A Walk Through The Word

December 22, 2023

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday December 22, 2023 (NIV)

Zechariah 2-3

2 That night I had a third vision. I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.

Zechariah: ²Where are you going with that?

Surveyor: I am going to measure the city of Jerusalem to find out how wide and how long it is so that a wall may be built around it.

A third vision looks forward to a time of restoration and the coming of God’s Anointed One when things will be set right.

³Then the heavenly messenger who had been answering my questions since my first vision left my side, and a second messenger came and met him.

Second Messenger: ⁴Go quickly, and tell that young surveyor with the measuring line, “Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the vast number of people and all their domesticated animals living in it.” ⁵For the Eternal One says, “Instead of a wall of stone, I will be a wall of fire protecting her all around, and I will be the shining glory within her.”

Eternal One (to Zechariah): ⁶Tell all the Israelites to hear My message: “Up! Flee from your oppressors in the north. I have scattered you far across this earth, as if you were the four winds of heaven, and now I call you to return.” ⁷Then tell My people in Jerusalem to hear My message: “Escape from subservience to daughter Babylon and go to Zion!”

⁸So said the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.

After His glory has arrived in the city, He will send me to the nations that stripped you bare, Jerusalem, because any nation who harms you harms the apple of His eye.

Eternal One: ⁹Watch what I’m going to do: I am ready to wave My hand over them to command punishment, and their own slaves will turn against them and strip them bare.

When these things happen, you will know the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has sent me as His prophet.

Eternal One: ¹⁰Sing out loud and be happy, daughter Zion, because you will see Me coming and I will live among you. I, the Eternal One, promise this. ¹¹When that day comes, many other nations will join with Me, and their people will become My people. Still I will live among you, my covenant people.

When these things happen, you will know the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has sent me to you. ¹²The Eternal will inherit Judah as His share in the holy land, and He will again choose Jerusalem as His city. ¹³Hush, all people! Be silent before the Eternal, for He has awakened and has come in glory to Jerusalem from His holy home in heaven.

3 Then the heavenly messenger showed me a fourth vision: Joshua, the high priest, was standing in front of the Eternal’s Special Messenger who was presiding over a heavenly council meeting. Standing to Joshua’s right was the one called the Accuser.^[a] He was ready to argue that Joshua was unworthy to serve as high priest.

In this vision Zechariah sees a heavenly court. Joshua the high priest is on trial, charged with impurity and accused of being unfit to serve as high priest. The Accuser appears in the role of a prosecuting attorney, bringing charges and attempting to undermine the credibility of the one person God wants to lead His people. But the Judge will have none of it.

Eternal One (to the Accuser): ²I am reprimanding you, Accuser. I, the Eternal One, have chosen Jerusalem as My own, saved her from My fiery wrath as if she were a wooden poker just pulled from destruction in a fire.

³Joshua stood motionless before the Eternal’s messenger, still dressed in filth-covered clothes, as if recently returned from captivity.

Special Messenger of the Eternal (to the other heavenly council members): ⁴Remove the filth-covered clothes from this man.

(to Joshua) Just as I have taken away your dirty clothes, I have taken away your guilt from you. In place of those clothes, I will dress you in pure, expensive garments. Then you will be ready to serve God and lead the festival.

Zechariah (to the Eternal’s Special Messenger): ⁵Your fellow council members should put a pure turban befitting of the high priest on his head. It will indicate his dignity.

So they placed a pure turban on his head and finished dressing him in his new clothes while the Eternal’s Special Messenger stood by, supervising the cleansing. Joshua could now safely approach God.

⁶The Eternal’s Special Messenger then stood before Joshua and cautioned him.

Special Messenger of the Eternal: ⁷Listen to what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has to say: “If you bind yourself to Me, walk according to My teachings, and perform your priestly duties without fail; then you will be in charge of My house in Jerusalem, you will organize the activities in the courtyards surrounding the most holy place, and I will give you a place among all My heavenly council members gathered here. ⁸Listen to Me, Joshua the high priest—you and your colleagues who maintain the temple alongside you. These men are a sign of wonders to come. Watch, because I am going to bring My servant, who is the Branch of David, to lead you.” ⁹The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has this to say: “You will see the stone I set before Joshua: on it are seven eyes, on it I will engrave a special word, and in a single day I will purge guilt from the land. ¹⁰And on that day I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, promise everyone will invite one another to sit under the shade of his own vine and fig tree and be at peace.”

Footnotes:

3:1 Literally, the satan

The Voice (VOICE)

Revelation 13

13 I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the blackness of the sea. On its horns hung ten crowns, and on its heads were inscribed blasphemous names. ²This beast was like a leopard, its feet were like the claws of a bear, and its mouth was like the jaws of a lion. The dragon bestowed it with his power and his throne and his great authority. ³One of the beast’s heads appeared to have suffered a fatal blow, but its mortal wound had somehow been healed. Amazed at the miracle and its power, all the earth followed the beast. ⁴People worshiped the dragon because he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast because of its power.

Earth: Who can match the beast? Who can fight against it?

The beast emerges from the murky waters resembling the dragon; but it has other features, too, that resemble the four beasts as described in Daniel 7. Daniel, in his visions, learns that the beasts represent the empires that terrorized Israel and the rest of the world: the Babylonians, Persians, Medes, and Greeks. Prophetic images are difficult to identify. The beast in John’s vision could be none other than the Roman Empire or another empire to come later. Rome has its own beastly authority, the Caesar, who demands worship. “Caesar is Lord,” they dare to claim. But John knows better. In every generation, powerful people and institutions arise—political predators that demand loyalty, sometimes even worship.

⁵And the beast was given a mouth that bellowed arrogant boasts and uttered great blasphemies, and it was permitted to do what it willed for 42 months. ⁶Its mouth opened with a stream of insults against God, blaspheming His name, cursing His dwelling and those who live in heaven. ⁷Also it received permission to declare war against the saints and conquer them. Not a single nation, people, language, or ethnicity could escape its dominion. ⁸The inhabitants of the earth will worship it, that is, all those whose names have not been recorded before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.

⁹Let the person who is able to hear, listen carefully.

¹⁰If someone is destined for captivity,
a captive he will be.
If someone is destined [to die]^[a] by the sword,
by the sword he will die.

The endurance and faithfulness of the saints will be tested here.

¹¹As I watched, I saw a second beast, this one rising up from the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it was speaking with the voice of a dragon.

The second beast, which later becomes “the false prophet,” has horns like the lamb; but its true nature is revealed in its dragon-like voice. Many pretenders and posers exist in the spiritual world. This new beast wants the world to believe it represents the True God, the only King worthy of worship. But it’s a deceiver, a counterfeit of the true King; it steals devotion away from the one true God, producing signs to dazzle the inhabitants of the earth.

¹²This earth-beast exercises all of the authority given to it by the first beast, and it forces the earth and all its inhabitants to bow down and worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. ¹³And the earth-beast performs fantastic miracles. Like Elijah on Mount Carmel, it even causes fire to blaze down from heaven to earth for all to see. ¹⁴Since it is allowed to perform these miracles in the presence of the first beast, the earth-beast deceives the inhabitants of the earth, commanding them to make an image of the first beast that had survived the mortal wound inflicted by the sword. ¹⁵And the earth-beast was granted permission to breathe into the image and to animate it so that it could even speak. It decreed that those who refuse to worship the image of the first beast must be killed, ¹⁶and the earth-beast mandates that all humans must carry a mark on their right hands or foreheads: both great and small, both rich and poor, both free and slave.

The beast demands worship and requires all to carry its mark. Those who don’t face severe punishment.

¹⁷Those who do not carry this mark, that is, those who do not have the name of the first beast or the number representing its name inscribed on them, are not allowed to sell their wares or buy in the market.

¹⁸Here is divine wisdom: let anyone who understands these mysteries figure out the number of the beast because it is the number of a person. Its number is 666.^[b]

Footnotes:

13:10 Other manuscripts read “to kill.”
13:18 Some manuscripts read 616.

The Voice (VOICE)

Psalm 141

A song of David.

¹O Eternal One, I call upon You.
Come quickly!
Listen to my voice as I call upon You!
²Consider my prayer as an offering of incense that rises before You;
when I stand with my hands outstretched pleading toward the heavens,
consider it as an evening offering.

³Guard my mouth, O Eternal One;
control what I say.
Keep a careful watch on every word I speak.
⁴Don’t allow my deepest desires to steer me toward doing what is wrong
or associating with wicked people
Or joining in their wicked works
or tasting any of their pleasures.

⁵Let those who do right strike me down in kindness
and correct me in love.
Their kind correction washes over my head like pure oil;
do not let me be foolish and refuse such compassion.
Still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked:
⁶Their judges will be thrown from the edges of cliffs and crushed upon the rocks below,
and the wicked will hear my words and realize that what I said was pleasing.
⁷Just as when a farmer plows and breaks open the earth, leaving clumps of dirt scattered along the rows,
our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave.

⁸My gaze is fixed upon You, Eternal One, my Lord;
in You I find safety and protection.
Do not abandon me and leave me defenseless.
⁹Protect me from the jaws of the trap my enemies have set for me
and from the snares of those who work evil.
¹⁰May the wicked be caught in their own nets
while I alone escape unharmed.

The Voice (VOICE)

Proverbs 30:18-20

¹⁸There are three mysteries I find absolutely amazing,
no, make it four I cannot comprehend:
¹⁹The way an eagle flies through the sky,
the way a snake moves over a rock,
The way a boat glides through the middle of the sea,
and the way a man becomes one with his virgin wife.

²⁰An adulterous woman is so cavalier by nature.
When she’s done, it is as if she washed after eating
and then says, “I have done nothing wrong.”

The Voice (VOICE)

December 21, 2023

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday December 21, 2023 (NIV)

Zechariah 1

1 During the eighth month of the second year of the reign of Persian King Darius, the word of the Eternal One came to the prophet Zechariah (Berechiah’s son and Iddo’s grandson).

Message: ²The Eternal became very angry with your ancestors. That’s why He turned His back on them. ³Now, tell your people what the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies, has to say: “Return to Me, so I may turn back to you.” This is the message the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, burdens you with today, Zechariah.

⁴Do not be like your fathers and mothers, whom the prophets of their own time warned, “Here is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has to say: Turn away from your evil thoughts and your evil acts.” Even then they did not listen to Me. That was the message the Eternal One burdened His prophets with a generation ago.

Eternal One (to Zechariah): ⁵Where are your ancestors now? And what about the prophets I sent to warn them? They did not live forever, did they? ⁶Didn’t My words and My rules that I dictated through My servants the prophets outlive your rebellious ancestors? That’s why they repented eventually and realized, “The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has done to us exactly what He decided He would do if we behaved this way. His punishments match our evil thoughts and acts.”

Zechariah has a series of eight visions one night in early 519 b.c. These visions are filled with symbols, numbers, unusual sights, and distinct sounds. In order to understand what he is seeing, God sends a heavenly messenger to serve as Zechariah’s guide and interpreter. All the visions relate to some aspect of the restoration of Jerusalem and her people.

⁷On the 24th day of the 11th month (called Shebat by the Babylonians) of the 2nd year of the reign of Persian King Darius, the word of the Eternal came to me, the prophet Zechariah (Berechiah’s son and Iddo’s grandson). This is what happened: ⁸During the night, I had eight visions. I opened my eyes, and there was a man riding a red horse and bringing a message. He was in the middle of a stand of ever-blooming myrtle trees down in the lowest part of the Kidron Valley. Behind him stood horses of red, tan, and white.

This is not just any messenger who comes to Zechariah in his vision; he is a heavenly messenger whom Zechariah addresses as “lord.”

Zechariah: ⁹What are they, my lord?

Heavenly Messenger: I will show you.

¹⁰The man standing among the myrtle trees explained.

Heavenly Messenger: The horses and their riders have been sent by the Eternal to patrol the whole earth.

¹¹And they began to give reports to the Special Messenger of the Eternal One, who was standing among the myrtle trees.

Patrols: We have traveled back and forth across the surface of the whole earth and found it resting peacefully.

Special Messenger of the Eternal: ¹²O Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, how long will You keep Your mercy from Jerusalem? How long will You keep Your mercy from the cities of Judah, which have endured Your anger for the last 70 years?

¹³The Eternal One answered him, speaking kind and comforting words to the heavenly messenger who had been talking to me. He shared with me the message.

Special Messenger of the Eternal (to Zechariah): ¹⁴Tell everyone these words of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies: “I am very jealous for the people of Jerusalem and Zion. ¹⁵Also, I am very angry with those nations that feel at ease. I was only slightly angry with these other nations, but when they attacked more ruthlessly than I commanded them to, they made the situation much worse for themselves. ¹⁶Here’s what I will do: I, the Eternal One, will turn back to Jerusalem with that mercy they’ve missed for 70 years. My temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem,” says the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies; “surveyors will stretch out their measuring lines over Jerusalem, and craftsmen will return to rebuild it.” ¹⁷You must reiterate to your people what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, says: “My cities will once again be so prosperous, they will overflow. Once again I will comfort the people of Zion, and once again I will choose Jerusalem as My earthly home.”

¹⁸That night I had a second vision of God’s wrath. I looked up and saw four horns.

In a second vision of the power of God’s judgment, God’s people are oppressed by the nations, who are represented by four horns.

Zechariah (to the heavenly messenger): ¹⁹What are these?

Heavenly Messenger: These are the horns of the nations that have been raised in battles to scatter and oppress Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.

²⁰Then the Eternal showed me four craftsmen.

Zechariah: ²¹And what are these people coming to do?

Heavenly Messenger: These are the horns of the nations that have scattered the people of Judah, and because of them, no one may lift his head up in dignity. The craftsmen have come to wreak havoc and inflict terror on the nations who own the horns, to strike down those who raised their horns before attacking Judah and sending her people into exile.

The Voice (VOICE)

Revelation 12

12 As I looked, a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman came into view clothed in the radiance of the sun, standing with the moon under her feet, and she was crowned with a wreath of twelve stars on her head. ²She was painfully pregnant and was crying out in the agony of labor. ³Then a second sign appeared in heaven, ominous, foreboding: a great red dragon, with seven crowned heads and ten horns. ⁴The dragon’s tail brushed one-third of the stars from the sky and hurled them down to the earth. The dragon crouched in front of the laboring woman, waiting to devour her child the moment it was born.

⁵She gave birth to a male child, who is destined to rule the nations with an iron scepter. Before the dragon could bite and devour her son, the child was whisked away and brought to God and His throne. ⁶The woman fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place of refuge and safety where she could find sustenance for 1,260 days.

The sign that appears in the vision is of a celestial woman who gives birth to a son. While it’s possible this could refer to Mary, the mother of Jesus, it is also possible this is a symbol of God’s chosen people. The faithful remnant of Israel is the womb that carried the Lord and delivered Him to the world. While the great red dragon does his best to destroy and devour Him, God has another plan. Since then, the dragon and his minions have done their best to harangue and persecute the woman’s children. But again he does not have the final word.

⁷A battle broke out in heaven. Michael, along with his heavenly messengers, clashed against the dragon. The dragon and his messengers returned the fight, ⁸but they did not prevail and were defeated. As a result, there was no place left for them in heaven. ⁹So the great dragon, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was cast down to the earth along with his messengers. ¹⁰Then I heard a great voice in heaven.

A Voice: Now the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of His Anointed One have come.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who relentlessly accuses them day and night before our God,
has been cast down and silenced.
¹¹By the blood of the Lamb
and the word of their witnesses,
they have become victorious over him,
For they did not hold on to their lives, even under threat of death.
¹²Therefore, rejoice, all you heavens;
celebrate, all you who live in them.
But disaster will befall the earth and the sea,
for the devil has come down to your spheres,
And he is incredibly angry
because he knows his time is nearly over.

¹³When the dragon realized he had been cast down to the earth, he pursued the mother of the male infant. ¹⁴In order to escape the serpent, she was given the two wings of the great eagle to fly deeper into the wilderness to her own special place where she would find sustenance for a time, and times, and half a time. ¹⁵Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a raging river that chased after the woman, trying to sweep her away in the flood. ¹⁶But the earth came to her rescue. It opened its gaping mouth and swallowed the river that spewed from the dragon’s mouth. ¹⁷As a result, the dragon was enraged at the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children—those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the testimony of Jesus.

¹⁸And [the dragon]^[a] stood waiting on the sand of the seashore.

Footnotes:

12:18 Some late manuscripts read “I.”

The Voice (VOICE)

Psalm 140

For the worship leader. A song of David.

¹Save me, O Eternal One, from the evil men who seek my life.
Shield me from this band of violent men.
²Their hearts devise evil! They conspire against me;
they are constantly causing a storm of war.
³These snakes have sharpened their tongues;
viper venom hides beneath their lips.^[a]

[pause]^[b]

⁴Keep me from the grip of these cruel men, O Eternal One.
Shield me from this band of violent men
whose only intention is to trip me up and undermine all I do.
⁵Those arrogant people are trying to catch me;
they’ve laid their trap, hiding a net along my path;
their traps are set, and I am the prey.

[pause]

⁶“Eternal One,” I said, “You are my one and only God.
Hear me, O Eternal, hear my humble cry for rescue.
⁷O Lord, Eternal One, power of my deliverance,
You are my helmet in the day of battle.
⁸So do not fulfill the desires of these evildoers, Eternal One;
do not advance their evil schemes, lest they brag about their successes.

[pause]

⁹“As for the gang leader of those who surround me,
let their mischievous words cover them; smother them in trouble.
¹⁰Let hot coals fall from heaven upon them
and cast them into the roaring fires.
May they sink into the muddy marsh from which there is no return.
¹¹Let no liar find a home anywhere in the land;
let evil hunt down the violent man and do him in quickly.”

¹²I am certain the Eternal supports the cause of the distressed;
the poor will receive the justice they deserve.
¹³Indeed, the just-living will glorify Your name,
and honorable people will be at home in Your presence.

Footnotes:

140:3 Romans 3:13
140:3 Literally, selah, likely a musical direction from a Hebrew root meaning “to lift up”

The Voice (VOICE)

Proverbs 30:17

¹⁷One who derides his father
and fails to honor his mother in old age
Will die in contempt: his eyes will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley
and eaten by the young vultures when his unburied body lies on the trash heap.

The Voice (VOICE)

December 21, 2023

12/20/2023 DAB Transcript

Haggai 1:1-2:23, Revelations 11:1-19, Psalm 139:1-24, Proverbs 30:15-16

Today is the 20th day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is wonderful to be here with you today as our journey continues forward step-by-step, day-by-day in the final days of this year. And we’re kind of on a trend right now as we move through the…the minor prophets in the Old Testament where we absorb an entire book in a day. That won’t happen every single day for the rest of the year, but it will happen today.

Introduction to the Book of Haggai:

We have arrived at the 10th of 12 books of prophecy known as the minor prophets. And today we will read the prophet Haggai. And like a lot of the other minor prophets, there’s not a lot to give us like, who Haggai was, what he did. We know that Haggai was…was among those who had returned from the Babylonian exile and were living in Jerusalem. And he was probably one of the first wave of exiles to be…be able to return back to Jerusalem. And we also know that from the writing here, he had access to those in power because he indicates that his message was delivered to Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah. And we might remember that name because we learned of Zerubbabel when we read through the book of, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. And he also delivered this message to Jeshua, the high priest, so he had access. And the message is largely motivational, but we have to look at a timeline to understand why. Babylon conquered Jerusalem and we read all about that, as we’ve been going through the Scriptures this year. And led people into exile and that happened at 586 BC. Babylon then was conquered by the Persian Empire in 539 BC. And it was the Persian King Cyrus that allowed the first of the exiles to go back to Jerusalem under Zerubbabel’s leadership around 538 BC. Haggai’s message, the one we’re about to read comes 18 years later in 520 BC. If fact, these prophecies in the book of Haggai, are some of the most precisely dated utterances that we know in the Bible because the dates are contained in the book, August 29th through December 18th 520 BC. So, during the 18 years from the time that the exiles were first allowed to return, until the time that Haggai pronounces this prophecy, the temple remained incomplete. The different oppositions political and regional and the intimidation of the surrounding nations had stalled all of the efforts for the temple and the people that built their own fortifications and rebuilt their own homes and rebuilt their own lives, without concern for the temple as the centerpiece of who they were. And the prophet Haggai voices God’s displeasure, why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins. And so, God tells the people that since they returned, they’ve been toiling and all their attempts to rebuild have been thwarted and their crops haven’t yielded the bounty that they had planned for because the people had become self-absorbed and left God’s temple neglected. They needed to completely change their priorities and put God first, God had plans. And so, from Haggai, we understand that construction began on September 21st and less than a month later on October 17the God spoke again to the people. God wanted to restore the temple. It was the central part of their covenantal life and the community of the chosen people. But God had specific plans for the work, and he wanted the work done. The temple restored, no more delay. And so, what we’ll see as we read through this is that God’s people had spent their energy trying to make life work on their own. That sounds like God’s people today, right, that sounds like us. But what the people learned was that their efforts yielded far less than they were expecting because they put themselves first, ignoring God. When God’s plan had been to consolidate the prosperity of the other nations and bring it flooding into the temple to supply God’s people. So, in other words, and this is the lesson man, this is the lesson for us, if they had put God first their toil would have yielded what they expected and been more fruitful. That is, that something each of us can take on board as a lesson for life. And so, let’s read the book of Haggai.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and this rapid movement of the year and through the Bible and through the book of Haggai today. And we think today of what we read in Psalm 139 that there is no where we can flee from Your presence. Wherever we go, You are there, and so we recognize that, acknowledge that, open our hearts to that. Your presence is here now. Your presence will accompany us wherever we go. We can ignore that, we do it all the time, we wander places that we should never go all the time and wander away from You. But You will not remove Your presence from us. So, we humble ourselves before You and ask for Your leadership. Come, Holy Spirit, lead us into all truth, we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that’s home base, it’s the websites. It’s where you find out what’s going on around here. We still have the vinyl albums that we brought out for Christmas this year, all in support of the new infrastructure and new application that’s coming next year. So, those are all available, you can find them at dailyaudiobible.com or in the Daily Audio Bible app, just look for the Shop, look for the Christmas Section and you will find them there. And thank you for all of those of you who have participated, thank you kindly.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in these final days of this year, then thank you deeply, humbly. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, that’s the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Trejan, this is God’s Life Speaker. I heard you on the Community Prayers. And you’ve said you’ve called in three times, but you haven’t heard your voice. Oh, how I wish we could communicate that you have got to listen to community prayers. People get so prayed for there. Trejan, you have given your life to Christ, you read a poem for us, you are dealing with hatred. You don’t wanna go back to that lifestyle. You wanna love the Lord. The only thing you want to hate is the devil himself. And your heart came through your words, through that song, that poem that you wrote and read. You read it with such passion. Let’s just pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for this young man that has changed his mind and changed his course. Lord, but he is crying out for just the peace in his mind. May his mind stay on You and may You give him the peace that surpasses all understanding. And a mind that stays on You, is a mind at peace, Lord. And you tell us to keep our minds on things above and I pray this over Trejan. I pray that he would burst forth with a song, with this rap, that he would speak to people, and he would be inundated with Christian friends, that they would just surround him, be able to lift him up, show him the way that he would have friends that would walk with him, beside him. And Holy Spirit, You are the number one friend, that You would speak to him in his mind. That You would draw him near and say, this way. And that he would follow you. He is eager, he’s hungry. Give him the sweetness, show him the way to go. He wants to follow the truth of life and we know that that’s You, and he has confessed it Lord. I pray that You would give him favor. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

Hello my name is Maggienita. I’m from Australia. This is my first time calling but I have been listening since 2009. But this morning I’m calling because I need everyone to pray for my son Lucas. My son has been in accident at work this morning. And he was hit with high pressure costic in his face and eyes. And right now, all I know is that he is blind and they are flying him to a hospital. So, I’m asking would you please pray for my son Lucas. That his sight would be restored. Thank you.

This call is for Trejan in Massachusetts. I normally do not listen to the weekend community prayers because they’re pretty long but I felt led to listen to this one. And I say, for some reason I felt led, I know that reason, that was the Holy Spirit. And your prayer, your call really resonated with me, Trejan. And I’d like to pray for you. Heavenly Father, I thank You for saving Trejan from the darkness that surrounds him there. From the hatred and Lord, I pray for Your deliverance for him. Surround him with spiritual brothers and sisters that can, that he can lean on. And this community too, Lord. Help him to realize that this community loves him and that there are people praying for him around the world, whether or not he hears that prayer, his prayer request. So Lord, just connect him with those people. Teach him how to connect with You on a daily basis. To spend time with You, to praise Your name and help him to be a light, a strong light in his community. I’m praying for you brother. This is Greg from Pennsylvania. Thanks.

Hi everyone, it’s Kristy in Kentucky. I wanted to call today to pray for some of our brothers and sisters. Lord, we praise You and we love You, Father God. And You have heard the petitions of Your children Lord, laid at Your feet. So, we come beside them, Jesus, and we pray for our brothers and sisters who love you so very much. Father, today, I lift up Chris to You Lord. He had a horrible battle with COVID, which has left him with MS. And Lord, the desires of his heart is to be healed so that he can spend time, quality time with his children doing all the things that he had planned to do with them, Father. And we’re asking that You hear his pleas, Father, for healing. Lord Jesus, Your hand is not too short to do any miracle. And so Father, we are asking for that for Chris today. Father, we are also praying for Jeremy. Lord Jesus, Kelly’s friend has received a horrible diagnosis of cancer, which has spread throughout his body. Lord, we know this man Father, and I know Lord Jesus, we all know Father God, that You love Your children. And we pray, Father God, that Your will for him is to live. And so, Father, we are asking that You place Your hands upon him, Father. Touch his body, Lord Jesus. Remove this cancer, Father. You’re a miracle working God, Lord. And we love You. We’ve seen your work before and so now we’re asking for a miracle for Jeremy. Lord, we love You so very much. We praise You and we honor You and we thank You for this privilege to come before Your throne. In Your heavenly name we pray. Amen. Alright everyone, I pray that each of you have a most blessed and lovely day. Merry Christmas.

December 20, 2023

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday December 20, 2023 (NIV)

Haggai 1-2

1 On the first day of the sixth month, during the second year King Darius reigned over the Persian Empire, the prophet named Haggai gave a message from the Eternal One to men named Zerubbabel (Shealtiel’s son and the Jewish governor of Judah) and Joshua (Jehozadak’s son and the high priest). ²This is what the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies who is more powerful even than the king, had to say.

Eternal One: These people living in Jerusalem say it’s not yet the right time for them to rebuild the temple, the place where the Eternal One dwells.

³The prophet Haggai gave a message from the Eternal.

Eternal One: ⁴Do you think the time is right for you to live in secure and lavishly covered homes when My house still lies in a heap of rubble? ⁵Think very carefully about your choices. ⁶You have planted a large crop, but your harvest is small. You have food to eat, but it is never enough to satisfy. You have something to drink, but you are never filled. You have clothes to wear, but they are not enough to keep you warm. You earn a salary, but the money runs out quickly, as if there are holes in your pocket.

⁷Think very carefully about your choices. ⁸Go up to the mountains, and bring down trees to make lumber and build My house. Do this so I may take pleasure in it and be honored by it.

⁹You expected to be well rewarded for all your hard work. But as you see, you are getting back almost nothing. As you have brought in profits, I’ve blown them away. Why? I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will tell you why: My house has remained in ruins while each of you has been chasing after your own concerns. ¹⁰This is why heaven above you has held back the dew^[a] and the earth has refused to produce crops. ¹¹I caused a drought in both the fields and the hills. All the crops you tried to produce have been affected, including your grain, your new wine, and your oil. All have been damaged: humanity, cattle, and everything you tried to produce yourself.

¹²Then Zerubbabel (Shealtiel’s son), Joshua (Jehozadak’s son and the high priest), and all those who had returned obeyed the voice of the Eternal, their True God. They took seriously the message brought by the prophet Haggai, believing he had been sent by the Eternal One, whom they worshiped and feared.

Haggai says the fields are not producing food because the temple has not been rebuilt. This understanding correlates God’s divine presence with the fertility of the land. The notion of divine control of natural events is common to the ancient world, but Haggai understands that acts of sacrifice or external displays of intrinsic beliefs cannot renew the land; transformative change brought on by the Lord’s presence can. God wants His people to experience real spiritual changes that are reflected in the ways they interact with each other and the rest of the world.

^13-15On the 24th day of that 6th month, which was King Darius’ 2nd year, Haggai, the messenger of the Eternal One, received this new message from the Eternal and shared it with the people.

Eternal One: I am with you.

And the Eternal One rallied the spirit of Zerubbabel (Shealtiel’s son and Judah’s governor), the spirit of Joshua (Jehozadak’s son and the high priest), and the spirit of all those who had returned to Jerusalem so that they came together and began work on the house of their God, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.

2 On the 21st day of the 7th month, the prophet Haggai gave another message from the Eternal.

Eternal One: ²Ask Zerubbabel (Shealtiel’s son and Judah’s governor), Joshua (Jehozadak’s son and the high priest), and all those who returned from exile, ³“Are any of you still living who saw how glorious My first house was before it was destroyed more than 60 years ago? How does this current one look to you now? In comparison to the first, does this one look like nothing? Of course it does.

⁴“But don’t be discouraged. Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Joshua (Jehozadak’s son and the high priest). Be strong, all you who once again live in the land. Keep working on it. For I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, am with you! ⁵Regarding the covenant^[b] I made with you when your ancestors came out of Egypt,^[c] My Spirit remains with you, living among you. Do not be afraid.

⁶“Yet once more^[d] I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens,^[e] the sea, and the land. ⁷I will rattle all the nations, and all that is valuable in the eyes of the world will be willingly brought to My house. I will see to it that it is filled to the brim with My glory.

⁸“You see, all the silver and all the gold in this world already belong to Me. ⁹You will stand by and watch as the magnificence of this new house will eclipse the magnificence of My first house. And in this new house, I will give you peace.”

God proclaims peace will come upon the Jews, a peace not only for Israel but for all believers in the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6–7).

So says the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.

¹⁰On the 24th day of the 9th month during the 2nd year of King Darius’ reign, the prophet Haggai received a third message from the Eternal One. ¹¹The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, told Haggai to ask the priests to explain what the law says about this scenario:

Haggai: ¹²If a person is carrying sacred meat, the meat of the sacrifices, in the fold of his garment and that garment comes into contact with some ordinary bread, stew, wine, oil, or any other food; then does it transfer its sacredness to the new food?

Priests: No.

Haggai: ¹³What about this situation then? If a person who is ritually impure from touching a dead body^[f] touches one of these foods, does he transfer the impurity to it?

Priests: Yes, it is now impure.

Haggai: ¹⁴The Eternal One says this is what He sees when He looks over this people and this nation:

“Everything they have done and everything they have brought there as a spiritual offering is impure. ¹⁵Now think carefully about your choices from this point forward. Consider how things were before you even laid the first stone back upon the other to rebuild the house of the Eternal One. ¹⁶How did it turn out for you? Were you able to do it without Me? You came to scoop grain and expected 20 measures, but there were only 10. You came to draw wine from a vat and expected 50 measures, but there were only 20. ¹⁷I crushed you and everything you tried to do under your own power with scorching heat, mildew, and hail; and still you didn’t turn to Me.^[g]

¹⁸“From this day forward—from the 24th day of the 9th month, from the foundation of the Eternal One’s house—think carefully and ask yourself, ¹⁹‘Is there seed left unplanted in the storage barns?’ No. But you must be patient. The grape vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate trees and the olive trees have not borne fruit yet. From this day on, I will bless you.”

²⁰That same day the prophet Haggai received a second message from the Eternal One.

Eternal One: ²¹Tell Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, that I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.^[h] ²²I will upend royal thrones and shatter the power of foreign kingdoms. I will crash chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will be killed in confusion and chaos, each by the sword of his countryman. ²³On that day, I will choose you, my servant Zerubbabel (Shealtiel’s son); this I declare. I will make you My choice as a signet ring represents the wishes of its owner because I have chosen you.

So said the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.

Footnotes:

1:10 Hebrew manuscripts read, “from dew.”
2:5 Hebrew manuscripts read, “word.”
2:5 Exodus 24:5–8
2:6 Hebrew manuscripts add, “and it is small.”
2:6 Hebrews 12:26
2:13 Hebrew manuscripts read, “soul.”
2:17 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
2:21 Hebrews 12:26

The Voice (VOICE)

Revelation 11

The scroll John eats is taken from the hand of the powerful messenger who announces the fulfillment of all the prophecies. Just as it did for the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel (2:8–3:4), the scroll represents the message John is required to proclaim; but first he must take it in and it must become a part of him. Initially it tastes sweet, but as it settles deep within him, it becomes bitter. God’s message is always bittersweet. It is sweet joy for those who turn to God, but bitter sadness for those who do not accept it.

11 Then I received a measuring rod. It resembled a staff, and I was commanded to take measurements.

A Voice: Get up, and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship in it. ²However, do not measure the court outside of the temple. Separate that area out because it has been handed over to the nations. They will trample over the holy city for 42 months. ³I will authorize my two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days dressed in sackcloth, the clothes that mourners wear.

⁴These two witnesses are the two olive trees and two lampstands standing in front of the Lord of the earth. ⁵If anyone wishes to harm the witnesses, fire spews out of the witnesses’ mouths and consumes their foe in flames. Anyone who wishes to harm them is destined to die this way. ⁶They have the authority to shut up the sky so that no rain may fall during the time of their prophecies. They also have authority to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with any plague whenever they desire.

The two witnesses bear a striking resemblance to the faithful prophets of Israel and the faithful martyrs of the churches. Together they stand speaking God’s message as the nations rant and rave and trample the holy city. The lampstands, which signify the churches, are not the light, but they welcome the light and present it to the world. The olive tree, even today, is a symbol of Israel. Olive trees supply the oil for the lamps so that they may burn brightly in the darkness. For a season, the two witnesses enjoy God’s protection, but a time is coming when they will fall victim to the nations and then lie silent.

⁷On the day they finish their testimony, the beast from the abyss will declare war on them and win victory by killing them. ⁸Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city (which, spiritually speaking, is called Sodom and Egypt) where their Lord was crucified. ⁹For three and a half days, representatives of the peoples and ethnicities, languages and nations stare down at their lifeless bodies and refuse them a proper burial. ¹⁰Because these two prophets tormented the earth dwellers by speaking God’s message, the people will rejoice over their dead bodies and celebrate their deaths by exchanging gifts with one another.

¹¹At the end of the three and a half days, the spirit of life that comes from God entered their corpses, raising them, and they stood again on their feet. Those who looked on were terrified by what they saw. ¹²Then they heard a great voice from heaven.

A Voice: Come up here!

Their enemies watched the spectacle as the witnesses ascended into heaven in a cloud.

¹³In that same hour, a great earthquake shook the earth causing one-tenth of the city to crumble into dust, and 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. Then the rest who were left alive, quaking in fear, turned and glorified the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second disaster has passed; watch as the third disaster comes quickly.

¹⁵The seventh messenger sounded his trumpet, and great voices in heaven confessed:

Voices from Heaven: The kingdom of the world has given way to the kingdom of our Lord
and of His Anointed One.
He will reign throughout the ages.

When the seventh messenger blows his trumpet, the kingdom of this world comes to an end. The rule and reign of God and His Anointed has arrived in full to eclipse the rogue kings who rebelled against the Creator and mocked His good name. God’s kingdom entered our world in the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It slipped in almost unnoticed beneath the noses of the powers that be. It grows silently as a seed in the earth until it fills the cosmos.

Today Christians live between the times: we live as aliens and strangers rescued from this present darkness, but we also live as citizens who long for the Kingdom that is to come. Until then we are to seek His kingdom and help carve out the territories for Him.

¹⁶Then the twenty-four elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell prostrate and worshiped God.

¹⁷24 Elders: We give You thanks, Lord God, the All Powerful,
who is and who was.
For You have wielded Your great power
and have begun Your reign.
¹⁸The nations have raged against You,
but Your wrath has finally come.
It is now time to judge all of the dead,
To give a just reward to Your servants, the prophets,
and to the saints and all who honor Your name,
both the small and the great,
And to destroy those who cause destruction to the earth.

¹⁹Then God’s temple in heaven was opened up, and His covenant chest could be seen within His temple. Lightning flashed all around. Noises and thunder rumbled. The earth trembled. Heavy hailstones fell from the sky.

The Voice (VOICE)

Psalm 139

For the worship leader. A song of David.

¹O Eternal One, You have explored my heart and know exactly who I am;
²You even know the small details like when I take a seat and when I stand up again.
Even when I am far away, You know what I’m thinking.
³You observe my wanderings and my sleeping, my waking and my dreaming,
and You know everything I do in more detail than even I know.
⁴You know what I’m going to say long before I say it.
It is true, Eternal One, that You know everything and everyone.
⁵You have surrounded me on every side, behind me and before me,
and You have placed Your hand gently on my shoulder.
⁶It is the most amazing feeling to know how deeply You know me, inside and out;
the realization of it is so great that I cannot comprehend it.

⁷Can I go anywhere apart from Your Spirit?
Is there anywhere I can go to escape Your watchful presence?

⁸If I go up into heaven, You are there.
If I make my bed in the realm of the dead, You are there.
⁹If I ride on the wings of morning,
if I make my home in the most isolated part of the ocean,
¹⁰Even then You will be there to guide me;
Your right hand will embrace me, for You are always there.
¹¹Even if I am afraid and think to myself, “There is no doubt that the darkness will swallow me,
the light around me will soon be turned to night,”
¹²You can see in the dark, for it is not dark to Your eyes.
For You the night is just as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are the same to Your eyes.

¹³For You shaped me, inside and out.
You knitted me together in my mother’s womb long before I took my first breath.
¹⁴I will offer You my grateful heart, for I am Your unique creation, filled with wonder and awe.
You have approached even the smallest details with excellence;
Your works are wonderful;
I carry this knowledge deep within my soul.
¹⁵You see all things; nothing about me was hidden from You
As I took shape in secret,
carefully crafted in the heart of the earth before I was born from its womb.
¹⁶You see all things;
You saw me growing, changing in my mother’s womb;
Every detail of my life was already written in Your book;
You established the length of my life before I ever tasted the sweetness of it.
¹⁷Your thoughts and plans are treasures to me, O God! I cherish each and every one of them!
How grand in scope! How many in number!
¹⁸If I could count each one of them, they would be more than all the grains of sand on earth. Their number is inconceivable!
Even when I wake up, I am still near to You.

¹⁹I wish You would destroy all the wicked, O God.
So keep away from me, those who are thirsty for blood!
²⁰For they say such horrible things about You,
and those who are against You abuse Your good name.
²¹Is it not true that I hate all who hate You, Eternal One?
Is it not true that I despise all who come against You?
²²Deep hatred boils within me toward them;
I am Your friend, and they are my enemies.
²³Explore me, O God, and know the real me. Dig deeply and discover who I am.
Put me to the test and watch how I handle the strain.
²⁴Examine me to see if there is an evil bone in me,
and guide me down Your path forever.

The Voice (VOICE)

Proverbs 30:15-16

¹⁵The leech has twin suckers;
“More blood! More blood,” they demand.
Three other things are just as insatiable,
no, make it four that never say, “Enough”:
¹⁶The grave, the childless woman who cannot bear,
the parched earth that cries for rain,
and the fire, which never says, “Enough!”

The Voice (VOICE)

December 19, 2023

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday December 19, 2023 (NIV)

Zephaniah 1-3

1 The Eternal One had a message for the whole world, and He gave it to a man named Zephaniah when Josiah (Amon’s son) was the king of Judah. Zephaniah’s father was Cushi, the son of Gedaliah (Amariah’s son and a descendant of a commoner named Hezekiah).

^2-3Eternal One: I am going to wipe the face of the earth clean of every living thing.
I will wipe away both people and animals;
Even the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea will be swept away.
Rubble and ruin will be all that is left with the wicked^[a]
When I cut off humanity from the face of the earth.
⁴I will use My powerful hand to crush the people of Judah
and those who make Jerusalem their home.
I will remove from this place every reminder and remainder of false divine masters;^[b]
the names of those pagan priests will be forgotten along with My priests.
⁵I will use My power against those who worship creation—
those who bow down on their roofs before the multitude of stars in heaven—
And against those who bow down and pledge allegiance
to both the Eternal One and false gods such as Milcom, god of the Ammonites.
⁶I will use My power against those who used to worship the Eternal One
but turned their backs and no longer follow Me.
They don’t look to Me anymore for help and guidance.

⁷Keep quiet now! You are standing before the Eternal Lord
because the day of the Eternal One is near;
His judgment is coming. He has prepared the sacrifice,
and He has chosen His guests with care.
⁸On the day of the Eternal’s sacrifice,
this will happen just as He describes:

Eternal One: I will punish the rulers of Judah
and those born to royalty
And those so enamored with foreign ways
that they don’t act or dress like My people anymore.
⁹On that day, I will punish those who jump temple thresholds fearing pagan demons,
those who exchange true religion for silly superstition,
And those who use violence and betrayal to steal from others
in order to make themselves and their king rich.

¹⁰On that day, you will hear cries from all over the city of Jerusalem—
first a cry for help from the fish gate on the north side of the city,
Then a wailing cry from the newly-built Second Quarter.
Then crash! Stones are falling, breaking;
Sounds of destruction are coming from the suburban hills.
¹¹Cry out, those of you living in the bottom of Jerusalem’s southern hollow,
because I will stop all the traveling merchants.
Everyone with pockets full of money will be cut off.
¹²On that day, I will personally search and illumine every dark corner of Jerusalem.
I will wipe out everyone who has numbed his senses with the dregs of his own wine
And says, “The Eternal will do nothing in our lives,
neither helping us nor hurting us.”
¹³But they are wrong. Everything they value will be taken away.
Their houses will be destroyed.
They will build new houses and never have a chance to move in.
They will plant vineyards and never enjoy a sip of their own wine.

¹⁴I’m warning you, this day of judgment is right around the corner.
The great and terrible day of the Eternal One is coming on you very quickly.
Listen, here it comes, the day of the Eternal One, and it will be very bitter!
Even your strongest and bravest will break down and cry out.^[c]

¹⁵On that day, you will see what happens when God is furious.
You will be overwhelmed with all the trouble and pain—total destruction.
You will watch the sky fill with the thick clouds and gloomy darkness.
¹⁶You will hear the trumpet blast and battle cry
as He moves against the city that day.
You were so sure it was fortified against attack with its thick walls and high towers,
yet they will surely fall.

¹⁷Eternal One: I will bring distress on all humanity,
and they will stumble around like the blind.

Why? Because they have sinned time and again against the Eternal.
Their lifeblood will be poured out like ash of a burnt offering.
Their bodies will be discarded like excrement.

¹⁸Don’t think any amount of money can save them
from the terrible anger of the Eternal when that day arrives.
He will consume the whole earth in His fiery jealousy,
for He is going to expedite the annihilation of every living thing on the earth.

2 You shameless bunch of people,
gather together now and pray.
²Do it while there is still time, before all these terrible things happen.
I’m warning you they are beginning to happen;
The day is blown away like chaff. God will not stand by.
Do it before the terrible Eternal’s anger comes down on your head.
Do it soon before the appointed time when His anger rains down over you.
³Seek the Eternal. Only He can save you, Judah.
Call out to Him, all who realize their lowly places on the earth,
All who are trying to live by His teaching.
Pursue what is just and chase after true humility.
Maybe, just maybe, the Eternal will hide and protect you
from what will happen on that terrible day when His anger is unleashed.

During the early seventh century b.c., Judah is a tiny nation controlled by the Assyrian Empire and bullied by her neighbors. Under former Kings Manasseh and Amon, Judah lost all international power and fell into such hedonism that prophets such as Zephaniah are forced to hide themselves. No one in Judah is safe as Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Egypt (ruled by an Ethiopian dynasty), and Assyria continue seizing land God promised to the Israelites centuries earlier (Genesis 15:18–21). God has frequently used those foreign nations to discipline His children; but they, too, worship other gods and have overstepped the boundaries He set for them. The destruction of these foreign oppressors promises Judah not only revenge but the restoration of the inheritance promised to her people so long ago.

⁴As for the Philistine cities off to the west—Gaza will be deserted,
Ashkelon will be left in ashes and ruins,
Ashdod will be scattered to the winds at noon,
and Ekron will be pulled up by its roots.
⁵Too bad for their citizens who live along the seacoast,
those people who migrated from Crete;^[d]
This message from the Eternal One is for you too.

Eternal One: O Canaan, land of the Philistines,
I will destroy you and wipe you from the face of the earth.

⁶Their valuable coastlands will become pastures for our sheep,
meadows^[e] for our shepherds, and pens for our flocks.
⁷Their land will be given to
whomever remain from the people of Judah.
During the day, they will eat the fruit of the land.
In the evening, they will go into the houses left in Ashkelon to sleep.
You see, the Eternal their God will always care for the faithful
and will return their prosperity to them.

For hundreds of years the Philistines have lived along the coast and taken great joy in attacking settlements occupied by God’s people in the eastern hills. The archenemies of Israel, they are an advanced seafaring culture that devastates cities, uproots crops, and drives the Lord’s servants far from their homes. But God has seen their actions, and fortunes will soon be reversed.

⁸Eternal One: As for Moab and Ammon off to the east,
I have heard them taunting and mocking My people.
I know they have expanded their borders into Judah’s land.
⁹As I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, live
I will make Moab like Sodom and the Ammonites like the people of Gomorrah.^[f]
Nothing will be left there but thorny plants and barren ground.
They will become totally desolate salt pits; not a thing will ever thrive there again.
The remnant of My people will take whatever they want from them;
the survivors of My nation will inherit what I once designated to Moab and Ammon.

¹⁰Shame will be payback for their arrogance and pride, because they taunted and belittled those who are faithful to the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies. ¹¹And the Eternal will strike terror in their hearts because He will starve out all their so-called gods from the face of the earth. And so all the different people who live along the coasts will bow low before Him; everyone will worship Him from where he lives.

Eternal One: ¹²As for you, Ethiopia to the south, you will die by My sword.

Even the great Assyria, once God’s chosen instrument to punish His people, will not escape the Lord’s judgment.

¹³God will stretch His hand over Assyria in the north and wage war against her.
Their prized city Nineveh will be left in ruins.
Fertile land will give way to thirsty desert. Nothing will thrive there.
¹⁴Cattle and sheep will sleep in her streets;
wild beasts will roam through the rubble.
Birds that fly and animals that burrow, such as the scavenger pelican and hedgehog, will live atop each column.
Birds will roost and sing in the broken window sills.
Wrecked and ruined are the thresholds to the pagan temples,
for God has exposed their beautiful cedar woodwork to the elements.
¹⁵Nineveh is the boastful city
that bragged of her greatness and security.
She said in her heart,
“I am so amazing that no other can compare.”
Now she is totally deserted
and animals live in her streets!
Everyone who passes her now will hiss and taunt
and make vulgar gestures.

3 Disaster is coming to the city of rebels,
to Jerusalem, the now defiled city of oppression.
²That city refused to listen to anyone.
She would not take advice.
She didn’t believe in the Eternal One anymore.
She didn’t want a close relationship with her God.
³Her rulers remind me of roaring lions,
out for the kill instead of protecting her people.
Her judges are a pack of wolves on the prowl at night,
Consuming what they are after
until not one bone is left to chew on the next morning.
⁴Her prophets, whom the people should look to for the truth,
are irresponsible and double-crossing, deceitful men.
Her priests make vile holy places and do violence to God’s teaching.

God entrusts prophets and priests to care for His people. Instead of teaching the people God’s truth, they ignore the law and prey on the ignorant and the defenseless.

⁵Despite all this, the Eternal One is right there in her midst;
nothing He does is wrong.
Every morning He delivers His judgment;
He illuminates the right way to live.
Though, like the sun, He never fails to appear,
it’s amazing that the lawbreakers aren’t ashamed of their actions.

⁶Eternal One: I have totally destroyed the other nations.
I crumbled their high towers to the ground.
I emptied their streets, leaving no one to travel them.
There is not one person, not one animal, no one in their decimated cities.
⁷I said to Myself, “Surely My people will honor Me.
Surely they will listen to Me
So they can save themselves and their city
from all I warned them about and appointed for their benefit.”
But no, they were even more eager to keep doing all the wrong things.

⁸To My remaining faithful, I say wait and watch for Me
because on that day, the nations will be called into court.
I will rise up against them as My plunder and declare My decision:
I will call the nations and their rulers together
And pour out My hot anger and frustration on them.
All of it will be spent, for the whole earth will be burned up in My fiery jealousy.
⁹And then I will transform the words spoken by the nations to pure words,
and the people will finally hear My truth.
Then all the people will be able to pray to and serve the Eternal One,
standing together as part of the same people.
¹⁰My followers, who had been scattered to faraway places as distant as Ethiopia’s rivers,
will come back to worship Me with pure offerings.

¹¹When that day comes, you won’t feel embarrassed and ashamed anymore
over all the rebellious things you did in the past.
As I said I would, I will remove the proud and arrogant among you.
Arrogance and pride will never again be tolerated in My holy mountain.
¹²But I will leave afflicted and poor people among you
who will trust the reputation of the Eternal One for strength and protection.
¹³The faithful of Israel who remain will not continue to sin.
They won’t tell lies or try to trick each other ever again.
They’ll eat well each day and sleep peacefully each night like protected sheep,
because nothing will make them afraid.

¹⁴Hurray! It’s time to sing, faithful daughter of Zion!
It’s time to shout out loud, Israel!
Be happy and celebrate with all your being,
faithful children of Jerusalem!
¹⁵The Eternal has cancelled His judgments against you.
He changed the course of your enemies.
The True King of Israel, the Eternal One, is standing right here among you;
you have no reason to be afraid ever again.
¹⁶On that day people will say to the faithful in Jerusalem,
“Do not be afraid, Zion;
Hold your head and hands high,
and take courage.”
¹⁷The Eternal your God is standing right here among you,
and He is the champion who will rescue you.
He will joyfully celebrate over you;
He will rest in His love for you; He will joyfully sing because of you like a new husband.

This celebrated passage reflects the reconciliation between God and His wife, Jerusalem. The daughter Zion is reunited with her King and Husband, the Eternal!

¹⁸Eternal One: Don’t be sad anymore
about all the time you were away in exile,
Unable to keep the appointed feasts or worship Me in the appointed place.
I will gather those who’ve shamed you, Zion.
¹⁹Keep watching! At the right time,
I will deal with those who assaulted you.
I will steady those who are lame and about to fall;
I will gather those who are outcasts and oppressed.
Instead of being filled with shame as they always have been,
I will fill them with praise and make them famous over all the world.
²⁰On that day, I will gather all of you together for one big homecoming.
I will make you famous, and all the world will sing your praises.
Right before your eyes, I will restore to you all that you have lost,
and your lives will be full again.

So says the Eternal One.

Footnotes:

1:2-3 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
1:4 Hebrew, baal
1:14 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
2:5 Hebrew, Cherethites
2:6 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
2:9 Genesis 19:1–28

The Voice (VOICE)

Revelation 10

God’s judgment is not only to punish. He wants people to turn to Him for all their needs, but they often look anywhere else for aid and remain in rebellion.

10 Then I saw another extremely powerful messenger descending out of heaven. He wore a cloud wrapped around him, and a rainbow was covering his head. His face shone like the sun, and his legs blazed like columns of fire. ²In his hand, he held a little scroll that had been unrolled. He placed his right foot on the sea and his left foot on dry land; ³then he shouted with a voice that sounded like a roaring lion. When he cried out, the seven thunders answered with their own rumbling voices. ⁴As I was about to record the thunders’ answer, a voice from heaven stopped me.

A Voice: Seal up all the seven thunders have spoken; do not write it down!

⁵Then the messenger, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the dry land, raised his right hand into heaven ⁶and swore an oath to the Eternal One—who always lives, who created heaven, earth, the sea, and all that is in them.

Heavenly Messenger: Time has run out. ⁷Whenever the days arrive and the seventh messenger sounds his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished just as He announced to His servants, the prophets.

⁸Again, the voice I heard from heaven addressed me.

A Voice: Go. Take the little scroll that is unrolled in the hand of the messenger standing both on the sea and on the dry land.

⁹I then went to the messenger and asked him to give me the little scroll.

Heavenly Messenger: Take it, and eat it. Although in your mouth it will be sweet to taste, sweet as honey, it will become bitter when it reaches your stomach.

¹⁰I took the little scroll from the hand of the messenger and ate it. In my mouth, it was sweet like honey, but my stomach became bitter after I swallowed it.

Heavenly Messengers (repeating): ¹¹Once again, you are to prophesy about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.

The Voice (VOICE)

Psalm 138

A song of David.

¹To You, Lord, I give my whole heart, a heart filled with praise, for I am grateful;
before the gods, my heart sings praises to You and You alone.
²I bow before You, looking to Your holy temple,
and praise Your name, for Your unfailing love and Your truth;
for You have placed Your name and Your word over all things and all times.
³On the day I needed You, I called, and You responded
and infused my soul with strength.

⁴May all the kings of the earth praise You, O Eternal One,
because they have heard the words You have spoken.
⁵They will marvel at the Eternal’s ways, and they will sing,
for great is the glory of the Eternal.
⁶Although He is greatest of all, He is attentive to the needy
and keeps His distance from the proud and pompous.

⁷Whenever I walk into trouble,
You are there to bring me out.
You hold out Your hand
to protect me against the wrath of my enemies,
and hold me safely in Your right hand.
⁸The Eternal will finish what He started in me.
Your faithful love, O Eternal One, lasts forever;
do not give up on what Your hands have made.

The Voice (VOICE)

Proverbs 30:11-14

¹¹There is a kind of person who curses his father
and pronounces no blessing upon his mother;
¹²A kind of person who is without fault in his own estimation
but has not been scrubbed clean of his own sordidness;
¹³A kind whose look is too haughty,
whose eyebrows arch as he looks down on others;
¹⁴A kind whose very teeth cut like swords
and whose jaws sever like knives,
All the better to consume the poor of the earth
and the oppressed among men.

The Voice (VOICE)

December 19, 2023

12/18/2023 DAB Transcript

Habakkuk 1:1-3:19, Revelations 9:1-21, Psalm 137:1-9, Proverbs 30:10

Today is the 18th day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian, it’s great to be here with you as we continue forward. A week from today is Christmas day and two weeks from today is the 1st of January, when we will start on a brand-new journey. So, we have 14 more steps to go, right, before we reach the conclusion of our journey for this year. And our journey has led us to another one of the minor prophets as we reach the conclusion of the Old Testament.

Introduction to the Book of Habakkuk:

Today, we will read in its entirety the eighth of the minor prophets known as Habakkuk. And we know just about nothing about Habakkuk and his life, maybe less than any other biblical writer, we have fewer clues. There is a Hebrew tradition that speaks of Habakkuk as being the son of the Shunammite woman who was resurrected through Elisha. And we read about that in Second Kings. There is another tradition that’s in the Apocrypha that depicts a Habakkuk ministering to David while he’s in the lions den. These are traditions and that last one especially, scholars find to be maybe legendary. But many verses in Habakkuk are very well known, may be the most, the most well-known is “but the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God” and that’s often repeated in the writings of the Apostle Paul and in the book of Hebrews it’s a core doctrine of the Christian faith. The righteous will live by faith. Maybe some clues that we have about Habakkuk is in the poetic or lyrical writing, especially there’s, the book closes with hymn, and some have imagined Habakkuk may have been a temple musician. But what may make this poignant for us is that it’s unique. It’s a conversation between the prophet and God that moves from his doubt, and we share these things and moves toward worship. He’s just saying out loud what he’s seeing, and he wants to understand why God would allow pretty much every evil that there could be imagined in the mind of mankind, almost like he wasn’t paying attention. God responds that He’s paying attention. He’s going to use Babylon to punish His people for their sins, which left Habakkuk confused and then God tells Habakkuk that even though this is gonna happen, the Babylonians would be a punishment to His people, that they would also be punished. They would be completely destroyed in the end. And that reveals God is not indifferent. God is not unaware. He is true and just, which led Habakkuk to a Psalm of worship. And so, we begin and read completely the book of Habakkuk.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, we appreciate the swiftness that we are moving now, as we are moving through these minor prophets in the book of Habakkuk today. You are sovereign over all the earth, there is no power but You. There is no hope outside of You and we are Your children. We put our hope in You, our trust in You, our loyalty and faithfulness to You. We give our hearts to You, we love You, we give our hearts in worship to You, we adore You. Come, Holy Spirit as we continue this journey, lead us to what we need to hear, show us what we need to see for the journey ahead, as You illuminate our path through the power of Your word. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com, that’s home base, that’s the website. That’s where you find out what’s going on. It’s Christmas, that’s what’s going on, like right, it’s a week from today. So, we’re in the final countdown for Christmas this year. We brought out the annual Christmas ornament with the word “expand” on it. And we brought out the music from the Daily Audio Bible and pressed them onto vinyl packages, just beautiful commemorative editions. And you can find those at dailyaudiobible.com or using the app, just navigate to the Shop and look in the Christmas Section and you can find them there. Everyone who orders one or more of these, we’ll send you the ornament but you’re sewing into what comes next around here in the new year. So, thank you for your partnership.

And if you just want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the final days of this year, than thank you, humbly, profoundly and with all gratitude. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, that’s the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hi, this is Tammy calling from the Central Coast of California. I’m on my way to work and I am crying tears of joy for Eyes of a Dove. I’m just, was so excited to hear about your field trip with Jesus and just the good result of your healing. And because of that, I’m calling to ask for healing for myself. I have some ribs that have been out for a little over a week now. I’ve been to the chiropractor but it’s a little bit painful and I’m a massage therapist so, I’m headed back to work today, like I said. And I’m just hoping to be able to minister to the people that come in and see me today, that I could just do God’s work, being Jesus’ hands and feet and loving on His people. So, if you could just join me in praying for healing, I would greatly appreciate it. Blind Tony, I’m praying for you and your family and your loss and that God would just be with you and look after you in this time of distress. And that, that He will show Himself faithful, because He is. I love you community and they’re so many people that I have written down that I’m praying for. Know you are in my thoughts and in my prayers daily. God bless you.

Good morning, DAB family. I just wanna pray for Delta Alpha Foxtrot and Blind Tony with regard to their prayer request. Dear Lord, I lift up my brothers Delta Alpha Foxtrot, upon the loss of his dad. I pray Father, that You would keep them in the hollow of Your hands, that You would comfort those who are mourning, oh God. I thank You that they were able to surround their dad and to sing Your praises as he went on home. I pray Father, that You would provide for every need that they have during this time and that You would just hold them close to Your heart and comfort them in this time. In Jesus name, I lift up Blind Tony and his family, Lord. I pray Father, and thank You that they weren’t harmed in the fire. I thank You that You were able to, they were able to keep the flames at bay until the fire fighters came. But I just pray Father, that You would restore to them, everything that was lost. I thank You for saving their lives. And I pray Father God, that You would just again, provide everything that they would need. Keep them safe as they rebuild or find new housing. I just again, thank You for who they are and their love for You and their encouragement to this community. Be with them now in this time of need. And bless our family, our DAB family. I thank You so much for this family of believers that gather around the campfire each and every day and for, and for Brian who is able to feed us the word from on high. I pray Your blessing on all of us. In Jesus name. Amen.

Hi this message is for Greg, Greg in Illinois. Listening to Daily Audio Bible the other day and I like listening to the prayer requests and I heard you and your call touched my heart because I can relate to what you’re going through Greg. The hardships of a hard marriage, the anger in your heart, the feeling of just two strangers being in the same room, it’s a lonely, it’s a hard heavy feeling, Greg. But I do want to say that love conquers all. And I was in your boat as well, struggling with anger and about to lose a marriage and I knew I was ruining it. It was, it was, it was something that I was harboring that I needed to let go. And it wasn’t until I surrendered to Christ and to love that I totally changed. And Greg, I do hope and pray for you and your wife that you would find reconciliation. That both of you would surrender to each other. And maybe not if it’s to each other at first, but to Christ and to love. And I pray that you guys would find it in your heart to be sensitive and to be patient and to be bearing with one another. To be enduring with one another. And just remember the joy that you had 10 years ago when you to looked into your wife’s eyes and asked her to marry her. You know, Greg, I think of Proverbs, Proverbs 18:22. A fool should find a wife, findeth a good thing and stay’s in favor with the Lord. So, Greg, I just pray for you, that you would continue to have favor with the Lord, with the Father. That you and your wife would be loving and kind to one another. Alright Greg, I wish you the best of luck. I’ll be praying for you my friend. Bye Bye.

Hi beautiful family, this is Prisoner of Hope. Joanne from Texas, praying for your friend Aaron from China. Just you said that whatever he puts his hand on, that God would bless him and his family and his career. So, we are praying for him. Also, Dare Dreamer in Indianapolis, you’re blind, you’ve told us that before but you just found your first full time job in a warehouse. And you’re just so grateful. I just wanna pray a prayer of blessing over you, I don’t think you asked for prayer but I’m gonna do it all the same. And then Susan in Indiana, you want us to continue to pray for Liza’s family. Lord, we are asking for Your hand to be upon, that You would bless them and keep them. And make Your face shine upon them and be gracious to them and give them your peace. And we just ask all this in Jesus name. Also, In the Vine in Indiana, you said you lost your battle with sin yesterday, we do that all that time. Don’t be discouraged In the Vine. We’re gonna pray for you. Also, Lauri from Central Ohio, your friend Lonni’s husband, he had surgery for a new heart, and you’re still praying for that to be successful and that his body won’t reject it again. Drew from the Bay area, your dog Elssie, you think it’s the end of life, for poor little Elssie. And just that she won’t be in pain. And then you said you took a bad hit on your head, so we’re praying for you. Early Riser, your sister and husband have COVID and this has made them more isolated and fearful and you just want somebody to come alongside, some friends. And you said they’re very desperate for this. Dear Lord, we step into your presence today. We ask for healing and strength. We know that ___ so we humbly ask that You would work in their lives to bring about good health and body and in spirit. Please help them find hope, even during this difficult time, Lord. And may they also___ knowing it’s to you. We ask in Jesus powerful name. Amen.

December 18, 2023

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday December 18, 2023 (NIV)

Habakkuk 1-3

1 The prophecy^(A) that Habakkuk the prophet received.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

²How long,^(B) Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?^(C)
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?^(D)
³Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate^(E) wrongdoing?^(F)
Destruction and violence^(G) are before me;
there is strife,^(H) and conflict abounds.
⁴Therefore the law^(I) is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice^(J) is perverted.^(K)

The Lord’s Answer

⁵“Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.^(L)
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.^(M)
⁶I am raising up the Babylonians,^[a]^(N)
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth^(O)
to seize dwellings not their own.^(P)
⁷They are a feared and dreaded people;^(Q)
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
⁸Their horses are swifter^(R) than leopards,
fiercer than wolves^(S) at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
⁹they all come intent on violence.
Their hordes^[b] advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners^(T) like sand.
¹⁰They mock kings
and scoff at rulers.^(U)
They laugh at all fortified cities;
by building earthen ramps^(V) they capture them.
¹¹Then they sweep past like the wind^(W) and go on—
guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”^(X)

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

¹²Lord, are you not from everlasting?^(Y)
My God, my Holy One,^(Z) you^[c] will never die.^(AA)
You, Lord, have appointed^(AB) them to execute judgment;
you, my Rock,^(AC) have ordained them to punish.
¹³Your eyes are too pure^(AD) to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.^(AE)
Why then do you tolerate^(AF) the treacherous?^(AG)
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?^(AH)
¹⁴You have made people like the fish in the sea,
like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
¹⁵The wicked^(AI) foe pulls all of them up with hooks,^(AJ)
he catches them in his net,^(AK)
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
and so he rejoices and is glad.
¹⁶Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and burns incense^(AL) to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
and enjoys the choicest food.
¹⁷Is he to keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy?^(AM)

2 I will stand at my watch^(AN)
and station myself on the ramparts;^(AO)
I will look to see what he will say^(AP) to me,
and what answer I am to give to this complaint.^[d]^(AQ)

The Lord’s Answer

²Then the Lord replied:

“Write^(AR) down the revelation
and make it plain on tablets
so that a herald^[e] may run with it.
³For the revelation awaits an appointed time;^(AS)
it speaks of the end^(AT)
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait^(AU) for it;
it^[f] will certainly come
and will not delay.^(AV)

⁴“See, the enemy is puffed up;
his desires are not upright—
but the righteous person^(AW) will live by his faithfulness^[g]^(AX)—
⁵indeed, wine^(AY) betrays him;
he is arrogant^(AZ) and never at rest.
Because he is as greedy as the grave
and like death is never satisfied,^(BA)
he gathers to himself all the nations
and takes captive^(BB) all the peoples.

⁶“Will not all of them taunt^(BC) him with ridicule and scorn, saying,

“‘Woe to him who piles up stolen goods
and makes himself wealthy by extortion!^(BD)
How long must this go on?’
⁷Will not your creditors suddenly arise?
Will they not wake up and make you tremble?
Then you will become their prey.^(BE)
⁸Because you have plundered many nations,
the peoples who are left will plunder you.^(BF)
For you have shed human blood;^(BG)
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.^(BH)

⁹“Woe to him who builds^(BI) his house by unjust gain,^(BJ)
setting his nest^(BK) on high
to escape the clutches of ruin!
¹⁰You have plotted the ruin^(BL) of many peoples,
shaming^(BM) your own house and forfeiting your life.
¹¹The stones^(BN) of the wall will cry out,
and the beams of the woodwork will echo it.

¹²“Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed^(BO)
and establishes a town by injustice!
¹³Has not the Lord Almighty determined
that the people’s labor is only fuel for the fire,^(BP)
that the nations exhaust themselves for nothing?^(BQ)
¹⁴For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory^(BR) of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.^(BS)

¹⁵“Woe to him who gives drink^(BT) to his neighbors,
pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk,
so that he can gaze on their naked bodies!
¹⁶You will be filled with shame^(BU) instead of glory.^(BV)
Now it is your turn! Drink^(BW) and let your nakedness be exposed^[h]!^(BX)
The cup^(BY) from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory.
¹⁷The violence^(BZ) you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
and your destruction of animals will terrify you.^(CA)
For you have shed human blood;^(CB)
you have destroyed lands and cities and everyone in them.

¹⁸“Of what value^(CC) is an idol^(CD) carved by a craftsman?
Or an image^(CE) that teaches lies?
For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak.^(CF)
¹⁹Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’^(CG)
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;^(CH)
there is no breath in it.”^(CI)

²⁰The Lord is in his holy temple;^(CJ)
let all the earth be silent^(CK) before him.

Habakkuk’s Prayer

3 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.^[i]^(CL)

²Lord, I have heard^(CM) of your fame;
I stand in awe^(CN) of your deeds, Lord.^(CO)
Repeat^(CP) them in our day,
in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy.^(CQ)

³God came from Teman,^(CR)
the Holy One^(CS) from Mount Paran.^[j]^(CT)
His glory covered the heavens^(CU)
and his praise filled the earth.^(CV)
⁴His splendor was like the sunrise;^(CW)
rays flashed from his hand,
where his power^(CX) was hidden.
⁵Plague^(CY) went before him;
pestilence followed his steps.
⁶He stood, and shook the earth;
he looked, and made the nations tremble.
The ancient mountains crumbled^(CZ)
and the age-old hills^(DA) collapsed^(DB)—
but he marches on forever.^(DC)
⁷I saw the tents of Cushan in distress,
the dwellings of Midian^(DD) in anguish.^(DE)

⁸Were you angry with the rivers,^(DF) Lord?
Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea^(DG)
when you rode your horses
and your chariots to victory?^(DH)
⁹You uncovered your bow,
you called for many arrows.^(DI)
You split the earth with rivers;
¹⁰the mountains saw you and writhed.^(DJ)
Torrents of water swept by;
the deep roared^(DK)
and lifted its waves^(DL) on high.

¹¹Sun and moon stood still^(DM) in the heavens
at the glint of your flying arrows,^(DN)
at the lightning^(DO) of your flashing spear.
¹²In wrath you strode through the earth
and in anger you threshed^(DP) the nations.
¹³You came out^(DQ) to deliver^(DR) your people,
to save your anointed^(DS) one.
You crushed^(DT) the leader of the land of wickedness,
you stripped him from head to foot.
¹⁴With his own spear you pierced his head
when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,^(DU)
gloating as though about to devour
the wretched^(DV) who were in hiding.
¹⁵You trampled the sea^(DW) with your horses,
churning the great waters.^(DX)

¹⁶I heard and my heart pounded,
my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
and my legs trembled.^(DY)
Yet I will wait patiently^(DZ) for the day of calamity
to come on the nation invading us.
¹⁷Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,^(EA)
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,^(EB)
¹⁸yet I will rejoice in the Lord,^(EC)
I will be joyful in God my Savior.^(ED)

¹⁹The Sovereign Lord is my strength;^(EE)
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.^(EF)

For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

Footnotes:

Habakkuk 1:6 Or Chaldeans
Habakkuk 1:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Habakkuk 1:12 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text we
Habakkuk 2:1 Or and what to answer when I am rebuked
Habakkuk 2:2 Or so that whoever reads it
Habakkuk 2:3 Or Though he linger, wait for him; / he
Habakkuk 2:4 Or faith
Habakkuk 2:16 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls, Aquila, Vulgate and Syriac (see also Septuagint) and stagger
Habakkuk 3:1 Probably a literary or musical term
Habakkuk 3:3 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the middle of verse 9 and at the end of verse 13.

Cross references:

Habakkuk 1:1 : S Na 1:1
Habakkuk 1:2 : S Ps 6:3
Habakkuk 1:2 : Ps 13:1-2; 22:1-2
Habakkuk 1:2 : Jer 14:9; Zec 1:12
Habakkuk 1:3 : ver 13
Habakkuk 1:3 : S Job 9:23
Habakkuk 1:3 : Jer 20:8
Habakkuk 1:3 : S Ps 55:9
Habakkuk 1:4 : Ps 119:126
Habakkuk 1:4 : S Isa 29:21
Habakkuk 1:4 : S Job 19:7; S Isa 1:23; 5:20; S Eze 9:9
Habakkuk 1:5 : S Isa 29:9
Habakkuk 1:5 : Ac 13:41*
Habakkuk 1:6 : S Dt 28:49; S 2Ki 24:2
Habakkuk 1:6 : Rev 20:9
Habakkuk 1:6 : S Jer 13:20; S 21:7
Habakkuk 1:7 : Isa 18:7; Jer 39:5-9
Habakkuk 1:8 : S Jer 4:13
Habakkuk 1:8 : S Ge 49:27
Habakkuk 1:9 : Hab 2:5
Habakkuk 1:10 : S 2Ch 36:6
Habakkuk 1:10 : S Jer 33:4
Habakkuk 1:11 : Jer 4:11-12
Habakkuk 1:11 : S Da 4:30
Habakkuk 1:12 : S Ge 21:33
Habakkuk 1:12 : Isa 31:1; 37:23
Habakkuk 1:12 : Ps 118:17
Habakkuk 1:12 : Isa 10:6
Habakkuk 1:12 : S Ge 49:24; S Ex 33:22
Habakkuk 1:13 : Ps 18:26
Habakkuk 1:13 : S La 3:34-36
Habakkuk 1:13 : ver 3
Habakkuk 1:13 : S Ps 25:3
Habakkuk 1:13 : S Job 21:7
Habakkuk 1:15 : Jer 5:26
Habakkuk 1:15 : S Isa 19:8
Habakkuk 1:15 : S Job 18:8; Jer 16:16
Habakkuk 1:16 : Jer 44:8
Habakkuk 1:17 : S Isa 14:6; 19:8
Habakkuk 2:1 : S Isa 21:8
Habakkuk 2:1 : S Ps 48:13
Habakkuk 2:1 : Ps 85:8
Habakkuk 2:1 : S Ps 5:3; S Eze 3:17
Habakkuk 2:2 : S Isa 30:8; S Jer 36:2; S Eze 24:2; S Ro 4:24; Rev 1:19
Habakkuk 2:3 : Da 11:27
Habakkuk 2:3 : Da 8:17
Habakkuk 2:3 : S Ps 27:14
Habakkuk 2:3 : S Eze 12:25
Habakkuk 2:4 : S Eze 18:9
Habakkuk 2:4 : Ro 1:17*; Gal 3:11*; Heb 10:37-38*
Habakkuk 2:5 : S Pr 20:1
Habakkuk 2:5 : S Isa 2:11
Habakkuk 2:5 : S Pr 27:20; S 30:15-16
Habakkuk 2:5 : Hab 1:9
Habakkuk 2:6 : S Isa 14:4
Habakkuk 2:6 : Am 2:8
Habakkuk 2:7 : S Pr 29:1
Habakkuk 2:8 : Isa 33:1; Jer 50:17-18; S Ob 1:15; Zec 2:8-9
Habakkuk 2:8 : ver 17
Habakkuk 2:8 : S Eze 39:10
Habakkuk 2:9 : S Jer 22:13
Habakkuk 2:9 : S Jer 51:13
Habakkuk 2:9 : S Job 39:27; S Isa 10:14
Habakkuk 2:10 : Jer 26:19
Habakkuk 2:10 : ver 16; S Na 3:6
Habakkuk 2:11 : S Jos 24:27; Zec 5:4; Lk 19:40
Habakkuk 2:12 : S Eze 22:2; S Mic 3:10
Habakkuk 2:13 : Isa 50:11
Habakkuk 2:13 : S Isa 47:13
Habakkuk 2:14 : S Ex 16:7; S Nu 14:21
Habakkuk 2:14 : S Isa 11:9
Habakkuk 2:15 : S Pr 23:20
Habakkuk 2:16 : S ver 10
Habakkuk 2:16 : S Eze 23:32-34; Hos 4:7
Habakkuk 2:16 : S Lev 10:9
Habakkuk 2:16 : S La 4:21
Habakkuk 2:16 : S Ps 16:5; S Isa 51:22
Habakkuk 2:17 : S Jer 51:35
Habakkuk 2:17 : S Jer 50:15
Habakkuk 2:17 : ver 8
Habakkuk 2:18 : S 1Sa 12:21
Habakkuk 2:18 : S Jdg 10:14; S Isa 40:19; S Jer 5:21; S 14:22
Habakkuk 2:18 : S Lev 26:1
Habakkuk 2:18 : Ps 115:4-5; Jer 10:14; 1Co 12:2
Habakkuk 2:19 : 1Ki 18:27
Habakkuk 2:19 : S Jer 10:4
Habakkuk 2:19 : S Da 5:4, 23; S Hos 4:12
Habakkuk 2:20 : S Ps 11:4
Habakkuk 2:20 : S Isa 41:1
Habakkuk 3:1 : Ps 7 Title
Habakkuk 3:2 : S Job 26:14; Ps 44:1
Habakkuk 3:2 : S Ps 119:120
Habakkuk 3:2 : S Ps 90:16
Habakkuk 3:2 : Ps 85:6
Habakkuk 3:2 : Isa 54:8
Habakkuk 3:3 : S Ge 36:11, 15
Habakkuk 3:3 : Isa 31:1
Habakkuk 3:3 : S Nu 10:12
Habakkuk 3:3 : S Ps 8:1
Habakkuk 3:3 : Ps 48:10
Habakkuk 3:4 : S Isa 18:4
Habakkuk 3:4 : S Job 9:6
Habakkuk 3:5 : S Lev 26:25
Habakkuk 3:6 : S Ps 46:2
Habakkuk 3:6 : Ge 49:26
Habakkuk 3:6 : S Ex 19:18; Ps 18:7; 114:1-6
Habakkuk 3:6 : S Ge 21:33
Habakkuk 3:7 : S Ge 25:2; S Nu 25:15; Jdg 7:24-25
Habakkuk 3:7 : Ex 15:14
Habakkuk 3:8 : S Ex 7:20
Habakkuk 3:8 : S Ps 77:16
Habakkuk 3:8 : S 2Ki 2:11; S Ps 68:17
Habakkuk 3:9 : S Dt 32:23; Ps 7:12-13
Habakkuk 3:10 : S Ps 77:16
Habakkuk 3:10 : Ps 98:7
Habakkuk 3:10 : S Ps 93:3
Habakkuk 3:11 : Jos 10:13
Habakkuk 3:11 : Ps 18:14
Habakkuk 3:11 : S Ps 144:6; Zec 9:14
Habakkuk 3:12 : S Isa 41:15
Habakkuk 3:13 : S Ex 13:21
Habakkuk 3:13 : S Ps 20:6; S 28:8
Habakkuk 3:13 : S 2Sa 23:1
Habakkuk 3:13 : Ps 68:21; 110:6
Habakkuk 3:14 : Jdg 7:22
Habakkuk 3:14 : Ps 64:2-5
Habakkuk 3:15 : S Job 9:8
Habakkuk 3:15 : Ex 15:8
Habakkuk 3:16 : S Job 4:14
Habakkuk 3:16 : S Ps 37:7
Habakkuk 3:17 : Joel 1:10-12, 18
Habakkuk 3:17 : Jer 5:17
Habakkuk 3:18 : Ps 97:12; S Isa 61:10; Php 4:4
Habakkuk 3:18 : S Ex 15:2; S Lk 1:47
Habakkuk 3:19 : S Dt 33:29; Ps 46:1-5
Habakkuk 3:19 : S Dt 32:13; Ps 18:33

New International Version (NIV)

Revelation 9

9 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth.^(A) The star was given the key^(B) to the shaft of the Abyss.^(C) ²When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace.^(D) The sun and sky were darkened^(E) by the smoke from the Abyss.^(F) ³And out of the smoke locusts^(G) came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions^(H) of the earth. ⁴They were told not to harm^(I) the grass of the earth or any plant or tree,^(J) but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.^(K) ⁵They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months.^(L) And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion^(M) when it strikes. ⁶During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.^(N)

⁷The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle.^(O) On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces.^(P) ⁸Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth.^(Q) ⁹They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.^(R) ¹⁰They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months.^(S) ¹¹They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss,^(T) whose name in Hebrew^(U) is Abaddon^(V) and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

¹²The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.^(W)

¹³The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns^(X) of the golden altar that is before God.^(Y) ¹⁴It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels^(Z) who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”^(AA) ¹⁵And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released^(AB) to kill a third^(AC) of mankind.^(AD) ¹⁶The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.^(AE)

¹⁷The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths^(AF) came fire, smoke and sulfur.^(AG) ¹⁸A third^(AH) of mankind was killed^(AI) by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur^(AJ) that came out of their mouths. ¹⁹The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

²⁰The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent^(AK) of the work of their hands;^(AL) they did not stop worshiping demons,^(AM) and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.^(AN) ²¹Nor did they repent^(AO) of their murders, their magic arts,^(AP) their sexual immorality^(AQ) or their thefts.

Cross references:

New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 137

¹By the rivers of Babylon^(A) we sat and wept^(B)
when we remembered Zion.^(C)
²There on the poplars^(D)
we hung our harps,^(E)
³for there our captors^(F) asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded^(G) songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”^(H)

⁴How can we sing the songs of the Lord^(I)
while in a foreign land?
⁵If I forget you,^(J) Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
⁶May my tongue cling to the roof^(K) of my mouth
if I do not remember^(L) you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem^(M)
my highest joy.

⁷Remember, Lord, what the Edomites^(N) did
on the day Jerusalem fell.^(O)
“Tear it down,” they cried,
“tear it down to its foundations!”^(P)
⁸Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,^(Q)
happy is the one who repays you
according to what you have done to us.
⁹Happy is the one who seizes your infants
and dashes them^(R) against the rocks.

New International Version (NIV)

Proverbs 30:10

¹⁰“Do not slander a servant to their master,
or they will curse you, and you will pay for it.

New International Version (NIV)

December 17, 2023

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday December 17, 2023 (NIV)

Nahum 1-3

1 A prophecy^(A) concerning Nineveh.^(B) The book of the vision^(C) of Nahum the Elkoshite.

The Lord’s Anger Against Nineveh

²The Lord is a jealous^(D) and avenging God;
the Lord takes vengeance^(E) and is filled with wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance on his foes
and vents his wrath against his enemies.^(F)
³The Lord is slow to anger^(G) but great in power;
the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.^(H)
His way is in the whirlwind^(I) and the storm,^(J)
and clouds^(K) are the dust of his feet.
⁴He rebukes^(L) the sea and dries it up;^(M)
he makes all the rivers run dry.
Bashan and Carmel^(N) wither
and the blossoms of Lebanon fade.
⁵The mountains quake^(O) before him
and the hills melt away.^(P)
The earth trembles^(Q) at his presence,
the world and all who live in it.^(R)
⁶Who can withstand^(S) his indignation?
Who can endure^(T) his fierce anger?^(U)
His wrath is poured out like fire;^(V)
the rocks are shattered^(W) before him.

⁷The Lord is good,^(X)
a refuge in times of trouble.^(Y)
He cares for^(Z) those who trust in him,^(AA)
⁸but with an overwhelming flood^(AB)
he will make an end of Nineveh;
he will pursue his foes into the realm of darkness.

⁹Whatever they plot^(AC) against the Lord
he will bring^[a] to an end;
trouble will not come a second time.
¹⁰They will be entangled among thorns^(AD)
and drunk^(AE) from their wine;
they will be consumed like dry stubble.^[b]^(AF)
¹¹From you, Nineveh, has one come forth
who plots evil against the Lord
and devises wicked plans.

¹²This is what the Lord says:

“Although they have allies and are numerous,
they will be destroyed^(AG) and pass away.
Although I have afflicted you, Judah,
I will afflict you no more.^(AH)
¹³Now I will break their yoke^(AI) from your neck
and tear your shackles away.”^(AJ)

¹⁴The Lord has given a command concerning you, Nineveh:
“You will have no descendants to bear your name.^(AK)
I will destroy the images^(AL) and idols
that are in the temple of your gods.
I will prepare your grave,^(AM)
for you are vile.”

¹⁵Look, there on the mountains,
the feet of one who brings good news,^(AN)
who proclaims peace!^(AO)
Celebrate your festivals,^(AP) Judah,
and fulfill your vows.
No more will the wicked invade you;^(AQ)
they will be completely destroyed.^[c]

Nineveh to Fall

2 ^[d]An attacker^(AR) advances against you, Nineveh.
Guard the fortress,
watch the road,
brace yourselves,
marshal all your strength!

²The Lord will restore^(AS) the splendor^(AT) of Jacob
like the splendor of Israel,
though destroyers have laid them waste
and have ruined their vines.

³The shields of the soldiers are red;
the warriors are clad in scarlet.^(AU)
The metal on the chariots flashes
on the day they are made ready;
the spears of juniper are brandished.^[e]
⁴The chariots^(AV) storm through the streets,
rushing back and forth through the squares.
They look like flaming torches;
they dart about like lightning.

⁵Nineveh summons her picked troops,
yet they stumble^(AW) on their way.
They dash to the city wall;
the protective shield is put in place.
⁶The river gates^(AX) are thrown open
and the palace collapses.
⁷It is decreed^[f] that Nineveh
be exiled and carried away.
Her female slaves moan^(AY) like doves
and beat on their breasts.^(AZ)
⁸Nineveh is like a pool
whose water is draining away.
“Stop! Stop!” they cry,
but no one turns back.
⁹Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
The supply is endless,
the wealth from all its treasures!
¹⁰She is pillaged, plundered, stripped!
Hearts melt,^(BA) knees give way,
bodies tremble, every face grows pale.^(BB)

¹¹Where now is the lions’ den,^(BC)
the place where they fed their young,
where the lion and lioness went,
and the cubs, with nothing to fear?
¹²The lion killed^(BD) enough for his cubs
and strangled the prey for his mate,
filling his lairs^(BE) with the kill
and his dens with the prey.^(BF)

¹³“I am against^(BG) you,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will burn up your chariots in smoke,^(BH)
and the sword^(BI) will devour your young lions.
I will leave you no prey on the earth.
The voices of your messengers
will no longer be heard.”^(BJ)

Woe to Nineveh

3 Woe to the city of blood,^(BK)
full of lies,^(BL)
full of plunder,
never without victims!
²The crack of whips,
the clatter of wheels,
galloping horses
and jolting chariots!
³Charging cavalry,
flashing swords
and glittering spears!
Many casualties,
piles of dead,
bodies without number,
people stumbling over the corpses^(BM)—
⁴all because of the wanton lust of a prostitute,
alluring, the mistress of sorceries,^(BN)
who enslaved nations by her prostitution^(BO)
and peoples by her witchcraft.

⁵“I am against^(BP) you,” declares the Lord Almighty.
“I will lift your skirts^(BQ) over your face.
I will show the nations your nakedness^(BR)
and the kingdoms your shame.
⁶I will pelt you with filth,^(BS)
I will treat you with contempt^(BT)
and make you a spectacle.^(BU)
⁷All who see you will flee^(BV) from you and say,
‘Nineveh^(BW) is in ruins^(BX)—who will mourn for her?’^(BY)
Where can I find anyone to comfort^(BZ) you?”

⁸Are you better than^(CA) Thebes,^(CB)
situated on the Nile,^(CC)
with water around her?
The river was her defense,
the waters her wall.
⁹Cush^[g]^(CD) and Egypt were her boundless strength;
Put^(CE) and Libya^(CF) were among her allies.
¹⁰Yet she was taken captive^(CG)
and went into exile.
Her infants were dashed^(CH) to pieces
at every street corner.
Lots^(CI) were cast for her nobles,
and all her great men were put in chains.^(CJ)
¹¹You too will become drunk;^(CK)
you will go into hiding^(CL)
and seek refuge from the enemy.

¹²All your fortresses are like fig trees
with their first ripe fruit;^(CM)
when they are shaken,
the figs^(CN) fall into the mouth of the eater.
¹³Look at your troops—
they are all weaklings.^(CO)
The gates^(CP) of your land
are wide open to your enemies;
fire has consumed the bars of your gates.^(CQ)

¹⁴Draw water for the siege,^(CR)
strengthen your defenses!^(CS)
Work the clay,
tread the mortar,
repair the brickwork!
¹⁵There the fire^(CT) will consume you;
the sword^(CU) will cut you down—
they will devour you like a swarm of locusts.
Multiply like grasshoppers,
multiply like locusts!^(CV)
¹⁶You have increased the number of your merchants
till they are more numerous than the stars in the sky,
but like locusts^(CW) they strip the land
and then fly away.
¹⁷Your guards are like locusts,^(CX)
your officials like swarms of locusts
that settle in the walls on a cold day—
but when the sun appears they fly away,
and no one knows where.

¹⁸King of Assyria, your shepherds^[h] slumber;^(CY)
your nobles lie down to rest.^(CZ)
Your people are scattered^(DA) on the mountains
with no one to gather them.
¹⁹Nothing can heal you;^(DB)
your wound is fatal.
All who hear the news about you
clap their hands^(DC) at your fall,
for who has not felt
your endless cruelty?^(DD)

Footnotes:

Nahum 1:9 Or What do you foes plot against the Lord? / He will bring it
Nahum 1:10 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.
Nahum 1:15 In Hebrew texts this verse (1:15) is numbered 2:1.
Nahum 2:1 In Hebrew texts 2:1-13 is numbered 2:2-14.
Nahum 2:3 Hebrew; Septuagint and Syriac ready; / the horsemen rush to and fro.
Nahum 2:7 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
Nahum 3:9 That is, the upper Nile region
Nahum 3:18 That is, rulers

Cross references:

Nahum 1:1 : S Isa 13:1; 19:1; Jer 23:33-34
Nahum 1:1 : S Ge 10:11; S Jer 50:18; Na 2:8; 3:7
Nahum 1:1 : S Isa 1:1
Nahum 1:2 : S Ex 20:5
Nahum 1:2 : S Ge 4:24; S Dt 32:41; Ps 94:1
Nahum 1:2 : S Dt 7:10
Nahum 1:3 : S Ne 9:17
Nahum 1:3 : S Ex 34:7
Nahum 1:3 : S Ex 14:21; S 2Ki 2:1
Nahum 1:3 : S Ps 50:3
Nahum 1:3 : S 2Sa 22:10; S Ps 104:3
Nahum 1:4 : S 2Sa 22:16
Nahum 1:4 : S Ex 14:22
Nahum 1:4 : S Isa 33:9
Nahum 1:5 : S Ex 19:18; S Job 9:6
Nahum 1:5 : S Mic 1:4
Nahum 1:5 : S Joel 2:10
Nahum 1:5 : S Eze 38:20
Nahum 1:6 : S Ps 130:3
Nahum 1:6 : S Eze 22:14
Nahum 1:6 : S Ps 76:7
Nahum 1:6 : S Isa 5:24-25; S 42:25; S Jer 10:10
Nahum 1:6 : 1Ki 19:11
Nahum 1:7 : S Jer 33:11
Nahum 1:7 : S Jer 17:17
Nahum 1:7 : S Ps 1:6
Nahum 1:7 : S Ps 22:9
Nahum 1:8 : S Isa 8:7; S Da 9:26
Nahum 1:9 : S Hos 7:15
Nahum 1:10 : S 2Sa 23:6
Nahum 1:10 : S Isa 49:26
Nahum 1:10 : S Isa 5:24; Mal 4:1
Nahum 1:12 : S Isa 10:34
Nahum 1:12 : Isa 54:6-8; S La 3:31-32
Nahum 1:13 : S Isa 9:4
Nahum 1:13 : S Job 12:18; S Ps 107:14
Nahum 1:14 : S Isa 14:22
Nahum 1:14 : Mic 5:13
Nahum 1:14 : S Jer 28:8; Eze 32:22-23
Nahum 1:15 : Isa 40:9; Ro 10:15
Nahum 1:15 : S Isa 52:7; Ac 10:36
Nahum 1:15 : Lev 23:2-4
Nahum 1:15 : S Isa 52:1
Nahum 2:1 : Jer 51:20
Nahum 2:2 : S Eze 37:23
Nahum 2:2 : Isa 60:15
Nahum 2:3 : S Eze 23:14-15
Nahum 2:4 : S Jer 4:13; S Eze 23:24
Nahum 2:5 : Jer 46:12
Nahum 2:6 : Isa 45:1; Na 3:13
Nahum 2:7 : S Ge 8:8; S Isa 59:11
Nahum 2:7 : Isa 32:12
Nahum 2:10 : S Jos 2:11; S 7:5
Nahum 2:10 : S Isa 29:22
Nahum 2:11 : Isa 5:29
Nahum 2:12 : S Jer 51:34
Nahum 2:12 : S Jer 4:7
Nahum 2:12 : S Isa 37:18
Nahum 2:13 : Isa 10:5-13; S Jer 21:13; Na 3:5
Nahum 2:13 : Ps 46:9
Nahum 2:13 : S 2Sa 2:26
Nahum 2:13 : S Mic 5:6
Nahum 3:1 : S Eze 22:2; S Mic 3:10
Nahum 3:1 : Ps 12:2
Nahum 3:3 : 2Ki 19:35; Isa 34:3; Jer 47:3
Nahum 3:4 : S Isa 47:9
Nahum 3:4 : S Isa 23:17; Eze 16:25-29
Nahum 3:5 : S Na 2:13
Nahum 3:5 : S Isa 20:4; Jer 13:22
Nahum 3:5 : S Isa 47:3
Nahum 3:6 : S Ex 29:14; S Job 9:31
Nahum 3:6 : S 1Sa 2:30; S Jer 51:37
Nahum 3:6 : Isa 14:16
Nahum 3:7 : S Isa 13:14; S 31:9
Nahum 3:7 : S Na 1:1
Nahum 3:7 : S Job 3:14
Nahum 3:7 : S Jer 15:5
Nahum 3:7 : S Isa 51:19
Nahum 3:8 : Am 6:2
Nahum 3:8 : S Jer 46:25
Nahum 3:8 : Isa 19:6-9
Nahum 3:9 : S Ge 10:6; S 2Ch 12:3
Nahum 3:9 : S Eze 27:10
Nahum 3:9 : Eze 30:5
Nahum 3:10 : S Isa 20:4
Nahum 3:10 : S 2Ki 8:12; S Isa 13:16; Hos 13:16
Nahum 3:10 : S Job 6:27; S Eze 24:6
Nahum 3:10 : S Jer 40:1
Nahum 3:11 : S Isa 49:26
Nahum 3:11 : S Isa 2:10
Nahum 3:12 : S SS 2:13
Nahum 3:12 : S Isa 28:4
Nahum 3:13 : S Isa 19:16
Nahum 3:13 : S Na 2:6
Nahum 3:13 : S Isa 45:2
Nahum 3:14 : S 2Ch 32:4
Nahum 3:14 : Na 2:1
Nahum 3:15 : S Isa 27:1
Nahum 3:15 : S 2Sa 2:26
Nahum 3:15 : S Jer 51:14; S Joel 1:4
Nahum 3:16 : S Ex 10:13
Nahum 3:17 : Jer 51:27
Nahum 3:18 : Ps 76:5-6; S Jer 25:27
Nahum 3:18 : Isa 56:10
Nahum 3:18 : S 1Ki 22:17
Nahum 3:19 : S Jer 30:13; S Mic 1:9
Nahum 3:19 : S Job 27:23; S La 2:15; Zep 2:15
Nahum 3:19 : Isa 37:18

New International Version (NIV)

Revelation 8

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

8 When he opened the seventh seal,^(A) there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

²And I saw the seven angels^(B) who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.^(C)

³Another angel,^(D) who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people,^(E) on the golden altar^(F) in front of the throne. ⁴The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God^(G) from the angel’s hand. ⁵Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar,^(H) and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder,^(I) rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.^(J)

The Trumpets

⁶Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets^(K) prepared to sound them.

⁷The first angel^(L) sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire^(M) mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third^(N) of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.^(O)

⁸The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain,^(P) all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third^(Q) of the sea turned into blood,^(R) ⁹a third^(S) of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

¹⁰The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky^(T) on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water^(U)— ¹¹the name of the star is Wormwood.^[a] A third^(V) of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.^(W)

¹²The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third^(X) of them turned dark.^(Y) A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.^(Z)

¹³As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair^(AA) call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe^(AB) to the inhabitants of the earth,^(AC) because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”

Footnotes:

Revelation 8:11 Wormwood is a bitter substance.

Cross references:

Revelation 8:1 : Rev 6:1
Revelation 8:2 : ver 6-13; Rev 9:1, 13; 11:15
Revelation 8:2 : S Mt 24:31
Revelation 8:3 : Rev 7:2
Revelation 8:3 : Rev 5:8
Revelation 8:3 : ver 5; Ex 30:1-6; Heb 9:4; Rev 9:13
Revelation 8:4 : Ps 141:2
Revelation 8:5 : Lev 16:12, 13
Revelation 8:5 : S Rev 4:5
Revelation 8:5 : S Rev 6:12
Revelation 8:6 : S ver 2
Revelation 8:7 : S ver 2
Revelation 8:7 : Eze 38:22
Revelation 8:7 : ver 7-12; Rev 9:15, 18; 12:4
Revelation 8:7 : Rev 9:4
Revelation 8:8 : Jer 51:25
Revelation 8:8 : S ver 7
Revelation 8:8 : Rev 16:3
Revelation 8:9 : S ver 7
Revelation 8:10 : Isa 14:12; Rev 6:13; 9:1
Revelation 8:10 : Rev 14:7; 16:4
Revelation 8:11 : S ver 7
Revelation 8:11 : Jer 9:15; 23:15
Revelation 8:12 : S ver 7
Revelation 8:12 : Ex 10:21-23; Rev 6:12, 13
Revelation 8:12 : Eze 32:7
Revelation 8:13 : Rev 14:6; 19:17
Revelation 8:13 : Rev 9:12; 11:14; 12:12
Revelation 8:13 : S Rev 3:10

New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 136

¹Give thanks^(A) to the Lord, for he is good.^(B)
His love endures forever.^(C)
²Give thanks^(D) to the God of gods.^(E)
His love endures forever.
³Give thanks^(F) to the Lord of lords:^(G)
His love endures forever.

⁴to him who alone does great wonders,^(H)
His love endures forever.
⁵who by his understanding^(I) made the heavens,^(J)
His love endures forever.
⁶who spread out the earth^(K) upon the waters,^(L)
His love endures forever.
⁷who made the great lights^(M)—
His love endures forever.
⁸the sun to govern^(N) the day,
His love endures forever.
⁹the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.

¹⁰to him who struck down the firstborn^(O) of Egypt
His love endures forever.
¹¹and brought Israel out^(P) from among them
His love endures forever.
¹²with a mighty hand^(Q) and outstretched arm;^(R)
His love endures forever.

¹³to him who divided the Red Sea^[a]^(S) asunder
His love endures forever.
¹⁴and brought Israel through^(T) the midst of it,
His love endures forever.
¹⁵but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;^(U)
His love endures forever.

¹⁶to him who led his people through the wilderness;^(V)
His love endures forever.

¹⁷to him who struck down great kings,^(W)
His love endures forever.
¹⁸and killed mighty kings^(X)—
His love endures forever.
¹⁹Sihon king of the Amorites^(Y)
His love endures forever.
²⁰and Og king of Bashan^(Z)—
His love endures forever.
²¹and gave their land^(AA) as an inheritance,^(AB)
His love endures forever.
²²an inheritance^(AC) to his servant Israel.^(AD)
His love endures forever.

²³He remembered us^(AE) in our low estate
His love endures forever.
²⁴and freed us^(AF) from our enemies.^(AG)
His love endures forever.
²⁵He gives food^(AH) to every creature.
His love endures forever.

²⁶Give thanks^(AI) to the God of heaven.^(AJ)
His love endures forever.^(AK)

Footnotes:

Psalm 136:13 Or the Sea of Reeds; also in verse 15

Cross references:

New International Version (NIV)

Proverbs 30:7-9

⁷“Two things I ask of you, Lord;
do not refuse me before I die:
⁸Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.^(A)
⁹Otherwise, I may have too much and disown^(B) you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’^(C)
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.^(D)

Cross references:

New International Version (NIV)

December 16, 2023

12/16/2023 DAB Transcript pt2

Think about that for just a second. We could read it in the Bible and look at God talking to Israel and just kinda disassociate from it, but what if we personalized it. What if God were here saying, what have I done to you, why have I done to make you so tired of me? Answer me. I don’t, I don’t even know what I would do. I can’t even imagine, that is very disruptive to think about because I’m trying not to live like, right, and we’re all trying not to live like that. But we’re broken people, and we find ourselves in brokenness all the time. And for some reason, we seem addicted to certain kinds of brokenness that we just, what, for whatever reason has us. But as God is saying in Micah, like all these things that you turn too are made out of your own hands. They can’t breathe, they can’t smell, the can’t hear you, they can’t bless you, they can’t do anything for you, you’re missing the point, you’re wasting your life. What did I do to make you so tired of me? Man! We…we find ourselves asking God that question. What I do? Why are you so mad at me? We don’t expect that kind of question from God. Like, God is asking what else He has to do be seen by us, to get our attention. What else He has to do to prove His love. That is, that…that’s heartbreaking friends. It makes me want to cry. That’s heartbreaking to think that we could cause our Heavenly Father those feelings. And then God listed all kinds of ways that He had been caring for His people, the ways that He had protected them, and that they still betrayed Him. And so, in response Micah muses about what…what can be done and speaks through the mouth of Israel. Like, what could they bring, like knowing this, now that God is here and we see who we are and we see what we’ve done, and there is no explanation, and there is no justification, and there is no redemption outside of God. What are we supposed to do now that God is here confronting us? Is it rituals, is it sacrifice, is it worship, is it singing, is it their repentance that they would scream and shout, is that what God wants from them? It’s just that’s not what God wants. When Israel muses what do You want, what can we do, what, do You want this, do You want that? We’ll do this, we’ll do that. God says no. He has told you mortals what is good in His sight. What else does the eternal ask of you, but to live justly and to love kindness, and to walk with your God in all humility. There it is. That is what God wants from us. And in this season, in this season especially, should we not give Him what He wants? He wants us to do what is right. He wants us to act justly, He wants us to love mercy, which is different than being merciful once in a while, He wants us to love mercy. He wants us to walk humbly with Him, to have our life and being in this world with the awareness of His presence, that it is He who is animating us, He is the source of life, and He is reviewing his love for Earth’s people through our lives. That’s what He wants. But isn’t that what we want too? Isn’t it just that we want to be the boss. We want Him to do what we say, when it doesn’t work that way, we do what He says. I mean, Christmas is a busy time. I’m getting frazzled too. We’re busy, more busy than most times of the year. Rhythms are disrupted, running around doing this and that, and beneath all that, at least for me, I get the blues and existential questions come into my mind. And what is the purpose, and it’s important to remember things like what God is spoken through Micah. It can kind of simplify things back down to the essential core, when we begin to realize that the mayhem of Christmas time may not be what God wants. It’s what we want and it’s fun and He enjoys that. But He is interested in our lives that we might do what is right, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. Let’s go out and do that today.

Prayer:

And Father, we…we can’t do it without You. So, we become aware of Your presence here and now, knowing that Your presence will accompany us wherever we step, wherever we go. You see and hear it all, nothing is hidden from You. And we want to include You in all that we do and say. So, come Holy Spirit, and be involved in every word that we speak, every thought that we have, every action that we take today. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, that is the website. It’s where you can find out what’s happening, and we know it’s Christmas time around here because it’s Christmas time around everywhere. And Christmas time around The Daily Audio Bible this year is centered around the music of the Daily Audio Bible. I’ve been saying it for a couple weeks now. We pressed five different projects from the music of the Daily Audio Bible. The Sleep album, the Heart album, The Promised Land album, and then Family Christmas and Christmas Time, two holiday titles for this season. And they’re on commemorative, like it’s a keepsake, limited-edition vinyl and colored vinyl. It’s beautiful to have. And we are using these this year to sew into what comes next for us in the new year with new infrastructure and a brand-new app coming our way. So, thank you for your partnership on that. You can find these at dailyaudiobible.com or using the app, just go to the Shop and then you’ll find the Christmas Section and it’s in there. And so, thank you for your partnership.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible here at the end of the year, thank you, humbly, humbly, there is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, that’s little red button up at the top, or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

This is Jodi from North Carolina. I am calling in for Delta Alpha Foxtrot and Blind Tony, as well as some other prayer requests that I ask the family to join me in praying tonight. Father, we lift up Delta Alpha Foxtrot and Blind Tony to You. Lord, I pray that You would bring joy to their grieving hearts, the loss of their loved ones and all those out there who have not called in, who have lost so many this past year. Just pray that You would heal our hearts and heal our grief. And help us to find the joy in You and know that You are in control. And our loved ones are with You. And we will see them again and they are in a better place. And Father, I pray for Tony, that You would provide for him and his sister a safe place for them to live, with warmth and water and all that they need. Pray that the damage to their home is not so great that they’re unable to live there. And I pray that insurance would cover all the damages and that they would not have any financial loss ahead of them because of this. Father, I pray that You would lift them up and encourage them in their struggles. Father, I pray in my life, and I ask the family to pray with me for my husband. I will be seeing him for the first time in over a month for a couple of days. He has one more month to decide if he’s going to continue to file for divorce. So, I pray that Lord, You work in his heart that You would stop the plans of the devil, stop the plans of Satan from ruining more marriages in our country. Just do a world of change in my husband’s heart. In Jesus name I pray. I pray for our time together, for all those that are struggling. In Christ name I pray. Amen.

Hello, my DAB family, this is Mark Street from Sydney, Australia today. Is Tuesday the 5th of December and I’m listening to the prayers, and I heard Blind Tony saying that he had a fire in his house and I just wanted to pray for him. Heavenly Father, we come to You humbly. Asking that You protect Tony and his family, Lord. Lord, You know how much he loves this community and how much he loves You, Lord. And Lord, restore the things that the enemy has taken away from him. Lord, all things are possible with You. We know, and Lord, look down upon Tony and his family and shower your blessings upon him in the way that You know is correct. In your name Lord. I love you Tony and I’m thinking of you as well. Love you family. Mark Street, Sydney, Australia. Bye.

Hey DAB family. This is In the Vine in Indiana again and I’m calling and just letting you know that it is possible. It is possible to get through what you’re going through. It is possible, even though that tunnel where the light seems so far away, it is possible. Where you fall off the track of the Bible. Where you fall off track with God. Where you fall off the track of life. It is possible, it is very possible. There was a moment in my life, which you guys know a little bit about. And I won’t go into detail because I don’t want to put myself out there too much. You know, as my dad would say. But it’s been, it has been hard. I was in a situation where I couldn’t be in school for like two weeks. And for whatever reason, you know, of course I fell away from God that time. But I have, this is just such an awesome app where I have been able to keep in touch with the Bible. Now, it’s still sad that I haven’t touched my paper Bible in quite a while but I’m learning to keep picking that up too. And not lean too much on this. But it’s the Bible and its commentary so I don’t know why it’s so bad in my head. But anyway, yeah, so it is possible to get to where you’re going through. Just keep pushing and looking at a small white, ever gentle voice at the end of the tunnel, telling you to come here. Telling you that you got this. Telling you to come on. You got this and man is there an audience just waiting for you. You know what I mean. Alright, bye, I love you and I’ll see you in a little bit. Bye.

Good morning DABers, this is John Opar. I can’t believe for a second day in a row I’ve had to call in as usual, I’m calling in from South Sudan. And we are enjoying our rainy season and humid weather. But anyway, just wanted to talk to a brother who called in and can’t remember his name, but he’s really beat up about his marriage. He’s been married for ten years, and he said that things are not looking good. This time and that he owned up to the fact that he has not been doing what he’s supposed to do as a child of God. You would think that at 35 years of marriage that I would have something to tell you that would help you. But the fact is, I do not. All I can tell you is that you are in a good place, that you recognize that God is the answer, and He is truly the answer. For me, over 35 years I’ve…I’ve gone through a lot. Maybe a lot more than you. But God has kept us up till now. And I know He will keep you and your wife. One thing that I have learned to do is Ephesians chapter 6 from verse 10, that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but principalities of darkness. May God help you, in Jesus name. Amen.

December 16, 2023

12/16/2023 DAB Transcript pt1

Micah 5:1-7:20, Revelations 7:1-17, Psalm 135:1-21, Proverbs 30:5-6

Today is the 16th day of December, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we gather again, and keep cozy in this wintery December, as we come together around the Global Campfire for our next step forward on this grand journey, a year of life together, every day together, through the entire Bible together. And we’ve been working our way through the minor prophets, as we know. We started the book of Micah yesterday and we talked about that some. We will conclude the book of Micah in our Old Testament reading today by reading Micah chapter 5, 6 and 7.

Commentary:

Okay, so, we concluded the book of Micah today and we explored sort of the bottom line about what God wants from us. And we come to Micah at this time of year and it’s like we’re out shopping and buying things and getting people what they want and hoping for things that we want. Or try to figure out how are we’re going to manage all this. What is God want that we could give as a gift to Him? Like, we’re gonna give everybody gifts that we know in our lives, but what about God who came for us and created this moment for us to be thankful and grateful and give gifts. What does He want? I think if we’re gonna look into Micah for that, we have to look first at what He doesn’t want. And before that we have to think about a couple of questions that are very sad that Micah asked from the mouth of God today. And God said, my people what have I done against you? How have I made you tired of Me? Answer Me. f darkness. May God help you, in Jesus name. Amen.