A Walk Through The Word

December 20, 2018

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday December 20, 2018 (NIV)

Haggai 1-2

A Call to Rebuild the Temple

1 On August 29^[a] of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua^[b] son of Jehozadak, the high priest.

²“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’”

³Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai: ⁴“Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? ⁵This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! ⁶You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!

⁷“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! ⁸Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. ⁹You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses. ¹⁰It’s because of you that the heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops. ¹¹I have called for a drought on your fields and hills—a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olive trees and all your other crops, a drought to starve you and your livestock and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.”

Obedience to God’s Call

¹²Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the whole remnant of God’s people began to obey the message from the Lord their God. When they heard the words of the prophet Haggai, whom the Lord their God had sent, the people feared the Lord. ¹³Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the people this message from the Lord: “I am with you, says the Lord!”

¹⁴So the Lord sparked the enthusiasm of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the enthusiasm of Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the enthusiasm of the whole remnant of God’s people. They began to work on the house of their God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, ¹⁵on September 21^[c] of the second year of King Darius’s reign.

The New Temple’s Diminished Splendor

2 Then on October 17 of that same year,^[d] the Lord sent another message through the prophet Haggai. ²“Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua^[e] son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God’s people there in the land: ³‘Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all! ⁴But now the Lord says: Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ⁵My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.’

⁶“For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land. ⁷I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple. I will fill this place with glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ⁸The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. ⁹The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”

Blessings Promised for Obedience

¹⁰On December 18^[f] of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord sent this message to the prophet Haggai: ¹¹“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says. Ask the priests this question about the law: ¹²‘If one of you is carrying some meat from a holy sacrifice in his robes and his robe happens to brush against some bread or stew, wine or olive oil, or any other kind of food, will it also become holy?’”

The priests replied, “No.”

¹³Then Haggai asked, “If someone becomes ceremonially unclean by touching a dead person and then touches any of these foods, will the food be defiled?”

And the priests answered, “Yes.”

¹⁴Then Haggai responded, “That is how it is with this people and this nation, says the Lord. Everything they do and everything they offer is defiled by their sin. ¹⁵Look at what was happening to you before you began to lay the foundation of the Lord’s Temple. ¹⁶When you hoped for a twenty-bushel crop, you harvested only ten. When you expected to draw fifty gallons from the winepress, you found only twenty. ¹⁷I sent blight and mildew and hail to destroy everything you worked so hard to produce. Even so, you refused to return to me, says the Lord.

¹⁸“Think about this eighteenth day of December, the day^[g] when the foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid. Think carefully. ¹⁹I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn.^[h] You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you.”

Promises for Zerubbabel

²⁰On that same day, December 18,^[i] the Lord sent this second message to Haggai: ²¹“Tell Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, that I am about to shake the heavens and the earth. ²²I will overthrow royal thrones and destroy the power of foreign kingdoms. I will overturn their chariots and riders. The horses will fall, and their riders will kill each other.

²³“But when this happens, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, I will honor you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant. I will make you like a signet ring on my finger, says the Lord, for I have chosen you. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”

Footnotes:

1:1a Hebrew On the first day of the sixth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. A number of dates in Haggai can be cross-checked with dates in surviving Persian records and related accurately to our modern calendar. This event occurred on August 29, 520 B.c.
1:1b Hebrew Joshua, a variant spelling of Jeshua; also in 1:12, 14.
1:15 Hebrew on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This event occurred on September 21, 520 B.c.; also see note on 1:1a.
2:1 Hebrew on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This event (in the second year of Darius’s reign) occurred on October 17, 520 B.c.; also see note on 1:1a.
2:2 Hebrew Joshua, a variant spelling of Jeshua; also in 2:4.
2:10 Hebrew On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar (similarly in 2:18). This event occurred on December 18, 520 B.c.; also see note on 1:1a.
2:18 Or On this eighteenth day of December, think about the day.
2:19 Hebrew Is the seed yet in the barn?
2:20 Hebrew On the twenty-fourth day of the [ninth] month; see note on 2:10.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Revelation 11

The Two Witnesses

11 Then I was given a measuring stick, and I was told, “Go and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers. ²But do not measure the outer courtyard, for it has been turned over to the nations. They will trample the holy city for 42 months. ³And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in burlap and will prophesy during those 1,260 days.”

⁴These two prophets are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of all the earth. ⁵If anyone tries to harm them, fire flashes from their mouths and consumes their enemies. This is how anyone who tries to harm them must die. ⁶They have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.

⁷When they complete their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit^[a] will declare war against them, and he will conquer them and kill them. ⁸And their bodies will lie in the main street of Jerusalem,^[b] the city that is figuratively called “Sodom” and “Egypt,” the city where their Lord was crucified. ⁹And for three and a half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will stare at their bodies. No one will be allowed to bury them. ¹⁰All the people who belong to this world will gloat over them and give presents to each other to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them.

¹¹But after three and a half days, God breathed life into them, and they stood up! Terror struck all who were staring at them. ¹²Then a loud voice from heaven called to the two prophets, “Come up here!” And they rose to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched.

¹³At the same time there was a terrible earthquake that destroyed a tenth of the city. Seven thousand people died in that earthquake, and everyone else was terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second terror is past, but look, the third terror is coming quickly.

The Seventh Trumpet Brings the Third Terror

¹⁵Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven:

“The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,^[c]
and he will reign forever and ever.”

¹⁶The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones before God fell with their faces to the ground and worshiped him. ¹⁷And they said,

“We give thanks to you, Lord God, the Almighty,
the one who is and who always was,
for now you have assumed your great power
and have begun to reign.
¹⁸The nations were filled with wrath,
but now the time of your wrath has come.
It is time to judge the dead
and reward your servants the prophets,
as well as your holy people,
and all who fear your name,
from the least to the greatest.
It is time to destroy
all who have caused destruction on the earth.”

¹⁹Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his covenant could be seen inside the Temple. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and roared, and there was an earthquake and a terrible hailstorm.

Footnotes:

11:7 Or the abyss, or the underworld.
11:8 Greek the great city.
11:15 Or his Messiah.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 139

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

¹O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
²You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
³You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
⁴You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
⁵You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!

⁷I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
⁸If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave,^[a] you are there.
⁹If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
¹⁰even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
¹¹I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
¹²but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.

¹³You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
¹⁵You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
¹⁶You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.

¹⁷How precious are your thoughts about me,^[b] O God.
They cannot be numbered!
¹⁸I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!

¹⁹O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
Get out of my life, you murderers!
²⁰They blaspheme you;
your enemies misuse your name.
²¹O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
²²Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
for your enemies are my enemies.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Footnotes:

139:8 Hebrew to Sheol.
139:17 Or How precious to me are your thoughts.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 30:15-16

¹⁵The leech has two suckers
that cry out, “More, more!”^[a]

There are three things that are never satisfied—
no, four that never say, “Enough!”:
¹⁶the grave,^[b]
the barren womb,
the thirsty desert,
the blazing fire.

Footnotes:

30:15 Hebrew two daughters who cry out, “Give, give!”
30:16 Hebrew Sheol.

New Living Translation (NLT)

December 19, 2018

12/18/2018

Habakkuk 1:1-3:19, Rev 9:1-21, Ps 137:1-9, Pr 30:10

Today is the 18^th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it is always a pleasure, always an honor, always a joy to be here with you in your presence, and us together in the Lord’s presence centered around the rhythm of the Scripture. It’s always a joy, always a pleasure. So, we read in its entirety the book of Nahum yesterday and I mentioned that we might be observing a rhythm and that is the fact, that we’re reading basically a book a day. And we’ve been doing this for a while. We’ were reading through the letters in the New Testament and some of those are short. And now that we are in the minor prophets in the Old Testament we’re kind of moving through those rapidly because there short and today is no different. We will read the 8^th of the minor prophets in its entirety today, the book of Habakkuk.

Introduction to the book of Habakkuk:

Habakkuk, like a lot of the other minor prophets, almost nothing is known about Habakkuk’s life and in this case maybe less than any other biblical writer. There is a Jewish tradition that speaks of him as the son of the Shunamite woman who was resurrected through the prophet Elisha back in the book of second Kings. There’s another tradition found in the apocryphal book Bell and the Dragon that depicts Habakkuk ministering to Daniel while he was in the Lions den. Of course, these are traditions and scholars find particularly the last one about Daniel to be the stuff of legend. But many verses in Habakkuk are very well known. One in particular, “but the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.” That’s often repeated in the writings of the apostle Paul, right? “The righteous will live by faith but the just to live by faith.” And this is also expounded on in the book of Hebrews. So, this is a core doctrine of the Christian faith that finds some of its roots in the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. As far as the tone of this book, because it’s poetic, because it has kind of a lyrical form, especially as it closes, there’s like a closing Psalm or hymn, some have assumed that Habakkuk was possibly a temple musician. The book of Habakkuk is unique in that it contains a pointed conversation between the prophet Habakkuk and God, a conversation that moves from doubt all the way to worship. And we’ll see this in the second when we read it. Habakkuk begins by simply saying out loud what he was seeing in the world, “I’m surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The laws become paralyzed. There is no justice in the courts. The wicked outnumber the righteous and justice has become perverted.” Habakkuk wanted to understand why God kept on allowing every evil imaginable almost as if he wasn’t paying attention at all. And then, God responded, but cryptically, that he would use the evil Babylonians to punish His own people, which left Habakkuk confused and perplexed. And, so, he’s crying out, God, rock You sent the Babylonians to correct us for our many sins but You’re pure, right? You can’t stand the sight of evil, are you gonna wink at what they’re doing to us? Are you gonna be silent while the wicked swallow up people who are more righteous? And then God responded that although the Babylonians would punish His people, they would not go unpunished in the end, they would be completely destroyed. And, so, this reveals that God wasn’t indifferent or that He wasn’t, like, you know, caught sleeping at the wheel, He wasn’t unaware at all, but that His sovereign plan was true and just. And, so, this ultimately led Habakkuk into worship. And, so, we begin and we’ll read to the end. Habakkuk chapter 1 verse 1 through 3 verse 19 today. And we’re reading from the new living translation this week.

Prayer:

We thank You Father, once again, for the community that You have established here that we call the Daily Audio Bible and we thank You for the image that we have in our minds of this global campfire, that we’re never alone, that whenever we push play we’re not alone, someone else somewhere is also listening. We’re coming around the global campfire for warmth and guidance and light but also for community and we thank You for this. And Father as we continue to move deeper into this holiday season, this being the last week of the Advent season, we continue to contemplate, we continue to embrace and acknowledge the longing in our souls that pulls us forward, the longing that tells us that there’s more to the story because there is. And as the children of Israel, as Your people of old were waiting for a savior to arrive, we are too, we’re waiting for Your second arrival, for Your return, for all things to be made new, for all things to be made right. And, so, as we continue to embrace this season, we invite Your Holy Spirit to come, lead us where our hearts need to go. There’s plenty of distraction, there’s all kinds of noise. Lead us where our hearts need ago. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here.

So, it’s Christmas time and we’re just days away from Christmas…I mean…look at the calendar. What is one week from today? Christmas day. So, we’re in the thick of Christmas and our Daily Audio bible family Christmas will be coming up later this week. And that is always a joyful time to spend around the global campfire with the Daily Audio bible community. And that just leads us right into all of the events of Christmas. So, yeah, let’s just breathe and enjoy these final days of the Advent season. Andyou know, for some people this is sort of the end of the flurry of activity, and all the gifts are kind of under the tree and everything is just settling in for the next few days and then other people are just getting started and it’s frantic. And whichever version of that or combination of that you are try, try to find some moments of just contemplation, slow the world down, this is a big deal that God came to rescue the earth. And this is why the earth celebrates in such a grand way, even though we’ve kind of forgotten the plot of the story. But let’s make sure that we stay connected to the plot of the story and the story of Christmas as we move into the season fully.

Remind you, if you are in the flurry of activity trying to figure what you’re gonna do for Christmas out for everybody, for the woman in your life, you may want to look at the More Gathering for women. And you get all the details at moregathering.com. So, check that out

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible here in these remaining days of the year, thank you profoundly for your partnership in the holiday season. There is a link on the homepage of dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

December 19, 2018

12/17/2018 DAB Transcript

Nahum 1:1-3:19, Revelation 8:1-13, Psalms 136:1-26, Proverbs 30:7-9

Today is the 17^th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is a pleasure and an honor to be here with you today as we launch into our work week and march our way toward Christmas week, which is next week. So, today in the Old Testament, we are going to read, in its entirety, another book of prophecy, the book of Nahum, which is the seventh book in the minor prophets. And you’ll see a pattern emerging. We’re kind of moving through a book a day very often as we move through this part of the year and this part of the Scriptures.

Introduction to the book of Nahum:

Nahum, I mean just about nothing is known about Nahum’s life historically other than that his name means comfort and that he was from Elkosh, but whether that was a town or whether that was a village, like, where Elkosh actually is is unknown. Now, dating when Nahum might’ve lived or when he might’ve prophesied, this is a little bit easier because of the references within the prophetic book to specific historical events. So, for example, Nahum mentioned the Assyrian conquest of Thebes, which is in Egypt. Well this is historically known. So, this happened in 663 B.C. So, we know that Nahum was written after this date. And he also foretold the fall of Nineveh, which also is historically known and happened in 612 B.C. So, Nahum was likely fulfilling his prophetic calling within the years between those two events, right, between 663 B.C. and 612 B.C. And the reason for this prophecy was to foretell what we just talked about, the destruction of Nineveh, which was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire at that time. And if we’ll remember just a couple days ago we read the book of Jonah. And we have to remember like that harrowing journey to Ninevah to deliver a message of judgment and the Ninevites repented when Jonah prophesied. They repented for a time. Nahum’s prophecies against Nineveh happened almost a century and half after Jonah. And this Assyrian repentance didn’t last. And they were more brutal and evil than ever. And I mean, they're…just…contempt and mistreatment of people they had conquered was legendary, just their brutality. And by the time of Nahum’s prophecy they had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and carried those 10 tribes of people into exile where they disappeared from history as like cohesive tribes. So, Nahum’s prophesying against the Ninevites the Assyrians and the city of Nineveh, but he wasn’t sent to the city as Jonah had been. Actually, many scholars believe Nahum prophesied from Jerusalem and that his prophetic work was actually intended for the inhabitants of Judah because a prophecy of the destruction of her enemies, especially after what Judah, which would been in the southern kingdom, especially after what they had just seen happen to their brothers and sisters in the northern kingdom. But then they would’ve received this prophecy as an encouragement and as words of comfort. So, Nahum reveals, and we’ll see this because we’ll read the whole thing here in a second, reveals that God is very merciful and patient but He is not a pushover any won’t stand for a nations sin forever. And, so, we begin and will read in its entirety Nahum. Chapter 1 verse 1 through 3:19 and we’re reading for the New Living Translation.

Prayer:

Thank You Father for Your word. Thank You for all that it brings into our lives and the way that it touches and move’s us forward. And we take to heart what was told to us over and over and over repeatedly in this ancient liturgical prayer in the Psalms, “Your faithful love endures forever”. 26 times in that Psalm alone, we were told this pounding and pounding and pounding into our hearts and against our doubts and against all the upheaval and chaos that the world can throw at us - “Your faithful love endures forever.” There’s nothing we can do about that. We can stop it, we can’t increase it. It’s perfect, “Your faithful love endures forever.” So, yes, we indeed can ignore that fact, but it doesn’t change it. And, so, we don’t ignore it anymore, we embrace it fully, “Your faithful love endures forever”, and that means that Your faithful love for us endures forever, and that means that You love us each. That means that You love us each forever because Your faithful love will endure and it will endure whatever it has to endure so that it can love us forever. And, so, we see Father that not only are we being taught to endure in the Scriptures, but You are willing to endure with us. So, come Holy Spirit’s because we can endure anything if we’re inside Your faithful love. Come Jesus we pray. In Your precious name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it is home base, it is where you find out what’s going on around here.

And it’s been kind of wall-to-wall Christmas time not only here but pretty much everywhere. For the last several weeks and so we’re no different, today is the shipping cut off date for the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas Box 2018 if you are in in the United States. So, yes, you can order tomorrow and yes, we will ship out to you right away and yes it may arrive for Christmas but we think today is safe. So, if you’ve been procrastinating or whatever, today would be the day to order your Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box and it will arrive in time for Christmas. So, if you are in the hustle and bustle of the last-minute gift giving flurry that happens this week for most people then take a look at what’s in the Christmas Box. There are resources that you’ll want to keep for yourself and there are resources that you’ll want to give away. And, yeah, we pray over these Christmas Boxes. This is our opportunity to pull together a lot of the resources that we have and make them as affordable as we can possibly…as we can possibly give them to you for in hopes that that’s what will happen, is that they will make their way into all kinds of lives and stories and that God will bless them and that they will do what they were intended to do, which is to serve the body of Christ and to be a companion on the walk. So, you can check that all out at dailyaudiobible.com in the Christmas section.

And there are some other Christmas resources available too, like the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas album. If you haven’t streamed that on Spotify or Aple Music or whatever or maybe you want a CD, you can get that from dailyaudiobible.com. It is a great companion into the Advent season and the Christmas season that we’re in. And it rose up from within this community. And so, it’s the kind of album that you want put on with a hot cup of cocoa or coffee or whatever and turn on the Christmas lights, maybe a candle, it is making the aroma just right and the lights are off and you just take, you know, a little time to breathe and drink in the wonder of the Christmas season. The music on family Christmas album is kinda made for that environment. So, check it out.

We’ve also been talking about the More Gathering for women get all of the details for that moregathering.com or in the Initiatives section of dailyaudiobible.com. And we do this because…I mean it’s quite an effort to put on the More Gathering every year. It takes a lot of people and a lot of sacrifice, but what we’ve seen over the years is so worth it because we’ve seen transformation and isn’t that what we’re after and isn’t that why we have the rhythm of the Scripture in our life every day, is that that we can be transformed, that we can be changed, not only that we can get more knowledge but that we can change from the inside out as we daily become more and more like Christ our Savior. The More Gathering for women is centered around that. That’s why we do the effort every year. And, so, so yeah, if that is something that’s calling to you then you can check it at moregathering.com.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link, it’s on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

December 19, 2018

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday December 19, 2018 (NIV)

Zephaniah 1-3

1 The Lord gave this message to Zephaniah when Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah. Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah.

Coming Judgment against Judah

²“I will sweep away everything
from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.
³“I will sweep away people and animals alike.
I will sweep away the birds of the sky and the fish in the sea.
I will reduce the wicked to heaps of rubble,^[a]
and I will wipe humanity from the face of the earth,” says the Lord.
⁴“I will crush Judah and Jerusalem with my fist
and destroy every last trace of their Baal worship.
I will put an end to all the idolatrous priests,
so that even the memory of them will disappear.
⁵For they go up to their roofs
and bow down to the sun, moon, and stars.
They claim to follow the Lord,
but then they worship Molech,^[b] too.
⁶And I will destroy those who used to worship me
but now no longer do.
They no longer ask for the Lord’s guidance
or seek my blessings.”

⁷Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign Lord,
for the awesome day of the Lord’s judgment is near.
The Lord has prepared his people for a great slaughter
and has chosen their executioners.^[c]
⁸“On that day of judgment,”
says the Lord,
“I will punish the leaders and princes of Judah
and all those following pagan customs.
⁹Yes, I will punish those who participate in pagan worship ceremonies,
and those who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit.

¹⁰“On that day,” says the Lord,
“a cry of alarm will come from the Fish Gate
and echo throughout the New Quarter of the city.^[d]
And a great crash will sound from the hills.
¹¹Wail in sorrow, all you who live in the market area,^[e]
for all the merchants and traders will be destroyed.

¹²“I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem’s darkest corners
to punish those who sit complacent in their sins.
They think the Lord will do nothing to them,
either good or bad.
¹³So their property will be plundered,
their homes will be ransacked.
They will build new homes
but never live in them.
They will plant vineyards
but never drink wine from them.

¹⁴“That terrible day of the Lord is near.
Swiftly it comes—
a day of bitter tears,
a day when even strong men will cry out.
¹⁵It will be a day when the Lord’s anger is poured out—
a day of terrible distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and desolation,
a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness,
¹⁶a day of trumpet calls and battle cries.
Down go the walled cities
and the strongest battlements!

¹⁷“Because you have sinned against the Lord,
I will make you grope around like the blind.
Your blood will be poured into the dust,
and your bodies will lie rotting on the ground.”

¹⁸Your silver and gold will not save you
on that day of the Lord’s anger.
For the whole land will be devoured
by the fire of his jealousy.
He will make a terrifying end
of all the people on earth.^[f]

A Call to Repentance

2 Gather together—yes, gather together,
you shameless nation.
²Gather before judgment begins,
before your time to repent is blown away like chaff.
Act now, before the fierce fury of the Lord falls
and the terrible day of the Lord’s anger begins.
³Seek the Lord, all who are humble,
and follow his commands.
Seek to do what is right
and to live humbly.
Perhaps even yet the Lord will protect you—
protect you from his anger on that day of destruction.

Judgment against Philistia

⁴Gaza and Ashkelon will be abandoned,
Ashdod and Ekron torn down.
⁵And what sorrow awaits you Philistines^[g]
who live along the coast and in the land of Canaan,
for this judgment is against you, too!
The Lord will destroy you
until not one of you is left.
⁶The Philistine coast will become a wilderness pasture,
a place of shepherd camps
and enclosures for sheep and goats.
⁷The remnant of the tribe of Judah will pasture there.
They will rest at night in the abandoned houses in Ashkelon.
For the Lord their God will visit his people in kindness
and restore their prosperity again.

Judgment against Moab and Ammon

⁸“I have heard the taunts of the Moabites
and the insults of the Ammonites,
mocking my people
and invading their borders.
⁹Now, as surely as I live,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,
“Moab and Ammon will be destroyed—
destroyed as completely as Sodom and Gomorrah.
Their land will become a place of stinging nettles,
salt pits, and eternal desolation.
The remnant of my people will plunder them
and take their land.”

¹⁰They will receive the wages of their pride,
for they have scoffed at the people of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
¹¹The Lord will terrify them
as he destroys all the gods in the land.
Then nations around the world will worship the Lord,
each in their own land.

Judgment against Ethiopia and Assyria

¹²“You Ethiopians^[h] will also be slaughtered
by my sword,” says the Lord.

¹³And the Lord will strike the lands of the north with his fist,
destroying the land of Assyria.
He will make its great capital, Nineveh, a desolate wasteland,
parched like a desert.
¹⁴The proud city will become a pasture for flocks and herds,
and all sorts of wild animals will settle there.
The desert owl and screech owl will roost on its ruined columns,
their calls echoing through the gaping windows.
Rubble will block all the doorways,
and the cedar paneling will be exposed to the weather.
¹⁵This is the boisterous city,
once so secure.
“I am the greatest!” it boasted.
“No other city can compare with me!”
But now, look how it has become an utter ruin,
a haven for wild animals.
Everyone passing by will laugh in derision
and shake a defiant fist.

Jerusalem’s Rebellion and Redemption

3 What sorrow awaits rebellious, polluted Jerusalem,
the city of violence and crime!
²No one can tell it anything;
it refuses all correction.
It does not trust in the Lord
or draw near to its God.
³Its leaders are like roaring lions
hunting for their victims.
Its judges are like ravenous wolves at evening time,
who by dawn have left no trace of their prey.
⁴Its prophets are arrogant liars seeking their own gain.
Its priests defile the Temple by disobeying God’s instructions.
⁵But the Lord is still there in the city,
and he does no wrong.
Day by day he hands down justice,
and he does not fail.
But the wicked know no shame.

⁶“I have wiped out many nations,
devastating their fortress walls and towers.
Their streets are now deserted;
their cities lie in silent ruin.
There are no survivors—
none at all.
⁷I thought, ‘Surely they will have reverence for me now!
Surely they will listen to my warnings.
Then I won’t need to strike again,
destroying their homes.’
But no, they get up early
to continue their evil deeds.
⁸Therefore, be patient,” says the Lord.
“Soon I will stand and accuse these evil nations.
For I have decided to gather the kingdoms of the earth
and pour out my fiercest anger and fury on them.
All the earth will be devoured
by the fire of my jealousy.

⁹“Then I will purify the speech of all people,
so that everyone can worship the Lord together.
¹⁰My scattered people who live beyond the rivers of Ethiopia^[i]
will come to present their offerings.
¹¹On that day you will no longer need to be ashamed,
for you will no longer be rebels against me.
I will remove all proud and arrogant people from among you.
There will be no more haughtiness on my holy mountain.
¹²Those who are left will be the lowly and humble,
for it is they who trust in the name of the Lord.
¹³The remnant of Israel will do no wrong;
they will never tell lies or deceive one another.
They will eat and sleep in safety,
and no one will make them afraid.”

¹⁴Sing, O daughter of Zion;
shout aloud, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
¹⁵For the Lord will remove his hand of judgment
and will disperse the armies of your enemy.
And the Lord himself, the King of Israel,
will live among you!
At last your troubles will be over,
and you will never again fear disaster.
¹⁶On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be,
“Cheer up, Zion! Don’t be afraid!
¹⁷For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.^[j]
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

¹⁸“I will gather you who mourn for the appointed festivals;
you will be disgraced no more.^[k]
¹⁹And I will deal severely with all who have oppressed you.
I will save the weak and helpless ones;
I will bring together
those who were chased away.
I will give glory and fame to my former exiles,
wherever they have been mocked and shamed.
²⁰On that day I will gather you together
and bring you home again.
I will give you a good name, a name of distinction,
among all the nations of the earth,
as I restore your fortunes before their very eyes.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Footnotes:

1:3 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
1:5 Hebrew Malcam, a variant spelling of Molech; or it could possibly mean their king.
1:7 Hebrew has prepared a sacrifice and sanctified his guests.
1:10 Or the Second Quarter, a newer section of Jerusalem. Hebrew reads the Mishneh.
1:11 Or in the valley, a lower section of Jerusalem. Hebrew reads the Maktesh.
1:18 Or the people living in the land.
2:5 Hebrew Kerethites.
2:12 Hebrew Cushites.
3:10 Hebrew Cush.
3:17 Or He will be silent in his love. Greek and Syriac versions read He will renew you with his love.
3:18 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Revelation 10

The Angel and the Small Scroll

10 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. ²And in his hand was a small scroll^[a] that had been opened. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. ³And he gave a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered.

⁴When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Keep secret^[b] what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.”

⁵Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand toward heaven. ⁶He swore an oath in the name of the one who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and everything in them, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it. He said, “There will be no more delay. ⁷When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced it to his servants the prophets.”

⁸Then the voice from heaven spoke to me again: “Go and take the open scroll from the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹So I went to the angel and told him to give me the small scroll. “Yes, take it and eat it,” he said. “It will be sweet as honey in your mouth, but it will turn sour in your stomach!” ¹⁰So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach.

¹¹Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”

Footnotes:

10:2 Or book; also in 10:8, 9, 10.
10:4 Greek Seal up.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 138

A psalm of David.

¹I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart;
I will sing your praises before the gods.
²I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.
I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness;
for your promises are backed
by all the honor of your name.
³As soon as I pray, you answer me;
you encourage me by giving me strength.

⁴Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord,
for all of them will hear your words.
⁵Yes, they will sing about the Lord’s ways,
for the glory of the Lord is very great.
⁶Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble,
but he keeps his distance from the proud.

⁷Though I am surrounded by troubles,
you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.
You reach out your hand,
and the power of your right hand saves me.
⁸The Lord will work out his plans for my life—
for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.
Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 30:11-14

¹¹Some people curse their father
and do not thank their mother.
¹²They are pure in their own eyes,
but they are filthy and unwashed.
¹³They look proudly around,
casting disdainful glances.
¹⁴They have teeth like swords
and fangs like knives.
They devour the poor from the earth
and the needy from among humanity.

New Living Translation (NLT)

December 18, 2018

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday December 18, 2018 (NIV)

Habakkuk 1-3

1 This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision.

Habakkuk’s Complaint

²How long, O Lord, must I call for help?
But you do not listen!
“Violence is everywhere!” I cry,
but you do not come to save.
³Must I forever see these evil deeds?
Why must I watch all this misery?
Wherever I look,
I see destruction and violence.
I am surrounded by people
who love to argue and fight.
⁴The law has become paralyzed,
and there is no justice in the courts.
The wicked far outnumber the righteous,
so that justice has become perverted.

The Lord’s Reply

⁵The Lord replied,

“Look around at the nations;
look and be amazed!^[a]
For I am doing something in your own day,
something you wouldn’t believe
even if someone told you about it.
⁶I am raising up the Babylonians,^[b]
a cruel and violent people.
They will march across the world
and conquer other lands.
⁷They are notorious for their cruelty
and do whatever they like.
⁸Their horses are swifter than cheetahs^[c]
and fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their charioteers charge from far away.
Like eagles, they swoop down to devour their prey.

⁹“On they come, all bent on violence.
Their hordes advance like a desert wind,
sweeping captives ahead of them like sand.
¹⁰They scoff at kings and princes
and scorn all their fortresses.
They simply pile ramps of earth
against their walls and capture them!
¹¹They sweep past like the wind
and are gone.
But they are deeply guilty,
for their own strength is their god.”

Habakkuk’s Second Complaint

¹²O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—
surely you do not plan to wipe us out?
O Lord, our Rock, you have sent these Babylonians to correct us,
to punish us for our many sins.
¹³But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil.
Will you wink at their treachery?
Should you be silent while the wicked
swallow up people more righteous than they?

¹⁴Are we only fish to be caught and killed?
Are we only sea creatures that have no leader?
¹⁵Must we be strung up on their hooks
and caught in their nets while they rejoice and celebrate?
¹⁶Then they will worship their nets
and burn incense in front of them.
“These nets are the gods who have made us rich!”
they will claim.
¹⁷Will you let them get away with this forever?
Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests?

2 I will climb up to my watchtower
and stand at my guardpost.
There I will wait to see what the Lord says
and how he^[d] will answer my complaint.

The Lord’s Second Reply

²Then the Lord said to me,

“Write my answer plainly on tablets,
so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.
³This vision is for a future time.
It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled.
If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently,
for it will surely take place.
It will not be delayed.

⁴“Look at the proud!
They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked.
But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.^[e]
⁵Wealth^[f] is treacherous,
and the arrogant are never at rest.
They open their mouths as wide as the grave,^[g]
and like death, they are never satisfied.
In their greed they have gathered up many nations
and swallowed many peoples.

⁶“But soon their captives will taunt them.
They will mock them, saying,
‘What sorrow awaits you thieves!
Now you will get what you deserve!
You’ve become rich by extortion,
but how much longer can this go on?’
⁷Suddenly, your debtors will take action.
They will turn on you and take all you have,
while you stand trembling and helpless.
⁸Because you have plundered many nations,
now all the survivors will plunder you.
You committed murder throughout the countryside
and filled the towns with violence.

⁹“What sorrow awaits you who build big houses
with money gained dishonestly!
You believe your wealth will buy security,
putting your family’s nest beyond the reach of danger.
¹⁰But by the murders you committed,
you have shamed your name and forfeited your lives.
¹¹The very stones in the walls cry out against you,
and the beams in the ceilings echo the complaint.

¹²“What sorrow awaits you who build cities
with money gained through murder and corruption!
¹³Has not the Lord of Heaven’s Armies promised
that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes?
They work so hard,
but all in vain!
¹⁴For as the waters fill the sea,
the earth will be filled with an awareness
of the glory of the Lord.

¹⁵“What sorrow awaits you who make your neighbors drunk!
You force your cup on them
so you can gloat over their shameful nakedness.
¹⁶But soon it will be your turn to be disgraced.
Come, drink and be exposed!^[h]
Drink from the cup of the Lord’s judgment,
and all your glory will be turned to shame.
¹⁷You cut down the forests of Lebanon.
Now you will be cut down.
You destroyed the wild animals,
so now their terror will be yours.
You committed murder throughout the countryside
and filled the towns with violence.

¹⁸“What good is an idol carved by man,
or a cast image that deceives you?
How foolish to trust in your own creation—
a god that can’t even talk!
¹⁹What sorrow awaits you who say to wooden idols,
‘Wake up and save us!’
To speechless stone images you say,
‘Rise up and teach us!’
Can an idol tell you what to do?
They may be overlaid with gold and silver,
but they are lifeless inside.
²⁰But the Lord is in his holy Temple.
Let all the earth be silent before him.”

Habakkuk’s Prayer

3 This prayer was sung by the prophet Habakkuk^[i]:

²I have heard all about you, Lord.
I am filled with awe by your amazing works.
In this time of our deep need,
help us again as you did in years gone by.
And in your anger,
remember your mercy.

³I see God moving across the deserts from Edom,^[j]
the Holy One coming from Mount Paran.^[k]
His brilliant splendor fills the heavens,
and the earth is filled with his praise.
⁴His coming is as brilliant as the sunrise.
Rays of light flash from his hands,
where his awesome power is hidden.
⁵Pestilence marches before him;
plague follows close behind.
⁶When he stops, the earth shakes.
When he looks, the nations tremble.
He shatters the everlasting mountains
and levels the eternal hills.
He is the Eternal One!^[l]
⁷I see the people of Cushan in distress,
and the nation of Midian trembling in terror.

⁸Was it in anger, Lord, that you struck the rivers
and parted the sea?
Were you displeased with them?
No, you were sending your chariots of salvation!
⁹You brandished your bow
and your quiver of arrows.
You split open the earth with flowing rivers.
¹⁰The mountains watched and trembled.
Onward swept the raging waters.
The mighty deep cried out,
lifting its hands in submission.
¹¹The sun and moon stood still in the sky
as your brilliant arrows flew
and your glittering spear flashed.

¹²You marched across the land in anger
and trampled the nations in your fury.
¹³You went out to rescue your chosen people,
to save your anointed ones.
You crushed the heads of the wicked
and stripped their bones from head to toe.
¹⁴With his own weapons,
you destroyed the chief of those
who rushed out like a whirlwind,
thinking Israel would be easy prey.
¹⁵You trampled the sea with your horses,
and the mighty waters piled high.

¹⁶I trembled inside when I heard this;
my lips quivered with fear.
My legs gave way beneath me,^[m]
and I shook in terror.
I will wait quietly for the coming day
when disaster will strike the people who invade us.
¹⁷Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
and the cattle barns are empty,
¹⁸yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
¹⁹The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,^[n]
able to tread upon the heights.

(For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)

Footnotes:

1:5 Greek version reads Look, you mockers; / look and be amazed and die. Compare Acts 13:41.
1:6 Or Chaldeans.
1:8 Or leopards.
2:1 As in Syriac version; Hebrew reads I.
2:3b-4 Greek version reads If the vision is delayed, wait patiently, / for it will surely come and not delay. / ⁴I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away. / But the righteous person will live by my faith. Compare Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:37-38.
2:5a As in Dead Sea Scroll 1QpHab; other Hebrew manuscripts read Wine.
2:5b Hebrew as Sheol.
2:16 Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek and Syriac versions read and stagger!
3:1 Hebrew adds according to shigionoth, probably indicating the musical setting for the prayer.
3:3a Hebrew Teman.
3:3b Hebrew adds selah; also in 3:9, 13. The meaning of this Hebrew term is uncertain; it is probably a musical or literary term.
3:6 Or The ancient paths belong to him.
3:16 Hebrew Decay entered my bones.
3:19 Or He gives me the speed of a deer.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Revelation 9

The Fifth Trumpet Brings the First Terror

9 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.^[a] ²When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke.

³Then locusts came from the smoke and descended on the earth, and they were given power to sting like scorpions. ⁴They were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting. ⁶In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!

⁷The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces. ⁸They had hair like women’s hair and teeth like the teeth of a lion. ⁹They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared like an army of chariots rushing into battle. ¹⁰They had tails that stung like scorpions, and for five months they had the power to torment people. ¹¹Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon—the Destroyer.

¹²The first terror is past, but look, two more terrors are coming!

The Sixth Trumpet Brings the Second Terror

¹³Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice speaking from the four horns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God. ¹⁴And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River.” ¹⁵Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth. ¹⁶I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million mounted troops.

¹⁷And in my vision, I saw the horses and the riders sitting on them. The riders wore armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. The horses had heads like lions, and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billowed from their mouths. ¹⁸One-third of all the people on earth were killed by these three plagues—by the fire and smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. ¹⁹Their power was in their mouths and in their tails. For their tails had heads like snakes, with the power to injure people.

²⁰But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! ²¹And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Footnotes:

9:1 Or the abyss, or the underworld; also in 9:11.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 137

¹Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept
as we thought of Jerusalem.^[a]
²We put away our harps,
hanging them on the branches of poplar trees.
³For our captors demanded a song from us.
Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn:
“Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!”
⁴But how can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a pagan land?

⁵If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget how to play the harp.
⁶May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I fail to remember you,
if I don’t make Jerusalem my greatest joy.

⁷O Lord, remember what the Edomites did
on the day the armies of Babylon captured Jerusalem.
“Destroy it!” they yelled.
“Level it to the ground!”
⁸O Babylon, you will be destroyed.
Happy is the one who pays you back
for what you have done to us.
⁹Happy is the one who takes your babies
and smashes them against the rocks!

Footnotes:

137:1 Hebrew Zion; also in 137:3.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 30:10

¹⁰Never slander a worker to the employer,
or the person will curse you, and you will pay for it.

New Living Translation (NLT)

December 17, 2018

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday December 17, 2018 (NIV)

Nahum 1-3

1 This message concerning Nineveh came as a vision to Nahum, who lived in Elkosh.

The Lord’s Anger against Nineveh

²The Lord is a jealous God,
filled with vengeance and rage.
He takes revenge on all who oppose him
and continues to rage against his enemies!
³The Lord is slow to get angry, but his power is great,
and he never lets the guilty go unpunished.
He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm.
The billowing clouds are the dust beneath his feet.
⁴At his command the oceans dry up,
and the rivers disappear.
The lush pastures of Bashan and Carmel fade,
and the green forests of Lebanon wither.
⁵In his presence the mountains quake,
and the hills melt away;
the earth trembles,
and its people are destroyed.
⁶Who can stand before his fierce anger?
Who can survive his burning fury?
His rage blazes forth like fire,
and the mountains crumble to dust in his presence.

⁷The Lord is good,
a strong refuge when trouble comes.
He is close to those who trust in him.
⁸But he will sweep away his enemies^[a]
in an overwhelming flood.
He will pursue his foes
into the darkness of night.

⁹Why are you scheming against the Lord?
He will destroy you with one blow;
he won’t need to strike twice!
¹⁰His enemies, tangled like thornbushes
and staggering like drunks,
will be burned up like dry stubble in a field.
¹¹Who is this wicked counselor of yours
who plots evil against the Lord?

¹²This is what the Lord says:
“Though the Assyrians have many allies,
they will be destroyed and disappear.
O my people, I have punished you before,
but I will not punish you again.
¹³Now I will break the yoke of bondage from your neck
and tear off the chains of Assyrian oppression.”

¹⁴And this is what the Lord says concerning the Assyrians in Nineveh:
“You will have no more children to carry on your name.
I will destroy all the idols in the temples of your gods.
I am preparing a grave for you
because you are despicable!”

¹⁵^[b]Look! A messenger is coming over the mountains with good news!
He is bringing a message of peace.
Celebrate your festivals, O people of Judah,
and fulfill all your vows,
for your wicked enemies will never invade your land again.
They will be completely destroyed!

The Fall of Nineveh

2 ^[c]Your enemy is coming to crush you, Nineveh.
Man the ramparts! Watch the roads!
Prepare your defenses! Call out your forces!

²Even though the destroyer has destroyed Judah,
the Lord will restore its honor.
Israel’s vine has been stripped of branches,
but he will restore its splendor.

³Shields flash red in the sunlight!
See the scarlet uniforms of the valiant troops!
Watch as their glittering chariots move into position,
with a forest of spears waving above them.^[d]
⁴The chariots race recklessly along the streets
and rush wildly through the squares.
They flash like firelight
and move as swiftly as lightning.
⁵The king shouts to his officers;
they stumble in their haste,
rushing to the walls to set up their defenses.
⁶The river gates have been torn open!
The palace is about to collapse!
⁷Nineveh’s exile has been decreed,
and all the servant girls mourn its capture.
They moan like doves
and beat their breasts in sorrow.
⁸Nineveh is like a leaking water reservoir!
The people are slipping away.
“Stop, stop!” someone shouts,
but no one even looks back.
⁹Loot the silver!
Plunder the gold!
There’s no end to Nineveh’s treasures—
its vast, uncounted wealth.
¹⁰Soon the city is plundered, empty, and ruined.
Hearts melt and knees shake.
The people stand aghast,
their faces pale and trembling.

¹¹Where now is that great Nineveh,
that den filled with young lions?
It was a place where people—like lions and their cubs—
walked freely and without fear.
¹²The lion tore up meat for his cubs
and strangled prey for his mate.
He filled his den with prey,
his caverns with his plunder.

¹³“I am your enemy!”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“Your chariots will soon go up in smoke.
Your young men^[e] will be killed in battle.
Never again will you plunder conquered nations.
The voices of your proud messengers will be heard no more.”

The Lord’s Judgment against Nineveh

3 What sorrow awaits Nineveh,
the city of murder and lies!
She is crammed with wealth
and is never without victims.
²Hear the crack of whips,
the rumble of wheels!
Horses’ hooves pound,
and chariots clatter wildly.
³See the flashing swords and glittering spears
as the charioteers charge past!
There are countless casualties,
heaps of bodies—
so many bodies that
people stumble over them.
⁴All this because Nineveh,
the beautiful and faithless city,
mistress of deadly charms,
enticed the nations with her beauty.
She taught them all her magic,
enchanting people everywhere.

⁵“I am your enemy!”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“And now I will lift your skirts
and show all the earth your nakedness and shame.
⁶I will cover you with filth
and show the world how vile you really are.
⁷All who see you will shrink back and say,
‘Nineveh lies in ruins.
Where are the mourners?’
Does anyone regret your destruction?”

⁸Are you any better than the city of Thebes,^[f]
situated on the Nile River, surrounded by water?
She was protected by the river on all sides,
walled in by water.
⁹Ethiopia^[g] and the land of Egypt
gave unlimited assistance.
The nations of Put and Libya
were among her allies.
¹⁰Yet Thebes fell,
and her people were led away as captives.
Her babies were dashed to death
against the stones of the streets.
Soldiers threw dice^[h] to get Egyptian officers as servants.
All their leaders were bound in chains.

¹¹And you, Nineveh, will also stagger like a drunkard.
You will hide for fear of the attacking enemy.
¹²All your fortresses will fall.
They will be devoured like the ripe figs
that fall into the mouths
of those who shake the trees.
¹³Your troops will be as weak
and helpless as women.
The gates of your land will be opened wide to the enemy
and set on fire and burned.
¹⁴Get ready for the siege!
Store up water!
Strengthen the defenses!
Go into the pits to trample clay,
and pack it into molds,
making bricks to repair the walls.

¹⁵But the fire will devour you;
the sword will cut you down.
The enemy will consume you like locusts,
devouring everything they see.
There will be no escape,
even if you multiply like swarming locusts.
¹⁶Your merchants have multiplied
until they outnumber the stars.
But like a swarm of locusts,
they strip the land and fly away.
¹⁷Your guards^[i] and officials are also like swarming locusts
that crowd together in the hedges on a cold day.
But like locusts that fly away when the sun comes up,
all of them will fly away and disappear.

¹⁸Your shepherds are asleep, O Assyrian king;
your princes lie dead in the dust.
Your people are scattered across the mountains
with no one to gather them together.
¹⁹There is no healing for your wound;
your injury is fatal.
All who hear of your destruction
will clap their hands for joy.
Where can anyone be found
who has not suffered from your continual cruelty?

Footnotes:

1:8 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads sweep away her place.
1:15 Verse 1:15 is numbered 2:1 in Hebrew text.
2:1 Verses 2:1-13 are numbered 2:2-14 in Hebrew text.
2:3 Greek and Syriac versions read into position, / the horses whipped into a frenzy.
2:13 Hebrew young lions.
3:8 Hebrew No-amon; also in 3:10.
3:9 Hebrew Cush.
3:10 Hebrew They cast lots.
3:17 Or princes.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Revelation 8

The Lamb Breaks the Seventh Seal

8 When the Lamb broke the seventh seal on the scroll,^[a] there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour. ²I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets.

³Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. ⁴The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. ⁵Then the angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake.

The First Four Trumpets

⁶Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts.

⁷The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. One-third of the earth was set on fire, one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was burned.

⁸Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the water in the sea became blood, ⁹one-third of all things living in the sea died, and one-third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed.

¹⁰Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch. It fell on one-third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹The name of the star was Bitterness.^[b] It made one-third of the water bitter, and many people died from drinking the bitter water.

¹²Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, and they became dark. And one-third of the day was dark, and also one-third of the night.

¹³Then I looked, and I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, “Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets.”

Footnotes:

8:1 Or book.
8:11 Greek Wormwood.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 136

¹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
²Give thanks to the God of gods.
His faithful love endures forever.
³Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His faithful love endures forever.

⁴Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.
His faithful love endures forever.
⁵Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.
His faithful love endures forever.
⁶Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters.
His faithful love endures forever.
⁷Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights—
His faithful love endures forever.
⁸the sun to rule the day,
His faithful love endures forever.
⁹and the moon and stars to rule the night.
His faithful love endures forever.

¹⁰Give thanks to him who killed the firstborn of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.
¹¹He brought Israel out of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.
¹²He acted with a strong hand and powerful arm.
His faithful love endures forever.
¹³Give thanks to him who parted the Red Sea.^[a]
His faithful love endures forever.
¹⁴He led Israel safely through,
His faithful love endures forever.
¹⁵but he hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.
His faithful love endures forever.
¹⁶Give thanks to him who led his people through the wilderness.
His faithful love endures forever.

¹⁷Give thanks to him who struck down mighty kings.
His faithful love endures forever.
¹⁸He killed powerful kings—
His faithful love endures forever.
¹⁹Sihon king of the Amorites,
His faithful love endures forever.
²⁰and Og king of Bashan.
His faithful love endures forever.
²¹God gave the land of these kings as an inheritance—
His faithful love endures forever.
²²a special possession to his servant Israel.
His faithful love endures forever.

²³He remembered us in our weakness.
His faithful love endures forever.
²⁴He saved us from our enemies.
His faithful love endures forever.
²⁵He gives food to every living thing.
His faithful love endures forever.
²⁶Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His faithful love endures forever.

Footnotes:

136:13 Hebrew sea of reeds; also in 136:15.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 30:7-9

⁷O God, I beg two favors from you;
let me have them before I die.
⁸First, help me never to tell a lie.
Second, give me neither poverty nor riches!
Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
⁹For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?”
And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

New Living Translation (NLT)

December 16, 2018

12/16/2018 DAB Transcript

Micah 5:1-7:20, Rev 7:1-17, Ps 135:1-21, Pr 30:5-6

Today is the 16^th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is a pleasure to be here with you as we walk through the threshold of a brand-new, shiny week. This also happens to be the third Sunday in the season of Advent as we continue to move our way toward Christmas. And what a season it has been. And this week, if you were lighting your Advent candles, maybe that’s what’s happening in church, or that’s tradition you have in your own home, or maybe you have an Advent calendar or maybe you don’t even know what Advent is, but Advent is just a Christian tradition for Sunday’s leading up to Christmas, are meant to draw us into contemplation, and consideration. And this week we consider love, that love is shining in dark places and love shines into the darkness of our own soul and we found light and a Savior.

Song

Silent Night Holy Night

Silent night, holy night!

All is calm, all is bright

Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child

Holy Infant so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!

Shepherds quake at the sight

Glories stream from heaven afar

Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia!

Christ the Savior is born

Silent night, holy night!

Son of God, love’s pure light

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

With the dawn of redeeming grace

Jesus Lord, at Thy birth

So, yesterday we began the book of Micah in our Old Testament reading. We talked about that. Today, we will conclude the book of Micah before moving further into the book of Revelation in our New Testament reading. So, we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Micah chapter 5 verse 1 through 7 verse 20 today.

Prayer:

Father, once again, we thank you for your word and as we enter this week we look forward to everything that you will speak to us through your word and as we bring our hearts to a place of contemplation during this Advent season, realizing that next week his Christmas. And yes, we’re longing for all of those festivities but in terms of this season of longing and of contemplation and waiting for a Savior, the wait is almost over. And, so, our hearts turn and begin to rejoice. Come Holy Spirit as we rejoice in your arrival. We pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, its where you find out what’s going on around here.

And man, I mean one more week and we will be…we will be in the thick of Christmas. One week from today will be the last Sunday of Advent and then one week from tomorrow is Christmas Eve. So, like, it’s here. We’ve been talking about the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box for a couple of weeks. The shipping cutoff for Christmas arrival is tomorrow. Make sure you get your order in my tomorrow. Even if it’s after that we’ll certainly still send the Christmas Boxes while we have them, but we think tomorrow’s the cutoff date for Christmas arrival because whew on week from Christmas Eve. So, make sure you check that out. Check out all the resources that are available in the Daily Audio Bible shop. There’s some fantastic gift ideas there that are not like cheesy or like, you know, highly Daily Audio Bible branded stuff. Like, really high quality things that over the years we’ve learned to use and do use on a daily basis like our journaling stuff. That’s stuff that we’re using around here every day or like our Windfarm coffee and tea. We drink it every day and so do most people. And we just determined, wow, if we could roast fresh the best coffee that we can source and it’s something that people are going to partake of every day and we can offer a quality product that’s as good as any product and use any margins that we have to sow into bringing the spoken word of God to anybody who will listen to it on this planet, then we should do that. And that’s what we’ve been doing all these years. And, so, there are resources that are high quality products that are very good to have or to give that just help us make another day possible and throw another log on the global campfire that is our community. So, be sure to check that all out at dailyaudiobible.com in the Christmas section and in the Lifestyle section of the shop.

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If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the final days of the year 2018 then thank you, thank you. Your partnership is what keeps the fire burning and the words…the words fail…other than to be humble and to be grateful and to be amazed and in awe at the community that God has raised up out of the dust of the Internet to be a real thing, where real connection is made all over the world. If that has been life-giving to you, then thank you for being life-giving. There’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

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

December 16, 2018

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday December 16, 2018 (NIV)

Micah 5-7

5 ^[a]Mobilize! Marshal your troops!
The enemy is laying siege to Jerusalem.
They will strike Israel’s leader
in the face with a rod.

A Ruler from Bethlehem

²^[b]But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel,
whose origins are in the distant past,
will come from you on my behalf.
³The people of Israel will be abandoned to their enemies
until the woman in labor gives birth.
Then at last his fellow countrymen
will return from exile to their own land.
⁴And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord’s strength,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
Then his people will live there undisturbed,
for he will be highly honored around the world.
⁵And he will be the source of peace.

When the Assyrians invade our land
and break through our defenses,
we will appoint seven rulers to watch over us,
eight princes to lead us.
⁶They will rule Assyria with drawn swords
and enter the gates of the land of Nimrod.
He will rescue us from the Assyrians
when they pour over the borders to invade our land.

The Remnant Purified

⁷Then the remnant left in Israel^[c]
will take their place among the nations.
They will be like dew sent by the Lord
or like rain falling on the grass,
which no one can hold back
and no one can restrain.
⁸The remnant left in Israel
will take their place among the nations.
They will be like a lion among the animals of the forest,
like a strong young lion among flocks of sheep and goats,
pouncing and tearing as they go
with no rescuer in sight.
⁹The people of Israel will stand up to their foes,
and all their enemies will be wiped out.

¹⁰“In that day,” says the Lord,
“I will slaughter your horses
and destroy your chariots.
¹¹I will tear down your walls
and demolish your defenses.
¹²I will put an end to all witchcraft,
and there will be no more fortune-tellers.
¹³I will destroy all your idols and sacred pillars,
so you will never again worship the work of your own hands.
¹⁴I will abolish your idol shrines with their Asherah poles
and destroy your pagan cities.
¹⁵I will pour out my vengeance
on all the nations that refuse to obey me.”

The Lord’s Case against Israel

6 Listen to what the Lord is saying:

“Stand up and state your case against me.
Let the mountains and hills be called to witness your complaints.
²And now, O mountains,
listen to the Lord’s complaint!
He has a case against his people.
He will bring charges against Israel.

³“O my people, what have I done to you?
What have I done to make you tired of me?
Answer me!
⁴For I brought you out of Egypt
and redeemed you from slavery.
I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to help you.
⁵Don’t you remember, my people,
how King Balak of Moab tried to have you cursed
and how Balaam son of Beor blessed you instead?
And remember your journey from Acacia Grove^[d] to Gilgal,
when I, the Lord, did everything I could
to teach you about my faithfulness.”

⁶What can we bring to the Lord?
Should we bring him burnt offerings?
Should we bow before God Most High
with offerings of yearling calves?
⁷Should we offer him thousands of rams
and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Should we sacrifice our firstborn children
to pay for our sins?

⁸No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.

Israel’s Guilt and Punishment

⁹Fear the Lord if you are wise!
His voice calls to everyone in Jerusalem:
“The armies of destruction are coming;
the Lord is sending them.^[e]
¹⁰What shall I say about the homes of the wicked
filled with treasures gained by cheating?
What about the disgusting practice
of measuring out grain with dishonest measures?^[f]
¹¹How can I tolerate your merchants
who use dishonest scales and weights?
¹²The rich among you have become wealthy
through extortion and violence.
Your citizens are so used to lying
that their tongues can no longer tell the truth.

¹³“Therefore, I will wound you!
I will bring you to ruin for all your sins.
¹⁴You will eat but never have enough.
Your hunger pangs and emptiness will remain.
And though you try to save your money,
it will come to nothing in the end.
You will save a little,
but I will give it to those who conquer you.
¹⁵You will plant crops
but not harvest them.
You will press your olives
but not get enough oil to anoint yourselves.
You will trample the grapes
but get no juice to make your wine.
¹⁶You keep only the laws of evil King Omri;
you follow only the example of wicked King Ahab!
Therefore, I will make an example of you,
bringing you to complete ruin.
You will be treated with contempt,
mocked by all who see you.”

Misery Turned to Hope

7 How miserable I am!
I feel like the fruit picker after the harvest
who can find nothing to eat.
Not a cluster of grapes or a single early fig
can be found to satisfy my hunger.
²The godly people have all disappeared;
not one honest person is left on the earth.
They are all murderers,
setting traps even for their own brothers.
³Both their hands are equally skilled at doing evil!
Officials and judges alike demand bribes.
The people with influence get what they want,
and together they scheme to twist justice.
⁴Even the best of them is like a brier;
the most honest is as dangerous as a hedge of thorns.
But your judgment day is coming swiftly now.
Your time of punishment is here, a time of confusion.
⁵Don’t trust anyone—
not your best friend or even your wife!
⁶For the son despises his father.
The daughter defies her mother.
The daughter-in-law defies her mother-in-law.
Your enemies are right in your own household!

⁷As for me, I look to the Lord for help.
I wait confidently for God to save me,
and my God will certainly hear me.
⁸Do not gloat over me, my enemies!
For though I fall, I will rise again.
Though I sit in darkness,
the Lord will be my light.
⁹I will be patient as the Lord punishes me,
for I have sinned against him.
But after that, he will take up my case
and give me justice for all I have suffered from my enemies.
The Lord will bring me into the light,
and I will see his righteousness.
¹⁰Then my enemies will see that the Lord is on my side.
They will be ashamed that they taunted me, saying,
“So where is the Lord—
that God of yours?”
With my own eyes I will see their downfall;
they will be trampled like mud in the streets.

¹¹In that day, Israel, your cities will be rebuilt,
and your borders will be extended.
¹²People from many lands will come and honor you—
from Assyria all the way to the towns of Egypt,
from Egypt all the way to the Euphrates River,^[g]
and from distant seas and mountains.
¹³But the land^[h] will become empty and desolate
because of the wickedness of those who live there.

The Lord’s Compassion on Israel

¹⁴O Lord, protect your people with your shepherd’s staff;
lead your flock, your special possession.
Though they live alone in a thicket
on the heights of Mount Carmel,^[i]
let them graze in the fertile pastures of Bashan and Gilead
as they did long ago.

¹⁵“Yes,” says the Lord,
“I will do mighty miracles for you,
like those I did when I rescued you
from slavery in Egypt.”

¹⁶All the nations of the world will stand amazed
at what the Lord will do for you.
They will be embarrassed
at their feeble power.
They will cover their mouths in silent awe,
deaf to everything around them.
¹⁷Like snakes crawling from their holes,
they will come out to meet the Lord our God.
They will fear him greatly,
trembling in terror at his presence.

¹⁸Where is another God like you,
who pardons the guilt of the remnant,
overlooking the sins of his special people?
You will not stay angry with your people forever,
because you delight in showing unfailing love.
¹⁹Once again you will have compassion on us.
You will trample our sins under your feet
and throw them into the depths of the ocean!
²⁰You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love
as you promised to our ancestors Abraham and Jacob long ago.

Footnotes:

5:1 Verse 5:1 is numbered 4:14 in Hebrew text.
5:2 Verses 5:2-15 are numbered 5:1-14 in Hebrew text.
5:7 Hebrew in Jacob; also in 5:8. See note on 1:5a.
6:5 Hebrew Shittim.
6:9 Hebrew “Listen to the rod. / Who appointed it?”
6:10 Hebrew of using the short ephah? The ephah was a unit for measuring grain.
7:12 Hebrew the river.
7:13 Or earth.
7:14 Or surrounded by a fruitful land.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Revelation 7

God’s People Will Be Preserved

7 Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the earth or the sea, or even on any tree. ²And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted to those four angels, who had been given power to harm land and sea, ³“Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.”

⁴And I heard how many were marked with the seal of God—144,000 were sealed from all the tribes of Israel:

⁵from Judah	12,000
from Reuben	12,000
from Gad	12,000
⁶from Asher	12,000
from Naphtali	12,000
from Manasseh	12,000
⁷from Simeon	12,000
from Levi	12,000
from Issachar	12,000
⁸from Zebulun	12,000
from Joseph	12,000
from Benjamin	12,000

Praise from the Great Crowd

⁹After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰And they were shouting with a great roar,

“Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne
and from the Lamb!”

¹¹And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God. ¹²They sang,

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and strength belong to our God
forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, “Who are these who are clothed in white? Where did they come from?”

¹⁴And I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.”

Then he said to me, “These are the ones who died in^[a] the great tribulation.^[b] They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white.

¹⁵“That is why they stand in front of God’s throne
and serve him day and night in his Temple.
And he who sits on the throne
will give them shelter.
¹⁶They will never again be hungry or thirsty;
they will never be scorched by the heat of the sun.
¹⁷For the Lamb on the throne^[c]
will be their Shepherd.
He will lead them to springs of life-giving water.
And God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

Footnotes:

7:14a Greek who came out of.
7:14b Or the great suffering.
7:17 Greek on the center of the throne.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 135

¹Praise the Lord!

Praise the name of the Lord!
Praise him, you who serve the Lord,
²you who serve in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.

³Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
celebrate his lovely name with music.
⁴For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel for his own special treasure.

⁵I know the greatness of the Lord—
that our Lord is greater than any other god.
⁶The Lord does whatever pleases him
throughout all heaven and earth,
and on the seas and in their depths.
⁷He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain
and releases the wind from his storehouses.

⁸He destroyed the firstborn in each Egyptian home,
both people and animals.
⁹He performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt
against Pharaoh and all his people.
¹⁰He struck down great nations
and slaughtered mighty kings—
¹¹Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
and all the kings of Canaan.
¹²He gave their land as an inheritance,
a special possession to his people Israel.

¹³Your name, O Lord, endures forever;
your fame, O Lord, is known to every generation.
¹⁴For the Lord will give justice to his people
and have compassion on his servants.

¹⁵The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold,
shaped by human hands.
¹⁶They have mouths but cannot speak,
and eyes but cannot see.
¹⁷They have ears but cannot hear,
and mouths but cannot breathe.
¹⁸And those who make idols are just like them,
as are all who trust in them.

¹⁹O Israel, praise the Lord!
O priests—descendants of Aaron—praise the Lord!
²⁰O Levites, praise the Lord!
All you who fear the Lord, praise the Lord!
²¹The Lord be praised from Zion,
for he lives here in Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord!

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 30:5-6

⁵Every word of God proves true.
He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.
⁶Do not add to his words,
or he may rebuke you and expose you as a liar.

New Living Translation (NLT)

December 15, 2018

12/15/2018 DAB Transcript

Micah 1:1-4:13, Revelation 6:1-17, Psalms 134:1-3, Proverbs 30:1-4

Today is the 15^th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it’s a pleasure, of course, and an honor. And here we are, closing the books on another week. And I think the same thing every time we get to the end of another week, like wow, we’re moving right through. It seems like it was just the heat of the summer and now here we are moving deeply into the Christmas season and into winter. Of course, those of you in the southern hemisphere are probably enjoying a nice summer day, which is…always…I think of that most at Christmas when it’s cold where I am and it’s warm where you are. Nevertheless, I will cease digressing and get to the matters at hand, which is the next step forward in the Scriptures as we move toward the end of the year. And today we will begin the book of Micah.

Introduction to Micha:

Micha is the sixth of the 12 minor prophets. And we won’t be reading Micah in one sitting. It’ll take us a whole two days to get through, but let’s consider what we’re about to read. Micah, as a person, we know almost nothing about outside of what’s in the book, but we do have a little information. Micha’s name means “who is like God” and he was from the town of Moresheth, which many scholars associate with Moresheth Gaff, which would place him in the low lands among the villages of southern Judah. And just for reference, this would be in the general vicinity of where David fought Goliath. It was kind of the bordering area between Philistia and Israel. And the book starts by telling us that the Lord gave the message to Micah of Moresheth during the years when Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah and the vision that the Lord had given him about Samaria and Jerusalem, so, both the northern and southern kingdoms, because Samaria was the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel and Jerusalem was the capital city of the southern kingdom of Judah. So, we understand who he was speaking about. And from the references to the specific kings we can likely date Micah’s prophetic ministry to the early decades of the eighth century B.C. Also, Micah is very briefly mentioned in the book of Jeremiah, which lets us see that his prophecies were being referenced over a century after the fact. Right? So, if Jeremiah comes 100 years later and they are still referring to the prophecies of Micah then we can see that they had taken hold, they were being revered. So, Micah follows the same pattern in this book 3 different times. First are utterances of doom and judgment and then they are followed by words of hope and restoration. And this is not unlike other prophetic works in the Bible but this is observable in Micah because it’s shorter and more compact and it appears that it was very intentional. So, within the prophecies of Micah are promises of a coming messianic deliverer. Micah 5:2, is quoted in Matthew 2:5 and 6 making reference to Jesus, “but you oh Bethlehem, Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah, yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past will come from you on my behalf.” In fact, Jesus himself quotes from Micah while explaining the disruption that His coming and that His message were bringing to the world system. So, this is Jesus speaking, being quoted from the gospel of Matthew, but Jesus is quoting Micah chapter 7 – “don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth. I came not to bring peace but a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, your enemies will be right in your own household.” So, this is Jesus speaking about His own ministry, but in the process quoting the prophet Micah. One thing is certain about the book of Micah, God is absolutely, completely, utterly displeased with corruption, idolatry, rebellion and those who misuse their power to exploit the less fortunate. But He’s even more passionate about hope and restoration for those who keep His covenant. And, so, we begin. Micah chapter 1 verse 1 through 4 verse 13 today. And we’ve been reading from the new International version this week, which is what will do today as we close out our week.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for another week. And it becomes redundant because we recognize that we’re at the end of every week because it exposes the rhythm, the daily and weekly rhythm of the community that we have here but we acknowledge there are precious few weeks left in this year and it’s a reflective time. It’s a very, very busy time for us, but when we slow down and immerse ourselves in this Advent season and reflect back over the year, Your faithfulness abounds. And its been a challenging year like they all are but we see Your faithfulness, we see the way that You’ve strengthened us, the way that You’ve built the fruit of the Spirit within us, that we are being changed. We have plenty a ways to go but we have been changed. And, so we are thankful. Come Holy Spirit as we release this week into our history and prepare to march forward into the remaining weeks of the year. We worship You Father, we love You and we pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, and its where you find out what’s going on around here.

And this is kind of last call for your Christmas calls to come in for the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas that we do each year. So, if you haven’t taken the opportunity to call in your holiday greetings and just wish the community that you’ve journeyed with all the way to this point all the way through this year, Merry Christmas, then make sure that you do. You can use any of the prayer line numbers, depending on where you are in the world to do that. The only rule is that you don’t combine a prayer request and a holiday greeting in the same call. Make them separate. Like, this is the one time of the year when can hang up and dial back. But if you have a prayer request certainly, don’t leave that unspoken. This is one of the distinctive shining bright lights of the Daily Audio Bible community, is that we are a very compassionate and prayerful group of people and we’re willing to shoulder one another’s burdens and be in each other’s stories even though we’re far flung all over the world. It makes us feel connected because we are connected in community. And, so, it’s, for me…for me it’s one of the richest things that we do each year. So, if you haven’t had a chance to call in your holiday greeting yet, be sure that you do that. In the Americas, you can dial 877-942-4253. If you’re in the UK or Europe you can dial 44-20-3608-8078. And if you are in Australia you can dial 61-3-8820-5459. So, be sure that you’re not left out and make sure that you get in today.

And speaking of kind of deadlines. We’ve been talking about the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box for a couple weeks now, but this coming Monday, so that will be the 17^th, that will be our cut off for the United States. After that, like we will still absolutely be shipping all the way through. And, yeah, probably, probably even if you order after that it’ll arrive, but that’s the day that we think is safe. And, so, be sure to get your Christmas Box orders in or anything that you’re ordering in by then and we’ll get it out to you.

Also want take the time to mention the More Gathering for women, which is also something we’ve been mentioning here for a couple of weeks because it makes for a life changing Christmas gift. So, check that out. We’re really, really excited, super excited and super encouraged by the energy that’s around the More Gathering for this year. So, it’s gonna be special. We’re gonna end the season together and we’re gonna end it strong and end it well. And looking forward to you being a part of that. So, you can get all the information about the more gathering at moregathering.com or just look at the Initiatives section at dailyaudiobible.com.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. I thank you, I thank you, I thank you for your partnership. We wouldn’t be what we are, we wouldn’t even be a community, we would never hear each other’s voices, we would never have the word of God spoken over…like if we didn’t do this together none of this would be happening. And, so, I thank you that it is happening and I’m grateful to the Lord that we’ve done it together in community. So, thank you for your partnership. There is a link. It’s on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment or holiday greeting today, you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that is it for today. I’m Brian. Wow. That’s not only it for today, that’s it for this week and we’re running out of those in this year. So, let’s continue to take steps forward as we continue to journey toward the conclusion of the Scriptures this year. I’m Brian I love you and I will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello Daily Audio Bible family, this is Jay from New Jersey. Oh man, wow, I haven’t been in New Jersey for a while. This is Jay from Tennessee, Nashville specifically. I’m calling to pray for Dr. John’s mother. Dr. John, I’ve listened to you over the years and just amazed at your story and the things that you’ve gone through and how you’ve dealt with them with your faith. So, I want to join the family today in praying for you. Jesus, we come before You, recognizing that You are holy, Your God, You are the magnificent, the one who we come to with all of our aches and pains and needs. Father, we come to You now confessing any of our sins that we’ve committed knowingly or unknowingly, releasing them and trying to commit to a life free from those binding desires. Lord, we pray for Dr. John, his father, his mother, his daughter, his family. We pray that her passing will be peaceful, that it will be peaceful for the family, it will be peaceful for her, that You will welcome her with open arms into Your Kingdom Lord. Father, we thank You for the time that she’s been able to spend with the family. Now Lord we just pray that Your will would be done in this next phase of her spiritual journey. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray.

Hi this is Terry from southern Virginia, I’m calling on behalf of prayers for Melody Faith of Canada who called in about her son and his girlfriend and they are expected baby and the fact of her son and his girlfriend are suffering from addiction. So, Melody, I heard your prayer today, today’s December the 10^th. I just want to lift you up and join you in prayer and lift up your son and his unborn child and girlfriend. So, dear God in the name of our Lord, our savior Jesus Christ, I just bring before Your throne today, Melody Faith Father God and that her request on behalf of her son and his girlfriend and unborn child. She’s asking for clarity for them that they will draw close to You and that we will see, You know, what the addiction has done in their lives and that You will give them the strength dear God to just not live a life of addiction but live a life through You because greater is he that lives in the than he that is in this world. So, Father God let them see You moving in the midst of their lives Father. And I pray for Melody and her husband Lord God, that You would give them wisdom Lord Jesus and how to deal with this situation, and that You would will make provisions for them as well to meet the needs ahead. And Father, I pray that they will stay the course and keep their hands clasped in Yours trusting You, allowing You to guide then and that none of us will lead to our understanding but acknowledge You in all of our ways and You will direct our paths. Melody Faith, just know that the DAB family is praying for you. We’ve heard your prayer request, but more importantly, God has heard. So, God bless you, God keep you, and have a blessed day everyone. And family, thank you for praying for my son, always, Joshua. He’s still struggling but I know that God’s got him. And I thank you for your continual prayers. Bye everybody.

Hi this is Gloria in New York City. I’ve been meaning to call for a couple of weeks, specifically for Sharon, Sharon in California. I don’t know if I can even express to you how much my heart hurts with you, with your heart. And I just want you to know that I’m another person who’s out here praying for you and hurting with you on the loss of your daughter. I…I feel like all I can pray is for you for your comfort somehow, that God would show you through, through us. I know we’re far away, but our spirits and our hearts are connected with you. I don’t even know what else…I can’t even imagine the pain that you’re in. I’m just…I just want you to know that…that we’re gonna just keep praying for you and keep praying for you and your family and praying also that other people will come alongside just to give you…I think the physical hugs that you need while we send you…while we’re sending you just emotional, spiritual hugs from our heart. Oh, Sharon I’m just so, so brokenhearted with you for your pain. I’m so, so sorry and I will continue to pray for you.

Good Morning Daily Audio Bible community. This is Diane Olive Brown from Newburgh Indiana, it is 2:10 in the on December the 12^th, 2018 and I’m calling for a prayer request for my prayer partner and best friend __. She’s in the hospital. She had a heart attack and we have always said that we wanted to go to heaven with each other. You know, the Scripture says that when the final trumpet is sounded the __ in Christ will rise first and then we who are alive __ . We have been prayer partners. She’s been a spiritual mother to me. She’s 96. And we’ve always said that…that we will go to heaven together but she’s in the hospital right now and she had a heart attack and I can’t stop crying. And I don’t know if maybe her work is done on this earth. And I just want to be with her when she makes her ascension into heaven if that’s God’s will for her. And I’m going to see her this morning, Wednesday, December 12^th at 10 in the morning. And I just…I just would love to be with her when she does…if she does go to heaven. And…and just let God give her an abundance of __. Pray for me. I can’t stop crying. She’s just been my best friend and prayer partner and such a….

December 15, 2018

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday December 15, 2018 (NIV)

Micah 1-4

1 The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth^(A) during the reigns of Jotham,^(B) Ahaz^(C) and Hezekiah,^(D) kings of Judah^(E)—the vision^(F) he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

²Hear,^(G) you peoples, all of you,^(H)
listen, earth^(I) and all who live in it,
that the Sovereign Lord may bear witness^(J) against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.^(K)

Judgment Against Samaria and Jerusalem

³Look! The Lord is coming from his dwelling^(L) place;
he comes down^(M) and treads on the heights of the earth.^(N)
⁴The mountains melt^(O) beneath him^(P)
and the valleys split apart,^(Q)
like wax before the fire,
like water rushing down a slope.
⁵All this is because of Jacob’s transgression,
because of the sins of the people of Israel.
What is Jacob’s transgression?
Is it not Samaria?^(R)
What is Judah’s high place?
Is it not Jerusalem?

⁶“Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of rubble,
a place for planting vineyards.^(S)
I will pour her stones^(T) into the valley
and lay bare her foundations.^(U)
⁷All her idols^(V) will be broken to pieces;^(W)
all her temple gifts will be burned with fire;
I will destroy all her images.^(X)
Since she gathered her gifts from the wages of prostitutes,^(Y)
as the wages of prostitutes they will again be used.”

Weeping and Mourning

⁸Because of this I will weep^(Z) and wail;
I will go about barefoot^(AA) and naked.
I will howl like a jackal
and moan like an owl.
⁹For Samaria’s plague^(AB) is incurable;^(AC)
it has spread to Judah.^(AD)
It has reached the very gate^(AE) of my people,
even to Jerusalem itself.
¹⁰Tell it not in Gath^[a];
weep not at all.
In Beth Ophrah^[b]
roll in the dust.
¹¹Pass by naked^(AF) and in shame,
you who live in Shaphir.^[c]
Those who live in Zaanan^[d]
will not come out.
Beth Ezel is in mourning;
it no longer protects you.
¹²Those who live in Maroth^[e] writhe in pain,
waiting for relief,^(AG)
because disaster^(AH) has come from the Lord,
even to the gate of Jerusalem.
¹³You who live in Lachish,^(AI)
harness fast horses to the chariot.
You are where the sin of Daughter Zion^(AJ) began,
for the transgressions of Israel were found in you.
¹⁴Therefore you will give parting gifts^(AK)
to Moresheth^(AL) Gath.
The town of Akzib^[f]^(AM) will prove deceptive^(AN)
to the kings of Israel.
¹⁵I will bring a conqueror against you
who live in Mareshah.^[g]^(AO)
The nobles of Israel
will flee to Adullam.^(AP)
¹⁶Shave^(AQ) your head in mourning
for the children in whom you delight;
make yourself as bald as the vulture,
for they will go from you into exile.^(AR)

Human Plans and God’s Plans

2 Woe to those who plan iniquity,
to those who plot evil^(AS) on their beds!^(AT)
At morning’s light they carry it out
because it is in their power to do it.
²They covet fields^(AU) and seize them,^(AV)
and houses, and take them.
They defraud^(AW) people of their homes,
they rob them of their inheritance.^(AX)

³Therefore, the Lord says:

“I am planning disaster^(AY) against this people,
from which you cannot save yourselves.
You will no longer walk proudly,^(AZ)
for it will be a time of calamity.
⁴In that day people will ridicule you;
they will taunt you with this mournful song:
‘We are utterly ruined;^(BA)
my people’s possession is divided up.^(BB)
He takes it from me!
He assigns our fields to traitors.’”

⁵Therefore you will have no one in the assembly of the Lord
to divide the land^(BC) by lot.^(BD)

False Prophets

⁶“Do not prophesy,” their prophets say.
“Do not prophesy about these things;
disgrace^(BE) will not overtake us.^(BF)”
⁷You descendants of Jacob, should it be said,
“Does the Lord become^[h] impatient?
Does he do such things?”

“Do not my words do good^(BG)
to the one whose ways are upright?^(BH)
⁸Lately my people have risen up
like an enemy.
You strip off the rich robe
from those who pass by without a care,
like men returning from battle.
⁹You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.^(BI)
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
¹⁰Get up, go away!
For this is not your resting place,^(BJ)
because it is defiled,^(BK)
it is ruined, beyond all remedy.
¹¹If a liar and deceiver^(BL) comes and says,
‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’^(BM)
that would be just the prophet for this people!^(BN)

Deliverance Promised

¹²“I will surely gather all of you, Jacob;
I will surely bring together the remnant^(BO) of Israel.
I will bring them together like sheep in a pen,
like a flock in its pasture;
the place will throng with people.^(BP)
¹³The One who breaks open the way will go up before^(BQ) them;
they will break through the gate^(BR) and go out.
Their King will pass through before them,
the Lord at their head.”

Leaders and Prophets Rebuked

3 Then I said,

“Listen, you leaders^(BS) of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel.
Should you not embrace justice,
²you who hate good and love evil;
who tear the skin from my people
and the flesh from their bones;^(BT)
³who eat my people’s flesh,^(BU)
strip off their skin
and break their bones in pieces;^(BV)
who chop^(BW) them up like meat for the pan,
like flesh for the pot?^(BX)”

⁴Then they will cry out to the Lord,
but he will not answer them.^(BY)
At that time he will hide his face^(BZ) from them
because of the evil they have done.^(CA)

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“As for the prophets
who lead my people astray,^(CB)
they proclaim ‘peace’^(CC)
if they have something to eat,
but prepare to wage war against anyone
who refuses to feed them.
⁶Therefore night will come over you, without visions,
and darkness, without divination.^(CD)
The sun will set for the prophets,^(CE)
and the day will go dark for them.^(CF)
⁷The seers will be ashamed^(CG)
and the diviners disgraced.^(CH)
They will all cover^(CI) their faces^(CJ)
because there is no answer from God.^(CK)”
⁸But as for me, I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression,
to Israel his sin.^(CL)

⁹Hear this, you leaders of Jacob,
you rulers of Israel,
who despise justice
and distort all that is right;^(CM)
¹⁰who build^(CN) Zion with bloodshed,^(CO)
and Jerusalem with wickedness.^(CP)
¹¹Her leaders judge for a bribe,^(CQ)
her priests teach for a price,^(CR)
and her prophets tell fortunes for money.^(CS)
Yet they look^(CT) for the Lord’s support and say,
“Is not the Lord among us?
No disaster will come upon us.”^(CU)
¹²Therefore because of you,
Zion will be plowed like a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble,^(CV)
the temple^(CW) hill a mound overgrown with thickets.^(CX)

The Mountain of the Lord^(CY)

4 In the last days

the mountain^(CZ) of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,^(DA)
and peoples will stream to it.^(DB)

²Many nations will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,^(DC)
to the temple of the God of Jacob.^(DD)
He will teach us^(DE) his ways,^(DF)
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law^(DG) will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
³He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.^(DH)
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.^(DI)
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war^(DJ) anymore.^(DK)
⁴Everyone will sit under their own vine
and under their own fig tree,^(DL)
and no one will make them afraid,^(DM)
for the Lord Almighty has spoken.^(DN)
⁵All the nations may walk
in the name of their gods,^(DO)
but we will walk in the name of the Lord
our God for ever and ever.^(DP)

The Lord’s Plan

⁶“In that day,” declares the Lord,

“I will gather the lame;^(DQ)
I will assemble the exiles^(DR)
and those I have brought to grief.^(DS)
⁷I will make the lame my remnant,^(DT)
those driven away a strong nation.^(DU)
The Lord will rule over them in Mount Zion^(DV)
from that day and forever.^(DW)
⁸As for you, watchtower of the flock,
stronghold^[i] of Daughter Zion,
the former dominion will be restored^(DX) to you;
kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.^(DY)”

⁹Why do you now cry aloud—
have you no king^[j]^(DZ)?
Has your ruler^[k] perished,
that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?^(EA)
¹⁰Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for now you must leave the city
to camp in the open field.
You will go to Babylon;^(EB)
there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeem^(EC) you
out of the hand of your enemies.

¹¹But now many nations
are gathered against you.
They say, “Let her be defiled,
let our eyes gloat^(ED) over Zion!”
¹²But they do not know
the thoughts of the Lord;
they do not understand his plan,^(EE)
that he has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
¹³“Rise and thresh,^(EF) Daughter Zion,
for I will give you horns of iron;
I will give you hooves of bronze,
and you will break to pieces many nations.”^(EG)
You will devote their ill-gotten gains to the Lord,^(EH)
their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

Footnotes:

Micah 1:10 Gath sounds like the Hebrew for tell.
Micah 1:10 Beth Ophrah means house of dust.
Micah 1:11 Shaphir means pleasant.
Micah 1:11 Zaanan sounds like the Hebrew for come out.
Micah 1:12 Maroth sounds like the Hebrew for bitter.
Micah 1:14 Akzib means deception.
Micah 1:15 Mareshah sounds like the Hebrew for conqueror.
Micah 2:7 Or Is the Spirit of the Lord
Micah 4:8 Or hill
Micah 4:9 Or King
Micah 4:9 Or Ruler

Cross references:

Micah 1:1 : ver 14; Jer 26:18
Micah 1:1 : S 1Ch 3:12
Micah 1:1 : S 1Ch 3:13
Micah 1:1 : S 1Ch 3:13
Micah 1:1 : Hos 1:1
Micah 1:1 : Isa 1:1
Micah 1:2 : S Dt 32:1
Micah 1:2 : Ps 50:7
Micah 1:2 : S Jer 6:19
Micah 1:2 : S Ge 31:50; S Dt 4:26; S Isa 1:2
Micah 1:2 : S Ps 11:4
Micah 1:3 : S Isa 18:4
Micah 1:3 : S Isa 64:1
Micah 1:3 : S Am 4:13
Micah 1:4 : S Ps 46:2, 6
Micah 1:4 : S Job 9:5
Micah 1:4 : S Nu 16:31; Na 1:5
Micah 1:5 : Am 8:14
Micah 1:6 : S Dt 20:6
Micah 1:6 : S Am 5:11
Micah 1:6 : Eze 13:14
Micah 1:7 : S Eze 6:6
Micah 1:7 : S Ex 32:20
Micah 1:7 : S Dt 9:21
Micah 1:7 : Dt 23:17-18
Micah 1:8 : S Isa 15:3
Micah 1:8 : S Isa 20:2
Micah 1:9 : Jer 46:11
Micah 1:9 : S Jer 10:19
Micah 1:9 : S 2Ki 18:13
Micah 1:9 : Isa 3:26
Micah 1:11 : Eze 23:29
Micah 1:12 : Jer 14:19
Micah 1:12 : Jer 40:2
Micah 1:13 : S Jos 10:3
Micah 1:13 : S Ps 9:14
Micah 1:14 : 2Ki 16:8
Micah 1:14 : S ver 1
Micah 1:14 : S Jos 15:44
Micah 1:14 : Jer 15:18
Micah 1:15 : Jos 15:44
Micah 1:15 : S Jos 12:15
Micah 1:16 : S Lev 13:40; S Job 1:20
Micah 1:16 : S Dt 4:27; S Am 5:27
Micah 2:1 : S Isa 29:20
Micah 2:1 : Ps 36:4
Micah 2:2 : Isa 5:8
Micah 2:2 : S Pr 30:14
Micah 2:2 : S Jer 22:17
Micah 2:2 : S 1Sa 8:14; S Isa 1:23; S Eze 46:18
Micah 2:3 : Jer 18:11; S Am 3:1-2
Micah 2:3 : Isa 2:12
Micah 2:4 : S Lev 26:31; S Jer 4:13
Micah 2:4 : S Jer 6:12
Micah 2:5 : Dt 32:13; Jos 18:4
Micah 2:5 : S Nu 34:13
Micah 2:6 : Ps 44:13; Jer 18:16; 19:8; 25:18; 29:18; Mic 6:16
Micah 2:6 : S Am 2:12
Micah 2:7 : S Ps 119:65
Micah 2:7 : Ps 15:2; 84:11
Micah 2:9 : Jer 10:20
Micah 2:10 : S Dt 12:9
Micah 2:10 : Lev 18:25-29; Ps 106:38-39; S La 4:15
Micah 2:11 : S 2Ch 36:16; Jer 5:31
Micah 2:11 : S Lev 10:9
Micah 2:11 : Isa 30:10
Micah 2:12 : Mic 4:7; 5:7; 7:18
Micah 2:12 : S Ne 1:9
Micah 2:13 : S Isa 52:12
Micah 2:13 : S Isa 60:11
Micah 3:1 : S Jer 5:5
Micah 3:2 : Ps 53:4; S Eze 22:27
Micah 3:3 : S Ps 14:4
Micah 3:3 : S Eze 34:4; Zep 3:3
Micah 3:3 : S Job 24:14
Micah 3:3 : S Eze 11:7; S 24:4-5
Micah 3:4 : S Dt 1:45; S 1Sa 8:18; S Isa 58:4; S Jer 11:11
Micah 3:4 : S Dt 31:17
Micah 3:4 : S Job 15:31; S Eze 8:18
Micah 3:5 : S Isa 3:12; S 9:16; S 53:6
Micah 3:5 : S Jer 4:10
Micah 3:6 : Isa 8:19-22; S Eze 12:24
Micah 3:6 : Isa 29:10
Micah 3:6 : S Eze 7:26; S Am 8:11
Micah 3:7 : S Jer 6:15; Mic 7:16
Micah 3:7 : S Isa 44:25
Micah 3:7 : S Est 6:12
Micah 3:7 : S Lev 13:45
Micah 3:7 : S Eze 20:3
Micah 3:8 : S Isa 57:12; 61:2
Micah 3:9 : Ps 58:1-2; S Isa 1:23
Micah 3:10 : S Jer 22:13
Micah 3:10 : Isa 59:7; Mic 7:2; Na 3:1; Hab 2:12
Micah 3:10 : Jer 22:17; S Eze 22:27
Micah 3:11 : S Ex 23:8; S Lev 19:15; Mal 2:9
Micah 3:11 : S Eze 13:19
Micah 3:11 : Isa 1:23; S 56:11; Jer 6:13; S La 4:13; S Hos 4:8, 18
Micah 3:11 : S Isa 10:20
Micah 3:11 : Jer 7:4; S Eze 34:2
Micah 3:12 : S 2Ki 25:9; S Isa 6:11
Micah 3:12 : S Jer 52:13
Micah 3:12 : S Lev 26:31; S Jer 17:3; S 22:6; S La 5:18; S Eze 5:14
Micah 4:1 : 4:1-3pp — Isa 2:1-4
Micah 4:1 : S Ps 48:1; Zec 8:3
Micah 4:1 : S Eze 17:22
Micah 4:1 : S Ps 22:27; 86:9; S Jer 3:17; S 31:12; S Da 2:35
Micah 4:2 : S Jer 31:6; S Eze 20:40
Micah 4:2 : Zec 2:11; 14:16
Micah 4:2 : S Ps 119:171
Micah 4:2 : Ps 25:8-9; S Isa 54:13
Micah 4:2 : S Dt 18:18
Micah 4:3 : S Isa 11:4
Micah 4:3 : Joel 3:10; Zec 9:10
Micah 4:3 : S Ps 46:9
Micah 4:3 : Zec 8:20-22
Micah 4:4 : S 1Ki 4:25
Micah 4:4 : S Lev 26:6; S Eze 39:26
Micah 4:4 : S Isa 1:20
Micah 4:5 : 2Ki 17:29; Ac 14:16
Micah 4:5 : Jos 24:14-15; Isa 26:8; Zec 10:12
Micah 4:6 : S Jer 31:8
Micah 4:6 : S Ps 106:47
Micah 4:6 : S Eze 34:13, 16; S 37:21; Zep 3:19
Micah 4:7 : S Joel 2:32; S Mic 2:12
Micah 4:7 : S Ge 12:2
Micah 4:7 : S Isa 2:2
Micah 4:7 : S Da 2:44; S 7:14; S Lk 1:33; Rev 11:15
Micah 4:8 : S Isa 1:26
Micah 4:8 : Zec 9:9
Micah 4:9 : Jer 8:19
Micah 4:9 : S Ge 3:16; Jer 30:6; 48:41
Micah 4:10 : S Dt 21:10; 2Ki 20:18; Isa 43:14
Micah 4:10 : S Isa 48:20
Micah 4:11 : S La 2:16; S Ob 1:12; Mic 7:8
Micah 4:12 : S Ge 50:20; S Isa 55:8; Ro 11:33-34
Micah 4:13 : S Isa 21:10
Micah 4:13 : S Isa 45:1; S Da 2:44
Micah 4:13 : S Isa 23:18

New International Version (NIV)

Revelation 6

The Seals

6 I watched as the Lamb^(A) opened the first of the seven seals.^(B) Then I heard one of the four living creatures^(C) say in a voice like thunder,^(D) “Come!” ²I looked, and there before me was a white horse!^(E) Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown,^(F) and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.^(G)

³When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature^(H) say, “Come!” ⁴Then another horse came out, a fiery red one.^(I) Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth^(J) and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.

⁵When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature^(K) say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse!^(L) Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. ⁶Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures,^(M) saying, “Two pounds^[a] of wheat for a day’s wages,^[b] and six pounds^[c] of barley for a day’s wages,^[d]^(N) and do not damage^(O) the oil and the wine!”

⁷When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature^(P) say, “Come!” ⁸I looked, and there before me was a pale horse!^(Q) Its rider was named Death, and Hades^(R) was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.^(S)

⁹When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under^(T) the altar^(U) the souls of those who had been slain^(V) because of the word of God^(W) and the testimony they had maintained. ¹⁰They called out in a loud voice, “How long,^(X) Sovereign Lord,^(Y) holy and true,^(Z) until you judge the inhabitants of the earth^(AA) and avenge our blood?”^(AB) ¹¹Then each of them was given a white robe,^(AC) and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters,^[e] were killed just as they had been.^(AD)

¹²I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake.^(AE) The sun turned black^(AF) like sackcloth^(AG) made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, ¹³and the stars in the sky fell to earth,^(AH) as figs drop from a fig tree^(AI) when shaken by a strong wind. ¹⁴The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up,^(AJ) and every mountain and island was removed from its place.^(AK)

¹⁵Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free,^(AL) hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.^(AM) ¹⁶They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us^(AN) and hide us^[f] from the face of him who sits on the throne^(AO) and from the wrath of the Lamb! ¹⁷For the great day^(AP) of their^[g] wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”^(AQ)

Footnotes:

Revelation 6:6 Or about 1 kilogram
Revelation 6:6 Greek a denarius
Revelation 6:6 Or about 3 kilograms
Revelation 6:6 Greek a denarius
Revelation 6:11 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 12:10; 19:10.
Revelation 6:16 See Hosea 10:8.
Revelation 6:17 Some manuscripts his

Cross references:

New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 134

A song of ascents.

¹Praise the Lord, all you servants^(A) of the Lord
who minister^(B) by night^(C) in the house of the Lord.
²Lift up your hands^(D) in the sanctuary^(E)
and praise the Lord.^(F)

³May the Lord bless you from Zion,^(G)
he who is the Maker of heaven^(H) and earth.

Cross references:

New International Version (NIV)

Proverbs 30:1-4

Sayings of Agur

30 The sayings^(A) of Agur son of Jakeh—an inspired utterance.

This man’s utterance to Ithiel:

“I am weary, God,
but I can prevail.^[a]
²Surely I am only a brute, not a man;
I do not have human understanding.
³I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.^(B)
⁴Who has gone up^(C) to heaven and come down?
Whose hands^(D) have gathered up the wind?
Who has wrapped up the waters^(E) in a cloak?^(F)
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name,^(G) and what is the name of his son?
Surely you know!

Footnotes:

Proverbs 30:1 With a different word division of the Hebrew; Masoretic Text utterance to Ithiel, / to Ithiel and Ukal:

Cross references:

New International Version (NIV)