The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday August 7, 2018 (NIV)

Ezra 4:24-6:22

24 Then the work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Rebuilding Begins Anew

Now the prophets, (A)Haggai and (B)Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel who was over them. (C)Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and (D)Jeshua the son of Jozadak arose and began to rebuild the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were (E)with them, supporting them.

At the same time (F)Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them and spoke to them thus: (G)“Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?” They also asked them this:[a] “What are the names of the men who are building this building?” But (H)the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report should reach Darius and then an answer be returned by letter concerning it.

Tattenai's Letter to King Darius

This is a copy of the letter that (I)Tattenai the governor of the province Beyond the River and Shethar-bozenai and his associates, the (J)governors who were in the province Beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. They sent him a report, in which was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace. Be it known to the king that we went to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God. It is being built with huge stones, and timber is laid in the walls. This work goes on diligently and prospers in their hands. Then we asked those elders and spoke to them thus: (K)‘Who gave you a decree to build this house and to finish this structure?’ 10 We also asked them their names, for your information, that we might write down the names of their leaders.[b] 11 And this was their reply to us: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the house that was built many years ago, (L)which a great king of Israel built and (M)finished. 12 (N)But because our fathers had angered the God of heaven, he (O)gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia. 13 (P)However, in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, Cyrus the king made a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. 14 (Q)And the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, these Cyrus the king took out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one whose name was (R)Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor; 15 and he said to him, “Take these vessels, go and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its site.” 16 Then this (S)Sheshbazzar came and (T)laid the foundations of the house of God that is in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been in building, and it is (U)not yet finished.’ 17 Therefore, if it seems good to the king, (V)let search be made in the royal archives there in Babylon, to see whether a decree was issued by Cyrus the king for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. And let the king send us his pleasure in this matter.”

The Decree of Darius

Then Darius the king made a decree, and (W)search was made in Babylonia, in the house of the archives where the documents were stored. And in Ecbatana, the citadel that is (X)in the province of Media, a scroll was found on which this was written: “A record. In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king issued a decree: Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, the place where sacrifices were offered, and let its foundations be retained. Its height shall be sixty cubits[c] and its breadth sixty cubits, (Y)with three layers of great stones and one layer of timber. Let the cost be paid from the royal treasury. And also (Z)let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought back to the temple that is in Jerusalem, each to its place. You shall put them in the house of God.”

“Now therefore, (AA)Tattenai, governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, (AB)and your[d] associates the governors who are in the province Beyond the River, keep away. Let the work on this house of God alone. Let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God on its site. Moreover, (AC)I make a decree regarding what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the rebuilding of this house of God. The cost is to be paid to these men in full and without delay from the royal revenue, the tribute of the province from Beyond the River. And whatever is needed—bulls, rams, or sheep for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, or oil, as the priests at Jerusalem require—let that be given to them day by day without fail, 10 that they may offer pleasing sacrifices to the God of heaven (AD)and pray for the life of the king and his sons. 11 Also I make a decree that if anyone alters this edict, a beam shall be pulled out of his house, and he shall be impaled on it, and (AE)his house shall be made a dunghill. 12 May the God (AF)who has caused his name to dwell there overthrow any king or people who shall put out a hand to alter this, or to destroy this house of God that is in Jerusalem. I Darius make a decree; let it be done with all diligence.”

The Temple Finished and Dedicated

13 Then, according to the word sent by Darius the king, (AG)Tattenai, the governor of the province Beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did with all diligence what Darius the king had ordered. 14 (AH)And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and (AI)by decree of Cyrus and (AJ)Darius and (AK)Artaxerxes king of Persia; 15 and this house was finished on the third day of the (AL)month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

16 And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the (AM)dedication of this house of God with joy. 17 They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel (AN)12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 18 And they set the priests (AO)in their divisions and the Levites (AP)in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, (AQ)as it is written in the Book of Moses.

Passover Celebrated

19 (AR)On the fourteenth day of the first month, the returned exiles kept the Passover. 20 (AS)For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together; all of them were clean. (AT)So they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the returned exiles, for their fellow priests, and for themselves. 21 It was eaten by the people of Israel who had returned from exile, and (AU)also by every one who had joined them and separated himself (AV)from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to worship the Lord, the God of Israel. 22 And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread (AW)seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful (AX)and had turned the heart of (AY)the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

Footnotes:

  1. Ezra 5:4 Septuagint, Syriac; Aramaic Then we said to them,
  2. Ezra 5:10 Aramaic of the men at their heads
  3. Ezra 6:3 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
  4. Ezra 6:6 Aramaic their
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

1 Corinthians 3:5-23

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? (A)Servants through whom you believed, (B)as the Lord assigned to each. (C)I planted, (D)Apollos watered, (E)but God gave the growth. So (F)neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each (G)will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are (H)God's fellow workers. You are God's field, (I)God's building.

10 (J)According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled[a] master builder I laid a (K)foundation, and (L)someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a (M)foundation other (N)than that which is laid, (O)which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 (P)each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed (Q)by fire, and (R)the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, (S)he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, (T)but only as through fire.

16 (U)Do you not know that you[b] are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For (V)God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

18 (W)Let no one deceive himself. (X)If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For (Y)the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, (Z)“He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, (AA)“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So (AB)let no one boast in men. For (AC)all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and (AD)you are Christ's, and (AE)Christ is God's.

Footnotes:

  1. 1 Corinthians 3:10 Or wise
  2. 1 Corinthians 3:16 The Greek for you is plural in verses 16 and 17
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Psalm 29

Ascribe to the Lord Glory

A Psalm of David.

29 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,[a]
(A)ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in (B)the splendor of holiness.[b]

The voice of the Lord is over (C)the waters;
the God of glory (D)thunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is (E)powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks (F)the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to (G)skip like a calf,
and (H)Sirion like a young (I)wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of (J)Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord makes (K)the deer give birth[c]
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

10 The Lord sits enthroned over (L)the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned (M)as king forever.
11 May the Lord give (N)strength to his people!
May the Lord bless[d] his people with (O)peace!

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 29:1 Hebrew sons of God, or sons of might
  2. Psalm 29:2 Or in holy attire
  3. Psalm 29:9 Revocalization yields makes the oaks to shake
  4. Psalm 29:11 Or The Lord will give… The Lord will bless
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Proverbs 20:26-27

26 A wise king (A)winnows the wicked
and drives (B)the wheel over them.
27 (C)The spirit[a] of man is the lamp of the Lord,
(D)searching all (E)his innermost parts.

Footnotes:

  1. Proverbs 20:27 Hebrew breath
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

08/06/2018 DAB Transcript

Ezra 3:1-4:24 , 1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4 , Psalms 28:1-9 , Proverbs 20:24-25

Today is the 6th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today. I keep thinking it’s July still, even though we have almost come a week into this new month. I guess I just need to catch up with myself. I’m sure I’m not alone. It is the 6th day of August. And we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Ezra 3:1-4:23 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So in1 Corinthians, Paul has been discussing the nonsense of the gospel starting yesterday. And he’s basically saying that God planned to redeem the world and that redemption, that

plan was hidden in ancient but it was revealed in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. But only for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. Okay, so we can accept that because we know that that’s Christian doctrine. That’s what we believe. But if you just consider what I just said, like for your own human understanding of the world, if you have no context for your faith at all and you hear this, well then you see the rub. It makes no rational sense if you don’t believe that there is more to our existence and the physical senses that we have to interpret it. But once you’ve felt the truth of the gospel flooding into your soul, then you can’t see the world any other way. So it’s difficult to describe to a person who doesn’t see the world through spiritual eyes. And Paul explained it like this. The  rulers of this world have not understood it. If they had, they would not have crucified the Lord. So how is it that we reconcile the disconnect between our own reason and the awareness that a spiritual reality exists that is more tangible than anything else in the world? How do we reconcile that? That’s what Paul was talking about today. He said, no one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit. And no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own spirit. And we have received God’s spirit, not the world’s spirit. So we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. People who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s spirit. It all sounds like foolishness to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. So in other words, all of our faculties, all of our human senses and our mind and our reason alone will not be able to reason the ways of God. God’s ways are higher than our ways. We will not be able to figure it out. So therefore, we’ll need something more than our own reason. Something beyond our own minds. And for Paul, there was only one way this would reconcile. Which brings us to one of the most quoted Scriptures in all of the Bible. 1 Corinthians 2:16. We understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. And because of that, we can look into the Spirit. We can look through the eyes of faith at what we cannot see and live within this reality.

Prayer:

Father, we want to live into this reality today. And we realize that this is absolutely true. We go in search for You, trying to use our own human ingenuity and wisdom, but there’s a ceiling. We cannot go beyond it. We cannot know Your ways without You. We cannot have an understanding of the spirit without Your Holy Spirit.  And so we go through our lives falsely tethered to an awareness that can be perceived by our physical senses.  But we are instructed over and over and over and over and over and over in the scriptures than there is way more to the story than that.  So we invite Your Holy Spirit to well up within us, to surround us, to guide us, to counsel us, to lead us into all truth, to lift our eyes to the horizon and allow us to see Your kingdom all around us, advancing forward.  And we are a part of that story. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base,, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, check in. Be sure to check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in our mission to read the Scriptures fresh every day and offer them to the world, to anyone who will listen to them anywhere on this planet, any time of day or night and to continue to foster community around that rhythm so that as we move through our lives we know we’re not moving alone, we are the body of Christ.  Each have a story to tell, we each have a purpose. And if that is bringing light and life and good news into your world, than thank you for your partnership as we move through the summer months. There is 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 P.O.  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.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning Daily Audio Bible. This is John from Illinois. I’m a first-time collar. I’ve been with the DAB, my wife and I, for three years. I’m very grateful that a friend, Laura, invited us to this place. I’m so grateful for this family, for Brian and Jill, for what it has been, life-changing for us. I think what struck me most was not only the program and God’s word opening up for these callers, this DAB family calling in, caring and loving people they don’t know. I was listening this morning and my heart goes out to an Allen from Sydney. And the Lord told me very plainly, He says don’t doubt your faith, don’t question My faithfulness when it doesn’t turn out the way we want it to. And a lot of times in this life we have an idea or thought in our mind that we think that God wants us to do and when it doesn’t pan out then we question our own hope, our own faith, our own walk with God and that’s not at all how it is. The word says that he ever lives to make intercessions for us. And Psalm 27 clearly says wait on the Lord, be of good courage for he strengthens your heart. Wait, __. God has got a great and marvelous plan. Wait and be still. I’m just to get grateful for this family, grateful to be a part of this. God bless Brian and Jill. God bless this whole family.

Hi Daily Audio Bible. This is Lydia and Maryland. I’ve been listening for seven years and never called into the prayer line but my family has been hit with a very difficult situation. Our 17-year-old has tried to commit suicide three times and the doctors recommended a particular therapy that’s very expensive but we figure that God will provide. She doesn’t seem to be responding to the therapy very well but we are in the first few weeks of it. So, I am calling just to ask for, first and foremost prayers for her and over her life and that she hears God’s voice and knows that God loves her and has many works for her to do. I am also asking for prayer for our finances as we know we are willing to go into debt for this because we are believing that God is going to provide. But it’s $1000 per month, which is hard. So, again, please lift up our daughter Faith. And we are pastors, so, even pastors sometimes need prayer. And unfortunately, we can’t always go to our churches because this is our daughter’s story. But I love you and I thank God that I am able to reach out to a worldwide community. That is awesome…and…

Hello Daily Audio Bible family. This is Scott Santee and I am calling from sunny Havana Cuba. I hope you are all are doing well. I have called before and haven’t really told much…just like a few times. I’ve been listening for…well…since Ezekiel was born and I love it. I know everybody’s voices before they give their needs and it’s just great. I was calling to let you know that I have been here for the last three weeks installing water filters. I’m actually a full-time missionary. But it’s been so remarkable, I just wanted to share a praise report about it. We, not only are able to meet their number one physical need of clean water, but also use that as a way to meet their number one spiritual need of a relationship with Jesus Christ. And this has been amazing. We’ve seen a response rate of just over 50% of the people that we share with our coming to Christ. And I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere in the world. And this last week was pretty intense. We saw a lot of opposition and people could feel, yeah know, the spiritual forces of evil working against them. And, anyhow, the Lord still prevailed and it was great and I just thought you’d want to rejoice with that. You know, you know, hundreds of people now have clean water. They don’t have to boil their water or put Clorox in it or anything. And now, the house churches and the anchor churches are following up with all the people. The community is abuzz. They’re so happy, they’re so excited, they’re talking about Jesus. It’s just great. If you’d like to learn more you can reach me at scott@filterofhope.org

Hi. This is James Pitrineli and a day behind right now. It’s August 4th. I’m listening to the August 3rd Podcast. And funny that…Asia, in Chicago. So, we have two Asia’s now. That’s really cool, actually. I heard your call and my dad growing up is not a believer but he was verbally abusive for years on end. And I don’t know how old you are right now, if sounds like you’re an adult, or at least nearly so. That’s just really hard, first of all and think there’s a lot of people in our community who can identify. But it takes a lot of courage to admit that what’s happening is abuse and that it’s not your fault. You don’t deserve it. Even though you’re imperfect, we’re all imperfect and the Lord doesn’t abuse us. He doesn’t hurl accusations at us. That’s the enemy. In my father’s case, he had mental health issues an entire life through and the enemy will use those. And it sounds like you with your father does love the Lord, he’s got some spiritual things definitely going on. He may have some mental health things going on. But, they’re not your fault, none of them. You’re not responsible for him. Love you. Keep hanging on.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday August 6, 2018 (NIV)

Ezra 3:1-4:23

Rebuilding the Altar

(A)When the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the towns, the people gathered as one man to Jerusalem. Then arose Jeshua the son of Jozadak, with his fellow priests, and (B)Zerubbabel the son of (C)Shealtiel with his kinsmen, and they built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, (D)as it is written in the Law of Moses the (E)man of God. They set the altar in its place, (F)for fear was on them because of the peoples of the lands, and (G)they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, burnt offerings morning and evening. (H)And they kept the Feast of Booths, (I)as it is written, (J)and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the rule, as each day required, and after that the regular burnt (K)offerings, the offerings at the new moon (L)and at all the appointed feasts of the Lord, and the offerings of everyone who made a freewill offering to the Lord. From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. So they gave money to the masons and the carpenters, (M)and food, drink, and oil to the Sidonians and the Tyrians (N)to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, (O)according to the grant that they had from Cyrus king of Persia.

Rebuilding the Temple

Now in the second year after their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, (P)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and (Q)Jeshua the son of Jozadak made a beginning, together with the rest of their kinsmen, the priests and the Levites and all who had come to Jerusalem from the captivity. They (R)appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to (S)supervise the work of the house of the Lord. And (T)Jeshua with his sons and his brothers, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together (U)supervised the workmen in the house of God, along with the (V)sons of Henadad and the Levites, their sons and brothers.

10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, (W)according to the directions of David king of Israel. 11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,

(X)“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, (Y)old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Adversaries Oppose the Rebuilding

Now when (Z)the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever (AA)since the days of (AB)Esarhaddon king of Assyria (AC)who brought us here.” But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses in Israel said to them, (AD)“You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, (AE)as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”

Then (AF)the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

And in the reign of (AG)Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

The Letter to King Artaxerxes

In the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam and (AH)Mithredath and Tabeel and the rest of their associates wrote to Artaxerxes king of Persia. The letter was written (AI)in Aramaic and translated.[a] Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows: Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the (AJ)judges, the (AK)governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the (AL)Elamites, 10 and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble (AM)Osnappar deported and settled in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River. 11 (This is a copy of the letter that they sent.) “To Artaxerxes the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now 12 be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are (AN)finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. 13 Now be it known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay (AO)tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. 14 Now because we eat the salt of the palace[b] and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, 15 in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. 16 We make known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River.”

The King Orders the Work to Cease

17 The king sent an answer: “To Rehum the commander and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Samaria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now 18 the letter that you sent to us has been (AP)plainly read before me. 19 And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. 20 And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, (AQ)who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom (AR)tribute, custom, and toll were paid. 21 Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. 22 And take care not to be slack in this matter. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?”

23 Then, when the copy of King Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease.

Footnotes:

  1. Ezra 4:7 Hebrew written in Aramaic and translated in Aramaic, indicating that 4:8–6:18 is in Aramaic; another interpretation is The letter was written in the Aramaic script and set forth in the Aramaic language
  2. Ezra 4:14 Aramaic because the salt of the palace is our salt
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

1 Corinthians 2:6-3:4

Wisdom from the Spirit

Yet among (A)the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not (B)a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, (C)who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, (D)which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of (E)the rulers of this age understood this, for (F)if they had, they would not have crucified (G)the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,

(H)“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has (I)prepared (J)for those who love him”—

10 these things (K)God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even (L)the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person's thoughts (M)except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now (N)we have received not (O)the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this (P)in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, (Q)interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.[a]

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are (R)folly to him, and (S)he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The (T)spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 (U)“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But (V)we have the mind of Christ.

Divisions in the Church

But I, brothers,[b] could not address you as (W)spiritual people, but as (X)people of the flesh, as (Y)infants in Christ. (Z)I fed you with milk, not solid food, for (AA)you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is (AB)jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For (AC)when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” (AD)are you not being merely human?

Footnotes:

  1. 1 Corinthians 2:13 Or interpreting spiritual truths in spiritual language, or comparing spiritual things with spiritual
  2. 1 Corinthians 3:1 Or brothers and sisters
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Psalm 28

The Lord Is My Strength and My Shield

Of David.

28 To you, O Lord, I call;
(A)my rock, be not deaf to me,
lest, if you (B)be silent to me,
I become like those who (C)go down to the pit.
(D)Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,
when I cry to you for help,
when I (E)lift up my hands
(F)toward your most holy sanctuary.[a]

Do not (G)drag me off with the wicked,
with the workers of evil,
(H)who speak peace with their neighbors
while evil is in their hearts.
(I)Give to them according to their work
and according to the evil of their deeds;
give to them according to the work of their hands;
(J)render them their due reward.
Because they (K)do not regard the works of the Lord
or the work of his hands,
he will tear them down and build them up no more.

Blessed be the Lord!
For he has (L)heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and (M)my shield;
in him my heart (N)trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my (O)song I give thanks to him.

The Lord is the strength of his people;[b]
he is (P)the saving refuge of his anointed.
Oh, save your people and bless (Q)your heritage!
(R)Be their shepherd and (S)carry them forever.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 28:2 Hebrew your innermost sanctuary
  2. Psalm 28:8 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts is their strength
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Proverbs 20:24-25

24 A man's (A)steps are from the Lord;
how then can man understand his way?
25 It is a snare to say rashly, “It is holy,”
and to reflect only (B)after making vows.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

08/05/2018 DAB Transcript

Ezra 1:1-2:70 , 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 , Psalms 27:7-14 , Proverbs 20:22-23

Today is the 5th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It is great to be here with you as we cross the threshold, step into a brand-new, shiny, sparkly week together and take the next step forward as we move through the Scriptures. We began Paul’s letter, first letter, to the Corinthians yesterday. We also concluded 2 Chronicles yesterday. Which brings us today to the…to the threshold of the book of Ezra. And we’ll be picking up the story where second Chronicles leaves off, with the children of Israel in exile in Babylon, having been carried off for their rebelliousness to God.

Introduction to the book of Ezra:

The book of Ezra covers a period of about 80 years and three different kings in Babylon: Cyrus the great, Darius, and Artaxerxes all who provide favor and cover for the Israelites who were returning to their homeland. Cyrus the great begins the process, literally wanting to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem for the worship of God. And about 42,000 Israelites who had been in exile in Babylon, crying and weeping for the day that God would restore them finally get to make the trip back under the leadership of Zerubbabel to rebuild Jerusalem. And, of course, when they get there they face all kinds of opposition both through intimidation of those who are living in the area, and political maneuvers and politics, but they stick to the task. And it’s a great reference point for us in our own lives as we stick to what we know God is calling us to do in life, regardless of the outside opposition we may face. So, we can embrace the book of Ezra as a metaphor for our own lives. And if we will, we’ll find ourselves in these pages, without a doubt. And, so, we begin. Ezra chapter 1 verse 1 through 2 verse 70. And we will be reading from the English Standard Version this week.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for the progress that we’re making through Your word. We thank You for the progress that we’re making in our lives because of Your word. We thank You for the progress of what You are doing inside of us. And as we step into this new week, Father, we invite You in every aspect of our lives. Holy Spirit, come. Lead us forward into all truth we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base,, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to check it out.

Check out the Daily Audio Bible shop while you’re at it. And there’s resources that are available there for this journey. So, check into that. Stop by the Prayer Wall. Pray for your brothers and sisters.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible as we move through these summer months, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link on the homepage and I humbly and gratefully thank you for those who have clicked that link. 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.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning. This is Dennis from __ California. First of all, I just want to…I want to thank Brian. I just listened to today’s broadcast, on August 2nd, and the message was just so spot on for me and my family and my wife. We’re under attack with things that are, you know, just verbal at this point, or just unknown, the outcome is unknown. And allowing fear and things to creep into our lives, and worries, and anxieties. And just to listen to your message was so perfect for me and for her. So, we just ask for prayer that the reports we’re going to receive are going to be good ones, that God’s report is the best, that no matter what comes our way, that we can walk through it and prepare for it, and that we are able to get to the places that we need to be. So, I just asked for that. I just want to thank God in everything, no matter what’s going on, in the good and the bad and give him praise. And I’m going to thank Him at a time for a good word. So, if my DAB family, could you just please pray for my wife, Gina, and myself. And we’d really appreciate that. Love you guys. Thank you.

Hello DAB family this is __ from Southern California. I am calling in for several reasons. First and foremost I’ve got to thank Brian and Jill and the family for everything you do to connect us and invite us to the global campfire. I was traveling for three weeks out of country, in Spanish speaking country and through the course of many different things wasn’t able to necessarily listen in every single day as has been my custom and I really miss hearing your voices. Miguel from Santa Rosa, hey everybody what’s up? And Candice from Oregon, and His little Sharif, I haven’t heard from you. And Blind Tony and oh my goodness, Victoria Soldier, there’s so many, I could name all of you because I love you so much and I missed you. I really needed to bring you with me. So, thank you for this global campfire Brian. I’m sure there’s many moving pieces in the background that we don’t even know about so we can enjoy this. So, two thoughts. For those of you that haven’t yet contributed, perhaps you can think about that and how this affects our day we don’t have it, how it affects our day. And maybe go online and maybe make a little donation. I don’t know your situation but, my goodness, there’s so much sacrifice that goes into this incredible ministry. Perhaps that something you could consider today. The other thing I wanted to share is again, do the course of many events, I became conversational in Spanish in a very short time. And I was so sad coming back thinking, well, who am I gonna have conversations with? And I mean, I know some Spanish people but it’s not like I’m gonna say hey, can you talk to me for an hour every day. You know, it was just like the sad feeling that I was going to lose it. And then I found DAB in Espanol…on the app. So, for those of you, again, that speak different languages. And maybe English is not your first language or your native tongue…

Hi DABbers, this is Missy from the mid-west. Hey, I’m just calling with a praise report. I think it wasn’t that long ago that we read in Proverbs 19:17, that he who regardith the poor or lendith to the poor the Lord shall repay him. And I just have an awesome report on that. That situation just happened. We found ourselves needing to give more than we probably felt we could to someone in our family who would be defined as poor. But as I just wrote the check out, I just…I just did it and felt good about it. And I just didn’t worry about it. And…this was last week…and today, in the mail, I received something that is a seven of times value what I gave to that family member in an unexpected source. It’s not why we give and is not why I gave but it’s just struck me that God is so good and I just wanted to share that. So, give, because the Lord overflows giving back in whatever way He chooses.

Hello this is Judith from Reading in the United Kingdom. It’s the 3rd of August and I’m calling in response to Gavin from Alabama who called saying that his wife left about a year ago and he needs wisdom as to how to deal with it. And I’m going to be praying for you and I know that the Lord can give wisdom because he’s a promised that if we ask him believing that He will give wisdom that He will give that wisdom. So, I’ll be asking the Lord for wisdom for you. And I also thought of this verse. So, I will read it for this passage I will read it to you. It’s from 2 Corinthians 5 starting at verse 16. Therefore from now on we regard no one according to the flesh even though we have known Christ according to the flesh. Yet now we know him thus no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God who has reconciled himself for us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation that is that God was in Christ reconciling the world himself. Not __ to him and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. So, I’ll be praying for the ministry of reconciliation to you __ and a word of reconciliation that God is able to do that. Thank you for sharing your request and God bless you. Bye.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday August 5, 2018 (NIV)

Ezra 1-2

The Proclamation of Cyrus

(A)In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, (B)that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so (C)that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and (D)he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—(E)he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

Then rose up the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, (F)everyone whose spirit (G)God had stirred to go up to rebuild the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem. And all who were about them (H)aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered. (I)Cyrus the king also brought out the vessels of the house of the Lord that (J)Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his gods. Cyrus king of Persia brought these out in the charge of (K)Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to (L)Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. And this was the number of them: (M)30 basins of gold, 1,000 basins of silver, 29 censers, 10 30 bowls of gold, 410 bowls of silver, and 1,000 other vessels; 11 all the vessels of gold and of silver were 5,400. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up, when the exiles were brought up from Babylonia to Jerusalem.

The Exiles Return

(N)Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles (O)whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, (P)Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.

The number of the men of the people of Israel: (Q)the sons of Parosh, 2,172. The sons of Shephatiah, 372. The sons of Arah, 775. The sons of Pahath-moab, namely the sons of Jeshua and Joab, 2,812. The sons of Elam, 1,254. The sons of Zattu, 945. The sons of Zaccai, 760. 10 The sons of Bani, 642. 11 The sons of Bebai, 623. 12 The sons of Azgad, 1,222. 13 The sons of Adonikam, 666. 14 The sons of Bigvai, 2,056. 15 The sons of Adin, 454. 16 The sons of Ater, namely of Hezekiah, 98. 17 The sons of Bezai, 323. 18 The sons of Jorah, 112. 19 The sons of Hashum, 223. 20 The sons of Gibbar, 95. 21 The sons of Bethlehem, 123. 22 The men of Netophah, 56. 23 The men of Anathoth, 128. 24 The sons of Azmaveth, 42. 25 The sons of Kiriath-arim, Chephirah, and Beeroth, 743. 26 The sons of Ramah and Geba, 621. 27 The men of Michmas, 122. 28 The men of Bethel and Ai, 223. 29 The sons of Nebo, 52. 30 The sons of Magbish, 156. 31 The sons of (R)the other Elam, 1,254. 32 The sons of Harim, 320. 33 The sons of Lod, Hadid, and Ono, 725. 34 The sons of Jericho, 345. 35 The sons of Senaah, 3,630.

36 The priests: the (S)sons of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, 973. 37 The sons of Immer, 1,052. 38 The (T)sons of Pashhur, 1,247. 39 The sons of Harim, 1,017.

40 The Levites: the sons of (U)Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the sons of Hodaviah, 74. 41 The singers: the sons of (V)Asaph, 128. 42 The sons of the (W)gatekeepers: the sons of Shallum, the sons of Ater, the sons of Talmon, the sons of Akkub, the sons of Hatita, and the sons of Shobai, in all 139.

43 (X)The temple servants: the sons of Ziha, the sons of Hasupha, the sons of Tabbaoth, 44 the sons of Keros, the sons of Siaha, the sons of Padon, 45 the sons of Lebanah, the sons of Hagabah, the sons of Akkub, 46 the sons of Hagab, the sons of Shamlai, the sons of Hanan, 47 the sons of Giddel, the sons of Gahar, the sons of Reaiah, 48 the sons of Rezin, the sons of Nekoda, the sons of Gazzam, 49 the sons of Uzza, the sons of Paseah, the sons of Besai, 50 the sons of Asnah, the sons of Meunim, the sons of Nephisim, 51 the sons of Bakbuk, the sons of Hakupha, the sons of Harhur, 52 the sons of Bazluth, the sons of Mehida, the sons of Harsha, 53 the sons of Barkos, the sons of Sisera, the sons of Temah, 54 the sons of Neziah, and the sons of Hatipha.

55 (Y)The sons of Solomon's servants: the sons of Sotai, the sons of Hassophereth, the sons of Peruda, 56 the sons of Jaalah, the sons of Darkon, the sons of Giddel, 57 the sons of Shephatiah, the sons of Hattil, the sons of Pochereth-hazzebaim, and the sons of Ami.

58 All the temple servants and the sons of Solomon's servants were 392.

59 The following were those who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, (Z)though they could not prove their fathers' houses or their descent, whether they belonged to Israel: 60 the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, and the sons of Nekoda, 652. 61 Also, of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, and the sons of (AA)Barzillai (who had taken a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and was called by their name). 62 These sought their registration among those enrolled in the genealogies, but they were not found there, and (AB)so they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean. 63 The (AC)governor told them that they were not (AD)to partake of the most holy food, until there should be a priest to consult (AE)Urim and Thummim.

64 (AF)The whole assembly together was 42,360, 65 besides their male and female servants, of whom there were 7,337, and they had 200 male and female (AG)singers. 66 Their horses were 736, their mules were 245, 67 their camels were 435, and their donkeys were 6,720.

68 (AH)Some of the heads of families, when they came to the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, made freewill offerings for the house of God, to erect it on its site. 69 According to their ability they gave to (AI)the treasury of the work 61,000 darics[a] of gold, 5,000 minas[b] of silver, and 100 priests' garments.

70 (AJ)Now the priests, the Levites, some of the people, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants lived in their towns, and all the rest of Israel[c] in their towns.

Footnotes:

  1. Ezra 2:69 A daric was a coin weighing about 1/4 ounce or 8.5 grams
  2. Ezra 2:69 A mina was about 1 1/4 pounds or 0.6 kilogram
  3. Ezra 2:70 Hebrew all Israel
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5

Christ the Wisdom and Power of God

18 For the word of the cross is (A)folly to (B)those who are perishing, but to us (C)who are being saved it is (D)the power of God. 19 For it is written,

(E)“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 (F)Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? (G)Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach[a] to save those who believe. 22 For (H)Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ (I)crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ (J)the power of God and (K)the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 For consider your calling, brothers: (L)not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,[b] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But (M)God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; (N)God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even (O)things that are not, to (P)bring to nothing things that are, 29 so (Q)that no human being[c] might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him[d] you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us (R)wisdom from God, (S)righteousness and (T)sanctification and (U)redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, (V)“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Proclaiming Christ Crucified

And I, when I came to you, brothers,[e] (W)did not come proclaiming to you (X)the testimony[f] of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except (Y)Jesus Christ and him crucified. And (Z)I was with you (AA)in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of (AB)the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men[g] but (AC)in the power of God.

Footnotes:

  1. 1 Corinthians 1:21 Or the folly of preaching
  2. 1 Corinthians 1:26 Greek according to the flesh
  3. 1 Corinthians 1:29 Greek no flesh
  4. 1 Corinthians 1:30 Greek And from him
  5. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Or brothers and sisters
  6. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts mystery (or secret)
  7. 1 Corinthians 2:5 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Psalm 27:7-14

(A)Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
be gracious to me and answer me!
You have said, (B)“Seek[a] my face.”
My heart says to you,
“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”[b]
(C)Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
(D)O God of my salvation!
10 For (E)my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will (F)take me in.

11 (G)Teach me your way, O Lord,
and lead me on (H)a level path
because of my enemies.
12 (I)Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
for (J)false witnesses have risen against me,
and they (K)breathe out violence.

13 I believe that I shall look[c] upon (L)the goodness of the Lord
in (M)the land of the living!
14 (N)Wait for the Lord;
(O)be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 27:8 The command (seek) is addressed to more than one person
  2. Psalm 27:8 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain
  3. Psalm 27:13 Other Hebrew manuscripts Oh! Had I not believed that I would look
English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Proverbs 20:22-23

22 Do not say, (A)“I will repay evil”;
(B)wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.
23 (C)Unequal weights are an abomination to the Lord,
and (D)false scales are not good.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

08/04/2018 DAB Transcript

2 Chronicles 35:1-36:23, 1 Corinthians 1:1-17 , Psalms 27:1-6, Proverbs 20:20-21

Today is the 4th day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is great to be here with you today as we continue our journey forward. And our journey will bring us to a new book of the Bible, a new letter in the Bible when we get to the New Testament. But first we’re reading from the New English Translation this week. 2 Chronicles 35:1-36:23.

Introduction to the book of 1 Corinthians:

Okay. So we finished the book of Romans yesterday, Paul’s letter to the Romans, which brings us to the Apostle Paul’s first epistle to the church at Corinth. And epistle means letter, of course. So during Paul’s life, Corinth was a cosmopolitan city that was kind of a destination location in the Roman Empire. And it was also a distribution hub for trade and commerce. I mean, Corinth was the fourth largest city in the entire Roman Empire so it was an influential city. And being trendy, it was a melting pot of spiritual ideas and idolatry and sexual experimentation and all that goes with a large secular society. First Corinthians was written as Paul’s response to some of the things he’d been hearing that were happening in the church there. And his main point is unity. And it’s no less poignant now than it was then. Some of the most quoted portions of the New Testament are found in 1 Corinthians. Things like seeing through a glass darkly or when I was a child, I spoke as a child and, of course, 1 Corinthians 13 is better known as the love chapter, which is a beautiful, beautiful work on what love is and what love does. And so we begin. 1 Corinthians 1:1-17.

Prayer: 

Father, we thank You for Your word and we pray along with the Psalmist today. You are our light. You are our salvation. Why should we be afraid? You are our fortress, protecting us from danger. Why should we tremble? We invite You, Holy Spirit, into that. Into all of our fears and anxieties. All the things that bring us dread. We invite You into that, Lord. And along with the Psalmist we ask one thing. That we might live in Your house all the days of our lives, delighting in Your perfection. And we place all of our focus here. All of those things that bring us dread diminish into their proper perspective. So come Holy Spirit. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear. We ask in Jesus name. Amen

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s certainly where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to check it out.

And visit the prayer wall. Pray for one another. Visit the community section on the website to get the links to all the different social media channels that we’re on. Stay connected that way.

If you wanna partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this global campfire that we share, that we come in out of whatever’s going on and find ourselves illuminated in the word of God each and every day in community. If that is life giving to you, than thank you for your partnership. 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 P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, Tennessee, 37174.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi DAB family. This is Will in beautiful Bozeman Montana. And it has been a long time since I’ve called in. Brian, thank you so much for your faithfulness for this ministry. And I’ve been listening in and it is August the 1st. And I’ve been listening. I’m a few days behind. And Asia I heard your message and I want to thank you for the fresh reminder. My life is upside down and I feel like I am carrying all the burden on my own and I am not making good financial choices. We are just in a rut financially. My marriage is just at the basement of nothing. Spiritually, I’m struggling and it’s just tough. And, so, I need to get out of all these ruts, out of all these holes. I find myself more irritated with the believers who I think are smug. And that’s not right. I need to be patient. I need to be loving and kind. And, so, DAB, I appeal to you for prayers and I am praying for you as well. Thank you again for this ministry. I love you all. God bless you. Jesus is…He’s Lord. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord and I’m convinced of that. Thank you so much. Bye.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family. This is my first time calling and it’s…it’s just crazy. I’ve been listening to this since I was 16 and I’m 22 now. My name is Asia and I live in Chicago. I am calling because I’m having kind of a rough time right now. I have a really difficult relationship with my dad. And he loves God, he loves the Lord, but he struggles with being verbally abusive to me and my mom. And, so, it’s just been really tough lately. It’s gotten really bad again and it’s…yeah…it’s been…I’ve just been struggling with feeling worthless and like really alone in that. So, yeah, if I could just get some prayers, it would be great. I’m praying for you guys and I love you all and I’m thankful for a God that we have that loves us each so much. Thanks again. This is Asia from Chicago.

Hi Daily Audio Bible community. It’s is my first time calling in. I’ve been listening for many years and I’m praying for my boyfriend. My name is Johna with a J. I was named after John the Baptist, Johna. I’m calling for my boyfriend Billy Sutter. He has a lump in his throat. He went through some severe stress and he quit smoking years ago and he’s gone into the doctors. They’re doing a CT scan and other scans on his neck to make sure he doesn’t have cancer. We just believing in the name of Jesus that he is…he is clear of any cancer and he will live a long life for his daughter and for me and my kids. And just asking if you guys would all agree with me in prayer that, from the tips of his toes to the top of his head, that God is healing him. And also pray for myself, I’m just going through a lot of life changes and I want to make sure I stay close to the cross and the enemy doesn’t get a hold of me, which I won’t let him. But, anyway, it’s great to finally put a voice out there to you guys. I’ll try to call every now and again and am praying for all of you. I love you guys. Bye.

Hello everyone this is Melody from Canada. I want to say thank you for praying for me and baby Lee and for us. We’re doing really well. We are in the final stretch, 29 weeks, only a few months left and my mind it was a lot calmer than I was before. So, thank you for that. I’ve also been really impressed. His word has been coming to me a lot as we’ve been reading the Kings in the Old Testament. And the word is to stay humble and finish well. It’s kind of crazy reading about Solomon and Josiah and Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah and how they had so many amazing victories with God and they followed Him so faithfully and then at the end of the lives they cracked because of their pride. And, it really saddens me, it’s really heartbreaking because I want to leave a legacy in my life. I want to finish well. I know a couple of people, a couple of friends who are in their 80s __ . They finished really well and they left beautiful legacies and that is what I want. And, so, my prayer for all of us is to stay faithful to the end and persevere and stay humble. And yeah, I’m gonna leave you that with God’s grace. Love you guys. Bye.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday August 4, 2018 (NIV)

1 Corinthians 1:1-17

Salutation

From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

Thanksgiving

I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus. For you were made rich in every way in him, in all your speech and in every kind of knowledge— just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you— so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Divisions in the Church

10 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together, to end your divisions, and to be united by the same mind and purpose. 11 For members of Chloe’s household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,” or “I am with Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he? Or were you in fact baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name! 16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanus. Otherwise, I do not remember whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless.

New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Psalm 27:1-6

Psalm 27

By David.

The Lord delivers and vindicates me!
I fear no one!
The Lord protects my life!
I am afraid of no one!
When evil men attack me
to devour my flesh,
when my adversaries and enemies attack me,
they stumble and fall.
Even when an army is deployed against me,
I do not fear.
Even when war is imminent,
I remain confident.
I have asked the Lord for one thing—
this is what I desire!
I want to live in the Lord’s house all the days of my life,
so I can gaze at the splendor of the Lord
and contemplate in his temple.
He will surely give me shelter in the day of danger;
he will hide me in his home;
he will place me on an inaccessible rocky summit.
Now I will triumph
over my enemies who surround me!
I will offer sacrifices in his dwelling place and shout for joy!
I will sing praises to the Lord!

New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

Proverbs 20:20-21

20 The one who curses his father and his mother,
his lamp will be extinguished in the blackest darkness.
21 An inheritance gained easily in the beginning
will not be blessed in the end.

New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

08/02/2018 DAB Transcript

2 Chronicles 33:14-34:33, Romans 16:8-27 , Psalms 26:1-12, Proverbs 20:19

Today is the 3rd day of August. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian and it is a pleasure to be here with you today as we get fully moved into this brand-new month and through this week together. And this week we’re reading from the New English Translation. So, we’ll; pick up where we left off yesterday. 2 Chronicles chapter 33 verse 14 through 34 verse 33.

Prayer:

Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the opportunity to read of King Josiah today in 2 Chronicles and his response to discovering how far the people had drifted away from you. His response was to completely humble himself before you, and then get about the work of cleaning up. And Holy Spirit, come into that. We realize that we also must take inventory of our own lives and realize the places that we’ve drifted away from our story with you and we realize that serious change that that begins by recognizing what’s happening and being able to name it and call it out loud, what’s happening. And then repentance, changing our minds, which then changes our ways. And, so, we invite your Holy Spirit into that as we contemplate it today. Come Jesus we pray in your precious name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

And we have another app update that has been released. So, be sure to update. This particular update fixes a pretty big bug in the android world. If you have a more modern android phone you have the Daily Audio Bible app, but it kind of stops on you, that is due to a certain way that the platform manages the battery resources. And it’s a bit different in newer phones. That issue has been addressed. So, be sure to update. This new version is 1.0.12. And for android and iOS devices, we’ve changed the user interface a little bit so that you don’t have to kind of drill into a month to see that month. When you update, you’ll be able to scroll back all the way to the beginning of the year. Know, you can, you can filter however you like, and you’ll see that kind of where you used to see the month. And then to the right of that…it’s hard to…it’s hard to do this just with the words and not be able to show you…to the right of that filtering area is three little dots and that’s the settings for how you want to filter. So now you’ll be able to see, you know, you’ll be able to filter out just the episodes that you’ve favorited this year or just the episodes that you’ve taken notes and you have some notes in, just some of those kind of controls have been implemented into the interface. So, we continue to make progress. This is being worked on just about every single day. And we knew when we came out with 1.0 that there was going to be additional stability and work to do and we have been working on it all year. But that’s how…that’s how it works when you build something new and launch it. So, be sure to update your Daily Audio Bible app to be up-to-date with the latest fixes and features. And you can download that now your app store.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobiible.com. There is a link on the homepage. I thank you humbly, humbly for your partnership as we move through the summer months. 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 there are several numbers that you can use depending on where you are in the world. If you’re in the Americas, 877- 942-4253 is the number to call. If you are in the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to dial and if you are in Australia or the Lands down under 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to call.

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi neighbors. It’s Lisa the Encourager. I just wanted to call in tonight and pray for everyone. Most especially those that are going through difficult battles right now, whether that’s depression or anxiety or you have somebody in your family that’s close to you that has addiction problems. I know that sometimes when you’re not the one, but you’re always carrying the burden of others. That can be a very difficult and heavy load to carry. So, I am reaching out to you now and letting you know that I’m praying for you. And I just want you to know that God loves you and He cares about you. And just, when you do your prayers, or when I do my prayers, lately if I’m going through something like that, I’ve been speaking it out loud to God and just really asking for him to work on my behalf out loud. And, so, I feel like he responded to me in a special way when I really made a point to speak it out loud, for me anyways. So, anyways I just want to let you know that I’m praying for you. So, let’s pray. Dear Lord, I pray for each one of the individuals that are going through difficult battles in their families or with their loved ones, whether that’s an alcohol problem, an abuse problem, an addiction problem, whether it’s a teenager, a spouse, a loved one. I just pray for the one that’s holding it altogether, that’s just trying to keep their head above water God, that You would just reach out from heaven and give them the blessings that they need in their lives right now. I pray God that You will anoint them with your love…

Good morning DAB. May the Lord bless each and every one of you. Oh fellow DABbers, I love you and think of you and pray for you guys all the time. Victoria Soldier, Blind Tony, Lee from New Jersey. I am thinking of all of you. Asia, all of you. Walking by Faith I am Love you. Rosie, you’re weighing heavy on my heart. I am so sorry for all that you are all going through and I appreciate so much the encouragement called in by you DABbers, you know, lifting up others. I just want you to know that I’m thinking of everyone. More specifically, I am praying for everyone. You know, I don’t have one war or the other at this very moment, you know, weighing on my heart but you are all weighing heavily. Even if you’re calling just to lift up someone else, I am also praying for you for whatever it is that the Lord may be able to bless you with in your life. Jay, from Tennessee, I’m thankful for you. Byron, I’m thankful for you. Salvation is Mine. You are all amazing people. Brian, Jill, I don’t know, the Lord has used you in such a mighty way in all of our lives and may He continue to bless you and your family. China, thank you so much for what you’re doing. You know, you’re such a blessing to all of us as well. Okay, I just want to say I love you guys and that I really love you guys and I personally am so, so blessed to know that you are all here. This is Esther from Flushing Queens. Bye.

Julie in Salt Lake thank you. I am touched that my words touched you as your words touched me back. The Greatest Trucker, Naidis in New York City, Tamika in Carlisle, wanting the best for your children and wanting a job so desperately. Walking by faith in New York City. Thank you for your prayers. I love you too and I’m continuing to walk by faith and not by sight. Cheryl and Arkansas, praying for military veterans, your prayer was beautiful. It spoke to me deeply as I have a brother who was in Iraq and came back not quite the same and is still dealing with PTSD. Pelham, I am singing praises of Molly and baby __ came home. I loved your message. I love the secret pinky swear. It’s just, so beautiful. Your words were so poignant. I just want to tell you all. Please remember to listen to the community prayers at the end of the week. I know it’s long but I promise you it will change you. It will change your life. And a lot of the prayer request that you don’t hear Monday through Saturday are on that Sunday additional prayer. Brian and Jill and the entire DAB family, SarahJane, everyone behind the scenes, thank you, thank you, thank you. I love you DAB family. 13 years going strong. You guys touch me deeply. I don’t know where I would be without you in my life just as I don’t know where I would be without God in my life. God sits on the throne and that no matter what we are going through, He sits on the throne. Bring your cares, bring your problems to Him and remember you have this community, you have DAB friends on Facebook, and there are people all over the world praying. I love you. Cheers. Asia and Munich.

Hey DABbers. This is Gavin __ both in Alabama. First off, Pelham, I just heard your praise report. I’d like flipped out of my chair with joy when I heard that man. Congratulations and praise be the Lord to your wife coming home to you. DABbers, if I could ask for prayer or my marriage still. It’s been almost a year now since my wife left and things rock back and forth. I will think conversation is getting better and then it just gets completely shut down again. If I could just ask you all to pray for open doors and just wisdom and guidance on what we are supposed to do because right now I’m not really sure what to do. Thanks DABbers. Love you. Bye.

08/02/2018 DAB Transcript

2 Chronicles 32:1-33:13, Romans 15:23-16:7, Psalms 25:1-15, Proverbs 20:16-18

Today is August 2nd. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we fully settle into this brand-new month and move ourselves into the back half of the week. So, we’ve come to take the next step forward in the Scriptures and we’ll do that by picking up where we left off of course. That will lead us back into the New English Translation and 2 Chronicles chapter 32 verse 1 through 33 verse 13 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in second Chronicles today we encountered this story of Assyria’s invasion of Israel. And, you know, if we just take it at face value, we can just read it as a story, a piece of ancient history, but when look closer into the story and we begin to realize that how, man, this is kind of my story, like this is the story that I have lived. And it gives us pretty powerful counsel on how to navigate. So, when Hezekiah realized that Assyria was invading, right, and was actually conquering walled cities in Israel but not in Jerusalem, he acted pretty wisely. He did what he could to prepare himself and the Army for the coming attack. He cut off the water supply so that they wouldn’t have access to fresh water when they surrounded the city. He fortified and repaired Jerusalem’s defensive walls while he could get supplies. He even built towers and more defenses. And he outfitted his soldiers with the weaponry that they’d need and then he encouraged them. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or discouraged because the king of the king of Assyria, right? He bolstered their morale. So, he did everything that he could and he acknowledged the Lord in all of it and he was ready. And we could say, there, there’s the lesson. He prepared. And we could stop and reflect. Are we in any way prepared for the unexpected? But as the story goes on, Hezekiah was a ready for battle, but the first attack against him in Jerusalem wasn’t made out of wood and metal. Like all of the preparations had certainly made them ready for violent conflict, but not for this first attack that came against them. And what was the first attack? Assyria’s king, Sennacherib, sent his envoys to the wall of Jerusalem to demoralize and intimidate them, right? What are you trusting in that makes you think you can survive my siege? You know, like, what other nation and any god of any other nation has survived my onslaughts? We should think about this because we can make our best laid plans. We can even follow God in the preparation, but a lot of times the first thing that comes against us is that taunting voice, this is not going to work, right? You’re not going to survive this. You don’t have what it takes to navigate this. All of those taunting voices that demoralize us into surrender. Then it doesn’t matter anymore, how prepared we are, right? We can be completely prepared and walking into a destiny and the voices that taunt us can make us surrender before we ever really get started. And in Hezekiah’s story all of those threats were true. The Assyrian Empire had leveled many kingdoms. So, it wasn’t like they were making this up. It was true, and it was really intimidating. Rather than accepting defeat and negotiating surrender, Hezekiah the prophet Isaiah cried out to God. So, the city was prepared for battle, but they simply would not survive in their own strength and God came and fought the battle for them. So, what we see in this story is like vigilance and preparedness and awareness and that was coupled with the complete understanding that only the strength of God can make them victorious. And this is a fantastic reminder for us today as we face our own battles.

Prayer:

Father as we do every day, we invite you into that. We ask your Holy Spirit to come into that, that we might prepare, and we might be led, and we might follow you. But then those taunting, demoralizing voices appear in our lives and we surrender before anything even happens. Come Holy Spirit. Make us more and more aware that our strength is in you alone. You are our only hope. And we put all of our hope in you. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to check it out.

Visit the Prayer Wall and pray for your brothers and sisters. You can also visit the Prayer Wall if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app. Check out the Daily Audio Bible resources that are in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. That can be done on the website or with the app.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the mission that we have as a community to bring God’s spoken word read fresh every day and make it available to anyone who will listen to it. If that has brought life into your life, then thank you for your partnership. There is 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.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi. Good morning. This is Alan from Sydney Australia. I just wanted to request prayer for my wife and me. We’ve been trying to conceive a child for about three years now both naturally and with the assistance of medical aid and have just had heart ache after heart ache and not been successful. Last year was especially difficult. We had a lot of depression and anxiety. And it just basically seems like that’s creeping back in. Our faith seems to be shattered and we feel like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. I just want to ask for prayer from the Daily Audio Bible community just…just to help…just for God’s help, for our faith to be strengthened, and for there to be a breakthrough. Yeah. Thank you. God bless.

Hello. This is Candace from Oregon joining you around the campfire. So many of us are grieving the loss of people really close to us who have passed on to be with the Lord. And Lee, from New Jersey, when you mentioned how beautiful it was, the passing of your mom, it inspired me to share how beautiful it had been for my husband. As you know, he passed away on March 11, 2017 and he had not been…two weeks before that he was as healthy as any 60-year-old you might meet up with. I mean very…very healthy actually. But he…when he passed away he didn’t know that was about to happen. None of us knew that. The surgeons…the surgeons probably did know that he had a very slim chance but that things were happening so rapidly they really couldn’t explain. But he was outside of the room before having open heart surgery and they said he was laying in the sunlight…this was about 5 PM. Sunlight was streaming on him and he was just so peaceful. I mean his last couple years he was just on a constant long walk with Jesus. He was so in love with the Lord more than he’d ever been ever before. His last words to all of us, me our three children were, well guys it’s not like we’re saying goodbye because we…we were really loving on him. So, he did not have a clue what was coming and I know that was part of God’s mercy and grace toward him. And I am grateful for that. I miss him terribly. Thanks for letting me share.

Hey, what’s up everybody? It’s Miguel from Santa Rosa. It’s only about nine and half months ago that Santa Rosa was affected by such a devastating fire. Many, many, many homes were lost and there’s still so much healing to happen. And watched our own churches pastor walk through it. And today I am aware of many…many wild fires throughout the state of California that are affecting so many people. I see the fire in Reading, the car fire that is affecting that city and it has burned a neighborhood there. Just north of where I live there’s the river and ranch fires that are threatening people that I work with in their home. There’s a lot going on. There’s another fire that’s actually by my home town, by Yosemite, that’s affecting people that I used to work with. So, I’m asking the community to pray for California. I see God stirring, calling people back to him. This is a state that has heard the word, has heard the gospel, but has turned a hard heart towards it. I’m asking the Lord to soften the soil, to plant new seeds, for old seeds to be watered, for there to be growth, for there to be fruit. God I’m believing You for greater things. Pray with me community. Thanks. Bye.

Hi DAB family. This is PG from NC. First time caller. Actually, new to the family. Only started listening about two months ago. My wife Susie Q turned me onto it. She started about three months ago. We hate that we have missed the last 14 years but we’re really happy to be grafted in today. I’ve been so moved to listen to my family, my new family, praying and…but today I was moved to pray myself in a call. And, so, I wanted to encourage Laura in Houston and Becky from Orlando. Both of you are trying to figure out what God has for you and where He wants you and I just wanted to pray for the two of you as well as I also wanted to pray for Deb from Texas for her son. I know what it is to hope that your child finds his way. So, let me pray. Father, I just thank you for Lauren and Becky. And God I just pray that you give them insight, clarity, that they would know exactly what your plan and your will is for them. Lord I pray this next assignment that you have for them would lead them to those Ephesians 2:10 type moments. God those works that you’ve prepared in advance for them to do. God I pray that their paths would be clear and they would know Lord what you want them to do. Lord, I pray for Deb and her son. God again, I just pray that you would work mightily in his life. Lord, I pray for all of those who would be listening today, who that their kids are still trying to find their way back to you. And Lord I pray that you would pursue them relentlessly. God we pray that you…

08/02/2018 DAB Transcript

2 Chronicles 32:1-33:13, Romans 15:23-16:7, Psalms 25:1-15, Proverbs 20:16-18

Today is August 2nd. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we fully settle into this brand-new month and move ourselves into the back half of the week. So, we’ve come to take the next step forward in the Scriptures and we’ll do that by picking up where we left off of course. That will lead us back into the New English Translation and 2 Chronicles chapter 32 verse 1 through 33 verse 13 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in second Chronicles today we encountered this story of Assyria’s invasion of Israel. And, you know, if we just take it at face value, we can just read it as a story, a piece of ancient history, but when look closer into the story and we begin to realize that how, man, this is kind of my story, like this is the story that I have lived. And it gives us pretty powerful counsel on how to navigate. So, when Hezekiah realized that Assyria was invading, right, and was actually conquering walled cities in Israel but not in Jerusalem, he acted pretty wisely. He did what he could to prepare himself and the Army for the coming attack. He cut off the water supply so that they wouldn’t have access to fresh water when they surrounded the city. He fortified and repaired Jerusalem’s defensive walls while he could get supplies. He even built towers and more defenses. And he outfitted his soldiers with the weaponry that they’d need and then he encouraged them. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or discouraged because the king of the king of Assyria, right? He bolstered their morale. So, he did everything that he could and he acknowledged the Lord in all of it and he was ready. And we could say, there, there’s the lesson. He prepared. And we could stop and reflect. Are we in any way prepared for the unexpected? But as the story goes on, Hezekiah was a ready for battle, but the first attack against him in Jerusalem wasn’t made out of wood and metal. Like all of the preparations had certainly made them ready for violent conflict, but not for this first attack that came against them. And what was the first attack? Assyria’s king, Sennacherib, sent his envoys to the wall of Jerusalem to demoralize and intimidate them, right? What are you trusting in that makes you think you can survive my siege? You know, like, what other nation and any god of any other nation has survived my onslaughts? We should think about this because we can make our best laid plans. We can even follow God in the preparation, but a lot of times the first thing that comes against us is that taunting voice, this is not going to work, right? You’re not going to survive this. You don’t have what it takes to navigate this. All of those taunting voices that demoralize us into surrender. Then it doesn’t matter anymore, how prepared we are, right? We can be completely prepared and walking into a destiny and the voices that taunt us can make us surrender before we ever really get started. And in Hezekiah’s story all of those threats were true. The Assyrian Empire had leveled many kingdoms. So, it wasn’t like they were making this up. It was true, and it was really intimidating. Rather than accepting defeat and negotiating surrender, Hezekiah the prophet Isaiah cried out to God. So, the city was prepared for battle, but they simply would not survive in their own strength and God came and fought the battle for them. So, what we see in this story is like vigilance and preparedness and awareness and that was coupled with the complete understanding that only the strength of God can make them victorious. And this is a fantastic reminder for us today as we face our own battles.

Prayer:

Father as we do every day, we invite you into that. We ask your Holy Spirit to come into that, that we might prepare, and we might be led, and we might follow you. But then those taunting, demoralizing voices appear in our lives and we surrender before anything even happens. Come Holy Spirit. Make us more and more aware that our strength is in you alone. You are our only hope. And we put all of our hope in you. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to check it out.

Visit the Prayer Wall and pray for your brothers and sisters. You can also visit the Prayer Wall if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app. Check out the Daily Audio Bible resources that are in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. That can be done on the website or with the app.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the mission that we have as a community to bring God’s spoken word read fresh every day and make it available to anyone who will listen to it. If that has brought life into your life, then thank you for your partnership. There is 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.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi. Good morning. This is Alan from Sydney Australia. I just wanted to request prayer for my wife and me. We’ve been trying to conceive a child for about three years now both naturally and with the assistance of medical aid and have just had heart ache after heart ache and not been successful. Last year was especially difficult. We had a lot of depression and anxiety. And it just basically seems like that’s creeping back in. Our faith seems to be shattered and we feel like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. I just want to ask for prayer from the Daily Audio Bible community just…just to help…just for God’s help, for our faith to be strengthened, and for there to be a breakthrough. Yeah. Thank you. God bless.

Hello. This is Candace from Oregon joining you around the campfire. So many of us are grieving the loss of people really close to us who have passed on to be with the Lord. And Lee, from New Jersey, when you mentioned how beautiful it was, the passing of your mom, it inspired me to share how beautiful it had been for my husband. As you know, he passed away on March 11, 2017 and he had not been…two weeks before that he was as healthy as any 60-year-old you might meet up with. I mean very…very healthy actually. But he…when he passed away he didn’t know that was about to happen. None of us knew that. The surgeons…the surgeons probably did know that he had a very slim chance but that things were happening so rapidly they really couldn’t explain. But he was outside of the room before having open heart surgery and they said he was laying in the sunlight…this was about 5 PM. Sunlight was streaming on him and he was just so peaceful. I mean his last couple years he was just on a constant long walk with Jesus. He was so in love with the Lord more than he’d ever been ever before. His last words to all of us, me our three children were, well guys it’s not like we’re saying goodbye because we…we were really loving on him. So, he did not have a clue what was coming and I know that was part of God’s mercy and grace toward him. And I am grateful for that. I miss him terribly. Thanks for letting me share.

Hey, what’s up everybody? It’s Miguel from Santa Rosa. It’s only about nine and half months ago that Santa Rosa was affected by such a devastating fire. Many, many, many homes were lost and there’s still so much healing to happen. And watched our own churches pastor walk through it. And today I am aware of many…many wild fires throughout the state of California that are affecting so many people. I see the fire in Reading, the car fire that is affecting that city and it has burned a neighborhood there. Just north of where I live there’s the river and ranch fires that are threatening people that I work with in their home. There’s a lot going on. There’s another fire that’s actually by my home town, by Yosemite, that’s affecting people that I used to work with. So, I’m asking the community to pray for California. I see God stirring, calling people back to him. This is a state that has heard the word, has heard the gospel, but has turned a hard heart towards it. I’m asking the Lord to soften the soil, to plant new seeds, for old seeds to be watered, for there to be growth, for there to be fruit. God I’m believing You for greater things. Pray with me community. Thanks. Bye.

Hi DAB family. This is PG from NC. First time caller. Actually, new to the family. Only started listening about two months ago. My wife Susie Q turned me onto it. She started about three months ago. We hate that we have missed the last 14 years but we’re really happy to be grafted in today. I’ve been so moved to listen to my family, my new family, praying and…but today I was moved to pray myself in a call. And, so, I wanted to encourage Laura in Houston and Becky from Orlando. Both of you are trying to figure out what God has for you and where He wants you and I just wanted to pray for the two of you as well as I also wanted to pray for Deb from Texas for her son. I know what it is to hope that your child finds his way. So, let me pray. Father, I just thank you for Lauren and Becky. And God I just pray that you give them insight, clarity, that they would know exactly what your plan and your will is for them. Lord I pray this next assignment that you have for them would lead them to those Ephesians 2:10 type moments. God those works that you’ve prepared in advance for them to do. God I pray that their paths would be clear and they would know Lord what you want them to do. Lord, I pray for Deb and her son. God again, I just pray that you would work mightily in his life. Lord, I pray for all of those who would be listening today, who that their kids are still trying to find their way back to you. And Lord I pray that you would pursue them relentlessly. God we pray that you…