ^(AD)priests I will clothe with salvation,
and her ^(AE)saints will shout for joy.
¹⁷There I will make ^(AF)a horn to sprout for David;
I have prepared ^(AG)a lamp for ^(AH)my anointed.
¹⁸His enemies I will ^(AI)clothe with shame,
but on him his crown will shine.”

Footnotes:

Psalm 132:11 Hebrew of your fruit of the womb

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Proverbs 29:24-25

²⁴The partner of a thief ^(A)hates his own life;
^(B)he hears the curse, but discloses nothing.
²⁵^(C)The fear of man lays a snare,
but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

December 12, 2022

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday December 12, 2022 (NIV)

Amos 7-9

Warning Visions

7 ^(A)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, ^(B)he was forming locusts when the latter growth was just beginning to sprout, and behold, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. ²When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,

“O Lord God, please forgive!
^(C)How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”
³^(D)The Lord relented concerning this:
“It shall not be,” said the Lord.

⁴^(E)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, the Lord God was calling ^(F)for a judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. ⁵Then I said,

“O Lord God, please cease!
^(G)How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!”
⁶^(H)The Lord relented concerning this:
“This also shall not be,” said the Lord God.

⁷^(I)This is what he showed me: behold, the Lord was standing beside a wall built with ^(J)a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. ⁸And the Lord said to me, ^(K)“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said,

“Behold, I am setting ^(L)a plumb line
in the midst of my people Israel;
^(M)I will never again pass by them;
⁹^(N)the high places of Isaac shall be made desolate,
and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste,
and I will rise against ^(O)the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”

Amos Accused

¹⁰Then Amaziah ^(P)the priest of Bethel sent to ^(Q)Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has ^(R)conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. ¹¹For thus Amos has said,

“‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword,
and ^(S)Israel must go into exile
away from his land.’”

¹²And Amaziah said to Amos, ^(T)“O seer, go, flee away ^(U)to the land of Judah, and ^(V)eat bread there, and prophesy there, ¹³but ^(W)never again prophesy at Bethel, for ^(X)it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom.”

¹⁴Then Amos answered and said to Amaziah, ^(Y)“I was^[a] no prophet, nor a prophet's son, but ^(Z)I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. ¹⁵^(AA)But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ¹⁶^(AB)Now therefore hear the word of the Lord.

“You say, ^(AC)‘Do not prophesy against Israel,
and ^(AD)do not preach against the house of ^(AE)Isaac.’

¹⁷^(AF)Therefore thus says the Lord:

“‘Your wife shall be a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword,
and your land ^(AG)shall be divided up with a measuring line;
you yourself shall die in an unclean land,
and ^(AH)Israel shall surely go into exile away from its land.’”

The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning

8 ^(AI)This is what the Lord God showed me: behold, a basket of summer fruit. ²And he said, ^(AJ)“Amos, what do you see?” And I said, ^(AK)“A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me,

^(AL)“The end^[b] has come upon my people Israel;
I will never again pass by them.
³^(AM)The songs of the temple^[c] ^(AN)shall become wailings^[d] in that day,”
declares the Lord God.
^(AO)“So many dead bodies!”
“They are thrown everywhere!”
^(AP)“Silence!”

⁴Hear this, ^(AQ)you who trample on the needy
and bring the poor of the land to an end,
⁵saying, “When will ^(AR)the new moon be over,
that we may sell grain?
And ^(AS)the Sabbath,
that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make ^(AT)the ephah small and the shekel^[e] great
and deal deceitfully with false balances,
⁶that we may buy the poor for ^(AU)silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and sell the chaff of the wheat?”

⁷The Lord has sworn by ^(AV)the pride of Jacob:
“Surely ^(AW)I will never forget any of their deeds.
⁸^(AX)Shall not the land tremble on this account,
and everyone mourn who dwells in it,
^(AY)and all of it rise like the Nile,
and be tossed about ^(AZ)and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”

⁹“And on that day,” declares the Lord God,
^(BA)“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
¹⁰^(BB)I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into lamentation;
^(BC)I will bring sackcloth on every waist
^(BD)and baldness on every head;
^(BE)I will make it like the mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day.

¹¹“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“when ^(BF)I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
^(BG)but of hearing the words of the Lord.
¹²^(BH)They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
^(BI)but they shall not find it.

¹³^(BJ)“In that day the lovely virgins and the young men
shall ^(BK)faint for thirst.
¹⁴Those who swear by ^(BL)the Guilt of Samaria,
and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’
and, ‘As ^(BM)the Way of ^(BN)Beersheba lives,’
they shall fall, and never rise again.”

The Destruction of Israel

9 I saw the Lord standing beside^[f] the altar, and he said:

^(BO)“Strike the capitals until ^(BP)the thresholds ^(BQ)shake,
^(BR)and shatter them on the heads of all the people;^[g]
and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword;
^(BS)not one of them shall flee away;
not one of them shall escape.

²^(BT)“If they dig into Sheol,
from there shall my hand take them;
^(BU)if they climb up to heaven,
from there I will bring them down.
³If they hide themselves on ^(BV)the top of Carmel,
from there I will search them out and take them;
^(BW)and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them.
⁴^(BX)And if they go into captivity before their enemies,
there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them;
^(BY)and I will fix my eyes upon them
for evil and not for good.”

⁵The Lord God of hosts,
he who touches the earth and ^(BZ)it melts,
and all who dwell in it mourn,
^(CA)and all of it rises like the Nile,
^(CB)and sinks again, like the Nile of Egypt;
⁶^(CC)who builds his upper chambers in the heavens
and founds his vault upon the earth;
^(CD)who calls for the waters of the sea
and pours them out upon the surface of the earth—
^(CE)the Lord is his name.

⁷“Are you not like ^(CF)the Cushites to me,
O people of Israel?” declares the Lord.
^(CG)“Did I not bring up Israel from the land of Egypt,
and ^(CH)the Philistines from ^(CI)Caphtor and the Syrians from ^(CJ)Kir?
⁸Behold, ^(CK)the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom,
and I will destroy it from the surface of the ground,
^(CL)except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,”
declares the Lord.

⁹“For behold, I will command,
^(CM)and shake the house of Israel among all the nations
as one shakes with a sieve,
but no pebble shall fall to the earth.
¹⁰All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword,
who say, ^(CN)‘Disaster shall not overtake or meet us.’

The Restoration of Israel

¹¹“In that day ^(CO)I will raise up
the booth of David that is fallen
and repair its breaches,
and raise up its ruins
and rebuild it as in the days of old,
¹²^(CP)that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and ^(CQ)all the nations who are called by my name,”^[h]
declares the Lord who does this.

¹³“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,
^(CR)“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper
and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;
^(CS)the mountains shall drip sweet wine,
and all the hills shall flow with it.
¹⁴^(CT)I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,
and ^(CU)they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;
^(CV)they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
¹⁵^(CW)I will plant them on their land,
^(CX)and they shall never again be uprooted
out of the land ^(CY)that I have given them,”
says the Lord your God.

Footnotes:

Amos 7:14 Or am; twice in this verse
Amos 8:2 The Hebrew words for end and summer fruit sound alike
Amos 8:3 Or palace
Amos 8:3 Or The singing women of the palace shall wail
Amos 8:5 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
Amos 9:1 Or on
Amos 9:1 Hebrew all of them
Amos 9:12 Hebrew; Septuagint (compare Acts 15:17) that the remnant of mankind and all the nations who are called by my name may seek the Lord

Cross references:

Amos 7:1 : ch. 8:1
Amos 7:1 : [Joel 1:4]; See Ex. 10:4
Amos 7:2 : [Ps. 130:3]
Amos 7:3 : [Deut. 32:36; Joel 2:13]
Amos 7:4 : [See ver. 1 above]; ch. 8:1
Amos 7:4 : [Rev. 8:7, 8]
Amos 7:5 : [See ver. 2 above]; [Ps. 130:3]
Amos 7:6 : [See ver. 3 above]; [Deut. 32:36; Joel 2:13]
Amos 7:7 : [See ver. 1 above]; ch. 8:1
Amos 7:7 : [ver. 17]; See 2 Kgs. 21:13
Amos 7:8 : ch. 8:2
Amos 7:8 : [See ver. 7 above]; [ver. 17]; See 2 Kgs. 21:13
Amos 7:8 : ch. 8:2
Amos 7:9 : Gen. 26:23, 25
Amos 7:9 : See 2 Kgs. 15:8-12
Amos 7:10 : 1 Kgs. 12:32
Amos 7:10 : ch. 1:1
Amos 7:10 : [Jer. 38:4]
Amos 7:11 : ch. 6:7
Amos 7:12 : See 1 Sam. 9:9
Amos 7:12 : [ch. 1:1]
Amos 7:12 : [Mic. 3:5, 11]
Amos 7:13 : See ch. 2:12
Amos 7:13 : See 1 Kgs. 12:29–13:1
Amos 7:14 : ch. 1:1; [Zech. 13:5]
Amos 7:14 : ch. 1:1
Amos 7:15 : [Ps. 78:71]
Amos 7:16 : ch. 3:1
Amos 7:16 : [See ver. 12 above]; See 1 Sam. 9:9
Amos 7:16 : Ezek. 20:46; 21:2; Mic. 2:6
Amos 7:16 : [ver. 9]
Amos 7:17 : [Jer. 28:16; 29:21, 31, 32]
Amos 7:17 : [ver. 7, 8]
Amos 7:17 : [See ver. 11 above]; ch. 6:7
Amos 8:1 : ch. 7:1
Amos 8:2 : ch. 7:8
Amos 8:2 : [Jer. 24:1; Mic. 7:1]
Amos 8:2 : Lam. 4:18
Amos 8:3 : [ch. 5:23]
Amos 8:3 : [Jer. 47:2]
Amos 8:3 : [ch. 6:9]
Amos 8:3 : [ch. 6:10; Jer. 16:4, 6]
Amos 8:4 : [Ps. 14:4]
Amos 8:5 : See Num. 28:11
Amos 8:5 : [Neh. 13:15, 16]
Amos 8:5 : Ezek. 45:10; Mic. 6:10, 11; See Hos. 12:7
Amos 8:6 : ch. 2:6
Amos 8:7 : ch. 6:8
Amos 8:7 : Hos. 8:13; 9:9
Amos 8:8 : [Hos. 4:3]
Amos 8:8 : ch. 9:5
Amos 8:8 : [Zech. 10:11]
Amos 8:9 : Jer. 15:9; Mic. 3:6; Matt. 24:29; [ch. 4:13; 5:8]
Amos 8:10 : [Jer. 7:34; 16:9; Hos. 2:11]
Amos 8:10 : Isa. 3:24
Amos 8:10 : Isa. 3:24
Amos 8:10 : Jer. 6:26; Zech. 12:10
Amos 8:11 : [Isa. 8:20, 21]
Amos 8:11 : [Ps. 74:9; Prov. 29:18; Mic. 3:7]
Amos 8:12 : [See ver. 11 above]; [Ps. 74:9; Prov. 29:18; Mic. 3:7]
Amos 8:12 : [ch. 4:8]
Amos 8:13 : Isa. 51:20
Amos 8:13 : [Jonah 4:8]
Amos 8:14 : Deut. 9:21; 1 Kgs. 12:29, 30; Hos. 10:8
Amos 8:14 : [Acts 9:2]
Amos 8:14 : ch. 5:5
Amos 9:1 : Zeph. 2:14
Amos 9:1 : Zeph. 2:14
Amos 9:1 : [Isa. 6:4]
Amos 9:1 : See Judg. 16:26-30
Amos 9:1 : [ch. 2:14]
Amos 9:2 : [Ps. 139:8-10]
Amos 9:2 : [Ps. 139:8-10]
Amos 9:3 : ch. 1:2
Amos 9:3 : [Job 26:5]
Amos 9:4 : [Deut. 28:65]
Amos 9:4 : See Jer. 21:10
Amos 9:5 : Ps. 46:6
Amos 9:5 : ch. 8:8
Amos 9:5 : ch. 8:8
Amos 9:6 : [Ps. 104:3, 5]
Amos 9:6 : See ch. 5:8
Amos 9:6 : See ch. 4:13
Amos 9:7 : [Zeph. 3:10]
Amos 9:7 : Ex. 20:2
Amos 9:7 : Jer. 47:4
Amos 9:7 : Gen. 10:14
Amos 9:7 : ch. 1:5
Amos 9:8 : [ver. 4]
Amos 9:8 : Jer. 30:11; [Obad. 17]
Amos 9:9 : [Jer. 15:7; Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17]
Amos 9:10 : [ch. 6:3]
Amos 9:11 : Cited Acts 15:16
Amos 9:12 : [Obad. 19]
Amos 9:12 : Cited Acts 15:17, 18
Amos 9:13 : Lev. 26:5
Amos 9:13 : Joel 3:18
Amos 9:14 : Jer. 30:3
Amos 9:14 : Isa. 61:4
Amos 9:14 : Jer. 31:5
Amos 9:15 : Jer. 24:6; Ezek. 34:29
Amos 9:15 : [Joel 3:20]
Amos 9:15 : [Jer. 3:18]

English Standard Version (ESV)

Revelation 3:7-22

To the Church in Philadelphia

⁷“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of ^(A)the holy one, ^(B)the true one, ^(C)who has the key of David, ^(D)who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

⁸“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you ^(E)an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹Behold, I will make those of ^(F)the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, ^(G)I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that ^(H)I have loved you. ¹⁰^(I)Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try ^(J)those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹^(K)I am coming soon. ^(L)Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize ^(M)your crown. ¹²^(N)The one who conquers, I will make him ^(O)a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him ^(P)the name of my God, and ^(Q)the name of the city of my God, ^(R)the new Jerusalem, ^(S)which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own ^(T)new name. ¹³^(U)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the ^(V)Amen, ^(W)the faithful and true witness, ^(X)the beginning of God's creation.

¹⁵“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. ^(Y)Would that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷^(Z)For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, ^(AA)blind, and naked. ¹⁸I counsel you ^(AB)to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and ^(AC)white garments so that you may clothe yourself and ^(AD)the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, ^(AE)so that you may see. ¹⁹^(AF)Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. ²⁰Behold, I stand at the door and ^(AG)knock. ^(AH)If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, ^(AI)I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. ²¹^(AJ)The one who conquers, ^(AK)I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as ^(AL)I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²²^(AM)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Psalm 131

I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of David.

131 O Lord, my heart is not ^(B)lifted up;
my eyes are not ^(C)raised too high;
I do not ^(D)occupy myself with things
too great and ^(E)too marvelous for me.
²But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned ^(F)child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.

³^(G)O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Proverbs 29:23

²³^(A)One's pride will bring him low,
^(B)but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

December 11, 2022

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday December 11, 2022 (NIV)

Amos 4-6

4 “Hear this word, ^(A)you cows of Bashan,
who are ^(B)on the mountain of Samaria,
^(C)who oppress the poor, ^(D)who crush the needy,
who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’
²^(E)The Lord God has sworn by his holiness
that, behold, the days are coming upon you,
^(F)when they shall take you away with hooks,
^(G)even the last of you with fishhooks.
³^(H)And you shall go out through the breaches,
each one straight ahead;
and you shall be cast out into Harmon,”
declares the Lord.

⁴^(I)“Come to Bethel, and transgress;
to ^(J)Gilgal, and multiply transgression;
^(K)bring your ^(L)sacrifices every morning,
your tithes every three days;
⁵offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of ^(M)that which is leavened,
and proclaim ^(N)freewill offerings, publish them;
^(O)for so you love to do, O people of Israel!”
declares the Lord God.

Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord

⁶“I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,
and ^(P)lack of bread in all your places,
^(Q)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

⁷“I also ^(R)withheld the rain from you
when there were yet three months to the harvest;
^(S)I would send rain on one city,
and send no rain on another city;
one field would have rain,
and the field on which it did not rain would wither;
⁸so two or three cities ^(T)would wander to another city
to drink water, and would not be satisfied;
^(U)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

⁹^(V)“I struck you with blight and mildew;
your many gardens and your vineyards,
your fig trees and your olive trees ^(W)the locust devoured;
^(X)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

¹⁰“I sent among you a pestilence ^(Y)after the manner of Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword,
and ^(Z)carried away your horses,^[a]
and ^(AA)I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils;
^(AB)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

¹¹“I overthrew some of you,
^(AC)as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
and you were ^(AD)as a brand^[b] plucked out of the burning;
^(AE)yet you did not return to me,”
declares the Lord.

¹²“Therefore thus I will do to you, O Israel;
because I will do this to you,
prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”

¹³For behold, ^(AF)he who forms the mountains and creates the wind,
and ^(AG)declares to man what is his thought,
^(AH)who makes the morning darkness,
and ^(AI)treads on the heights of the earth—
^(AJ)the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name!

Seek the Lord and Live

5 Hear this word that I ^(AK)take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:

²“Fallen, no more to rise,
is ^(AL)the virgin Israel;
forsaken on her land,
with none to raise her up.”

³For thus says the Lord God:

“The city that went out a thousand
shall have a hundred left,
and that which went out a hundred
shall have ten left
to the house of Israel.”

⁴For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

^(AM)“Seek me and live;
⁵but do not seek ^(AN)Bethel,
and do not enter into ^(AO)Gilgal
or cross over to ^(AP)Beersheba;
for ^(AQ)Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
and ^(AR)Bethel shall come to nothing.”

⁶^(AS)Seek the Lord and live,
^(AT)lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for ^(AU)Bethel,
⁷O ^(AV)you who turn justice to wormwood^[c]
and cast down righteousness to the earth!

⁸He who made the ^(AW)Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning
and ^(AX)darkens the day into night,
who ^(AY)calls for the waters of the sea
^(AZ)and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
^(BA)the Lord is his name;
⁹^(BB)who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

¹⁰^(BC)They hate him who reproves ^(BD)in the gate,
and they ^(BE)abhor him who speaks the truth.
¹¹Therefore because you ^(BF)trample on^[d] the poor
and you exact taxes of grain from him,
^(BG)you have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not dwell in them;
^(BH)you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
¹²For I know how many are your transgressions
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who ^(BI)take a bribe,
and ^(BJ)turn aside the needy ^(BK)in the gate.
¹³Therefore he who is prudent will ^(BL)keep silent in such a time,
^(BM)for it is an evil time.

¹⁴^(BN)Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, ^(BO)the God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
¹⁵^(BP)Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice ^(BQ)in the gate;
^(BR)it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord, ^(BS)the God of hosts, the Lord:

“In all the squares ^(BT)there shall be wailing,
and in all the streets they shall say, ‘Alas! Alas!’
They shall call the farmers to mourning
and ^(BU)to wailing those who are skilled in lamentation,
¹⁷and in all vineyards there shall be wailing,
for ^(BV)I will pass through your midst,”
says the Lord.

Let Justice Roll Down

¹⁸Woe to you who desire ^(BW)the day of the Lord!
Why would you have the day of the Lord?
^(BX)It is darkness, and not light,
¹⁹^(BY)as if a man fled from a lion,
and a bear met him,
or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall,
and a serpent bit him.
²⁰^(BZ)Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?

²¹^(CA)“I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
²²^(CB)Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.
²³Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to ^(CC)the melody of your harps I will not listen.
²⁴But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

²⁵^(CD)“Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? ²⁶^(CE)You ^(CF)shall take up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyyun your star-god—your images that you made for yourselves, ²⁷^(CG)and I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is ^(CH)the God of hosts.

Woe to Those at Ease in Zion

6 ^(CI)“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,
and to those who feel secure on ^(CJ)the mountain of Samaria,
^(CK)the notable men of ^(CL)the first of the nations,
to whom the house of Israel comes!
²Pass over to ^(CM)Calneh, and see,
and from there go to ^(CN)Hamath the great;
then go down to ^(CO)Gath of the Philistines.
^(CP)Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is their territory greater than your territory,
³^(CQ)O you who put far away the day of disaster
^(CR)and bring near the seat of violence?

⁴“Woe to those ^(CS)who lie on ^(CT)beds of ivory
^(CU)and stretch themselves out on their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock
^(CV)and calves from the midst of the stall,
⁵^(CW)who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp
and like David ^(CX)invent for themselves instruments of music,
⁶^(CY)who drink wine in bowls
and ^(CZ)anoint themselves with the finest oils,
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
⁷^(DA)Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile,
and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”

⁸^(DB)The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts:

“I abhor ^(DC)the pride of Jacob
and hate his strongholds,
^(DD)and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

⁹And ^(DE)if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. ¹⁰And when one's relative, ^(DF)the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, ^(DG)“Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

¹¹For behold, the Lord commands,
and ^(DH)the great house shall be struck down into fragments,
and the little house into bits.
¹²Do horses run on rocks?
Does one plow there^[e] with oxen?
^(DI)But you have turned justice into ^(DJ)poison
^(DK)and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood^[f]—
¹³you who rejoice in Lo-debar,^[g]
who say, ^(DL)“Have we not by our own strength
captured Karnaim^[h] for ourselves?”
¹⁴“For behold, ^(DM)I will raise up against you a nation,
O house of Israel,” declares the Lord, the God of hosts;
“and they shall oppress you from ^(DN)Lebo-hamath
to the Brook of ^(DO)the Arabah.”

Footnotes:

Amos 4:10 Hebrew along with the captivity of your horses
Amos 4:11 That is, a burning stick
Amos 5:7 Or to bitter fruit
Amos 5:11 Or you tax
Amos 6:12 Or the sea
Amos 6:12 Or into bitter fruit
Amos 6:13 Lo-debar means nothing
Amos 6:13 Karnaim means horns (a symbol of strength)

Cross references:

Amos 4:1 : Ps. 22:12
Amos 4:1 : ch. 3:9; 6:1
Amos 4:1 : Hos. 5:11
Amos 4:1 : Hos. 5:11
Amos 4:2 : Ps. 89:35
Amos 4:2 : [Jer. 16:16; Hab. 1:15]; See 2 Kgs. 19:28
Amos 4:2 : [Jer. 16:16; Hab. 1:15]; See 2 Kgs. 19:28
Amos 4:3 : [Ezek. 12:5, 12]
Amos 4:4 : [ch. 5:5; Ezek. 20:39; Matt. 23:32]
Amos 4:4 : [ch. 5:5; Hos. 4:15; 9:15; 12:11]
Amos 4:4 : [ch. 5:5; Ezek. 20:39; Matt. 23:32]
Amos 4:4 : Num. 28:3, 4; [Jer. 7:21]
Amos 4:5 : Lev. 7:13
Amos 4:5 : Ex. 35:29; Lev. 22:18, 21; Deut. 12:6
Amos 4:5 : [Ps. 81:11, 12]
Amos 4:6 : [Deut. 28:57; Lam. 2:12]
Amos 4:6 : Jer. 15:7; Hag. 2:17
Amos 4:7 : Jer. 3:3; [Joel 2:23]
Amos 4:7 : [Ex. 9:26]
Amos 4:8 : [ch. 8:12]
Amos 4:8 : [See ver. 6 above]; Jer. 15:7; Hag. 2:17
Amos 4:9 : Deut. 28:22; Hag. 2:17
Amos 4:9 : Joel 1:4
Amos 4:9 : [See ver. 6 above]; Jer. 15:7; Hag. 2:17
Amos 4:10 : Deut. 28:27, 60; [Ex. 12:29; Ps. 78:50; Isa. 10:24, 26]
Amos 4:10 : 2 Kgs. 13:7
Amos 4:10 : [Joel 2:20]
Amos 4:10 : [See ver. 6 above]; Jer. 15:7; Hag. 2:17
Amos 4:11 : [Isa. 13:19]
Amos 4:11 : Zech. 3:2; [Jude 23]
Amos 4:11 : [See ver. 6 above]; Jer. 15:7; Hag. 2:17
Amos 4:13 : [Ps. 102:25]
Amos 4:13 : [Ps. 139:2]
Amos 4:13 : [ch. 5:8; 8:9]
Amos 4:13 : Isa. 58:14; Mic. 1:3
Amos 4:13 : ch. 3:13; 5:8; 9:6; See Jer. 10:16
Amos 5:1 : Ezek. 19:1
Amos 5:2 : Lam. 2:1; [Isa. 47:1]
Amos 5:4 : 2 Chr. 15:2; Isa. 55:6; Zeph. 2:3
Amos 5:5 : See ch. 4:4
Amos 5:5 : See ch. 4:4
Amos 5:5 : ch. 8:14
Amos 5:5 : See ch. 4:4
Amos 5:5 : See ch. 4:4
Amos 5:6 : [See ver. 4 above]; 2 Chr. 15:2; Isa. 55:6; Zeph. 2:3
Amos 5:6 : [Isa. 9:18, 19]
Amos 5:6 : [See ver. 5 above]; See ch. 4:4
Amos 5:7 : [ch. 6:12]
Amos 5:8 : Job 9:9; 38:31
Amos 5:8 : Ps. 104:20; [ch. 4:13; 8:9]
Amos 5:8 : ch. 9:6; [Gen. 6:17; Ps. 104:6, 7]
Amos 5:8 : ch. 9:6; [Gen. 6:17; Ps. 104:6, 7]
Amos 5:8 : See ch. 4:13
Amos 5:9 : [Jer. 50:32]
Amos 5:10 : Isa. 29:21; [Prov. 15:5, 10]
Amos 5:10 : See Ruth 4:1
Amos 5:10 : [1 Kgs. 22:8]
Amos 5:11 : [James 2:6]
Amos 5:11 : Deut. 28:30, 39; Mic. 6:15; Zeph. 1:13
Amos 5:11 : Deut. 28:30, 39; Mic. 6:15; Zeph. 1:13
Amos 5:12 : 1 Sam. 8:3; 12:3; [Ps. 26:10]
Amos 5:12 : ch. 2:7; Isa. 29:21
Amos 5:12 : [See ver. 10 above]; See Ruth 4:1
Amos 5:13 : [Eccles. 3:7]
Amos 5:13 : Mic. 2:3
Amos 5:14 : [Deut. 30:15, 19; Zeph. 2:3]
Amos 5:14 : ch. 3:13
Amos 5:15 : Ps. 97:10; Rom. 12:9
Amos 5:15 : [See ver. 10 above]; See Ruth 4:1
Amos 5:15 : Joel 2:14; [Ex. 32:30]
Amos 5:16 : [See ver. 14 above]; ch. 3:13
Amos 5:16 : [Jer. 9:17, 18]
Amos 5:16 : [Jer. 9:17, 18]
Amos 5:17 : Ex. 12:12
Amos 5:18 : See Joel 1:15
Amos 5:18 : See Joel 2:1, 2
Amos 5:19 : [Isa. 24:18; Jer. 48:44]
Amos 5:20 : [See ver. 18 above]; See Joel 2:1, 2
Amos 5:21 : Isa. 1:14; [Jer. 6:20]
Amos 5:22 : Ps. 51:16, 17; Isa. 1:11
Amos 5:23 : [ch. 6:5; 8:3; Isa. 5:12]
Amos 5:25 : Cited Acts 7:42, 43
Amos 5:26 : [Deut. 32:17; Ezek. 20:16, 24]
Amos 5:26 : [Isa. 46:7]
Amos 5:27 : 2 Kgs. 17:6
Amos 5:27 : [See ver. 14 above]; ch. 3:13
Amos 6:1 : Isa. 32:9; Zeph. 1:12; Luke 6:24; James 5:1
Amos 6:1 : ch. 3:9; 4:1
Amos 6:1 : [Ezek. 22:6]
Amos 6:1 : See Ex. 19:5
Amos 6:2 : Gen. 10:10; Isa. 10:9
Amos 6:2 : 1 Kgs. 8:65; 2 Kgs. 18:34; Isa. 10:9
Amos 6:2 : See 1 Sam. 17:4
Amos 6:2 : [Nah. 3:8]
Amos 6:3 : [ch. 9:10; Ezek. 12:27]
Amos 6:3 : See ch. 3:10
Amos 6:4 : [ch. 3:12]
Amos 6:4 : [Esth. 1:6]
Amos 6:4 : [ch. 3:12]
Amos 6:4 : [James 5:5]
Amos 6:5 : See ch. 5:23
Amos 6:5 : See ch. 5:23
Amos 6:6 : [Isa. 5:12]
Amos 6:6 : [Dan. 10:3]
Amos 6:7 : ch. 7:11, 17
Amos 6:8 : Jer. 22:5; 51:14
Amos 6:8 : ch. 8:7; [Ps. 47:4]
Amos 6:8 : [Jer. 17:3]
Amos 6:9 : [ch. 3:3]
Amos 6:10 : See 1 Sam. 31:12
Amos 6:10 : [ch. 5:13; 8:3]
Amos 6:11 : [ch. 3:15]
Amos 6:12 : [ch. 5:7]
Amos 6:12 : Deut. 29:18
Amos 6:12 : [ch. 5:7]
Amos 6:13 : [1 Kgs. 22:11; Mic. 4:13]
Amos 6:14 : [Jer. 5:15]
Amos 6:14 : 2 Kgs. 14:25
Amos 6:14 : See Deut. 1:1

English Standard Version (ESV)

Revelation 2:18-3:6

To the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, ^(A)who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

¹⁹^(B)“‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. ²⁰But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman ^(C)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants ^(D)to practice sexual immorality and ^(E)to eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹I gave her time to repent, but ^(F)she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. ²²Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, ²³and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he ^(G)who searches mind and heart, and ^(H)I will give to each of you according to your works. ²⁴But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ^(I)the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I ^(J)do not lay on you any other burden. ²⁵Only hold fast ^(K)what you have until I come. ²⁶^(L)The one who conquers and who keeps my works ^(M)until the end, ^(N)to him I will give authority over the nations, ²⁷and ^(O)he will ^(P)rule^[a] them with a rod of iron, ^(Q)as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. ²⁸And I will give him ^(R)the morning star. ²⁹^(S)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Sardis

3 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him ^(T)who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

“‘I know your works. You have the reputation ^(U)of being alive, ^(V)but you are dead. ²Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works ^(W)complete in the sight of my God. ³^(X)Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, ^(Y)I will come ^(Z)like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. ⁴Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not ^(AA)soiled their garments, and they will walk with me ^(AB)in white, for they are ^(AC)worthy. ⁵^(AD)The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never ^(AE)blot his name out of ^(AF)the book of life. ^(AG)I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. ⁶^(AH)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Footnotes:

Revelation 2:27 Greek shepherd

Cross references:

English Standard Version (ESV)

Psalm 130

My Soul Waits for the Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

130 Out of ^(B)the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
²O Lord, hear my voice!
^(C)Let your ears be attentive
to ^(D)the voice of my pleas for mercy!

³If you, O Lord, should ^(E)mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could ^(F)stand?
⁴But with you there is ^(G)forgiveness,
^(H)that you may be feared.

⁵I ^(I)wait for the Lord, ^(J)my soul waits,
and ^(K)in his word I hope;
⁶my soul ^(L)waits for the Lord
more than ^(M)watchmen for ^(N)the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

⁷O Israel, ^(O)hope in the Lord!
For ^(P)with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
⁸And he will ^(Q)redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

English Standard Version (ESV)

Proverbs 29:21-22

²¹Whoever pampers his servant from childhood
will in the end find him his heir.^[a]
²²^(A)A man of wrath stirs up strife,
and one given to anger causes much transgression.

Footnotes:

Proverbs 29:21 The meaning of the Hebrew word rendered his heir is uncertain

Cross references:

Proverbs 29:22 : See ch. 15:18

English Standard Version (ESV)

December 10, 2022

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday December 10, 2022 (NIV)

Amos 1-3

1 This message was given to Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa in Judah. He received this message in visions two years before the earthquake, when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam II, the son of Jehoash,^[a] was king of Israel.

²This is what he saw and heard:

“The Lord’s voice will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem!
The lush pastures of the shepherds will dry up;
the grass on Mount Carmel will wither and die.”

God’s Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

³This is what the Lord says:

“The people of Damascus have sinned again and again,^[b]
and I will not let them go unpunished!
They beat down my people in Gilead
as grain is threshed with iron sledges.
⁴So I will send down fire on King Hazael’s palace,
and the fortresses of King Ben-hadad will be destroyed.
⁵I will break down the gates of Damascus
and slaughter the people in the valley of Aven.
I will destroy the ruler in Beth-eden,
and the people of Aram will go as captives to Kir,”
says the Lord.

⁶This is what the Lord says:

“The people of Gaza have sinned again and again,
and I will not let them go unpunished!
They sent whole villages into exile,
selling them as slaves to Edom.
⁷So I will send down fire on the walls of Gaza,
and all its fortresses will be destroyed.
⁸I will slaughter the people of Ashdod
and destroy the king of Ashkelon.
Then I will turn to attack Ekron,
and the few Philistines still left will be killed,”
says the Sovereign Lord.

⁹This is what the Lord says:

“The people of Tyre have sinned again and again,
and I will not let them go unpunished!
They broke their treaty of brotherhood with Israel,
selling whole villages as slaves to Edom.
¹⁰So I will send down fire on the walls of Tyre,
and all its fortresses will be destroyed.”

¹¹This is what the Lord says:

“The people of Edom have sinned again and again,
and I will not let them go unpunished!
They chased down their relatives, the Israelites, with swords,
showing them no mercy.
In their rage, they slashed them continually
and were unrelenting in their anger.
¹²So I will send down fire on Teman,
and the fortresses of Bozrah will be destroyed.”

¹³This is what the Lord says:

“The people of Ammon have sinned again and again,
and I will not let them go unpunished!
When they attacked Gilead to extend their borders,
they ripped open pregnant women with their swords.
¹⁴So I will send down fire on the walls of Rabbah,
and all its fortresses will be destroyed.
The battle will come upon them with shouts,
like a whirlwind in a mighty storm.
¹⁵And their king^[c] and his princes will go into exile together,”
says the Lord.

2 This is what the Lord says:

“The people of Moab have sinned again and again,^[d]
and I will not let them go unpunished!
They desecrated the bones of Edom’s king,
burning them to ashes.
²So I will send down fire on the land of Moab,
and all the fortresses in Kerioth will be destroyed.
The people will fall in the noise of battle,
as the warriors shout and the ram’s horn sounds.
³And I will destroy their king
and slaughter all their princes,”
says the Lord.

God’s Judgment on Judah and Israel

⁴This is what the Lord says:

“The people of Judah have sinned again and again,
and I will not let them go unpunished!
They have rejected the instruction of the Lord,
refusing to obey his decrees.
They have been led astray by the same lies
that deceived their ancestors.
⁵So I will send down fire on Judah,
and all the fortresses of Jerusalem will be destroyed.”

⁶This is what the Lord says:

“The people of Israel have sinned again and again,
and I will not let them go unpunished!
They sell honorable people for silver
and poor people for a pair of sandals.
⁷They trample helpless people in the dust
and shove the oppressed out of the way.
Both father and son sleep with the same woman,
corrupting my holy name.
⁸At their religious festivals,
they lounge in clothing their debtors put up as security.
In the house of their gods,^[e]
they drink wine bought with unjust fines.

⁹“But as my people watched,
I destroyed the Amorites,
though they were as tall as cedars
and as strong as oaks.
I destroyed the fruit on their branches
and dug out their roots.
¹⁰It was I who rescued you from Egypt
and led you through the desert for forty years,
so you could possess the land of the Amorites.
¹¹I chose some of your sons to be prophets
and others to be Nazirites.
Can you deny this, my people of Israel?”
asks the Lord.
¹²“But you caused the Nazirites to sin by making them drink wine,
and you commanded the prophets, ‘Shut up!’

¹³“So I will make you groan
like a wagon loaded down with sheaves of grain.
¹⁴Your fastest runners will not get away.
The strongest among you will become weak.
Even mighty warriors will be unable to save themselves.
¹⁵The archers will not stand their ground.
The swiftest runners won’t be fast enough to escape.
Even those riding horses won’t be able to save themselves.
¹⁶On that day the most courageous of your fighting men
will drop their weapons and run for their lives,”
says the Lord.

3 Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel—against the entire family I rescued from Egypt:

²“From among all the families on the earth,
I have been intimate with you alone.
That is why I must punish you
for all your sins.”

Witnesses against Guilty Israel

³Can two people walk together
without agreeing on the direction?
⁴Does a lion ever roar in a thicket
without first finding a victim?
Does a young lion growl in its den
without first catching its prey?
⁵Does a bird ever get caught in a trap
that has no bait?
Does a trap spring shut
when there’s nothing to catch?
⁶When the ram’s horn blows a warning,
shouldn’t the people be alarmed?
Does disaster come to a city
unless the Lord has planned it?

⁷Indeed, the Sovereign Lord never does anything
until he reveals his plans to his servants the prophets.

⁸The lion has roared—
so who isn’t frightened?
The Sovereign Lord has spoken—
so who can refuse to proclaim his message?
⁹Announce this to the leaders of Philistia^[f]
and to the great ones of Egypt:
“Take your seats now on the hills around Samaria,
and witness the chaos and oppression in Israel.”

¹⁰“My people have forgotten how to do right,”
says the Lord.
“Their fortresses are filled with wealth
taken by theft and violence.
¹¹Therefore,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“an enemy is coming!
He will surround them and shatter their defenses.
Then he will plunder all their fortresses.”

¹²This is what the Lord says:

“A shepherd who tries to rescue a sheep from a lion’s mouth
will recover only two legs or a piece of an ear.
So it will be for the Israelites in Samaria lying on luxurious beds,
and for the people of Damascus reclining on couches.^[g]

¹³“Now listen to this, and announce it throughout all Israel,^[h]” says the Lord, the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.

¹⁴“On the very day I punish Israel for its sins,
I will destroy the pagan altars at Bethel.
The horns of the altar will be cut off
and fall to the ground.
¹⁵And I will destroy the beautiful homes of the wealthy—
their winter mansions and their summer houses, too—
all their palaces filled with ivory,”
says the Lord.

Footnotes:

1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant spelling of Jehoash.
1:3 Hebrew have committed three sins, even four; also in 1:6, 9, 11, 13.
1:15 Hebrew malcam, possibly referring to their god Molech.
2:1 Hebrew have committed three sins, even four; also in 2:4, 6.
2:8 Or their God.
3:9 Hebrew Ashdod.
3:12 The meaning of the Hebrew in this sentence is uncertain.
3:13 Hebrew the house of Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Revelation 2:1-17

The Message to the Church in Ephesus

2 “Write this letter to the angel^[a] of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:

²“I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. ³You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

⁴“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!^[b] ⁵Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. ⁶But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.

⁷“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.

The Message to the Church in Smyrna

⁸“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:

⁹“I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. ¹⁰Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.

¹¹“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.

The Message to the Church in Pergamum

¹²“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one with the sharp two-edged sword:

¹³“I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city.

¹⁴“But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. ¹⁵In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. ¹⁶Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

¹⁷“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.

Footnotes:

2:1 Or the messenger; also in 2:8, 12, 18.
2:4 Greek You have lost your first love.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 129

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

¹From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me.
Let all Israel repeat this:
²From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me,
but they have never defeated me.
³My back is covered with cuts,
as if a farmer had plowed long furrows.
⁴But the Lord is good;
he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.

⁵May all who hate Jerusalem^[a]
be turned back in shameful defeat.
⁶May they be as useless as grass on a rooftop,
turning yellow when only half grown,
⁷ignored by the harvester,
despised by the binder.
⁸And may those who pass by
refuse to give them this blessing:
“The Lord bless you;
we bless you in the Lord’s name.”

Footnotes:

129:5 Hebrew Zion.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 29:19-20

¹⁹Words alone will not discipline a servant;
the words may be understood, but they are not heeded.

²⁰There is more hope for a fool
than for someone who speaks without thinking.

New Living Translation (NLT)

December 9, 2022

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday December 9, 2022 (NIV)

Joel 1-3

1 The Lord gave this message to Joel son of Pethuel.

Mourning over the Locust Plague

²Hear this, you leaders of the people.
Listen, all who live in the land.
In all your history,
has anything like this happened before?
³Tell your children about it in the years to come,
and let your children tell their children.
Pass the story down from generation to generation.
⁴After the cutting locusts finished eating the crops,
the swarming locusts took what was left!
After them came the hopping locusts,
and then the stripping locusts,^[a] too!

⁵Wake up, you drunkards, and weep!
Wail, all you wine-drinkers!
All the grapes are ruined,
and all your sweet wine is gone.
⁶A vast army of locusts^[b] has invaded my land,
a terrible army too numerous to count.
Its teeth are like lions’ teeth,
its fangs like those of a lioness.
⁷It has destroyed my grapevines
and ruined my fig trees,
stripping their bark and destroying it,
leaving the branches white and bare.

⁸Weep like a bride dressed in black,
mourning the death of her husband.
⁹For there is no grain or wine
to offer at the Temple of the Lord.
So the priests are in mourning.
The ministers of the Lord are weeping.
¹⁰The fields are ruined,
the land is stripped bare.
The grain is destroyed,
the grapes have shriveled,
and the olive oil is gone.

¹¹Despair, all you farmers!
Wail, all you vine growers!
Weep, because the wheat and barley—
all the crops of the field—are ruined.
¹²The grapevines have dried up,
and the fig trees have withered.
The pomegranate trees, palm trees, and apple trees—
all the fruit trees—have dried up.
And the people’s joy has dried up with them.

¹³Dress yourselves in burlap and weep, you priests!
Wail, you who serve before the altar!
Come, spend the night in burlap,
you ministers of my God.
For there is no grain or wine
to offer at the Temple of your God.
¹⁴Announce a time of fasting;
call the people together for a solemn meeting.
Bring the leaders
and all the people of the land
into the Temple of the Lord your God,
and cry out to him there.
¹⁵The day of the Lord is near,
the day when destruction comes from the Almighty.
How terrible that day will be!

¹⁶Our food disappears before our very eyes.
No joyful celebrations are held in the house of our God.
¹⁷The seeds die in the parched ground,
and the grain crops fail.
The barns stand empty,
and granaries are abandoned.
¹⁸How the animals moan with hunger!
The herds of cattle wander about confused,
because they have no pasture.
The flocks of sheep and goats bleat in misery.

¹⁹Lord, help us!
The fire has consumed the wilderness pastures,
and flames have burned up all the trees.
²⁰Even the wild animals cry out to you
because the streams have dried up,
and fire has consumed the wilderness pastures.

Locusts Invade like an Army

2 Sound the trumpet in Jerusalem^[c]!
Raise the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let everyone tremble in fear
because the day of the Lord is upon us.
²It is a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of thick clouds and deep blackness.
Suddenly, like dawn spreading across the mountains,
a great and mighty army appears.
Nothing like it has been seen before
or will ever be seen again.

³Fire burns in front of them,
and flames follow after them.
Ahead of them the land lies
as beautiful as the Garden of Eden.
Behind them is nothing but desolation;
not one thing escapes.
⁴They look like horses;
they charge forward like warhorses.^[d]
⁵Look at them as they leap along the mountaintops.
Listen to the noise they make—like the rumbling of chariots,
like the roar of fire sweeping across a field of stubble,
or like a mighty army moving into battle.

⁶Fear grips all the people;
every face grows pale with terror.
⁷The attackers march like warriors
and scale city walls like soldiers.
Straight forward they march,
never breaking rank.
⁸They never jostle each other;
each moves in exactly the right position.
They break through defenses
without missing a step.
⁹They swarm over the city
and run along its walls.
They enter all the houses,
climbing like thieves through the windows.
¹⁰The earth quakes as they advance,
and the heavens tremble.
The sun and moon grow dark,
and the stars no longer shine.

¹¹The Lord is at the head of the column.
He leads them with a shout.
This is his mighty army,
and they follow his orders.
The day of the Lord is an awesome, terrible thing.
Who can possibly survive?

A Call to Repentance

¹²That is why the Lord says,
“Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
¹³Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He is eager to relent and not punish.
¹⁴Who knows? Perhaps he will give you a reprieve,
sending you a blessing instead of this curse.
Perhaps you will be able to offer grain and wine
to the Lord your God as before.

¹⁵Blow the ram’s horn in Jerusalem!
Announce a time of fasting;
call the people together
for a solemn meeting.
¹⁶Gather all the people—
the elders, the children, and even the babies.
Call the bridegroom from his quarters
and the bride from her private room.
¹⁷Let the priests, who minister in the Lord’s presence,
stand and weep between the entry room to the Temple and the altar.
Let them pray, “Spare your people, Lord!
Don’t let your special possession become an object of mockery.
Don’t let them become a joke for unbelieving foreigners who say,
‘Has the God of Israel left them?’”

The Lord’s Promise of Restoration

¹⁸Then the Lord will pity his people
and jealously guard the honor of his land.
¹⁹The Lord will reply,
“Look! I am sending you grain and new wine and olive oil,
enough to satisfy your needs.
You will no longer be an object of mockery
among the surrounding nations.
²⁰I will drive away these armies from the north.
I will send them into the parched wastelands.
Those in the front will be driven into the Dead Sea,
and those at the rear into the Mediterranean.^[e]
The stench of their rotting bodies will rise over the land.”

Surely the Lord has done great things!
²¹Don’t be afraid, O land.
Be glad now and rejoice,
for the Lord has done great things.
²²Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field,
for the wilderness pastures will soon be green.
The trees will again be filled with fruit;
fig trees and grapevines will be loaded down once more.
²³Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem!
Rejoice in the Lord your God!
For the rain he sends demonstrates his faithfulness.
Once more the autumn rains will come,
as well as the rains of spring.
²⁴The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain,
and the presses will overflow with new wine and olive oil.

²⁵The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost
to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts,
the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.^[f]
It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.
²⁶Once again you will have all the food you want,
and you will praise the Lord your God,
who does these miracles for you.
Never again will my people be disgraced.
²⁷Then you will know that I am among my people Israel,
that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other.
Never again will my people be disgraced.

The Lord’s Promise of His Spirit

²⁸^[g]“Then, after doing all those things,
I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
²⁹In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on servants—men and women alike.
³⁰And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth—
blood and fire and columns of smoke.
³¹The sun will become dark,
and the moon will turn blood red
before that great and terrible^[h] day of the Lord arrives.
³²But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved,
for some on Mount Zion in Jerusalem will escape,
just as the Lord has said.
These will be among the survivors
whom the Lord has called.

Judgment against Enemy Nations

3 ^[i]“At the time of those events,” says the Lord,
“when I restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem,
²I will gather the armies of the world
into the valley of Jehoshaphat.^[j]
There I will judge them
for harming my people, my special possession,
for scattering my people among the nations,
and for dividing up my land.
³They threw dice^[k] to decide which of my people
would be their slaves.
They traded boys to obtain prostitutes
and sold girls for enough wine to get drunk.

⁴“What do you have against me, Tyre and Sidon and you cities of Philistia? Are you trying to take revenge on me? If you are, then watch out! I will strike swiftly and pay you back for everything you have done. ⁵You have taken my silver and gold and all my precious treasures, and have carried them off to your pagan temples. ⁶You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks,^[l] so they could take them far from their homeland.

⁷“But I will bring them back from all the places to which you sold them, and I will pay you back for everything you have done. ⁸I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the people of Arabia,^[m] a nation far away. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

⁹Say to the nations far and wide:
“Get ready for war!
Call out your best warriors.
Let all your fighting men advance for the attack.
¹⁰Hammer your plowshares into swords
and your pruning hooks into spears.
Train even your weaklings to be warriors.
¹¹Come quickly, all you nations everywhere.
Gather together in the valley.”

And now, O Lord, call out your warriors!

¹²“Let the nations be called to arms.
Let them march to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I, the Lord, will sit
to pronounce judgment on them all.
¹³Swing the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.^[n]
Come, tread the grapes,
for the winepress is full.
The storage vats are overflowing
with the wickedness of these people.”

¹⁴Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision.
There the day of the Lord will soon arrive.
¹⁵The sun and moon will grow dark,
and the stars will no longer shine.
¹⁶The Lord’s voice will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth will shake.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
a strong fortress for the people of Israel.

Blessings for God’s People

¹⁷“Then you will know that I, the Lord your God,
live in Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy forever,
and foreign armies will never conquer her again.
¹⁸In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine,
and the hills will flow with milk.
Water will fill the streambeds of Judah,
and a fountain will burst forth from the Lord’s Temple,
watering the arid valley of acacias.^[o]
¹⁹But Egypt will become a wasteland
and Edom will become a wilderness,
because they attacked the people of Judah
and killed innocent people in their land.

²⁰“But Judah will be filled with people forever,
and Jerusalem will endure through all generations.
²¹I will pardon my people’s crimes,
which I have not yet pardoned;
and I, the Lord, will make my home
in Jerusalem^[p] with my people.”

Footnotes:

1:4 The precise identification of the four kinds of locusts mentioned here is uncertain.
1:6 Hebrew A nation.
2:1 Hebrew Zion; also in 2:15, 23.
2:4 Or like charioteers.
2:20 Hebrew into the eastern sea, . . . into the western sea.
2:25 The precise identification of the four kinds of locusts mentioned here is uncertain.
2:28 Verses 2:28-32 are numbered 3:1-5 in Hebrew text.
2:31 Greek version reads glorious.
3:1 Verses 3:1-21 are numbered 4:1-21 in Hebrew text.
3:2 Jehoshaphat means “the Lord judges.”
3:3 Hebrew They cast lots.
3:6 Hebrew to the peoples of Javan.
3:8 Hebrew to the Sabeans.
3:13 Greek version reads for the harvest time has come. Compare Mark 4:29.
3:18 Hebrew valley of Shittim.
3:21 Hebrew Zion.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Revelation 1

Prologue

1 This is a revelation from^[a] Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon^[b] take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, ²who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

³God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.

John’s Greeting to the Seven Churches

⁴This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia.^[c]

Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit^[d] before his throne; ⁵and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world.

All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. ⁶He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

⁷Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven.
And everyone will see him—
even those who pierced him.
And all the nations of the world
will mourn for him.
Yes! Amen!

⁸“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,”^[e] says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”

Vision of the Son of Man

⁹I, John, am your brother and your partner in suffering and in God’s Kingdom and in the patient endurance to which Jesus calls us. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and for my testimony about Jesus. ¹⁰It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit.^[f] Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast. ¹¹It said, “Write in a book^[g] everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹²When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. ¹³And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man.^[h] He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. ¹⁴His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. ¹⁵His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. ¹⁶He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

¹⁷When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.^[i]

¹⁹“Write down what you have seen—both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.^[j] ²⁰This is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels^[k] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Footnotes:

1:1a Or of.
1:1b Or suddenly, or quickly.
1:4a Asia was a Roman province in what is now western Turkey.
1:4b Greek the seven spirits.
1:8 Greek I am the Alpha and the Omega, referring to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.
1:10 Or in spirit.
1:11 Or on a scroll.
1:13 Or like a son of man. See Dan 7:13. “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
1:18 Greek and Hades.
1:19 Or what you have seen and what they mean—the things that have already begun to happen.
1:20 Or the messengers.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 128

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

¹How joyful are those who fear the Lord—
all who follow his ways!
²You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
How joyful and prosperous you will be!
³Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine,
flourishing within your home.
Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees
as they sit around your table.
⁴That is the Lord’s blessing
for those who fear him.

⁵May the Lord continually bless you from Zion.
May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live.
⁶May you live to enjoy your grandchildren.
May Israel have peace!

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 29:18

¹⁸When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild.
But whoever obeys the law is joyful.

New Living Translation (NLT)

December 8, 2022

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday December 8, 2022 (NIV)

Hosea 10-14

The Lord’s Judgment against Israel

10 How prosperous Israel is—
a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit.
But the richer the people get,
the more pagan altars they build.
The more bountiful their harvests,
the more beautiful their sacred pillars.
²The hearts of the people are fickle;
they are guilty and must be punished.
The Lord will break down their altars
and smash their sacred pillars.
³Then they will say, “We have no king
because we didn’t fear the Lord.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us anyway?”
⁴They spout empty words
and make covenants they don’t intend to keep.
So injustice springs up among them
like poisonous weeds in a farmer’s field.

⁵The people of Samaria tremble in fear
for their calf idol at Beth-aven,^[a]
and they mourn for it.
Though its priests rejoice over it,
its glory will be stripped away.^[b]
⁶This idol will be carted away to Assyria,
a gift to the great king there.
Ephraim will be ridiculed and Israel will be shamed,
because its people have trusted in this idol.
⁷Samaria and its king will be cut off;
they will float away like driftwood on an ocean wave.
⁸And the pagan shrines of Aven,^[c] the place of Israel’s sin, will crumble.
Thorns and thistles will grow up around their altars.
They will beg the mountains, “Bury us!”
and plead with the hills, “Fall on us!”

⁹The Lord says, “O Israel, ever since Gibeah,
there has been only sin and more sin!
You have made no progress whatsoever.
Was it not right that the wicked men of Gibeah were attacked?
¹⁰Now whenever it fits my plan,
I will attack you, too.
I will call out the armies of the nations
to punish you for your multiplied sins.

¹¹“Israel^[d] is like a trained heifer treading out the grain—
an easy job she loves.
But I will put a heavy yoke on her tender neck.
I will force Judah to pull the plow
and Israel^[e] to break up the hard ground.
¹²I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness,
and you will harvest a crop of love.
Plow up the hard ground of your hearts,
for now is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come
and shower righteousness upon you.’

¹³“But you have cultivated wickedness
and harvested a thriving crop of sins.
You have eaten the fruit of lies—
trusting in your military might,
believing that great armies
could make your nation safe.
¹⁴Now the terrors of war
will rise among your people.
All your fortifications will fall,
just as when Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel.
Even mothers and children
were dashed to death there.
¹⁵You will share that fate, Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
When the day of judgment dawns,
the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.

The Lord’s Love for Israel

11 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and I called my son out of Egypt.
²But the more I called to him,
the farther he moved from me,^[f]
offering sacrifices to the images of Baal
and burning incense to idols.
³I myself taught Israel^[g] how to walk,
leading him along by the hand.
But he doesn’t know or even care
that it was I who took care of him.
⁴I led Israel along
with my ropes of kindness and love.
I lifted the yoke from his neck,
and I myself stooped to feed him.

⁵“But since my people refuse to return to me,
they will return to Egypt
and will be forced to serve Assyria.
⁶War will swirl through their cities;
their enemies will crash through their gates.
They will destroy them,
trapping them in their own evil plans.
⁷For my people are determined to desert me.
They call me the Most High,
but they don’t truly honor me.

⁸“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel?
How can I let you go?
How can I destroy you like Admah
or demolish you like Zeboiim?
My heart is torn within me,
and my compassion overflows.
⁹No, I will not unleash my fierce anger.
I will not completely destroy Israel,
for I am God and not a mere mortal.
I am the Holy One living among you,
and I will not come to destroy.
¹⁰For someday the people will follow me.
I, the Lord, will roar like a lion.
And when I roar,
my people will return trembling from the west.
¹¹Like a flock of birds, they will come from Egypt.
Trembling like doves, they will return from Assyria.
And I will bring them home again,”
says the Lord.

Charges against Israel and Judah

¹²^[h]Israel surrounds me with lies and deceit,
but Judah still obeys God
and is faithful to the Holy One.^[i]

12 ^[j]The people of Israel^[k] feed on the wind;
they chase after the east wind all day long.
They pile up lies and violence;
they are making an alliance with Assyria
while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.

²Now the Lord is bringing charges against Judah.
He is about to punish Jacob^[l] for all his deceitful ways,
and pay him back for all he has done.
³Even in the womb,
Jacob struggled with his brother;
when he became a man,
he even fought with God.
⁴Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won.
He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him.
There at Bethel he met God face to face,
and God spoke to him^[m]—
⁵the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,
the Lord is his name!
⁶So now, come back to your God.
Act with love and justice,
and always depend on him.

⁷But no, the people are like crafty merchants
selling from dishonest scales—
they love to cheat.
⁸Israel boasts, “I am rich!
I’ve made a fortune all by myself!
No one has caught me cheating!
My record is spotless!”

⁹“But I am the Lord your God,
who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
And I will make you live in tents again,
as you do each year at the Festival of Shelters.^[n]
¹⁰I sent my prophets to warn you
with many visions and parables.”

¹¹But the people of Gilead are worthless
because of their idol worship.
And in Gilgal, too, they sacrifice bulls;
their altars are lined up like the heaps of stone
along the edges of a plowed field.
¹²Jacob fled to the land of Aram,
and there he^[o] earned a wife by tending sheep.
¹³Then by a prophet
the Lord brought Jacob’s descendants^[p] out of Egypt;
and by that prophet
they were protected.
¹⁴But the people of Israel
have bitterly provoked the Lord,
so their Lord will now sentence them to death
in payment for their sins.

The Lord’s Anger against Israel

13 When the tribe of Ephraim spoke,
the people shook with fear,
for that tribe was important in Israel.
But the people of Ephraim sinned by worshiping Baal
and thus sealed their destruction.
²Now they continue to sin by making silver idols,
images shaped skillfully with human hands.
“Sacrifice to these,” they cry,
“and kiss the calf idols!”
³Therefore, they will disappear like the morning mist,
like dew in the morning sun,
like chaff blown by the wind,
like smoke from a chimney.

⁴“I have been the Lord your God
ever since I brought you out of Egypt.
You must acknowledge no God but me,
for there is no other savior.
⁵I took care of you in the wilderness,
in that dry and thirsty land.
⁶But when you had eaten and were satisfied,
you became proud and forgot me.
⁷So now I will attack you like a lion,
like a leopard that lurks along the road.
⁸Like a bear whose cubs have been taken away,
I will tear out your heart.
I will devour you like a hungry lioness
and mangle you like a wild animal.

⁹“You are about to be destroyed, O Israel—
yes, by me, your only helper.
¹⁰Now where is^[q] your king?
Let him save you!
Where are all the leaders of the land,
the king and the officials you demanded of me?
¹¹In my anger I gave you kings,
and in my fury I took them away.

¹²“Ephraim’s guilt has been collected,
and his sin has been stored up for punishment.
¹³Pain has come to the people
like the pain of childbirth,
but they are like a child
who resists being born.
The moment of birth has arrived,
but they stay in the womb!

¹⁴“Should I ransom them from the grave^[r]?
Should I redeem them from death?
O death, bring on your terrors!
O grave, bring on your plagues!^[s]
For I will not take pity on them.
¹⁵Ephraim was the most fruitful of all his brothers,
but the east wind—a blast from the Lord—
will arise in the desert.
All their flowing springs will run dry,
and all their wells will disappear.
Every precious thing they own
will be plundered and carried away.
¹⁶^[t]The people of Samaria
must bear the consequences of their guilt
because they rebelled against their God.
They will be killed by an invading army,
their little ones dashed to death against the ground,
their pregnant women ripped open by swords.”

Healing for the Repentant

14 ^[u]Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
for your sins have brought you down.
²Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord.
Say to him,
“Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us,
so that we may offer you our praises.^[v]
³Assyria cannot save us,
nor can our warhorses.
Never again will we say to the idols we have made,
‘You are our gods.’
No, in you alone
do the orphans find mercy.”

⁴The Lord says,
“Then I will heal you of your faithlessness;
my love will know no bounds,
for my anger will be gone forever.
⁵I will be to Israel
like a refreshing dew from heaven.
Israel will blossom like the lily;
it will send roots deep into the soil
like the cedars in Lebanon.
⁶Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees,
as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon.
⁷My people will again live under my shade.
They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines.
They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon.

⁸“O Israel,^[w] stay away from idols!
I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you.
I am like a tree that is always green;
all your fruit comes from me.”

⁹Let those who are wise understand these things.
Let those with discernment listen carefully.
The paths of the Lord are true and right,
and righteous people live by walking in them.
But in those paths sinners stumble and fall.

Footnotes:

10:5a Beth-aven means “house of wickedness”; it is being used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of God.”
10:5b Or will be taken away into exile.
10:8 Aven is a reference to Beth-aven; see 10:5a and the note there.
10:11a Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
10:11b Hebrew Jacob. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” are often interchanged throughout the Old Testament, referring sometimes to the individual patriarch and sometimes to the nation.
11:2 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads the more they called to him, the farther he moved from them.
11:3 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 11:8, 9, 12.
11:12a Verse 11:12 is numbered 12:1 in Hebrew text.
11:12b Or and Judah is unruly against God, the faithful Holy One. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
12:1a Verses 12:1-14 are numbered 12:2-15 in Hebrew text.
12:1b Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 12:8, 14.
12:2 Jacob sounds like the Hebrew word for “deceiver.”
12:4 As in Greek and Syriac versions; Hebrew reads to us.
12:9 Hebrew as in the days of your appointed feast.
12:12 Hebrew Israel. See note on 10:11b.
12:13 Hebrew brought Israel. See note on 10:11b.
13:10 As in Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew reads I will be.
13:14a Hebrew Sheol; also in 13:14b.
13:14b Greek version reads O death, where is your punishment? / O grave [Hades], where is your sting? Compare 1 Cor 15:55.
13:16 Verse 16 is numbered 14:1 in Hebrew text.
14:1 Verses 14:1-9 are numbered 14:2-10 in Hebrew text.
14:2 As in Greek and Syriac versions, which read may repay the fruit of our lips; Hebrew reads may repay the bulls of our lips.
14:8 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Jude

Greetings from Jude

¹This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.

I am writing to all who have been called by God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ.^[a]

²May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love.

The Danger of False Teachers

³Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. ⁴I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

⁵So I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus^[b] first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did not remain faithful. ⁶And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment. ⁷And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment.

⁸In the same way, these people—who claim authority from their dreams—live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at supernatural beings.^[c] ⁹But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels,^[d] did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body.) ¹⁰But these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. ¹¹What sorrow awaits them! For they follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive people for money. And like Korah, they perish in their rebellion.

¹²When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you.^[e] They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. ¹³They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.

¹⁴Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, “Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of his holy ones ¹⁵to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”^[f]

¹⁶These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their desires. They brag loudly about themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want.

A Call to Remain Faithful

¹⁷But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted. ¹⁸They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. ¹⁹These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.

²⁰But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,^[g] ²¹and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.

²²And you must show mercy to^[h] those whose faith is wavering. ²³Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others,^[i] but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.^[j]

A Prayer of Praise

²⁴Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. ²⁵All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.

Footnotes:

1 Or keeps you for Jesus Christ.
5 Other manuscripts read [the] Lord, or God, or God Christ.
8 Greek at glorious ones, which are probably evil angels.
9 Greek Michael, the archangel.
12 Or they are contaminants among you; or they are stains.
14-15 The quotation comes from intertestamental literature: Enoch 1:9.
20 Greek pray in the Holy Spirit.
22 Some manuscripts read must reprove.
22-23a Some manuscripts have only two categories of people: (1) those whose faith is wavering and therefore need to be snatched from the flames of judgment, and (2) those who need to be shown mercy.
23b Greek with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 127

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. A psalm of Solomon.

¹Unless the Lord builds a house,
the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.
²It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones.

³Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.
⁴Children born to a young man
are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
⁵How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 29:15-17

¹⁵To discipline a child produces wisdom,
but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child.

¹⁶When the wicked are in authority, sin flourishes,
but the godly will live to see their downfall.

¹⁷Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind
and will make your heart glad.

New Living Translation (NLT)

December 7, 2022

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday December 7, 2022 (NIV)

Hosea 6-9

A Call to Repentance

6 “Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces;
now he will heal us.
He has injured us;
now he will bandage our wounds.
²In just a short time he will restore us,
so that we may live in his presence.
³Oh, that we might know the Lord!
Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
or the coming of rains in early spring.”

⁴“O Israel^[a] and Judah,
what should I do with you?” asks the Lord.
“For your love vanishes like the morning mist
and disappears like dew in the sunlight.
⁵I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces—
to slaughter you with my words,
with judgments as inescapable as light.
⁶I want you to show love,^[b]
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me^[c]
more than I want burnt offerings.
⁷But like Adam,^[d] you broke my covenant
and betrayed my trust.

⁸“Gilead is a city of sinners,
tracked with footprints of blood.
⁹Priests form bands of robbers,
waiting in ambush for their victims.
They murder travelers along the road to Shechem
and practice every kind of sin.
¹⁰Yes, I have seen something horrible in Ephraim and Israel:
My people are defiled by prostituting themselves with other gods!

¹¹“O Judah, a harvest of punishment is also waiting for you,
though I wanted to restore the fortunes of my people.

Israel’s Love for Wickedness

7 “I want to heal Israel, but its^[e] sins are too great.
Samaria is filled with liars.
Thieves are on the inside
and bandits on the outside!
²Its people don’t realize
that I am watching them.
Their sinful deeds are all around them,
and I see them all.

³“The people entertain the king with their wickedness,
and the princes laugh at their lies.
⁴They are all adulterers,
always aflame with lust.
They are like an oven that is kept hot
while the baker is kneading the dough.
⁵On royal holidays, the princes get drunk with wine,
carousing with those who mock them.
⁶Their hearts are like an oven
blazing with intrigue.
Their plot smolders^[f] through the night,
and in the morning it breaks out like a raging fire.
⁷Burning like an oven,
they consume their leaders.
They kill their kings one after another,
and no one cries to me for help.

⁸“The people of Israel mingle with godless foreigners,
making themselves as worthless as a half-baked cake!
⁹Worshiping foreign gods has sapped their strength,
but they don’t even know it.
Their hair is gray,
but they don’t realize they’re old and weak.
¹⁰Their arrogance testifies against them,
yet they don’t return to the Lord their God
or even try to find him.

¹¹“The people of Israel have become like silly, witless doves,
first calling to Egypt, then flying to Assyria for help.
¹²But as they fly about,
I will throw my net over them
and bring them down like a bird from the sky.
I will punish them for all the evil they do.^[g]

¹³“What sorrow awaits those who have deserted me!
Let them die, for they have rebelled against me.
I wanted to redeem them,
but they have told lies about me.
¹⁴They do not cry out to me with sincere hearts.
Instead, they sit on their couches and wail.
They cut themselves,^[h] begging foreign gods for grain and new wine,
and they turn away from me.
¹⁵I trained them and made them strong,
yet now they plot evil against me.
¹⁶They look everywhere except to the Most High.
They are as useless as a crooked bow.
Their leaders will be killed by their enemies
because of their insolence toward me.
Then the people of Egypt
will laugh at them.

Israel Harvests the Whirlwind

8 “Sound the alarm!
The enemy descends like an eagle on the people of the Lord,
for they have broken my covenant
and revolted against my law.
²Now Israel pleads with me,
‘Help us, for you are our God!’
³But it is too late.
The people of Israel have rejected what is good,
and now their enemies will chase after them.
⁴The people have appointed kings without my consent,
and princes without my approval.
By making idols for themselves from their silver and gold,
they have brought about their own destruction.

⁵“O Samaria, I reject this calf—
this idol you have made.
My fury burns against you.
How long will you be incapable of innocence?
⁶This calf you worship, O Israel,
was crafted by your own hands!
It is not God!
Therefore, it must be smashed to bits.

⁷“They have planted the wind
and will harvest the whirlwind.
The stalks of grain wither
and produce nothing to eat.
And even if there is any grain,
foreigners will eat it.
⁸The people of Israel have been swallowed up;
they lie among the nations like an old discarded pot.
⁹Like a wild donkey looking for a mate,
they have gone up to Assyria.
The people of Israel^[i] have sold themselves—
sold themselves to many lovers.
¹⁰But though they have sold themselves to many allies,
I will now gather them together for judgment.
Then they will writhe
under the burden of the great king.

¹¹“Israel has built many altars to take away sin,
but these very altars became places for sinning!
¹²Even though I gave them all my laws,
they act as if those laws don’t apply to them.
¹³The people love to offer sacrifices to me,
feasting on the meat,
but I do not accept their sacrifices.
I will hold my people accountable for their sins,
and I will punish them.
They will return to Egypt.
¹⁴Israel has forgotten its Maker and built great palaces,
and Judah has fortified its cities.
Therefore, I will send down fire on their cities
and will burn up their fortresses.”

Hosea Announces Israel’s Punishment

9 O people of Israel,
do not rejoice as other nations do.
For you have been unfaithful to your God,
hiring yourselves out like prostitutes,
worshiping other gods on every threshing floor.
²So now your harvests will be too small to feed you.
There will be no grapes for making new wine.
³You may no longer stay here in the Lord’s land.
Instead, you will return to Egypt,
and in Assyria you will eat food
that is ceremonially unclean.
⁴There you will make no offerings of wine to the Lord.
None of your sacrifices there will please him.
They will be unclean, like food touched by a person in mourning.
All who present such sacrifices will be defiled.
They may eat this food themselves,
but they may not offer it to the Lord.
⁵What then will you do on festival days?
How will you observe the Lord’s festivals?
⁶Even if you escape destruction from Assyria,
Egypt will conquer you, and Memphis^[j] will bury you.
Nettles will take over your treasures of silver;
thistles will invade your ruined homes.

⁷The time of Israel’s punishment has come;
the day of payment is here.
Soon Israel will know this all too well.
Because of your great sin and hostility,
you say, “The prophets are crazy
and the inspired men are fools!”
⁸The prophet is a watchman over Israel^[k] for my God,
yet traps are laid for him wherever he goes.
He faces hostility even in the house of God.
⁹The things my people do are as depraved
as what they did in Gibeah long ago.
God will not forget.
He will surely punish them for their sins.

¹⁰The Lord says, “O Israel, when I first found you,
it was like finding fresh grapes in the desert.
When I saw your ancestors,
it was like seeing the first ripe figs of the season.
But then they deserted me for Baal-peor,
giving themselves to that shameful idol.
Soon they became vile,
as vile as the god they worshiped.
¹¹The glory of Israel will fly away like a bird,
for your children will not be born
or grow in the womb
or even be conceived.
¹²Even if you do have children who grow up,
I will take them from you.
It will be a terrible day when I turn away
and leave you alone.
¹³I have watched Israel become as beautiful as Tyre.
But now Israel will bring out her children for slaughter.”

¹⁴O Lord, what should I request for your people?
I will ask for wombs that don’t give birth
and breasts that give no milk.

¹⁵The Lord says, “All their wickedness began at Gilgal;
there I began to hate them.
I will drive them from my land
because of their evil actions.
I will love them no more
because all their leaders are rebels.
¹⁶The people of Israel are struck down.
Their roots are dried up,
and they will bear no more fruit.
And if they give birth,
I will slaughter their beloved children.”

¹⁷My God will reject the people of Israel
because they will not listen or obey.
They will be wanderers,
homeless among the nations.

Footnotes:

6:4 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
6:6a Greek version translates this Hebrew term as to show mercy. Compare Matt 9:13; 12:7.
6:6b Hebrew to know God.
6:7 Or But at Adam.
7:1 Hebrew Ephraim’s, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; similarly in 7:8, 11.
7:6 Hebrew Their baker sleeps.
7:12 Hebrew I will punish them because of what was reported against them in the assembly.
7:14 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads They gather together.
8:9 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 8:11.
9:6 Memphis was the capital of northern Egypt.
9:8 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 9:11, 13, 16.

New Living Translation (NLT)

3 John

Greetings

¹This letter is from John, the elder.^[a]

I am writing to Gaius, my dear friend, whom I love in the truth.

²Dear friend, I hope all is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in spirit. ³Some of the traveling teachers^[b] recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living according to the truth. ⁴I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth.

Caring for the Lord’s Workers

⁵Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you. ⁶They have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God. ⁷For they are traveling for the Lord,^[c] and they accept nothing from people who are not believers.^[d] ⁸So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth.

⁹I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us. ¹⁰When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church.

¹¹Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.^[e]

¹²Everyone speaks highly of Demetrius, as does the truth itself. We ourselves can say the same for him, and you know we speak the truth.

Conclusion

¹³I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to write it with pen and ink. ¹⁴For I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk face to face.

¹⁵^[f]Peace be with you.

Your friends here send you their greetings. Please give my personal greetings to each of our friends there.

Footnotes:

1 Greek From the elder.
3 Greek the brothers; also in verses 5 and 10.
7a Greek They went out on behalf of the Name.
7b Greek from Gentiles.
11 Greek they have not seen God.
15 Some English translations combine verses 14 and 15 into verse 14.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 126

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

¹When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem,^[a]
it was like a dream!
²We were filled with laughter,
and we sang for joy.
And the other nations said,
“What amazing things the Lord has done for them.”
³Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!
What joy!

⁴Restore our fortunes, Lord,
as streams renew the desert.
⁵Those who plant in tears
will harvest with shouts of joy.
⁶They weep as they go to plant their seed,
but they sing as they return with the harvest.

Footnotes:

126:1 Hebrew Zion.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 29:12-14

¹²If a ruler pays attention to liars,
all his advisers will be wicked.

¹³The poor and the oppressor have this in common—
the Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.

¹⁴If a king judges the poor fairly,
his throne will last forever.

New Living Translation (NLT)

December 6, 2022

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday December 6, 2022 (NIV)

Hosea 4-5

The Lord’s Case against Israel

4 Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel!
The Lord has brought charges against you, saying:
“There is no faithfulness, no kindness,
no knowledge of God in your land.
²You make vows and break them;
you kill and steal and commit adultery.
There is violence everywhere—
one murder after another.
³That is why your land is in mourning,
and everyone is wasting away.
Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and the fish of the sea are disappearing.

⁴“Don’t point your finger at someone else
and try to pass the blame!
My complaint, you priests,
is with you.^[a]
⁵So you will stumble in broad daylight,
and your false prophets will fall with you in the night.
And I will destroy Israel, your mother.
⁶My people are being destroyed
because they don’t know me.
Since you priests refuse to know me,
I refuse to recognize you as my priests.
Since you have forgotten the laws of your God,
I will forget to bless your children.
⁷The more priests there are,
the more they sin against me.
They have exchanged the glory of God
for the shame of idols.^[b]

⁸“When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed.
So the priests are glad when the people sin!
⁹‘And what the priests do, the people also do.’
So now I will punish both priests and people
for their wicked deeds.
¹⁰They will eat and still be hungry.
They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it,
for they have deserted the Lord
¹¹to worship other gods.

“Wine has robbed my people
of their understanding.
¹²They ask a piece of wood for advice!
They think a stick can tell them the future!
Longing after idols
has made them foolish.
They have played the prostitute,
serving other gods and deserting their God.
¹³They offer sacrifices to idols on the mountaintops.
They go up into the hills to burn incense
in the pleasant shade of oaks, poplars, and terebinth trees.

“That is why your daughters turn to prostitution,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
¹⁴But why should I punish them
for their prostitution and adultery?
For your men are doing the same thing,
sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes.
O foolish people! You refuse to understand,
so you will be destroyed.

¹⁵“Though you, Israel, are a prostitute,
may Judah not be guilty of such things.
Do not join the false worship at Gilgal or Beth-aven,^[c]
and do not take oaths there in the Lord’s name.
¹⁶Israel is stubborn,
like a stubborn heifer.
So should the Lord feed her
like a lamb in a lush pasture?
¹⁷Leave Israel^[d] alone,
because she is married to idolatry.
¹⁸When the rulers of Israel finish their drinking,
off they go to find some prostitutes.
They love shame more than honor.^[e]
¹⁹So a mighty wind will sweep them away.
Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame.

The Failure of Israel’s Leaders

5 “Hear this, you priests.
Pay attention, you leaders of Israel.
Listen, you members of the royal family.
Judgment has been handed down against you.
For you have led the people into a snare
by worshiping the idols at Mizpah and Tabor.
²You have dug a deep pit to trap them at Acacia Grove.^[f]
But I will settle with you for what you have done.
³I know what you are like, O Ephraim.
You cannot hide yourself from me, O Israel.
You have left me as a prostitute leaves her husband;
you are utterly defiled.
⁴Your deeds won’t let you return to your God.
You are a prostitute through and through,
and you do not know the Lord.

⁵“The arrogance of Israel testifies against her;
Israel and Ephraim will stumble under their load of guilt.
Judah, too, will fall with them.
⁶When they come with their flocks and herds
to offer sacrifices to the Lord,
they will not find him,
because he has withdrawn from them.
⁷They have betrayed the honor of the Lord,
bearing children that are not his.
Now their false religion will devour them
along with their wealth.^[g]

⁸“Sound the alarm in Gibeah!
Blow the trumpet in Ramah!
Raise the battle cry in Beth-aven^[h]!
Lead on into battle, O warriors of Benjamin!
⁹One thing is certain, Israel^[i]:
On your day of punishment,
you will become a heap of rubble.

¹⁰“The leaders of Judah have become like thieves.^[j]
So I will pour my anger on them like a waterfall.
¹¹The people of Israel will be crushed and broken by my judgment
because they are determined to worship idols.^[k]
¹²I will destroy Israel as a moth consumes wool.
I will make Judah as weak as rotten wood.

¹³“When Israel and Judah saw how sick they were,
Israel turned to Assyria—
to the great king there—
but he could neither help nor cure them.
¹⁴I will be like a lion to Israel,
like a strong young lion to Judah.
I will tear them to pieces!
I will carry them off,
and no one will be left to rescue them.
¹⁵Then I will return to my place
until they admit their guilt and turn to me.
For as soon as trouble comes,
they will earnestly search for me.”

Footnotes:

4:4 Hebrew Your people are like those with a complaint against the priests.
4:7 As in Syriac version and an ancient Hebrew tradition; Masoretic Text reads I will turn their glory into shame.
4:15 Beth-aven means “house of wickedness”; it is being used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of God.”
4:17 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel.
4:18 As in Greek version; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
5:2 Hebrew at Shittim. The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
5:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
5:8 Beth-aven means “house of wickedness”; it is being used as another name for Bethel, which means “house of God.”
5:9 Hebrew Ephraim, referring to the northern kingdom of Israel; also in 5:11, 12, 13, 14.
5:10 Hebrew like those who move a boundary marker.
5:11 Or determined to follow human commands. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

New Living Translation (NLT)

2 John

Greetings

¹This letter is from John, the elder.^[a]

I am writing to the chosen lady and to her children,^[b] whom I love in the truth—as does everyone else who knows the truth— ²because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever.

³Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.

Live in the Truth

⁴How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded.

⁵I am writing to remind you, dear friends,^[c] that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. ⁶Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

⁷I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came^[d] in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist. ⁸Watch out that you do not lose what we^[e] have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward. ⁹Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.

¹⁰If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement. ¹¹Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.

Conclusion

¹²I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to do it with paper and ink. For I hope to visit you soon and talk with you face to face. Then our joy will be complete.

¹³Greetings from the children of your sister,^[f] chosen by God.

Footnotes:

1a Greek From the elder.
1b Or the church God has chosen and its members.
5 Greek I urge you, lady.
7 Or will come.
8 Some manuscripts read you.
13 Or from the members of your sister church.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 125

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

¹Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion;
they will not be defeated but will endure forever.
²Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people, both now and forever.
³The wicked will not rule the land of the godly,
for then the godly might be tempted to do wrong.
⁴O Lord, do good to those who are good,
whose hearts are in tune with you.
⁵But banish those who turn to crooked ways, O Lord.
Take them away with those who do evil.

May Israel have peace!

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 29:9-11

⁹If a wise person takes a fool to court,
there will be ranting and ridicule but no satisfaction.

¹⁰The bloodthirsty hate blameless people,
but the upright seek to help them.^[a]

¹¹Fools vent their anger,
but the wise quietly hold it back.

Footnotes:

29:10 Or The bloodthirsty hate blameless people, / and they seek to kill the upright; Hebrew reads The bloodthirsty hate blameless people; / as for the upright, they seek their life.

New Living Translation (NLT)

December 5, 2022

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday December 5, 2022 (NIV)

Hosea 1-3

1 The Lord gave this message to Hosea son of Beeri during the years when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash^[a] was king of Israel.

Hosea’s Wife and Children

²When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute,^[b] so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.”

³So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son. ⁴And the Lord said, “Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence. ⁵I will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.”

⁶Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah—‘Not loved’—for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them. ⁷But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemies—not with weapons and armies or horses and charioteers, but by my power as the Lord their God.”

⁸After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son. ⁹And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi—‘Not my people’—for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God.

¹⁰^[c]“Yet the time will come when Israel’s people will be like the sands of the seashore—too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ it will be said, ‘You are children of the living God.’ ¹¹Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite together. They will choose one leader for themselves, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will be—the day of Jezreel^[d]—when God will again plant his people in his land.

2 ^[e]“In that day you will call your brothers Ammi—‘My people.’ And you will call your sisters Ruhamah—‘The ones I love.’

Charges against an Unfaithful Wife

²“But now bring charges against Israel—your mother—
for she is no longer my wife,
and I am no longer her husband.
Tell her to remove the prostitute’s makeup from her face
and the clothing that exposes her breasts.
³Otherwise, I will strip her as naked
as she was on the day she was born.
I will leave her to die of thirst,
as in a dry and barren wilderness.
⁴And I will not love her children,
for they were conceived in prostitution.
⁵Their mother is a shameless prostitute
and became pregnant in a shameful way.
She said, ‘I’ll run after other lovers
and sell myself to them for food and water,
for clothing of wool and linen,
and for olive oil and drinks.’

⁶“For this reason I will fence her in with thornbushes.
I will block her path with a wall
to make her lose her way.
⁷When she runs after her lovers,
she won’t be able to catch them.
She will search for them
but not find them.
Then she will think,
‘I might as well return to my husband,
for I was better off with him than I am now.’
⁸She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has—
the grain, the new wine, the olive oil;
I even gave her silver and gold.
But she gave all my gifts to Baal.

⁹“But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine
I generously provided each harvest season.
I will take away the wool and linen clothing
I gave her to cover her nakedness.
¹⁰I will strip her naked in public,
while all her lovers look on.
No one will be able
to rescue her from my hands.
¹¹I will put an end to her annual festivals,
her new moon celebrations, and her Sabbath days—
all her appointed festivals.
¹²I will destroy her grapevines and fig trees,
things she claims her lovers gave her.
I will let them grow into tangled thickets,
where only wild animals will eat the fruit.
¹³I will punish her for all those times
when she burned incense to her images of Baal,
when she put on her earrings and jewels
and went out to look for her lovers
but forgot all about me,”
says the Lord.

The Lord’s Love for Unfaithful Israel

¹⁴“But then I will win her back once again.
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her there.
¹⁵I will return her vineyards to her
and transform the Valley of Trouble^[f] into a gateway of hope.
She will give herself to me there,
as she did long ago when she was young,
when I freed her from her captivity in Egypt.
¹⁶When that day comes,” says the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’
instead of ‘my master.’^[g]
¹⁷O Israel, I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips,
and you will never mention them again.
¹⁸On that day I will make a covenant
with all the wild animals and the birds of the sky
and the animals that scurry along the ground
so they will not harm you.
I will remove all weapons of war from the land,
all swords and bows,
so you can live unafraid
in peace and safety.
¹⁹I will make you my wife forever,
showing you righteousness and justice,
unfailing love and compassion.
²⁰I will be faithful to you and make you mine,
and you will finally know me as the Lord.

²¹“In that day, I will answer,”
says the Lord.
“I will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds.
And the sky will answer the earth with rain.
²²Then the earth will answer the thirsty cries
of the grain, the grapevines, and the olive trees.
And they in turn will answer,
‘Jezreel’—‘God plants!’
²³At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites
and raise them for myself.
I will show love
to those I called ‘Not loved.’^[h]
And to those I called ‘Not my people,’^[i]
I will say, ‘Now you are my people.’
And they will reply, ‘You are our God!’”

Hosea’s Wife Is Redeemed

3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she^[j] commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them.^[k]”

²So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver^[l] and five bushels of barley and a measure of wine.^[m] ³Then I said to her, “You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time, you will not have sexual relations with anyone, not even with me.^[n]”

⁴This shows that Israel will go a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, sacred pillars, priests,^[o] or even idols! ⁵But afterward the people will return and devote themselves to the Lord their God and to David’s descendant, their king.^[p] In the last days, they will tremble in awe of the Lord and of his goodness.

Footnotes:

1:1 Hebrew Joash, a variant spelling of Jehoash.
1:2 Or a promiscuous woman.
1:10 Verses 1:10-11 are numbered 2:1-2 in Hebrew text.
1:11 Jezreel means “God plants.”
2:1 Verses 2:1-23 are numbered 2:3-25 in Hebrew text.
2:15 Hebrew valley of Achor.
2:16 Hebrew ‘my baal.’
2:23a Hebrew Lo-ruhamah; see 1:6.
2:23b Hebrew Lo-ammi; see 1:9.
3:1a Or Go and love a woman who.
3:1b Hebrew love their raisin cakes.
3:2a Hebrew 15 [shekels] of silver, about 6 ounces or 171 grams in weight.
3:2b As in Greek version, which reads a homer of barley and a wineskin full of wine; Hebrew reads a homer [5 bushels or 220 liters] of barley and a lethek [2.5 bushels or 110 liters] of barley.
3:3 Or and I will live with you.
3:4 Hebrew ephod, the vest worn by the priest.
3:5 Hebrew to David their king.

New Living Translation (NLT)

1 John 5

Faith in the Son of God

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ^[a] has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. ²We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. ³Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. ⁴For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. ⁵And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

⁶And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross^[b]—not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. ⁷So we have these three witnesses^[c]— ⁸the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and all three agree. ⁹Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. ¹⁰All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.

¹¹And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹²Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

Conclusion

¹³I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. ¹⁴And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. ¹⁵And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

¹⁶If you see a fellow believer^[d] sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it. ¹⁷All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death.

¹⁸We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them. ¹⁹We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.

²⁰And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God.^[e] And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.

²¹Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.^[f]

Footnotes:

5:1 Or the Messiah.
5:6 Greek This is he who came by water and blood.
5:7 A few very late manuscripts add in heaven—the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And we have three witnesses on earth.
5:16 Greek a brother.
5:20 Greek the one who is true.
5:21 Greek keep yourselves from idols.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 124

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.

¹What if the Lord had not been on our side?
Let all Israel repeat:
²What if the Lord had not been on our side
when people attacked us?
³They would have swallowed us alive
in their burning anger.
⁴The waters would have engulfed us;
a torrent would have overwhelmed us.
⁵Yes, the raging waters of their fury
would have overwhelmed our very lives.

⁶Praise the Lord,
who did not let their teeth tear us apart!
⁷We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap.
The trap is broken, and we are free!
⁸Our help is from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 29:5-8

⁵To flatter friends
is to lay a trap for their feet.

⁶Evil people are trapped by sin,
but the righteous escape, shouting for joy.

⁷The godly care about the rights of the poor;
the wicked don’t care at all.

⁸Mockers can get a whole town agitated,
but the wise will calm anger.

New Living Translation (NLT)

December 4, 2022

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday December 4, 2022 (NIV)

Daniel 11:36-12:13

³⁶“The king will do as he pleases, exalting himself and claiming to be greater than every god, even blaspheming the God of gods. He will succeed, but only until the time of wrath is completed. For what has been determined will surely take place. ³⁷He will have no respect for the gods of his ancestors, or for the god loved by women, or for any other god, for he will boast that he is greater than them all. ³⁸Instead of these, he will worship the god of fortresses—a god his ancestors never knew—and lavish on him gold, silver, precious stones, and expensive gifts. ³⁹Claiming this foreign god’s help, he will attack the strongest fortresses. He will honor those who submit to him, appointing them to positions of authority and dividing the land among them as their reward.^[a]

⁴⁰“Then at the time of the end, the king of the south will attack the king of the north. The king of the north will storm out with chariots, charioteers, and a vast navy. He will invade various lands and sweep through them like a flood. ⁴¹He will enter the glorious land of Israel,^[b] and many nations will fall, but Moab, Edom, and the best part of Ammon will escape. ⁴²He will conquer many countries, and even Egypt will not escape. ⁴³He will gain control over the gold, silver, and treasures of Egypt, and the Libyans and Ethiopians^[c] will be his servants.

⁴⁴“But then news from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in great anger to destroy and obliterate many. ⁴⁵He will stop between the glorious holy mountain and the sea and will pitch his royal tents. But while he is there, his time will suddenly run out, and no one will help him.

The Time of the End

12 “At that time Michael, the archangel^[d] who stands guard over your nation, will arise. Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence. But at that time every one of your people whose name is written in the book will be rescued. ²Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting disgrace. ³Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever. ⁴But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”

⁵Then I, Daniel, looked and saw two others standing on opposite banks of the river. ⁶One of them asked the man dressed in linen, who was now standing above the river, “How long will it be until these shocking events are over?”

⁷The man dressed in linen, who was standing above the river, raised both his hands toward heaven and took a solemn oath by the One who lives forever, saying, “It will go on for a time, times, and half a time. When the shattering of the holy people has finally come to an end, all these things will have happened.”

⁸I heard what he said, but I did not understand what he meant. So I asked, “How will all this finally end, my lord?”

⁹But he said, “Go now, Daniel, for what I have said is kept secret and sealed until the time of the end. ¹⁰Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials. But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand. Only those who are wise will know what it means.

¹¹“From the time the daily sacrifice is stopped and the sacrilegious object that causes desecration^[e] is set up to be worshiped, there will be 1,290 days. ¹²And blessed are those who wait and remain until the end of the 1,335 days!

¹³“As for you, go your way until the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days, you will rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for you.”

Footnotes:

11:39 Or at a price.
11:41 Hebrew the glorious land.
11:43 Hebrew Cushites.
12:1 Hebrew the great prince.
12:11 Hebrew the abomination of desolation.

New Living Translation (NLT)

1 John 4

Discerning False Prophets

4 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. ²This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet^[a] acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. ³But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

⁴But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. ⁵Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. ⁶But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.

Loving One Another

⁷Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. ⁸But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

⁹God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. ¹⁰This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

¹¹Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. ¹²No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

¹³And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. ¹⁴Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. ¹⁶We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. ¹⁷And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

¹⁸Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. ¹⁹We love each other^[b] because he loved us first.

²⁰If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer,^[c] that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? ²¹And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.^[d]

Footnotes:

4:2 Greek If a spirit; similarly in 4:3.
4:19 Greek We love. Other manuscripts read We love God; still others read We love him.
4:20 Greek hates his brother.
4:21 Greek The one who loves God must also love his brother.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 123

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

¹I lift my eyes to you,
O God, enthroned in heaven.
²We keep looking to the Lord our God for his mercy,
just as servants keep their eyes on their master,
as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.
³Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy,
for we have had our fill of contempt.
⁴We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud
and the contempt of the arrogant.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 29:2-4

²When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice.
But when the wicked are in power, they groan.

³The man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father,
but if he hangs around with prostitutes, his wealth is wasted.

⁴A just king gives stability to his nation,
but one who demands bribes destroys it.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Obadiah

Edom Will Be Humbled

Edom's Violence Against Jacob

The Day of the Lord Is Near

The Kingdom of the Lord

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Revelation 4

The Throne in Heaven

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Psalm 132

The Lord Has Chosen Zion

A Song of (A)Ascents.

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Proverbs 29:24-25

Cross references:

Amos 7-9

Warning Visions

Amos Accused

The Coming Day of Bitter Mourning

The Destruction of Israel

The Restoration of Israel

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Revelation 3:7-22

To the Church in Philadelphia

To the Church in Laodicea

Cross references:

Psalm 131

I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul

A Song of (A)Ascents. Of David.

Cross references:

Proverbs 29:23

Cross references:

Amos 4-6

Israel Has Not Returned to the Lord

Seek the Lord and Live

Let Justice Roll Down

Woe to Those at Ease in Zion

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Revelation 2:18-3:6

To the Church in Thyatira

To the Church in Sardis

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Psalm 130

My Soul Waits for the Lord

A Song of (A)Ascents.

Cross references:

Proverbs 29:21-22

Footnotes:

Cross references:

Amos 1-3

God’s Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors

God’s Judgment on Judah and Israel

Witnesses against Guilty Israel

Footnotes:

Revelation 2:1-17

The Message to the Church in Ephesus

The Message to the Church in Smyrna

The Message to the Church in Pergamum

Footnotes:

Psalm 129

Psalm 129

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

Footnotes:

Proverbs 29:19-20

Joel 1-3

Mourning over the Locust Plague

Locusts Invade like an Army

A Call to Repentance

The Lord’s Promise of Restoration

The Lord’s Promise of His Spirit

Judgment against Enemy Nations

Blessings for God’s People

Footnotes:

Revelation 1

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of David.

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.