A Walk Through The Word

December 10, 2024

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday December 10, 2024 (NIV)

Amos 1-3

1 These are the words of Amos, one of the shepherds in Tekoa, a city in the highlands of Judah. God gave him these visions regarding Israel in the time of Uzziah (who ruled Judah) and Jeroboam (the son of Joash, who ruled Israel) two years before the great earthquake.

²The Eternal One roars from Zion;
His voice thunders from Jerusalem.
The pastures shrivel and die beneath the shepherds’ feet,
and the crest of Mount Carmel dries to dust as all await His judgment.

³Eternal One: For three crimes of Damascus,
no for four, I have laid down My sentence and will not revoke it
Because they have threshed the people of Gilead
with threshing-sledges made of iron.
⁴I will send down fire on the house of Hazael, the ruler in Damascus,
and burn down the fortresses of Ben-hadad, his son and successor.
⁵I will smash the gates of Damascus,
wipe out those who live in the valley of Aven.
I will cut off the hand that holds the scepter in Beth-eden
and force the people of Aram into exile in Kir.

So says the Eternal about Aram, Israel’s constant enemy to the northeast.

⁶Eternal One: For three crimes of Gaza,
no for four, I have laid down My sentence and will not revoke it
Because they sent entire communities into exile,
including women and children,
Because they sold My people
as slaves to Edom.
⁷So I will send down fire on the wall that protects Gaza
and burn down all of its fortifications.
⁸I will destroy those who live in Ashdod
and cut off the hand that holds the scepter in Ashkelon.
I will raise My hand against Ekron and the rest of the Philistines;
even those in the formerly great city of Gath will perish.

Four of the five major cities of Philistia are mentioned here; only Gath is excluded. It was previously destroyed by Judah under King Uzziah (2 Chronicles 26:6).

So says the Eternal Lord about Philistia, Israel’s enemy in the southwest.

⁹Here is what the Eternal says about Tyre, that maritime power to the northwest:

Eternal One: For three crimes of Tyre,
no for four, I have laid down My sentence and will not revoke it
Because they also handed over whole communities to Edom
and ignored the covenant of brotherhood, the treaty between Phoenicia and Israel.
¹⁰So I will send down fire on the wall that protects Tyre
and burn down all of its fortifications.

¹¹Here is what the Eternal says about Edom, our neighbor to the southeast:

Eternal One: For three crimes of Edom,
no for four, I have laid down My sentence and will not revoke it
Because he pursued his brother, Israel, with the sword
without any pity,
Because he continually stoked his anger
and nourished his rage.
¹²So I will send down fire on Teman, its largest city in the south,
and burn down the fortresses of Bozrah in the north.

¹³Here is what the Eternal says about Ammon, just northeast of the Jordan:

Eternal One: For three crimes of the Ammonites,
no for four, I have laid down My sentence and will not revoke it
Because they ripped open the bellies of pregnant women in Gilead
as they made war to expand their territory.
¹⁴So I will send down fire on the wall that protects Rabbah, its only major city,
and burn down all of its fortifications.
With shouts and war cries on the day of battle,
with a whirlwind in the midst of the storm,
¹⁵I will force the king into exile,
along with all the officials who counsel him.

So says the Eternal One.

2 Here is what the Eternal says about Moab, Ammon’s brother nation east of the Jordan:

Eternal One: For three crimes of Moab,
no for four, I have laid down My sentence and will not revoke it
Because they burned to ash the bones of the king of Edom,
believing this would prevent his resurrection.
²So I will send down fire on Moab and burn down the fortresses of Kerioth,
where the people worship Chemosh.
Moab will be destroyed in an uproar,
with warriors screaming and war horns blaring,
³And I will destroy their ruler,
along with all the officials who counsel him.

⁴Here is what the Eternal says about Judah:

Eternal One: For three crimes of Judah,
no for four, I have laid down My sentence and will not revoke it
Because they have rejected the teachings of the Eternal One
and have not kept His commandments,
But they have walked away to follow the same lying idols
their ancestors pursued.
⁵So I will send down fire on Judah
and burn down all the fortresses of Jerusalem.

⁶Here, Israel, is what the Eternal says about your past and present behavior:

Eternal One: For three crimes of Israel,
no for four, I have laid down My sentence and will not revoke it
Because they have sold the right-living for silver
and the poor and their property for a pair of sandals.
⁷They have trampled the heads of the weak into the dirt
and pushed the oppressed even further down.
A father and his son sleep with the same girl,
trampling My holy name in the process.
⁸And the religious lie beside every altar
on garments taken as collateral from their debtors;
And in the house of their pagan god, they drink
wine bought with the fines they have imposed on others.

⁹Still I destroyed all of Canaan’s Amorites before them,
those Canaanites who were as tall as the towering cedars,
as strong as the mighty oaks.
As entrenched as they were, I still destroyed their fruit above
and their roots underneath My promised land.
¹⁰And I brought you up out of the land of Egypt
and led you safely through 40 years of wilderness wandering
to take possession of the land of the Amorites.
¹¹I took some of your children and raised them up as prophets,
and I called some of your youth to be Nazirites, set aside to My service.
Isn’t this true, people of Israel?

God’s very own people are forcing those who have dedicated their service to Him to abandon their calling. Here He renders His judgment on them.

So says the Eternal.

¹²Eternal One: But you made the Nazirites break their vows and drink wine.
You told the prophets, “Don’t you dare prophesy!”

¹³I will press you down beneath your enemies, just as a wagon full of fresh grain creaks
and groans beneath its own weight.
¹⁴The swift will lose their speed; there will be no escape;
the strong will lose his strength; the warrior will not survive the battle;
¹⁵The archer will not be able to stand his ground and aim his arrows.
Even the fastest runner will not escape, nor will the one who rides on horseback.
¹⁶The bravest and strongest soldiers will throw down their weapons
and run naked for cover on that day.

So says the Eternal One.

We are appalled to hear of horrible atrocities and crimes against humanity. Today we work to put an end to ethnic cleansing and sex trafficking, but these crimes are nothing new. Consider the world Amos occupies: it’s a world where the Philistines, the most technologically advanced people in their region, sell people into slavery; where the Edomites attack their neighbors in hand-to-hand combat and violently end their lives; where Ammonites rip open pregnant women in order to annex a few more acres; and where the Israelites, God’s own covenant people, sell the needy, while both father and son have sexual relationships with the same girl. If we are appalled to hear these stories, imagine how much more God, the Father of all, is angry with those who act in these ways. Since God’s prophet Amos knows His mind, he will not sit idly by and let the poor and right-living suffer.

3 Hear the message that the Eternal has spoken about you, people of Israel—the words He has spoken against the whole family:

Eternal One: I brought you up from Egypt
²Of all the peoples on the earth,
I knew and chose you for a relationship with Me.
So I will punish you for the wrong you have done.

³Do two people travel together
if they had to set up a time to meet?
⁴Does a lion roar in the forest
if it has not found its prey?
Does a young lion growl in its den
if it has not caught something?
⁵Does a bird fall into a trap
if no net has been set for it?
Does a trap snap shut
if nothing has set it off?

⁶Does the trumpet sound the alarm in the city
without frightening the people?
Does disaster come to a city
unless the Eternal One has permitted it?
⁷The answer to all is the same: No.
The Eternal Lord does nothing
Without revealing His plan to His servants, the prophets.
They are His spokespeople.
⁸The lion has roared;
who is not afraid?
The Eternal Lord has been heard;
His prophets can’t help but prophesy.

⁹Speak to the fortresses of Ashdod
and to the fortresses in the land of Egypt.
Tell their leaders, “Gather on the hillsides in Samaria
and see what great wrongs are done in Israel;
Witness the acts of oppression done there.

¹⁰Eternal One: Those who fill their fortresses with finery through violence and robbery
have no idea how to do what is right.

Israel has forgotten God’s laws, so of course the people can’t follow them. They have fallen into slavery and oppression.

¹¹So the Eternal Lord says to Israel,

Eternal One: An enemy will surround and besiege your land.
It will overwhelm your defenses, and your fortresses will be plundered.

¹²Just as the shepherd rescues two legs or the tip of an ear from the hungry lion, that is the kind of rescue the wealthy people of God dwelling in Samaria will see: only a small piece of fabric from their luxurious linens and furnishings will remain.^[a]

¹³Listen to what I am saying, and testify against Jacob’s house.

The Eternal Lord, the Commander of heavenly armies, says,

¹⁴Eternal One: On the day I punish Israel for its wrongdoing,
I will also fall upon the altars of Bethel, that center of cultic worship,
Where the horns of the altar will be hacked off
and topple to the ground, making their illegal sacrifice impossible.
¹⁵I will demolish the winter house of the rich and the summer house as well;
their palaces decorated with ivory will be torn down,
And their fine mansions will be laid low.

So says the Eternal One.

Footnotes:

3:12 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.

The Voice (VOICE)

Revelation 2:1-17

As the story unfolds, we’re told that the lampstands signify the churches. During harsh times of persecution, the faithful often wonder where their Master is. Is He even aware of what they are experiencing? John’s vision confirms what the gospel already teaches: Jesus is present with them even in their suffering, moving among those who dare to bear the light. Lampstands, of course, are not the light. They only carry the light. The true Light that has come into the world is none other than Jesus, the Son of Man (John 8:28).

Letter to Ephesus

2 The One: Write down My words, and send them to the messenger of the church in Ephesus. “These are the words of the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks and moves among the golden lampstands:

²“I know your deeds, your tireless labor, and your patient endurance. I know you do not tolerate those who do evil. Furthermore, you have diligently tested those who claim to be emissaries,^[a] and you have found that they are not true witnesses. You have correctly found them to be false. ³I know you are patiently enduring and holding firm on behalf of My name. You have not become faint.

⁴“However, I have this against you: you have abandoned your first love. ⁵Do you remember what it was like before you fell? It’s time to rethink and change your ways;^[b] go back to how you first acted. However, if you do not return,^[c] I will come quickly^[d] and personally remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶But you do have this to your credit: you despise the deeds of the Nicolaitans and how they concede to evil. I also hate what they do.

⁷“Let the person who is able to hear, listen to and follow what the Spirit proclaims to all the churches. I will allow the one who conquers through faithfulness even unto death to eat from the tree of life found in God’s lush paradise.”

Letter to Smyrna

⁸Write down My words, and send them to the messenger of the church in Smyrna. “These are the words of the First and the Last, the One who was dead and returned to life:

⁹“I know [your deeds and]^[e] the difficult ordeal you are enduring and your poverty, although you are actually rich. I am aware of the offensive accusations preached by those who call themselves ‘Jews.’ But these people are not the Jews they pretend to be; they are actually the congregation of Satan. ¹⁰In the face of suffering, do not fear. Watch; the devil will throw some of you into prison shortly so that you might be tested, and you will endure great affliction for 10 days. Be faithful throughout your life, until the day you die, and I will give you the victor’s wreath of life.

¹¹“Let the person who is able to hear, listen to and follow what the Spirit proclaims to all the churches. The one who conquers through faithfulness even unto death will escape the second death.”

Letter to Pergamum

¹²Write down My words, and send them to the messenger of the church in Pergamum. “These are the words of the One with the sharp double-edged sword:

¹³“I know [your deeds and]^[f] where you live. It is where Satan, the adversary, has established his throne. You have stayed true to My name, and you did not deny your trust in Me even in the eventful days of My faithful witness, Antipas. He was killed among you in that place where Satan dwells.

¹⁴“However, I have a few matters against you: some who live among you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who instructed Balak to set up a stumbling block before the people of Israel.^[g] As a result, some among you are eating food prepared for idol worship and committing immoral sexual acts. ¹⁵You have others who are holding firm to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Therefore, change your ways and turn to Me.^[h] If you do not, I will quickly come to where you live and will battle them with the sword of My mouth.

¹⁷“Let the person who is able to hear, listen to and follow what the Spirit proclaims to all the churches. To the one who conquers through faithfulness even unto death, I will feed you with hidden manna and give you a white stone. Upon this stone, a new name is engraved. No one knows this name except for its recipient.”

Footnotes:

2:2 Literally, apostles
2:5 Literally, repent
2:5 Literally, repent
2:5 Some manuscripts omit “quickly.”
2:9 The earliest manuscripts omit this portion.
2:13 The earliest manuscripts omit this portion.
2:14 Numbers 22–24
2:16 Literally, repent

The Voice (VOICE)

Psalm 129

A song for those journeying to worship.

¹“This is not the first time my enemies assaulted me;
they have often attacked me since I was young.”
So let Israel now proclaim,
²“This is not the first time my enemies assaulted me;
they have attacked me since I was young,
and yet they have not been able to overpower me.
³The plowers plowed over me;
they plowed their furrows deep and long down my back.”
⁴The Eternal is just.
He’s severed the bindings of the wicked so they can’t hurt me anymore.
⁵May all who despise Zion
hang their heads in shame.
May all who despise Zion recoil and run away.
⁶Let them grow like grass upon rooftops
that withers and dies in the sun long before it has time to grow,
⁷Unfit to be harvested by the worker,
not worthy of the effort to carry off to the binder.
⁸Unwanted, uncared for—no passersby to greet them, no one to say,
“May the favor of the Eternal be upon you;
We bless you in His name.”

The Voice (VOICE)

Proverbs 29:19-20

¹⁹Words are not enough to correct a servant;
even if he understands, he will not respond.
²⁰Have you ever met someone who is overly eager to talk?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

The Voice (VOICE)

December 9, 2024

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday December 9, 2024 (NIV)

Joel 1-3

1 This is the word of the Eternal One that came to Joel, Pethuel’s son:

²Hear this, elders and leaders.
All who live in the land should pay close attention.
Has anything like this ever happened?
No, not in your lifetimes or your fathers’.
³So be sure to tell this story to your sons and daughters.
Your sons should tell their sons and so on, for generations.

⁴We have been invaded!
What the cutting locusts left,
the swarming locusts consumed;
What the swarming locusts left,
the creeping locusts consumed;
What the creeping locusts left,
the stripping locusts finished off.^[a]

These four locusts are probably not different species of insect. Joel is describing four different locust invasions and how each ravages the land.

⁵All you drunks, get up and cry!
Weep and wail, all of you wine drinkers.
Your sweet wine
has been snatched from your mouths.

⁶Eternal One: For a people invaded My land.
Their army is strong; their numbers cannot be counted.
They attack with teeth as sharp as a lion’s;
they bare their fangs like a lioness.
⁷My vines are ruined.
My fig trees are reduced to stumps now.
These enemy insects have stripped off the bark and tossed My trees aside like refuse.
The branches lie bare, broken and white.

⁸Wail like a bride dressed in sackcloth instead of her gown, as a virgin
mourning the death of the groom she’d long been betrothed to.
⁹Those who serve the Eternal One,
His priests, are in mourning too—
Because no one is able to bring grain or wine to offer
in the Eternal’s temple.

The priests are mourning because they have no offerings to make, but they are more concerned for themselves because without these offerings the priests lose their main source of food.

¹⁰The fields lie desolate.
The earth herself mourns the loss,
For her golden grain is ruined.
The fruits of her vines have withered.
Her gift of oil has dried up.

¹¹Wilt in shame, you farmers. Wail with screams, you vinedressers.
Grieve for the wheat and the barley;
Grieve, for the crops in the field are ruined.
¹²The grapevines have withered and died.
The fig trees have dried up.
The pomegranate, the date-palm, the apple tree—
indeed all the trees of the field—have dried up.
Joy has withered on the branches of the people and turned to shame.

¹³You priests, throw off your fine robes. Dress in sackcloth and grieve.
Wail, you servants at the altar.
Come into the temple and spend all night in your sackcloth,
you ministers of my God,
Because no one brings grain and wine
to offer at your God’s house these days.
¹⁴So consecrate a holy fast; call everyone together.
Gather all the elders and leaders and the rest who live in the land.
Call everyone to the temple of your God, the Eternal.
Then cry out to Him with all your heart.

¹⁵But look! It is coming!
The day of the Eternal One is near.
Destruction, not salvation,
will be the sentence from the Highest God.
¹⁶Hasn’t all our food been destroyed right before our eyes?
Haven’t joyful celebrations ceased in God’s house?

¹⁷The seeds the farmers planted have shriveled beneath the ground;^[b]
all the storehouses are empty; their supplies are gone.
The barns are breaking down
because there is no more grain to fill them.
¹⁸Now even the beasts groan!
Herds of cattle wander, confused and agitated,
For they have no more pasture to feed in.
Flocks of sheep suffer this ordeal too.

¹⁹I cry out to you, O Eternal One,
along with everyone else.
For the fire of Your wrath has consumed
the open pastures,
And flames have scorched
all the trees in the field.
²⁰Even the wild beasts call to You:
they are dying of thirst—the streams have dried up;
They are dying of hunger—the fire of Your wrath has consumed open pastures.

2 Eternal One: Blow the trumpet in Zion;
signal the alarm from My holy mountain!
It is almost here. Let all who live in the land tremble
because the day of the Eternal One is coming.

²Judgment will come on a black and fearful day;
a thick cloud of darkness will loom over everything.
A great and mighty army advances
like dawn spreading across the mountains.
Never has the world seen anything like it before,
nor will future generations ever see anything like it again.

³The army is like a fire, consuming everything in its path—
a scorching flame burning everything behind them.
The land before them is sweet like the garden of Eden.
The land following—only a lonely desert; nothing is spared in judgment.
⁴They look like horses arrayed for battle;
they charge ahead like warhorses.
⁵They sound like clattering chariots racing over mountaintops,
like a crackling fire engulfing stubble,
Like a mighty army maneuvering for battle.
⁶Seeing the result of God’s judgment looming, the nations writhe in anguish;
each face grows as pale as a ghost.
⁷They run like champions into the fight.
Like skilled soldiers, they scale city walls;
Every man marches in formation, never leaving his rank.
⁸Organized—no soldier crowds another.
Independent—each man marches straight ahead.
Together—they are unstoppable as they break through the defenses
and do not break off the attack.
⁹They charge the city, scurry along its wall.
They swarm through windows into houses, like common thieves.
¹⁰Before them the earth trembles and the heavens shake.
The sun and the moon become a void of darkness.
The stars lose their radiance too.
¹¹The Eternal One shouts commands from the front line of His army;
His forces are vast—uncountable mighty soldiers obey His command.
The day of the Eternal One is great, fearsome indeed.
Who can survive?

¹²Eternal One: Even now, turn back your heart and rededicate yourselves to Me;
Show Me your repentance by fasting, weeping, and mourning.
¹³Rip the wickedness out of your hearts; don’t just tear your clothing.

Now return to the Eternal, your True God.
You already know He is gracious and compassionate.
He does not anger easily and maintains faithful love.
He is willing to relent and not harm you.
¹⁴Who knows? Perhaps He will turn and relieve you of this threat,
and leave behind some blessing as He goes—
Maybe enough grain and wine to offer
to the Eternal, your True God?
¹⁵Blow the trumpet in Zion; set apart a time for fasting;
tell everyone to be still and stop working.
¹⁶Assemble the people. Consecrate the congregation.
Gather the elders and other leaders,
The young children, and even the nursing babies.
Let the bride and groom leave their chambers on their wedding night.
¹⁷Let the priests, the Eternal’s servants, stand between the porch and the altar
and weep as they intercede. Let them say,

Priests: Have pity on Your people, O Eternal One!
And do not let Your legacy—Your covenant people—
Be taunted and mocked by the nations,
who ask, “Where is their God?”

¹⁸But wait—the Eternal One has become possessive of His land;
He will restore us in compassion, His people!
¹⁹In response to our prayers, the Eternal will answer:

Eternal One: Listen! I am sending you a great harvest of grain, wine, and oil.
You will be completely satisfied and no longer
Will I make you a people held in contempt by the nations.

²⁰I will remove My armies who attack from the north far from your borders,
driving them into a parched and lonely desert.
Then I will separate them: the front line to the Dead Sea,
the rear guard into the Mediterranean Sea
with the vile stench of their rotting corpses rising up.

Surely the Eternal One has done great things!

²¹Do not fear, O land. You have been revived.
Celebrate and rejoice, for the Eternal One has done great things!
²²Do not fear, you wild beasts: You will eat again,
for the desert pastures are green again!
And so will we: the trees bear their fruit;
the fig trees and the vines produce their bounty once again.

²³People of Zion, shout with joy
and happiness in the Eternal, your God;
The drought is over; He has sent the early autumn rain as a sign of His faithfulness.
He has poured down heavy rain, autumn and spring, as before.
²⁴The threshing floors will be covered in grain;
the vats will spill over with new wine and fresh oil.

²⁵Eternal One: I will compensate you for the years
that the locusts have eaten—the swarming locusts,
The creeping locusts, the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts—^[c]
My great army that I unleashed against you.

²⁶In that day, you will eat plenty of food and always have enough,
so you will praise My name,
The Eternal One, your God who is merciful to you.
Never again will My people be shamed among the nations.
²⁷Return to Me and you will know that I live among My people Israel
and that I, the Eternal One, am your God and there is no other.
Never again will My people be shamed among the nations.

²⁸Then in those days I will pour My Spirit to all humanity;
your children will boldly and prophetically speak the word of God.
Your elders will dream dreams;
your young warriors will see visions.
²⁹No one will be left out. In those days I will offer My spirit
to all servants, both male and female.

³⁰In the heaven above and on the earth below,
I will give signs of My intervention: blood, fire, and clouds of smoke.
³¹The sun will become a void of darkness, and the moon will become blood
just before the great and dreadful day of the Eternal One arrives.

Was the day of the Eternal One wonderful to long for or horrific to dread? For Joel, it is both. Each of the five times this day is mentioned, he expresses a different expectation. In Joel 1:15 the prophet signals distressing locust invasions, in Joel 2:1 the day is filled with human invaders against Jerusalem, and in Joel 2:11 it is a stunning event. But in Joel 2:31 the outlook begins to change. Not only is the earth transformed with the heavenly rains and Spirit of God, but also the celestial bodies cease to carry out their functions of giving light and setting seasons for the earth. Both in verse 31 and in Joel 3:14, the day of the Eternal is positive for Israel but ominous for all other nations. Now the tables have been turned, and Zion is not a mountain devoured by locusts and human armies. It is a wonderful garden where the Eternal One meets constantly with His people, surrounded by abundant and perennial agriculture.

³²Then everyone who calls on the name of the Eternal One will be liberated.^[d]
Mount Zion and Jerusalem will shelter those who survive exile,
Just as the Eternal says, “Among those who survived, He will call them.”

3 Eternal One: Know that in those days and at that time
I will bring back Judah and Jerusalem from their captivity.
²I will assemble all Israel’s enemies in the valley of Jehoshaphat—My judgment.
I will judge them for how they treated My people, My legacy, Israel—
Whom they deported and exiled to the nations.
They divided My land among themselves;
³They cast lots for My people, selling them into slavery—
trading boys for prostitutes, selling young girls for a drink of wine.
⁴Tyre, Sidon, and all the districts of Philistia, what do you have against Me?
Are you trying to get back at Me?
Do you pay me back?
I will turn your wicked actions back upon your heads, fast and sure.
⁵You have taken wonderful treasures from My house, My silver and gold,
and you carried them to your own temples and palaces.
⁶You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks
to send them far away from their home without hope of return.
⁷But now, watch! I am going to awaken them to action,
and in those distant lands where you sold them
I will turn your wicked actions back upon your heads:
⁸I will sell your sons and daughters into slavery.
Now the people of Judah will be your children’s masters.
Indeed, they will sell your children to the Sabeans,
who will take them far, far away.

The Eternal One has spoken.

⁹Proclaim this among the nations: “Get ready for war.
Awaken your great warriors.
Let all the soldiers come near the valley, poised for battle.
¹⁰Hammer your sickles into swords.
Forge your pruning shears into spears.
For this final battle, even the weakling must say, ‘I am a warrior!’

¹¹“Hurry up! Join the battle, you nations all around;
gather in the valley of Jehoshaphat.”
Eternal One, march Your troops to war.

¹²Eternal One: Let the nations awaken
and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
For that is where I will come Myself and set forth judgment against
the nations who surrounded and attacked My Israel.

¹³Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe for judgment.
Come on and tread the grapes, for the winepress is full.
Indeed, the vats are overflowing with oil, for their evil is great.

¹⁴The thunder of battle goes up in the valley of decision,
and the day of the Eternal One is near that valley.
¹⁵It is time. The sun and moon have become a void of darkness;
the stars, too, lose their radiance.
¹⁶The Eternal roars from Zion;
His voice thunders from Jerusalem.
The earth and the heavens tremble before Him.
But the Eternal is a hiding place for His people,
a fortress for the Israelites.

¹⁷Eternal One: Then you will know that I am the Eternal, your God,
and I live in Zion, My sacred mountain.
Jerusalem will be My holy city;
never again will foreign invaders infiltrate it.

¹⁸On that great day, the Eternal will provide:
Sweet wine will drip down from the mountains.
Fresh milk will pour down from the hills.
Clear water will run through Judah’s ravines.
A fountain will bubble up from the Eternal’s temple
and water the arid stream bed of Shittim.
¹⁹Egypt will become a wasteland and Edom a lonely desert,
because they violently attacked the people of Judah
And murdered the innocent in Israel.
²⁰But as for Judah, it will always be full of people.

Eternal One: Jerusalem, too, will endure for generations to come.
²¹I will avenge those who were hurt, enslaved, exiled, and killed;
I will not let the guilty go free.

For the Eternal One lives in Zion.

Footnotes:

1:4 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
1:17 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
2:25 Meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
2:28–32 Acts 2:17–21; Romans 10:13

The Voice (VOICE)

Revelation 1

Prologue

1 This is the revelation of Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King: an account of visions and a heavenly journey. God granted this to Him so He would show His followers the realities that are already breaking into the world and soon will be fulfilled. Through His heavenly messenger, He revealed to His servant John signs and insight into these mysteries. ²John, in turn, gave witness to the word of God and to the glorious truth revealed about Jesus, the Anointed One, the Chosen Ruler, by carefully describing everything he saw.

³Blessings come to those who read and proclaim these words aloud; blessings come to those who listen closely and put the prophetic words recorded here into practice. The finale is approaching.

⁴I, John, to the seven churches in Asia:

May you experience God’s favor and rest in the peace that comes from the One who is, the One who was, and the One who is coming; from the seven Spirits, the Perfect Spirit, constantly before God’s throne; ⁵and from Jesus the Anointed, the Witness who is true and faithful, the first to emerge from death’s cold womb, the chosen Ruler over all the kings and rulers of the earth.

To the One who loves us and liberated us from the grip of our evil deeds through His very own blood ⁶and who established us to be His kingdom and priests for God, His Father. May glory and power be His throughout all the ages. Amen.

⁷Look! He is coming with the clouds, in glory.
He will capture every eye,
Even of those who pierced Him through.
All the nations of the earth will be pierced with grief when He appears.

Yes, may all this be done according to His plan. Amen.

Lord God: ⁸I am the Alpha and the Omega, [the very beginning and the very end,]^[a] the One who is, the One who was, and the One who is coming: the All Powerful.

⁹I, John, your brother who shares with you this journey in persecution and the establishment of the Kingdom and endurance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the ministry of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus. ¹⁰I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day (the first day of the week), and I heard a voice behind me. It sounded like the blast of a trumpet.

A Voice: ¹¹[I am the Alpha and the Omega, the very beginning and the very end.]^[b] Make a book of what you see, write it down, and send it to the seven churches [which are in Asia]^[c]: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

¹²When I turned around to see what sort of voice this was that was addressing me, I saw seven golden lampstands. ¹³And among the lampstands, I saw One like the Son of Man right in front of me dressed in a long robe. Across His chest was draped a golden sash. ¹⁴His head and hair were pure white, white as wool and white as snow; His eyes blazed like a fiery flame; ¹⁵His feet gleamed like brightly polished bronze, purified to perfection in a furnace; His voice filled the air and sounded like a roaring waterfall. ¹⁶He held seven stars in His right hand, from His mouth darted a sharp double-edged sword, and His face shone a brilliant light, like the blinding sun.

The Son of Man is none other than the risen Jesus shining in glory, moving among the lampstands.

¹⁷When I saw Him, I fell at His feet. It was as though I were dead. But He reached down and placed His right hand on me.

The One: This is not the time for fear; I am the First and the Last, ¹⁸and I am the living One. I entered the realm of the dead; but see, I am alive now and for all the ages—even ages to come. [Amen.]^[d] I possess the keys to open the prison of death and hades.

¹⁹Now write down all you have seen—all that is and all that will be. ²⁰Regarding the mystery of the seven stars you saw in My right hand and of the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the heavenly messengers who preside over the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches themselves.

Footnotes:

1:8 Most manuscripts omit this portion.
1:11 Early manuscripts omit this portion.
1:11 Most manuscripts omit this portion.
1:18 The earliest manuscripts omit “Amen.”

The Voice (VOICE)

Psalm 128

A song for those journeying to worship.

¹Those who stand in awe of the Eternal—
who follow wherever He leads, committed in their hearts—experience His blessings!
²God will use your hard work to provide you food.
You will prosper in your labor, and it will go well for you.

³Your wife will be like a healthy vine producing plenty of fruit,
a spring of life in your home.
Your children will be like young olive shoots;
you will watch them bud and bloom around your table.
⁴Such are the blessings the Eternal lavishes
on those who stand in awe of Him!

⁵May the Eternal continue to pour out His love on you,
showering down blessings from His holy mountain, Zion.
May you see Jerusalem prosper
all your days.
⁶May you have the privilege of seeing your grandchildren as they grow.
May peace flourish in Israel!

The Voice (VOICE)

Proverbs 29:18

¹⁸Where there is no vision from God, the people run wild,
but those who adhere to God’s instruction know genuine happiness.

The Voice (VOICE)

December 8, 2024

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday December 8, 2024 (NIV)

Hosea 10-14

The Lord’s Judgment against Israel

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

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

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

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

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

The Lord’s Love for Israel

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

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

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

Charges against Israel and Judah

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Lord’s Anger against Israel

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

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

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

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

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

Healing for the Repentant

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

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

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

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

Footnotes:

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

New Living Translation (NLT)

Jude

Greetings from Jude

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

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

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

The Danger of False Teachers

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Call to Remain Faithful

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

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

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

A Prayer of Praise

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

Footnotes:

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

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 127

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

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

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

New Living Translation (NLT)

Proverbs 29:15-17

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

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

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

New Living Translation (NLT)

December 7, 2024

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday December 7, 2024 (NIV)

Hosea 6-9

A Call to Repentance

6 Come, let’s return to the Lord.^(A)
For he has torn us,^(B)
and he will heal us;^(C)
he has wounded us,
and he will bind up our wounds.^(D)
²He will revive us after two days,^(E)
and on the third day he will raise us up
so we can live in his presence.^(F)
³Let’s strive to know the Lord.^(G)
His appearance is as sure as the dawn.^(H)
He will come to us like the rain,^(I)
like the spring showers that water the land.

The Lord’s First Lament

⁴What am I going to do with you, Ephraim?^(J)
What am I going to do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist^(K)
and like the early dew that vanishes.
⁵This is why I have used the prophets
to cut them down;^[a]^(L)
I have killed them with the words from my mouth.
My judgment strikes like lightning.^[b]
⁶For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God^(M) rather than burnt offerings.^(N)

⁷But they, like Adam,^[c] have violated the covenant;^(O)
there they have betrayed me.^(P)

⁸Gilead is a city of evildoers,^(Q)
tracked with bloody footprints.^(R)
⁹Like raiders who wait in ambush for someone,^(S)
a band of priests murders on the road to Shechem.^(T)
They commit atrocities.^(U)
¹⁰I have seen something horrible^(V) in the house of Israel:
Ephraim’s promiscuity is there;^(W) Israel is defiled.

¹¹A harvest is also appointed for you, Judah.^(X)
When I restore the fortunes of my people,^(Y)

7 when I heal Israel,^(Z)
the iniquity of Ephraim^(AA) and the crimes of Samaria^(AB)
will be exposed.
For they practice fraud;^(AC)
a thief breaks in;
a raiding party pillages outside.^(AD)
²But they never consider that I remember all their evil.^(AE)
Now their actions are all around them;^(AF)
they are right in front of my face.

Israel’s Corruption

³They please the king with their evil,^(AG)
the princes with their lies.^(AH)

⁴All of them commit adultery;^(AI)
they are like an oven heated by a baker
who stops stirring the fire
from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened.
⁵On the day of our king,
the princes are sick with the heat of wine^(AJ)—
there is a conspiracy with traitors.^[d]
⁶For they—their hearts like an oven—
draw him into their oven.
Their anger smolders all night;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.

⁷All of them are as hot as an oven,^(AK)
and they consume their rulers.^(AL)
All their kings fall;
not one of them calls on me.^[e]
⁸Ephraim has allowed himself to get mixed up with the nations.
Ephraim is unturned bread baked on a griddle.
⁹Foreigners consume his strength,^(AM)
but he does not notice.^(AN)
Even his hair is streaked with gray,
but he does not notice.
¹⁰Israel’s arrogance testifies against them,^[f]^(AO)
yet they do not return to the Lord their God,^(AP)
and for all this, they do not seek him.

¹¹So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove;^(AQ)
they call to Egypt,^(AR) and they go to Assyria.^(AS)
¹²As they are going, I will spread my net over them;^(AT)
I will bring them down like birds of the sky.
I will discipline them in accordance
with the news that reaches^[g] their assembly.

The Lord’s Second Lament

¹³Woe to them,^(AU) for they fled from me;^(AV)
destruction to them, for they rebelled against me!
Though I want to redeem them,^(AW)
they speak lies against me.
¹⁴They do not cry to me from their hearts;
rather, they wail on their beds.
They slash themselves^[h]^(AX) for grain and new wine;^(AY)
they turn away from me.
¹⁵I trained and strengthened their arms,^(AZ)
but they plot evil against me.^(BA)
¹⁶They turn, but not to what is above;^[i]
they are like a faulty bow.^(BB)
Their leaders will fall by the sword
because of their insolent tongue.^(BC)
They will be ridiculed for this in the land of Egypt.^(BD)

Israel’s False Hopes

8 Put the ram’s horn to your mouth!^(BE)
One like an eagle comes
against the house of the Lord,^(BF)
because they transgress my covenant^(BG)
and rebel against my law.^(BH)
²Israel cries out to me,^(BI)
“My God, we know you!”
³Israel has rejected what is good;^(BJ)
an enemy will pursue him.

⁴They have installed kings,^(BK)
but not through me.
They have appointed leaders,
but without my approval.
They make their silver and gold^(BL)
into idols for themselves
for their own destruction.^[j]
⁵Your calf-idol^[k]^(BM) is rejected, Samaria.^(BN)
My anger burns against them.
How long will they be incapable of innocence?^(BO)
⁶For this thing is from Israel—
a craftsman made it,^(BP) and it is not God.
The calf of Samaria will be smashed to bits!

⁷Indeed, they sow the wind^(BQ)
and reap the whirlwind.^(BR)
There is no standing grain;
what sprouts fails to yield flour.^(BS)
Even if they did,
foreigners would swallow it up.
⁸Israel is swallowed up!^(BT)
Now they are among the nations
like discarded pottery.^(BU)
⁹For they have gone up to Assyria^(BV)
like a wild donkey going off on its own.
Ephraim has paid for love.^(BW)
¹⁰Even though they hire lovers among the nations,
I will now round them up,
and they will begin to decrease in number^(BX)
under the burden of the king and leaders.^(BY)
¹¹When Ephraim multiplied his altars for sin,^(BZ)
they became his altars for sinning.
¹²Though I were to write out for him
ten thousand points of my instruction,^(CA)
they would be^[l] regarded as something strange.
¹³Though they offer sacrificial gifts^[m]^(CB)
and eat the flesh,^(CC)
the Lord does not accept them.
Now he will remember their guilt^(CD)
and punish their sins;^(CE)
they will return to Egypt.^(CF)
¹⁴Israel has forgotten his Maker^(CG) and built palaces;^(CH)
Judah has also multiplied fortified cities.
I will send fire on their cities,^(CI)
and it will consume their citadels.

The Coming Exile

9 Israel, do not rejoice jubilantly as the nations do,^(CJ)
for you have acted promiscuously,^(CK) leaving your God.
You love the wages of a prostitute
on every grain-threshing floor.^(CL)
²Threshing floor and wine vat will not sustain them,^(CM)
and the new wine will fail them.
³They will not stay in the land of the Lord.
Instead, Ephraim will return to Egypt,^(CN)
and they will eat unclean food^(CO) in Assyria.^(CP)
⁴They will not pour out
their wine offerings to the Lord,^(CQ)
and their sacrifices will not please him.
Their food will be like the bread of mourners;
all who eat it become defiled.^(CR)
For their bread will be for their appetites alone;
it will not enter the house of the Lord.
⁵What will you do on a festival day,^(CS)
on the day of the Lord’s feast?^(CT)
⁶For even if they flee from devastation,
Egypt will gather them, and Memphis will bury them.^(CU)
Thistles will take possession of their precious silver;
thorns will invade their tents.^(CV)
⁷The days of punishment have come;^(CW)
the days of retribution have come.^(CX)
Let Israel recognize it!
The prophet is a fool,^(CY)
and the inspired man is insane,^(CZ)
because of the magnitude
of your iniquity and hostility.^(DA)
⁸Ephraim’s watchman is with my God.
Yet the prophet encounters a bird trap
on all his pathways.^(DB)
Hostility is in the house of his God!
⁹They have deeply corrupted themselves^(DC)
as in the days of Gibeah.^(DD)
He will remember their iniquity;
he will punish their sins.^(DE)

Ephraim Bereaved of Offspring

¹⁰I discovered Israel
like grapes in the wilderness.^(DF)
I saw your ancestors
like the first fruit of the fig tree in its first season.^(DG)
But they went to Baal-peor,^(DH)
consecrated themselves to Shame,^[n]^(DI)
and became abhorrent,^(DJ)
like the thing they loved.
¹¹Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird:^(DK)
no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.^(DL)
¹²Even if they raise children,
I will bereave them of each one.
Yes, woe to them when I depart from them!^(DM)
¹³I have seen Ephraim like Tyre,^(DN)
planted in a meadow,
so Ephraim will bring out his children
to the executioner.
¹⁴Give them, Lord—
What should you give?
Give them a womb that miscarries
and breasts that are dry!^(DO)

¹⁵All their evil appears at Gilgal,^(DP)
for there I began to hate them.
I will drive them from my house
because of their evil, wicked actions.^(DQ)
I will no longer love them;
all their leaders are rebellious.^(DR)
¹⁶Ephraim^(DS) is struck down;
their roots are withered;
they cannot bear fruit.^(DT)
Even if they bear children,
I will kill the precious offspring of their wombs.^(DU)
¹⁷My God will reject them
because they have not listened to him;^(DV)
they will become wanderers among the nations.^(DW)

Footnotes:

6:5 Or have cut down the prophets
6:5 LXX, Syr, Tg; MT reads Your judgments go out as light
6:7 Or they, as at Adam, or they, like men,
7:5 Lit wine—he stretches out his hand to scorners; Hb obscure
7:3–7 These vv. may refer to a king’s assassination; Hb obscure.
7:10 Lit against his face
7:12 Lit news to
7:14 Some Hb mss, LXX; other Hb mss read They stay
7:16 Some emend to turn to what is useless
8:4 Lit themselves that it might be cut off
8:5 Lit calf
8:12 Or Though I wrote out... instruction, they are
8:13 Hb obscure
9:10 = Baal

Cross references:

6:1 : Jr 50:4–5
6:1 : Hs 5:14
6:1 : Hs 14:4
6:1 : Is 30:26
6:2 : Ps 30:5
6:2 : Dt 32:39
6:3 : Is 2:3; Mc 4:2
6:3 : Ps 19:6; Mc 5:2
6:3 : Jl 2:23
6:4 : Hs 7:1; 11:8
6:4 : Ps 78:34–37
6:5 : 1Sm 15:32–33; Jr 1:10,18; 5:14
6:6 : Hs 4:1
6:6 : Mt 9:13; 12:7
6:7 : Hs 8:1
6:7 : Hs 5:7
6:8 : Hs 12:11
6:8 : Hs 4:2
6:9 : Hs 7:1
6:9 : Jr 7:9–10; Hs 4:2
6:9 : Ezk 22:9; 23:27; Hs 2:10
6:10 : Jr 5:30–31; 23:14
6:10 : Hs 5:3
6:11 : Jr 51:33; Jl 3:13
6:11 : Zph 2:7
7:1 : Ezk 24:13; Hs 6:4; 7:13; 11:8
7:1 : Hs 5:3
7:1 : Hs 8:5–6; 10:5,7; 13:16
7:1 : Hs 4:2
7:1 : Hs 6:9
7:2 : Ps 25:7; Jr 14:10; 17:1; Am 8:7
7:2 : Jr 2:19; 4:18; Hs 4:9
7:3 : Jr 28:1–4; Mc 7:3
7:3 : Hs 4:2; 11:12
7:4 : Jr 9:2; 23:10
7:5 : Is 28:1,7–8
7:7 : Ps 21:9
7:7 : Hs 13:10
7:9 : Is 1:7
7:9 : Hs 4:6
7:10 : Hs 5:5
7:10 : Hs 5:4
7:11 : Hs 4:6,11,14; 5:4
7:11 : Hs 8:13; 9:3,6
7:11 : Hs 5:13; 8:9; 12:1
7:12 : Ezk 12:13
7:13 : Hs 9:12
7:13 : Jr 14:10; Hs 9:17
7:13 : Jr 51:9; Hs 7:1; Mt 23:37
7:14 : 1Kg 18:28
7:14 : Am 2:8
7:15 : Hs 11:3
7:15 : Nah 1:9
7:16 : Ps 78:57
7:16 : Ps 12:3–4; 17:10; Dn 7:25; Mal 3:13–14
7:16 : Ezk 23:32
8:1 : Hs 5:8
8:1 : Dt 28:49
8:1 : Hs 6:7
8:1 : Hs 4:6; 8:12
8:2 : Hs 7:14
8:3 : Hs 3:5
8:4 : Hs 13:10–11
8:4 : Hs 2:8; 13:1–2
8:5 : Hs 10:5; 13:2
8:5 : 1Kg 12:28–29; Hs 7:1
8:5 : Ps 19:13; Jr 13:27
8:6 : Hs 13:2
8:7 : Hs 10:13
8:7 : Is 66:15; Nah 1:3
8:7 : Hs 2:9
8:8 : Jr 51:34
8:8 : Jr 25:34; Hs 13:15
8:9 : Hs 7:11
8:9 : Ezk 16:33
8:10 : Jr 42:2
8:10 : Is 10:8
8:11 : Hs 10:1; 12:11
8:12 : Hs 4:6
8:13 : Hs 5:6; 9:4
8:13 : Jr 6:20; 7:21
8:13 : Hs 7:2; Lk 12:2; 1Co 4:5
8:13 : Hs 4:9; 9:7
8:13 : Hs 9:3,6
8:14 : Hs 2:13; 4:6; 13:6
8:14 : Is 9:9–10
8:14 : Jr 17:27
9:1 : Is 22:12–13; Hs 10:5
9:1 : Hs 4:12
9:1 : Hs 7:14
9:2 : Hs 2:9
9:3 : Hs 7:16; 8:13
9:3 : Ezk 4:13
9:3 : Hs 11:7
9:4 : Nm 15:5,7,10
9:4 : Nm 19:11–14; Dt 26:12–14; Jr 16:5–7
9:5 : Is 10:3; Jr 5:31
9:5 : Hs 2:11; Jl 1:13
9:6 : Is 19:13; Jr 2:16; 44:1; 46:14,19; Ezk 30:13,16
9:6 : Is 5:6; 7:23; Hs 10:8
9:7 : Is 10:3; Jr 10:15; Mc 7:4
9:7 : Is 34:8; Jr 16:18; 25:14
9:7 : Lm 2:14
9:7 : Is 44:25
9:7 : Ezk 14:9–10
9:8 : Pr 29:5–6; Hs 5:1
9:9 : Is 31:6
9:9 : Jdg 19–21; Hs 5:8; 10:9
9:9 : Hs 7:2; 8:13
9:10 : Mc 7:1
9:10 : Jr 24:2
9:10 : Nm 25:1–9
9:10 : Jr 11:13; Hs 4:18
9:10 : Ezk 20:8
9:11 : Hs 4:7; 10:4
9:11 : Hs 4:10
9:12 : Hs 7:13
9:13 : Ezk 27:3–4
9:14 : Gn 49:25
9:15 : Hs 4:15; 12:11
9:15 : Hs 4:9; 7:2; 12:2
9:15 : Hs 5:2
9:16 : Hs 5:11
9:16 : Hs 8:7
9:16 : Ezk 24:21
9:17 : Hs 4:10
9:17 : Hs 7:13

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.

3 John

Greeting

¹The elder:^(A)

To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.^(B)

²Dear friend, I pray that you are prospering in every way and are in good health,^(C) just as your whole life is going well.^[a] ³For I was very glad when fellow believers came and testified^(D) to your fidelity to the truth—how you are walking in truth.^(E) ⁴I have no greater joy^(F) than this: to hear that my children^(G) are walking in truth.

Gaius Commended

⁵Dear friend, you are acting faithfully in whatever you do for the brothers and sisters, especially when they are strangers. ⁶They have testified to your love before the church.^(H) You will do well to send them on their journey^(I) in a manner worthy of God,^(J) ⁷since they set out for the sake of the Name,^(K) accepting nothing from pagans.^[b]^(L) ⁸Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can be coworkers with the truth.

Diotrephes and Demetrius

⁹I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have first place among them,^(M) does not receive our authority.^(N) ¹⁰This is why, if I come, I will remind him of the works he is doing, slandering^(O) us with malicious words. And he is not satisfied with that! He not only refuses to welcome fellow believers, but he even stops those who want to do so and expels them from the church.

¹¹Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil,^(P) but what is good. The one who does good is of God;^(Q) the one who does evil has not seen God.^(R) ¹²Everyone speaks well of Demetrius—even the truth itself. And we also speak well of him, and you know^(S) that our testimony is true.^(T)

Farewell

¹³I have many things to write you, but I don’t want to write to you with pen and ink. ¹⁴I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

¹⁵Peace to you. The friends send you greetings. Greet the friends by name.

Footnotes:

2 Or as your soul prospers
7 Or Gentiles

Cross references:

1 : 2Jn 1
1 : Jn 14:6; 1Jn 5:20
2 : 1Tm 1:10
3 : Jn 15:26; Ac 26:5
3 : 2Jn 4
4 : Jn 15:11
4 : 1Co 4:14; Gl 4:19; Php 2:22
6 : Mt 16:18; 1Co 14:4; Rv 1:4
6 : Ac 15:3; 20:38; 21:5; Rm 15:24; 1Co 16:6; 2Co 1:16; Ti 3:13
6 : 1Co 10:31; 1Th 2:12
7 : Jn 10:25; Ac 15:14; Rv 14:1
7 : 1Co 9:15–18
9 : Mt 20:25–28; 23:5–12; Col 1:18; 1Pt 5:2–3; 2Jn 9
9 : Ac 18:27; Rm 16:1–2; 2Co 3:1
10 : 1Tm 5:13
11 : 1Pt 3:17
11 : 1Jn 4:4
11 : Ex 33:20
12 : 1Jn 2:20–21
12 : Jn 21:24

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Psalm 126

Zion’s Restoration

A song of ascents.

¹When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,^[a]
we were like those who dream.^(A)
²Our mouths were filled with laughter then,^(B)
and our tongues with shouts of joy.^(C)
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”^(D)
³The Lord had done great things for us;
we were joyful.^(E)

⁴Restore our fortunes,^[b] Lord,
like watercourses in the Negev.^(F)
⁵Those who sow in tears
will reap with shouts of joy.^(G)
⁶Though one goes along weeping,
carrying the bag of seed,
he will surely come back with shouts of joy,
carrying his sheaves.^(H)

Footnotes:

126:1 Or Lord returned those of Zion who had been captives
126:4 Or Return our captives

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Proverbs 29:12-14

¹²If a ruler listens to lies,^(A)
all his officials will be wicked.

¹³The poor and the oppressor have this in common:^[a]
the Lord gives light to the eyes of both.^(B)

¹⁴A king who judges the poor with fairness—
his throne will be established forever.^(C)

Footnotes:

29:13 Lit oppressor meet

Cross references:

29:12 : 1Kg 22:8,21–23
29:13 : Pr 22:2
29:14 : Ps 72:4; Pr 16:12; 25:5; Is 11:4

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

December 6, 2024

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday December 6, 2024 (NIV)

Hosea 4-5

God’s Case against Israel

4 Hear the word of the Lord,^(A) people of Israel,
for the Lord has a case^(B)
against the inhabitants of the land:
There is no truth,^(C) no faithful love,^(D)
and no knowledge of God^(E) in the land!
²Cursing,^(F) lying,^(G) murder,^(H) stealing,^(I)
and adultery^(J) are rampant;
one act of bloodshed follows another.^(K)
³For this reason the land mourns,^(L)
and everyone who lives in it languishes,
along with the wild animals^(M) and the birds of the sky;
even the fish of the sea disappear.^(N)
⁴But let no one dispute;^(O) let no one argue,
for my case is against you priests.^[a]^[b]^(P)
⁵You will stumble by day;^(Q)
the prophet will also stumble with you by night.
And I will destroy your mother.^(R)
⁶My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.^(S)
Because you have rejected knowledge,^(T)
I will reject you^(U) from serving as my priest.
Since you have forgotten the law of your God,^(V)
I will also forget your sons.

⁷The more they multiplied,^(W)
the more they sinned against me.
I^[c] will change their^[d] honor into disgrace.^(X)
⁸They feed on the sin^[e] of my people;^(Y)
they have an appetite for their iniquity.^(Z)
⁹The same judgment will happen
to both people and priests.^(AA)
I will punish them for their ways^(AB)
and repay them for their deeds.
¹⁰They will eat but not be satisfied;^(AC)
they will be promiscuous^(AD) but not multiply.
For they have abandoned their devotion to the Lord.^(AE)
¹¹Promiscuity,^(AF) wine, and new wine
take away one’s understanding.^(AG)

¹²My people consult their wooden idols,^(AH)
and their divining rods inform them.
For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray;^(AI)
they act promiscuously^(AJ)
in disobedience to^[f] their God.
¹³They sacrifice on the mountaintops,^(AK)
and they burn offerings on the hills,^(AL)
and under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,^(AM)
because their shade is pleasant.
And so your daughters act promiscuously
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
¹⁴I will not punish your daughters
when they act promiscuously
or your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
for the men themselves go off with prostitutes^(AN)
and make sacrifices with cult prostitutes.^(AO)
People without discernment are doomed.^(AP)

Warnings for Israel and Judah

¹⁵Israel, if you act promiscuously,
don’t let Judah become guilty!
Do not go to Gilgal^(AQ)
or make a pilgrimage to Beth-aven,^[g]^(AR)
and do not swear an oath: As the Lord lives!^(AS)
¹⁶For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn cow.^(AT)
Can the Lord now shepherd them
like a lamb in an open meadow?^(AU)
¹⁷Ephraim is attached to idols;^(AV)
leave him alone!^(AW)
¹⁸When their drinking is over,
they turn to promiscuity.
Israel’s leaders^[h] fervently love disgrace.^[i]
¹⁹A wind with its wings will carry them off,^[j]^(AX)
and they will be ashamed of their sacrifices.

5 Hear this, priests!^(AY)
Pay attention, house of Israel!
Listen, royal house!
For the judgment applies to you
because you have been a snare at Mizpah^(AZ)
and a net spread out on Tabor.
²Rebels^(BA) are deeply involved in slaughter;^(BB)
I will be a punishment for all of them.^[k]
³I know Ephraim,^(BC)
and Israel is not hidden from me.
For now, Ephraim,^(BD)
you have acted promiscuously;
Israel is defiled.
⁴Their actions do not allow them
to return to their God,^(BE)
for a spirit of promiscuity is among them,^(BF)
and they do not know the Lord.^(BG)
⁵Israel’s arrogance testifies against them.^[l]^(BH)
Both Israel and Ephraim stumble
because of their iniquity;^(BI)
even Judah will stumble with them.^(BJ)
⁶They go with their flocks and herds
to seek the Lord^(BK)
but do not find him;^(BL)
he has withdrawn from them.^(BM)
⁷They betrayed the Lord;^(BN)
indeed, they gave birth to illegitimate children.^(BO)
Now the New Moon^(BP) will devour them
along with their fields.^(BQ)

⁸Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah,^(BR)
the trumpet in Ramah;^(BS)
raise the war cry in Beth-aven:^(BT)
Look behind you,^[m] Benjamin!^(BU)
⁹Ephraim will become a desolation^(BV)
on the day of punishment;^(BW)
I announce what is certain
among the tribes of Israel.^(BX)
¹⁰The princes of Judah are like those
who move boundary markers;^(BY)
I will pour out my fury^(BZ) on them like water.^(CA)
¹¹Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment,^(CB)
for he is determined to follow what is worthless.^[n]
¹²So I am like rot to Ephraim^(CC)
and like decay to the house of Judah.
¹³When Ephraim saw his sickness
and Judah his wound,
Ephraim went to Assyria^(CD)
and sent a delegation to the great king.^[o]^(CE)
But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.^(CF)
¹⁴For I am like a lion to Ephraim^(CG)
and like a young lion to the house of Judah.
Yes, I will tear them to pieces and depart.^(CH)
I will carry them off,
and no one can rescue them.^(CI)
¹⁵I will depart and return to my place
until they recognize their guilt and seek my face;^(CJ)
they will search for me in their distress.^(CK)

Footnotes:

4:4 Text emended; MT reads argue, and your people are like those contending with a priest
4:4 Hb obscure
4:7 Alt Hb tradition, Syr, Tg read They
4:7 Alt Hb tradition reads my
4:8 Or sin offerings
4:12 Lit promiscuously from under
4:15 = House of Wickedness
4:18 Lit Her shields; Ps 47:9; 89:18
4:18 Hb obscure
4:19 Lit wind will bind it in its wings
5:2 Hb obscure
5:5 Lit against his face
5:8 Or We will follow you
5:11 Or follow a command; Hb obscure
5:13 Or to King Yareb

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

2 John

Greeting

¹The elder:

To the elect^(A) lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not only I, but also all who know the truth^(B)— ²because of the truth that remains in us^(C) and will be with us forever.

³Grace, mercy, and peace^(D) will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son^(E) of the Father, in truth and love.^(F)

Truth and Deception

⁴I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth,^(G) in keeping with a command we have received from the Father. ⁵So now I ask you, dear lady—not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.^(H) ⁶This is love:^(I) that we walk according to his commands.^(J) This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: that you walk in love.^[a]

⁷Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.^(K) This is the deceiver and the antichrist.^(L) ⁸Watch yourselves so that you don’t lose what we^[b] have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward.^(M) ⁹Anyone who does not remain in Christ’s teaching^(N) but goes beyond it does not have God.^(O) The one who remains^(P) in that teaching, this one has both the Father^(Q) and the Son.^(R) ¹⁰If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive^(S) him into your home, and do not greet him; ¹¹for the one who greets him shares^(T) in his evil works.^(U)

Farewell

¹²Though I have many things to write to you,^(V) I don’t want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that our joy^(W) may be complete.

¹³The children of your elect sister send you greetings.

Footnotes:

6 Or in it
8 Other mss read you

Cross references:

1 : Rm 16:13; 1Pt 5:13; 2Jn 13
1 : Jn 8:32; 14:6; 1Tm 2:4
2 : 1Jn 1:8
3 : 1Tm 1:2; 2Tm 1:2
3 : Heb 1:2
3 : 1Jn 4:12
4 : 3Jn 3–4
5 : 1Jn 3:11
6 : 1Jn 2:5; 5:3
6 : Ps 103:18; Mk 7:8; Jn 14:15,21,23; 15:10
7 : Php 3:3
7 : 1Jn 2:18,22; 4:3
8 : 2Pt 2:13
9 : Jn 8:31–32; 1Jn 2:21–23,27
9 : Jn 5:12; 8:41; 1Jn 2:23
9 : Jn 15:4–16
9 : Mt 11:27
9 : Heb 1:2; 1Jn 2:23
10 : Jn 1:12; 6:21; 13:20
11 : 1Tm 5:22
11 : Eph 5:11; 1Tm 5:22; Jd 23
12 : 3Jn 13
12 : Jn 15:11

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Psalm 125

Israel’s Stability

A song of ascents.

¹Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion.
It cannot be shaken; it remains forever.^(A)
²The mountains surround Jerusalem
and the Lord surrounds his people,
both now and forever.^(B)

³The scepter of the wicked will not remain
over the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous will not apply their hands to injustice.^(C)
⁴Do what is good, Lord, to the good,
to those whose hearts are upright.^(D)
⁵But as for those who turn aside to crooked ways,
the Lord will banish them with the evildoers.^(E)
Peace be with Israel.^(F)

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Proverbs 29:9-11

⁹If a wise person goes to court with a fool,
there will be ranting and raving but no resolution.^[a]^(A)

¹⁰Bloodthirsty men hate an honest person,^(B)
but the upright care about him.^[b]

¹¹A fool gives full vent to his anger,^[c]^(C)
but a wise person holds it in check.^(D)

Footnotes:

29:9 Lit rest
29:10 Or person, and seek the life of the upright
29:11 Lit spirit

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

December 5, 2024

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday December 5, 2024 (NIV)

Hosea 1-3

1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah,^(A) Jotham,^(B) Ahaz,^(C) and Hezekiah,^(D) kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam^(E) son of Jehoash, king of Israel.

Hosea’s Marriage and Children

²When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, he said this to him:

Go and marry a woman of promiscuity,^(F)
and have children of promiscuity,
for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity
by abandoning the Lord.

³So he went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.^(G) ⁴Then the Lord said to him:

Name him Jezreel,^[a]^(H) for in a little while
I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel^(I)
on the house of Jehu^(J)
and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
⁵On that day I will break the bow of Israel^(K)
in Jezreel Valley.^(L)

⁶She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, and the Lord said to him:

Name her Lo-ruhamah,^[b]
for I will no longer have compassion
on the house of Israel.
I will certainly take them away.
⁷But I will have compassion on the house of Judah,^(M)
and I will deliver them by the Lord their God.^(N)
I will not deliver them by bow, sword, or war,
or by horses and cavalry.^(O)

⁸After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. ⁹Then the Lord said:

Name him Lo-ammi,^[c]
for you are not my people,
and I will not be your God.^[d]^(P)
¹⁰Yet the number of the Israelites
will be like the sand of the sea,^(Q)
which cannot be measured or counted.
And in the place where they were told:
You are not my people,
they will be called: Sons of the living God.^(R)
¹¹And the Judeans and the Israelites
will be gathered together.^(S)
They will appoint for themselves a single ruler^(T)
and go up from^[e] the land.
For the day of Jezreel^(U) will be great.
2 Call^[f] your brothers: My People
and your sisters: Compassion.

Israel’s Adultery Rebuked

²Rebuke your mother; rebuke her.^(V)
For she is not my wife and I am not her husband.^(W)
Let her remove the promiscuous look from her face^(X)
and her adultery from between her breasts.
³Otherwise, I will strip her naked^(Y)
and expose her as she was on the day of her birth.
I will make her like a desert^(Z)
and like a parched land,
and I will let her die of thirst.^(AA)
⁴I will have no compassion on her children^(AB)
because they are the children of promiscuity.
⁵Yes, their mother is promiscuous;
she conceived them and acted shamefully.^(AC)
For she thought, “I will follow my lovers,^(AD)
the men who give me my food and water,
my wool and flax, my oil and drink.”^(AE)
⁶Therefore, this is what I will do:
I will block her^[g] way^(AF) with thorns;^(AG)
I will enclose her with a wall,
so that she cannot find her paths.^(AH)
⁷She will pursue her lovers but not catch them;^(AI)
she will look for them but not find them.
Then she will think,
“I will go back to my former husband,^(AJ)
for then it was better for me than now.”^(AK)
⁸She does not recognize^(AL)
that it is I who gave her the grain,^(AM)
the new wine, and the fresh oil.
I lavished silver and gold on her,
which they used for Baal.
⁹Therefore, I will take back my grain in its time^(AN)
and my new wine in its season;
I will take away my wool and linen,
which were to cover her nakedness.
¹⁰Now I will expose her shame^(AO)
in the sight of her lovers,
and no one will rescue her from my power.
¹¹I will put an end to all her celebrations:^(AP)
her feasts,^(AQ) New Moons,^(AR) and Sabbaths—
all her festivals.
¹²I will devastate her vines and fig trees.^(AS)
She thinks that these are her wages
that her lovers have given her.
I will turn them into a thicket,^(AT)
and the wild animals will eat them.^(AU)
¹³And I will punish her for the days of the Baals,^(AV)
to which she burned incense.^(AW)
She put on her rings and her jewelry^(AX)
and followed her lovers,
but she forgot me.^(AY)

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Israel’s Adultery Forgiven

¹⁴Therefore, I am going to persuade her,
lead her to the wilderness,^(AZ)
and speak tenderly to her.^[h]
¹⁵There I will give her vineyards back to her^(BA)
and make the Valley of Achor^[i]^(BB)
into a gateway of hope.
There she will respond as she did
in the days of her youth,^(BC)
as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.
¹⁶In that day—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you will call me “my husband”^(BD)
and no longer call me “my Baal.”^[j]
¹⁷For I will remove the names of the Baals
from her mouth;
they will no longer be remembered by their names.
¹⁸On that day I will make a covenant for them
with the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and the creatures that crawl on the ground.^(BE)
I will shatter bow, sword,
and weapons of war in the land^[k]^(BF)
and will enable the people to rest securely.^(BG)
¹⁹I will take you to be my wife forever.^(BH)
I will take you to be my wife in righteousness,
justice, love, and compassion.^(BI)
²⁰I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness,
and you will know the Lord.^(BJ)
²¹On that day I will respond^(BK)—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
I will respond to the sky,
and it will respond to the earth.
²²The earth will respond to the grain,^(BL)
the new wine, and the fresh oil,
and they will respond to Jezreel.
²³I will sow her^[l] in the land for myself,^(BM)
and I will have compassion^(BN)
on Lo-ruhamah;
I will say to Lo-ammi:^(BO)
You are my people,^(BP)
and he will say, “You are my God.”

Waiting for Restoration

3 Then the Lord said to me, “Go again; show love to a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress,^(BQ) just as the Lord loves the Israelites though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”^(BR)

²So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and nine bushels of barley.^[m]^[n]^(BS) ³I said to her, “You are to live with me many days. You must not be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you.”

⁴For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince,^(BT) without sacrifice^(BU) or sacred pillar,^(BV) and without ephod^(BW) or household idols.^(BX) ⁵Afterward, the people of Israel will return^(BY) and seek the Lord their God and David their king.^(BZ) They will come with awe to the Lord^(CA) and to his goodness in the last days.

Footnotes:

1:4 = God Sows
1:6 = No Compassion
1:9 = Not My People
1:9 Lit not be yours
1:11 Or and flourish in; Hb obscure
2:1 Lit Say to
2:6 LXX, Syr; MT reads your
2:14 Lit speak to her heart
2:15 = Trouble
2:16 Or my master
2:18 Or war on the earth
2:23 = Israel
3:2 LXX reads barley and a measure of wine
3:2 Lit silver, a homer of barley, and a lethek of barley

Cross references:

1:1 : 2Ch 26:1–23; Is 1:1; Am 1:1
1:1 : 2Kg 15:5; 2Ch 27:1–9
1:1 : 2Kg 16:1–20; 2Ch 28:1–27; Is 1:1; 7:1–17; Mc 1:1
1:1 : 2Kg 18:1–20:21; 2Ch 29:1–32:33; Mc 1:1
1:1 : 2Kg 13:13; 14:23–29; Am 1:1
1:2 : Hs 3:1
1:3 : Ezk 23:4
1:4 : Hs 2:22
1:4 : 2Kg 9:24–10:11
1:4 : 2Kg 9:7; 10:30; 15:10
1:5 : Gn 49:24; Jb 29:20; Jr 49:35
1:5 : Jos 17:16; Jdg 6:33
1:7 : Is 30:18
1:7 : Jr 25:5–6; Zch 9:9–10
1:7 : Ps 44:3–7
1:9 : Ex 6:7; Lv 26:12; Jr 7:23; 11:4; 30:22; Ezk 36:28
1:10 : Gn 22:17; Jr 33:22
1:10 : Rm 9:25–27
1:11 : Jr 23:5–6; 50:4–5; Ezk 37:18–25; Hs 3:5
1:11 : Jr 30:21; Hs 3:5
1:11 : Ezk 36:9–11
2:2 : Ezk 23:45
2:2 : Is 50:1
2:2 : Jr 3:1,9,13
2:3 : Ezk 16:7,22,39
2:3 : Is 32:13–14; Hs 13:15
2:3 : Jr 14:3; Am 8:11–13
2:4 : Jr 13:14
2:5 : Is 1:21; Hs 3:1
2:5 : Jr 2:25
2:5 : Jr 44:17–18
2:6 : Jb 19:8
2:6 : Hs 9:6; 10:8
2:6 : Jr 18:15
2:7 : Hs 5:13
2:7 : Jr 2:2; 3:1; Ezk 16:8; 23:4
2:7 : Jr 14:22; Hs 13:6
2:8 : Is 1:3
2:8 : Ezk 16:19
2:9 : Hs 8:7; 9:2
2:10 : Ezk 16:37
2:11 : Jr 7:34; 16:9
2:11 : Hs 3:4; Am 5:21; 8:10
2:11 : Is 1:13–14
2:12 : Jr 5:17; 8:13
2:12 : Ps 80:12; Is 5:5; 7:23
2:12 : Is 32:13–15
2:13 : Hs 4:13; 11:2
2:13 : Jr 7:9
2:13 : Ezk 16:12,17; 23:40
2:13 : Hs 4:6; 8:14; 13:6
2:14 : Ezk 20:33–38
2:15 : Ezk 28:25–26
2:15 : Jos 7:26
2:15 : Jr 2:1–3
2:16 : Is 54:5
2:18 : Jb 5:23; Is 11:6–9; Ezk 34:25
2:18 : Ezk 39:1–10
2:18 : Ezk 34:25
2:19 : Is 62:4–5
2:19 : Is 1:27; 54:6–8
2:20 : Hs 6:6; 13:4
2:21 : Is 55:10; Zch 8:12; Mal 3:10–11
2:22 : Jr 31:12; Jl 2:19
2:23 : Jr 31:37
2:23 : Hs 1:6
2:23 : Hs 1:9
2:23 : Hs 2:1; Rm 9:25
3:1 : Hs 1:2
3:1 : 2Sm 6:19; 1Ch 16:3; Sg 2:5
3:2 : Ru 4:10
3:4 : Hs 13:10–11
3:4 : Dn 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Hs 2:11
3:4 : Hs 10:1–2
3:4 : Ex 28:4–12; 1Sm 23:9–12
3:4 : Gn 31:19,34; Jdg 17:5; 18:14,17
3:5 : Jr 50:4–5
3:5 : Is 11:1–10; Jr 23:5–6; 33:15–16; Ezk 34:24; Rm 11:23
3:5 : Jr 31:9

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

1 John 5

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God,^(A) and everyone who loves the Father^[a] also loves the one born of him. ²This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey^[b] his commands. ³For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden,^(B) ⁴because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.

The Certainty of God’s Testimony

⁵Who is the one who conquers the world^(C) but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?^(D) ⁶Jesus Christ—he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water^(E) and by blood.^(F) And the Spirit is the one who testifies,^(G) because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷For there are three that testify:^[c]^(H) ⁸the Spirit,^(I) the water, and the blood^(J)—and these three are in agreement. ⁹If we accept human testimony, God’s testimony^(K) is greater, because it is God’s testimony that he has given about his Son. ¹⁰The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar,^(L) because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about his Son. ¹¹And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹²The one who has the Son has life.^(M) The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life. ¹³I have written these things to you who believe in the name^(N) of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Effective Prayer

¹⁴This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask^(O) anything according to his will, he hears us.^(P) ¹⁵And if we know that he hears whatever we ask,^(Q) we know that we have what we have asked of him.^(R)

¹⁶If anyone sees a fellow believer^[d] committing a sin that doesn’t lead to death, he should ask, and God will give life to him—to those who commit sin that doesn’t lead to death. There is sin^[e] that leads to death. I am not saying he should pray about that. ¹⁷All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin that doesn’t lead to death.

Conclusion

¹⁸We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the one who is born of God keeps him,^[f]^(S) and the evil one does not touch him. ¹⁹We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one. ²⁰And we know that the Son of God has come^(T) and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one.^[g] We are in the true one—that is, in his Son, Jesus Christ.^(U) He is the true God and eternal life.

²¹Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

Footnotes:

5:1 Or loves the one who has given birth
5:2 Other mss read keep
5:7–8 A few late Gk mss and some late Vg mss add testify in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. ⁸And there are three who bear witness on earth:
5:16 Lit sees his brother or sister
5:16 Or is a sin
5:18 Other mss read himself
5:20 Other mss read the true God

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Psalm 124

The Lord Is on Our Side

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel say—
²if the Lord had not been on our side^(A)
when people attacked us,^(B)
³then they would have swallowed us alive
in their burning anger against us.^(C)
⁴Then the water would have engulfed us;
the torrent would have swept over us;
⁵the raging water would have swept over us.^(D)

⁶Blessed be the Lord,
who has not let us be ripped apart by their teeth.^(E)
⁷We have escaped like a bird from the hunter’s net;
the net is torn, and we have escaped.^(F)
⁸Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.^(G)

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Proverbs 29:5-8

⁵A person who flatters his neighbor
spreads a net for his feet.^(A)

⁶An evil person is caught by sin,^(B)
but the righteous one sings and rejoices.^(C)

⁷The righteous person knows the rights^[a] of the poor,^(D)
but the wicked one does not understand these concerns.

⁸Mockers inflame a city,^(E)
but the wise turn away anger.

Footnotes:

29:7 Lit justice

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

December 4, 2024

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday December 4, 2024 (NIV)

Daniel 11:36-12:13

³⁶“Then the king will do whatever he wants.^(A) He will exalt and magnify himself above every god,^(B) and he will say outrageous things against the God of gods.^(C) He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed,^(D) because what has been decreed will be accomplished. ³⁷He will not show regard for the gods^[a] of his ancestors, the god desired by women, or for any other god,^(E) because he will magnify himself above all. ³⁸Instead, he will honor a god of fortresses—a god his ancestors did not know—with gold, silver, precious stones, and riches. ³⁹He will deal with the strongest fortresses with the help of a foreign god. He will greatly honor those who acknowledge him,^[b] making them rulers over many and distributing land as a reward.

⁴⁰“At the time of the end, the king of the South will engage him in battle, but the king of the North will storm against him^(F) with chariots, horsemen, and many ships. He will invade countries and sweep through them like a flood.^(G) ⁴¹He will also invade the beautiful land,^(H) and many will fall. But these will escape from his power: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people^[c] of the Ammonites.^(I) ⁴²He will extend his power against the countries, and not even the land of Egypt will escape. ⁴³He will get control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the riches of Egypt. The Libyans and Cushites will also be in submission.^[d]^(J) ⁴⁴But reports from the east^(K) and the north will terrify him, and he will go out with great fury to annihilate and completely destroy many. ⁴⁵He will pitch his royal tents between the sea and^[e] the beautiful holy mountain,^(L) but he will meet his end with no one to help him.

12 At that time
Michael,^(M) the great prince
who stands watch over your people, will rise up.
There will be a time of distress^(N)
such as never has occurred^(O)
since nations came into being until that time.^(P)
But at that time all your people
who are found written in the book^(Q) will escape.^(R)
²Many who sleep in the dust^(S)
of the earth will awake,
some to eternal life,^(T)
and some to disgrace and eternal contempt.^(U)
³Those who have insight will shine
like the bright expanse of the heavens,^(V)
and those who lead many to righteousness,^(W)
like the stars forever and ever.

⁴“But you, Daniel, keep these words secret^(X) and seal the book^(Y) until the time of the end.^(Z) Many will roam about,^(AA) and knowledge will increase.”^[f]

⁵Then I, Daniel, looked, and two others were standing there, one on this bank of the river and one on the other. ⁶One of them said to the man dressed in linen,^(AB) who was above the water of the river,^(AC) “How long until the end^(AD) of these wondrous things?” ⁷Then I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the water of the river. He raised both his hands^[g]^(AE) toward heaven and swore by him who lives eternally^(AF) that it would be for a time, times, and half a time.^(AG) When the power of the holy people is shattered, all these things will be completed.

⁸I heard but did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?” ^(AH)

⁹He said, “Go on your way, Daniel, for the words are secret^(AI) and sealed until the time of the end.^(AJ) ¹⁰Many will be purified,^(AK) cleansed, and refined,^(AL) but the wicked will act wickedly;^(AM) none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.^(AN) ¹¹From the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation^(AO) is set up,^(AP) there will be 1,290 days. ¹²Happy is the one who waits^(AQ) for and reaches 1,335 days. ¹³But as for you, go on your way to the end;^[h] you will rest, and then you will rise^[i] to receive^(AR) your allotted inheritance at the end of the days.”

Footnotes:

11:37 Or God
11:39 Or those he acknowledges
11:41 Lit the first
11:43 Lit Cushites at his steps
11:45 Or the seas at
12:4 LXX reads and the earth will be filled with unrighteousness
12:7 Lit raised his right and his left
12:13 LXX omits to the end
12:13 Or stand

Cross references:

11:36 : Dn 5:19; 11:3,16
11:36 : Is 14:13; Dn 5:20; 8:11,25; 2Th 2:4
11:36 : Rv 13:5–6
11:36 : Is 10:25; 26:20; Dn 8:19
11:37 : 1Co 8:5–6
11:40 : Is 5:28; Jr 4:13
11:40 : Dn 11:10,26; Zch 9:14
11:41 : Is 11:14; Dn 8:9; 11:16
11:41 : Jr 48:47; 49:6
11:43 : 2Ch 12:3; Ezk 30:4; Nah 3:9
11:44 : Rv 16:12
11:45 : Is 11:9; 27:13; 65:25; 66:20; Dn 9:16,20
12:1 : Dn 10:13,21; Jd 9; Rv 12:7
12:1 : Mt 24:21; Mk 13:19
12:1 : Jr 30:7; Ezk 5:9; Dn 9:12
12:1 : Rv 16:18
12:1 : Dn 7:10; 10:21; Rv 20:12
12:1 : Php 4:3; Rv 20:12; 21:27
12:2 : Is 26:19; Ezk 37:12–14
12:2 : Mt 25:46; Jn 5:28–29
12:2 : Is 66:24
12:3 : Gn 1:6; Ps 19:1; Jn 5:35
12:3 : Is 53:11; Dn 11:33
12:4 : Dn 8:26; 12:9; Rv 10:4
12:4 : Is 8:16; Jr 32:9–12; Rv 22:10
12:4 : Dn 8:17; 12:9,13
12:4 : 2Ch 16:9; Jr 5:1; Am 8:12
12:6 : Ezk 9:2; Dn 10:5
12:6 : Dn 8:16
12:6 : Dn 8:13; Mt 24:3; Mk 13:4
12:7 : Ezk 20:5; Rv 10:5–6
12:7 : Dn 4:34
12:7 : Dn 7:25; Rv 11:2; 12:14
12:8 : 1Th 5:10; 2Pt 3:10–14
12:9 : Rv 10:4
12:9 : Dn 12:4
12:10 : Zch 13:9; Ac 1:6–7; 2Th 2:7–12
12:10 : Dn 11:35
12:10 : Is 32:6–7; Rv 22:11
12:10 : Dn 12:3; Hs 14:9; Jn 7:17; 8:47
12:11 : Dn 9:27
12:11 : Dn 11:31; Mt 24:15; Mk 13:14
12:12 : Is 30:18
12:13 : Is 57:2; Rv 14:13

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

1 John 4

The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error

4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits^(A) to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

²This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh^(B) is from God,^(C) ³but every spirit that does not confess Jesus^[a] is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist,^(D) which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.

⁴You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you^(E) is greater than the one who is in the world.^(F) ⁵They are from the world.^(G) Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us;^(H) anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.^(I)

Knowing God through Love

⁷Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God^(J) and knows God. ⁸The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹God’s love was revealed among us^[b] in this way: God sent^(K) his one and only Son^(L) into the world so that we might live^(M) through him. ¹⁰Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us^(N) and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice^[c]^(O) for our sins. ¹¹Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.^(P) ¹²No one has ever seen God.^(Q) If we love one another, God remains in^[d] us and his love is made complete in us. ¹³This is how we know that we remain in him^(R) and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.^(S) ¹⁴And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son^(T) as the world’s Savior. ¹⁵Whoever confesses^(U) that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. ¹⁶And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. ¹⁷In this, love is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment,^(V) because as he is, so also are we in this world.^(W) ¹⁸There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear,^(X) because fear involves punishment.^[e] So the one who fears is not complete in love.^(Y) ¹⁹We love^[f] because he first loved us.^(Z) ²⁰If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister,^(AA) he is a liar.^(AB) For the person who does not love his brother or sister^(AC) whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.^[g] ²¹And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.

Footnotes:

4:3 Other mss read confess that Jesus has come in the flesh
4:9 Or in us
4:10 Or the propitiation
4:12 Or remains among
4:18 Or fear has its own punishment or torment
4:19 Other mss add him
4:20 Other mss read has seen, how is he able to love ... seen? (as a question)

Cross references:

4:1 : 1Th 5:21
4:2 : Jn 1:14; Php 2:7; 3:3
4:2 : 1Co 12:3
4:3 : 1Jn 2:18,22; 2Jn 7
4:4 : Rm 8:31; Col 1:27; 1Jn 3:20
4:4 : Jn 12:31
4:5 : Jn 17:6; 2Pt 2:20
4:6 : Jn 8:47
4:6 : Mk 13:5–6; 1Co 2:12; 1Tm 4:1
4:7 : 1Jn 2:29
4:9 : Mk 9:37
4:9 : Jn 1:14,18; 3:16,18
4:9 : Jn 10:28
4:10 : Jn 3:16
4:10 : 2Co 5:21; 1Jn 2:2
4:11 : Jn 13:14; 15:12; Rm 13:8; 1Th 4:9; 1Pt 1:22
4:12 : Ex 33:20
4:13 : Jn 15:4–7; 1Jn 2:6,24,27–28; 3:6,24; 4:15–16
4:13 : Rv 3:22
4:14 : Rm 1:3
4:15 : Jn 9:22; Php 2:6
4:17 : Mt 10:15; 11:22,24; 12:36; 2Pt 2:9; 3:7; Jd 6
4:17 : Jn 14:10–11; 15:9–10; 17:11,15,18
4:18 : Rm 8:15
4:18 : Eph 4:11–16
4:19 : 2Th 2:13
4:20 : 1Jn 2:9,11; 3:15
4:20 : 1Jn 1:10
4:20 : 1Jn 2:10; 3:10,14–17

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Psalm 123

Looking for God’s Favor

A song of ascents.

¹I lift my eyes to you,
the one enthroned in heaven.^(A)
²Like a servant’s eyes on his master’s hand,
like a servant girl’s eyes on her mistress’s hand,
so our eyes are on the Lord our God
until he shows us favor.^(B)

³Show us favor, Lord, show us favor,
for we’ve had more than enough contempt.^(C)
⁴We’ve had more than enough
scorn from the arrogant
and contempt from the proud.^(D)

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Proverbs 29:2-4

²When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice,
but when the wicked rule, people groan.^(A)

³A man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father,^(B)
but one who consorts with prostitutes destroys his wealth.^(C)

⁴By justice a king brings stability to a land,^(D)
but a person who demands “contributions”^[a]
demolishes it.^(E)

Footnotes:

29:4 The Hb word for contributions usually refers to offerings in worship.

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

December 3, 2024

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday December 3, 2024 (NIV)

Daniel 11:2-35

²Now I will tell you the truth.^(A)

Prophecies about Persia and Greece

“Three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth will be far richer than the others. By the power he gains through his riches, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.^(B) ³Then a warrior king will arise; he will rule a vast realm and do whatever he wants.^(C) ⁴But as soon as he is established, his kingdom will be broken up and divided to the four winds of heaven,^(D) but not to his descendants; it will not be the same kingdom that he ruled, because his kingdom will be uprooted and will go to others besides them.^(E)

Kings of the South and the North

⁵“The king of the South^(F) will grow powerful, but one of his commanders will grow more powerful and will rule a kingdom greater than his. ⁶After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North^(G) to seal the agreement. She will not retain power, and his strength will not endure. She will be given up, together with her entourage, her father,^[a] and the one who supported her during those times. ⁷In the place of the king of the South, one from her family^[b] will rise up, come against the army, and enter the fortress of the king of the North. He will take action against them and triumph. ⁸He will take even their gods captive to Egypt, with their metal images and their precious articles of silver and gold.^(H) For some years he will stay away from the king of the North, ⁹who will enter the kingdom of the king of the South and then return to his own land.

¹⁰“His sons will mobilize for war and assemble a large number of armed forces. They will advance, sweeping through like a flood,^[c]^(I) and will again wage war as far as his fortress. ¹¹Infuriated, the king of the South will march out to fight with the king of the North, who will raise a large army, but they will be handed over to his enemy. ¹²When the army is carried off, he will become arrogant and cause tens of thousands to fall, but he will not triumph. ¹³The king of the North will again raise a multitude larger than the first. After some years^[d]^(J) he will advance with a great army and many supplies.

¹⁴“In those times many will rise up against the king of the South. Violent ones among your own people will assert themselves to fulfill a vision, but they will fail. ¹⁵Then the king of the North will come, build up a siege ramp,^(K) and capture a well-fortified city. The forces of the South will not stand; even their select troops will not be able to resist. ¹⁶The king of the North who comes against him will do whatever he wants,^(L) and no one can oppose him. He will establish himself in the beautiful land^[e]^(M) with total destruction in his hand. ¹⁷He will resolve^(N) to come with the force of his whole kingdom and will reach an agreement with him.^[f] He will give him a daughter in marriage^[g] to destroy it,^[h] but she will not stand with him or support him. ¹⁸Then he will turn his attention to the coasts and islands^[i]^(O) and capture many. But a commander will put an end to his taunting; instead, he will turn his taunts against him.^(P) ¹⁹He will turn his attention back to the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble, fall,^(Q) and be no more.^(R)

²⁰“In his place one will arise who will send out a tax collector^(S) for the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he will be broken, though not in anger^[j] or in battle.

²¹“In his place a despised^(T) person will arise; royal honors will not be given to him, but he will come during a time of peace^[k]^(U) and seize the kingdom by intrigue. ²²A flood of forces will be swept away before him; they will be broken, as well as the covenant prince. ²³After an alliance is made with him, he will act deceitfully. He will rise to power with a small nation.^[l] ²⁴During a time of peace,^[m] he will come into the richest parts of the province^(V) and do what his fathers and predecessors never did. He will lavish plunder, loot, and wealth on his followers, and he will make plans against fortified cities, but only for a time.

²⁵“With a large army he will stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South. The king of the South will prepare for battle with an extremely large and powerful army, but he will not succeed, because plots will be made against him. ²⁶Those who eat his provisions^(W) will destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall slain. ²⁷The two kings, whose hearts are bent on evil, will speak lies^(X) at the same table but to no avail, for still the end will come at the appointed time.^(Y) ²⁸The king of the North will return to his land with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant;^[n] he will take action, then return to his own land.

²⁹“At the appointed time he will come again to the South, but this time^[o] will not be like the first. ³⁰Ships of Kittim^[p]^(Z) will come against him, and being intimidated, he will withdraw. Then he will rage against the holy covenant and take action. On his return, he will favor those who abandon the holy covenant. ³¹His forces will rise up and desecrate the temple fortress. They will abolish the regular sacrifice^(AA) and set up the abomination of desolation.^(AB) ³²With flattery he will corrupt those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be strong and take action.^(AC) ³³Those who have insight among the people^(AD) will give understanding to many, yet they will fall by the sword and flame,^(AE) and they will be captured and plundered for a time. ³⁴When they fall, they will be helped by some, but many others will join them insincerely.^(AF) ³⁵Some of those who have insight will fall so that they may be refined,^(AG) purified, and cleansed^(AH) until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.

Footnotes:

11:6 Some Hb mss, Theod read the child; Syr, Vg read her children
11:7 Lit from the shoot of her roots
11:10 Lit advance and overflow and pass through
11:13 Lit At the end of the times
11:16 = Israel
11:17 = the king of the South
11:17 Lit him the daughter of women
11:17 Perhaps the kingdom
11:18 of the Mediterranean
11:20 Or not openly
11:21 Or come without warning
11:23 Or a few people
11:24 Or Without warning
11:28 Or the Jewish people and religion
11:29 Lit but the last
11:30 = the Romans

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

1 John 3:7-24

⁷Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. ⁸The one who commits^[a] sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God^(A) was revealed^(B) for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works. ⁹Everyone who has been born of God^(C) does not sin,^[b] because his seed^(D) remains in him; he is not able to sin,^[c] because he has been born of God. ¹⁰This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister.^(E)

Love in Action

¹¹For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another, ¹²unlike Cain,^(F) who was of the evil one^(G) and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

¹³Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates^(H) you. ¹⁴We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.^(I) ¹⁵Everyone who hates his brother or sister^(J) is a murderer,^(K) and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. ¹⁶This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life^(L) for us.^(M) We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.^(N) ¹⁷If anyone has this world’s goods^(O) and sees a fellow believer^[d] in need^(P) but withholds compassion^(Q) from him—how does God’s love reside in him?^(R) ¹⁸Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.^(S)

¹⁹This is how we will know that we belong to the truth^(T) and will reassure our hearts before him ²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.^(U)

²¹Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God ²²and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands^(V) and do what is pleasing in his sight. ²³Now this is his command: that we believe in the name^(W) of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴The one who keeps his commands remains in him,^(X) and he in him. And the way we know that he remains in us^(Y) is from the Spirit^(Z) he has given us.

Footnotes:

3:8 Or practices
3:9 Or not practice sin
3:9 Or to keep on sinning
3:17 Lit sees his brother or sister

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Psalm 122

A Prayer for Jerusalem

A song of ascents. Of David.

¹I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let’s go to the house of the Lord.”^(A)
²Our feet were standing
within your gates, Jerusalem^(B)—

³Jerusalem, built as a city should be,
solidly united,^(C)
⁴where the tribes, the Lord’s tribes, go up
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.^(D)
(This is an ordinance for Israel.^(E))
⁵There, thrones for judgment are placed,
thrones of the house of David.^(F)

⁶Pray for the well-being^[a] of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be secure;^(G)
⁷may there be peace within your walls,
security within your fortresses.”^(H)
⁸Because of my brothers and friends,
I will say, “May peace be in you.”^[b]^(I)
⁹Because of the house of the Lord our God,
I will pursue your prosperity.^(J)

Footnotes:

122:6 Or peace
122:8 = Jerusalem

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Proverbs 29:1

29 One who becomes stiff-necked,
after many reprimands
will be shattered instantly—
beyond recovery.^(A)

Cross references:

29:1 : Pr 1:24–31; 6:14–15

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

December 2, 2024

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday December 2, 2024 (NIV)

Daniel 9:1-11

Daniel’s Prayer

9 In the first year of Darius,^(A) the son of Ahasuerus, a Mede by birth, who was made king over the Chaldean kingdom— ²in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the books according to the word of the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be seventy.^(B) ³So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.^(C)

⁴I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:

Ah, Lord—the great and awe-inspiring God^(D) who keeps his gracious covenant^(E) with those who love him^(F) and keep his commands^(G)— ⁵we have sinned,^(H) done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled,^(I) and turned away from your commands and ordinances.^(J) ⁶We have not listened to your servants the prophets,^(K) who spoke in your name to our kings, leaders, ancestors, and all the people of the land.

⁷Lord, righteousness belongs to you,^(L) but this day public shame belongs to us: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem, and all Israel—those who are near and those who are far, in all the countries where you have banished them because of the disloyalty they have shown toward you. ⁸Lord, public shame^(M) belongs to us, our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, because we have sinned against you.^(N) ⁹Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against him ¹⁰and have not obeyed the Lord our God by following his instructions that he set before us through his servants^(O) the prophets.

¹¹All Israel has broken your law and turned away,^(P) refusing to obey you. The promised curse^[a] written in the law of Moses,^(Q) the servant of God, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against him. ¹²He has carried out his words^(R) that he spoke against us and against our rulers^[b]^(S) by bringing on us a disaster that is so great that nothing like what has been done to Jerusalem has ever been done^(T) under all of heaven. ¹³Just as it is written in the law of Moses,^(U) all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of^(V) the Lord our God by turning from our iniquities and paying attention to your truth.^(W) ¹⁴So the Lord kept the disaster in mind and brought it on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all he has done. But we have not obeyed him.

¹⁵Now, Lord our God—who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand^(X) and made your name renowned^(Y) as it is this day—we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. ¹⁶Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, may your anger and wrath^(Z) turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain;^(AA) for because of our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become an object of ridicule to all those around us.

¹⁷Therefore, our God, hear the prayer and the petitions of your servant. Make your face shine^(AB) on your desolate sanctuary^(AC) for the Lord’s sake. ¹⁸Listen closely,^[c] my God, and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations and the city that bears your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before you based on our righteous acts, but based on your abundant compassion. ¹⁹Lord, hear! Lord, forgive! Lord, listen and act! My God, for your own sake, do not delay,^(AD) because your city and your people bear your name.

The Seventy Weeks of Years

²⁰While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel,^(AE) and presenting my petition before the Lord my God concerning the holy mountain of my God— ²¹while I was praying, Gabriel,^(AF) the man I had seen in the first vision,^(AG) reached me in my extreme weariness, about the time of the evening offering.^(AH) ²²He gave me this explanation: “Daniel, I’ve come now to give you understanding.^(AI) ²³At the beginning of your petitions an answer went out, and I have come to give it, for you are treasured by God.^[d]^(AJ) So consider the message and understand the vision:^(AK)

²⁴Seventy weeks are decreed^(AL)
about your people and your holy city—
to bring the rebellion to an end,
to put a stop to sin,
to atone for iniquity,
to bring in everlasting righteousness,^(AM)
to seal up vision and prophecy,
and to anoint the most holy place.
²⁵Know and understand this:
From the issuing of the decree
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem^(AN)
until an Anointed One,^(AO) the ruler,^[e]
will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.
It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat,
but in difficult times.
²⁶After those sixty-two weeks
the Anointed One will be cut off^(AP)
and will have nothing.
The people of the coming ruler
will destroy the city^(AQ) and the sanctuary.^[f]
The^[g] end will come with a flood,^(AR)
and until the end there will be^[h] war;
desolations are decreed.
²⁷He will make a firm covenant^[i]
with many for one week,
but in the middle of the week
he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.
And the abomination of desolation^(AS)
will be on a wing^(AT) of the temple^[j]^[k]
until the decreed destruction^(AU)
is poured out on the desolator.”

Vision of a Glorious One

10 In the third year of King Cyrus of Persia,^(AV) a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Belteshazzar.^(AW) The message was true and was about a great conflict. He understood the message and had understanding of the vision.^(AX)

²In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks.^(AY) ³I didn’t eat any rich food,^(AZ) no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I didn’t put any oil on my body until the three weeks were over. ⁴On the twenty-fourth day of the first month,^[l] as I was standing on the bank of the great river,^(BA) the Tigris, ⁵I looked up, and there was a man dressed in linen,^(BB) with a belt of gold^(BC) from Uphaz^[m]^(BD) around his waist. ⁶His body was like beryl,^[n] his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches,^(BE) his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.^(BF)

⁷Only I, Daniel, saw the vision.^(BG) The men who were with me did not see it,^(BH) but a great terror fell on them,^(BI) and they ran and hid. ⁸I was left alone, looking at this great vision.^(BJ) No strength was left in me; my face grew deathly pale,^[o]^(BK) and I was powerless. ⁹I heard the words he said, and when I heard them I fell into a deep sleep,^[p]^(BL) with my face to the ground.

Angelic Conflict

¹⁰Suddenly, a hand touched me and set me shaking on my hands and knees. ¹¹He said to me, “Daniel, you are a man treasured by God.^[q]^(BM) Understand the words that I’m saying to you. Stand on your feet,^(BN) for I have now been sent to you.”^(BO) After he said this to me, I stood trembling.

¹²“Don’t be afraid,^(BP) Daniel,” he said to me, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God,^(BQ) your prayers were heard. I have come because of your prayers.^(BR) ¹³But the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael,^(BS) one of the chief princes, came to help me after I had been left there with the kings of Persia.^(BT) ¹⁴Now I have come to help you understand what will happen to your people in the last days,^(BU) for the vision refers to those days.”^(BV)

¹⁵While he was saying these words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and was speechless.^(BW) ¹⁶Suddenly one with human likeness^(BX) touched my lips.^(BY) I opened my mouth and said to the one standing in front of me, “My lord, because of the vision, anguish overwhelms me and I am powerless.^(BZ) ¹⁷How can someone like me,^(CA) your servant,^[r] speak with someone like you, my lord? Now I have no strength, and there is no breath in me.”

¹⁸Then the one with a human appearance touched me again and strengthened me.^(CB) ¹⁹He said, “Don’t be afraid,^(CC) you who are^[s] treasured by God.^(CD) Peace to you; be very strong!” ^(CE)

As he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”^(CF)

²⁰He said, “Do you know why I’ve come to you? I must return at once to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I leave, the prince of Greece will come.^(CG) ²¹However, I will tell you what is recorded in the book of truth. (No one has the courage to support me against those princes except Michael,^(CH) your prince.

11 In the first year of Darius the Mede,^(CI) I stood up to strengthen and protect him.)

Footnotes:

9:11 Lit The curse and the oath
9:12 Lit against rulers who ruled us
9:18 Lit Stretch out your ear
9:23 by God added for clarity
9:25 Or until an anointed one, a prince
9:26 MT; Theod, some mss read The city and the sanctuary will be destroyed when the ruler comes.
9:26 Lit Its, or His
9:26 Or end of a
9:27 Or will enforce a covenant
9:27 LXX; MT reads of abominations
9:27 Or And the desolator will be on the wing of abominations, or And the desolator will come on the wings of monsters (or of horror); Hb obscure
10:4 = Nisan (March–April)
10:5 Some Hb mss read Ophir
10:6 The identity of this stone is uncertain.
10:8 Lit my splendor was turned on me to ruin
10:9 Lit a sleep on my face
10:11 by God added for clarity, also in v. 19
10:17 Lit Can I, a servant of my lord
10:19 Lit afraid, man

Cross references:

9:1 : Dn 5:31; 6:1; 11:1
9:2 : 2Ch 36:21; Ezr 1:1; Jr 25:11–12; 29:10; Zch 7:5
9:3 : Neh 1:4; Jb 2:8; Is 61:3; Lk 10:13
9:4 : Dt 7:21; Neh 9:32
9:4 : Dt 7:9
9:4 : 1Jn 4:20
9:4 : Dt 7:9; Neh 1:5
9:5 : 1Kg 8:48; Neh 9:33; Ps 106:6; Is 64:5–7; Jr 14:7
9:5 : Lm 1:18,20
9:5 : Ps 119:176; Is 53:6; Dn 9:11
9:6 : 2Ch 36:16; Jr 44:4–5
9:7 : Jr 23:6; 33:16; Dn 9:18
9:8 : Ps 37:1–2
9:8 : Ps 78:56–64
9:10 : 2Kg 17:13–15; 18:12
9:11 : Is 1:3–4; Jr 8:5–10
9:11 : Dt 28:15–68; 29:16–30:20; Lk 2:22
9:12 : Is 44:26; Jr 44:2–6; Lm 2:17; Zch 1:6
9:12 : Jb 12:17; Ps 82:2–7; 148:11
9:12 : Lm 1:12; 2:13; Ezk 5:9
9:13 : Lv 26:14–45; Dt 28:15–68; Dn 9:11
9:13 : Jb 36:13; Is 9:13; Jr 2:30; 5:3; Mal 1:9
9:13 : Jr 31:18
9:15 : Dt 5:15
9:15 : Neh 9:10; Jr 32:20
9:16 : Jr 32:31–32
9:16 : Ps 87:1–3; Dn 9:20; Jl 3:17; Zch 8:3
9:17 : Nm 6:25; Ps 31:17; 67:2
9:17 : Lm 5:18
9:19 : Ps 44:23; 74:10–11
9:20 : Ps 145:18; Is 58:9; Dn 9:3; 10:12
9:21 : Dn 8:16; Lk 1:19,26
9:21 : Dn 8:1,15
9:21 : Ex 29:39; 1Kg 18:36; Ezr 9:4
9:22 : Dn 8:16; 10:21; Zch 1:9
9:23 : Dn 10:11,19
9:23 : Mt 24:15
9:24 : Lv 25:8; Nm 14:34; Ezk 4:5–6
9:24 : Is 51:6,8; 56:1; Jr 23:5–6; Rm 3:21–22
9:25 : Ezr 4:24; 6:1–15; Neh 2:1–8; 3:1
9:25 : Mt 1:17; Jn 1:41; 4:25
9:26 : Is 53:8; Mk 9:12; Lk 24:26
9:26 : Mt 24:2; Mk 13:2; Lk 19:43–44
9:26 : Nah 1:8
9:27 : Dn 11:31; Mt 24:15; Mk 13:14; Lk 21:20
9:27 : Is 7:7–8; Mt 4:5
9:27 : Is 10:23; 28:22
10:1 : Dn 1:21; 6:28
10:1 : Dn 1:7
10:1 : Dn 1:17; 2:21
10:2 : Ezr 9:4–5; Neh 1:4
10:3 : Dn 6:18; Am 6:6; Mt 6:17
10:4 : Ezk 1:3; Dn 8:2
10:5 : Ezk 9:2; Dn 12:6–7
10:5 : Rv 1:13; 15:6
10:5 : Jr 10:9
10:6 : Rv 1:14; 2:18; 19:12
10:6 : Rv 19:6
10:7 : 2Kg 6:17–20
10:7 : Ac 9:7
10:7 : Ezk 12:18
10:8 : Gn 32:24
10:8 : Dn 7:28; 8:27; Hab 3:16
10:9 : Gn 15:12; Jb 4:13; Dn 8:18
10:11 : Dn 9:23; 10:19
10:11 : Ezk 2:2; Dn 8:18
10:11 : Heb 11:14
10:12 : Is 41:10,14; Dn 10:19
10:12 : Dn 9:2–23; 10:2–3
10:12 : Ac 10:30–31
10:13 : Dn 10:21; 12:1; Jd 9; Rv 12:7
10:13 : Dn 7:17; 8:21
10:14 : Dt 31:29; Dn 2:28
10:14 : Dn 8:26; 12:4,9
10:15 : Ezk 3:26; 24:27; Lk 1:20
10:16 : Dn 8:15
10:16 : Is 6:7; Jr 1:9
10:16 : Dn 7:15,28; 8:17,27; 10:8–9
10:17 : Ex 24:10–11; Is 6:1–5
10:18 : Is 35:3–4
10:19 : Jdg 6:23; Is 43:1; Dn 10:12
10:19 : Dn 9:23; 10:11
10:19 : Jos 1:6–7,9; Is 35:4
10:19 : Ps 138:2; 2Co 12:9
10:20 : Dn 8:21; 11:2
10:21 : Dn 10:13; Rv 12:7
11:1 : Dn 5:31; 9:1

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

1 John 2:18-3:6

The Last Hour

¹⁸Children, it is the last hour.^(A) And as you have heard that antichrist^(B) is coming, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.

²⁰But you have an anointing^(C) from the Holy One,^(D) and all of you know the truth.^[a] ²¹I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth. ²²Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?^(E) This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. ²³No one who denies the Son has the Father;^(F) he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.^(G)

Remaining with God

²⁴What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son^(H) and in the Father.^(I) ²⁵And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.^(J)

²⁶I have written these things to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things^(K) and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you,^[b] remain in him.^(L)

God’s Children

²⁸So now, little children, remain in him so that when he appears^(M) we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.^(N) ²⁹If you know that he is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right^(O) has been born of him.^(P)

3 See what great love^[c] the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him. ²Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed.^(Q) We know that when he appears,^[d] we will be like him^(R) because we will see him as he is.^(S) ³And everyone who has this hope^(T) in him purifies himself just as he is pure.^(U)

⁴Everyone who commits sin practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. ⁵You know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins,^[e]^(V) and there is no sin in him.^(W) ⁶Everyone who remains in him^(X) does not sin;^[f]^(Y) everyone who sins^[g] has not seen him or known him.

Footnotes:

2:20 Other mss read and you know all things
2:27 Or as he has taught you
3:1 Or what sort of love
3:2 Or when it appears
3:5 Other mss read our sins
3:6 Or not keep on sinning
3:6 Or who keeps on sinning

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Psalm 121

The Lord Our Protector

A song of ascents.

¹I lift my eyes toward the mountains.
Where will my help come from?^(A)
²My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.^(B)

³He will not allow your foot to slip;
your Protector will not slumber.^(C)
⁴Indeed, the Protector of Israel
does not slumber or sleep.^(D)

⁵The Lord protects you;
the Lord is a shelter right by your side.^[a]^(E)
⁶The sun will not strike you by day
or the moon by night.^(F)

⁷The Lord will protect you from all harm;
he will protect your life.^(G)
⁸The Lord will protect your coming and going
both now and forever.^(H)

Footnotes:

121:5 Lit is your shelter at your right hand

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Proverbs 28:27-28

²⁷The one who gives to the poor
will not be in need,
but one who turns his eyes away^[a]
will receive many curses.^(A)

²⁸When the wicked come to power,
people hide,
but when they are destroyed,
the righteous flourish.^(B)

Footnotes:

28:27 Lit who shuts his eyes

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

December 1, 2024

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday December 1, 2024 (NIV)

Daniel 8

The Vision of a Ram and a Goat

8 In the third year of King Belshazzar’s^(A) reign, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, after the one that had appeared to me earlier.^(B) ²I saw the vision, and as I watched, I was in the fortress city of Susa,^(C) in the province of Elam.^(D) I saw in the vision that I was beside the Ulai Canal. ³I looked up,^[a] and there was a ram^(E) standing beside the canal. He had two horns. The two horns were long, but one was longer than the other, and the longer one came up last. ⁴I saw the ram charging to the west, the north, and the south.^(F) No animal could stand against him, and there was no rescue from his power. He did whatever he wanted^(G) and became great.

⁵As I was observing, a male goat appeared, coming from the west across the surface of the entire earth without touching the ground. The goat had a conspicuous horn^[b] between his eyes.^(H) ⁶He came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at him with savage fury. ⁷I saw him approaching the ram and, infuriated with him, he struck the ram, breaking his two horns, and the ram was not strong enough to stand against him. The goat threw him to the ground and trampled him, and there was no one to rescue the ram from his power. ⁸Then the male goat acted even more arrogantly,^(I) but when he became powerful, the large horn was broken.^(J) Four conspicuous horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.^(K)

The Little Horn

⁹From one of them a little horn^(L) emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land.^[c]^(M) ¹⁰It grew as high as the heavenly army, made some of the army and some of the stars^[d] fall to the earth,^(N) and trampled them.^(O) ¹¹It acted arrogantly^(P) even against the Prince of the heavenly army;^(Q) it revoked his regular sacrifice^(R) and overthrew the place of his sanctuary. ¹²In the rebellion, the army was given up, together with the regular sacrifice. The horn threw truth to the ground and was successful^(S) in what it did.

¹³Then I heard a holy one speaking,^(T) and another holy one said to the speaker, “How long will the events of this vision last^(U)—the regular sacrifice, the rebellion that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and of the army to be trampled?” ^(V)

¹⁴He said to me,^[e] “For 2,300 evenings and mornings; then the sanctuary will be restored.”

Interpretation of the Vision

¹⁵While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there stood before me someone who appeared to be a man.^(W) ¹⁶I heard a human voice calling from the middle of the Ulai: “Gabriel,^(X) explain the vision to this man.”

¹⁷So he approached where I was standing; when he came near, I was terrified and fell facedown.^(Y) “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision refers to the time of the end.”^(Z) ¹⁸While he was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep,^(AA) with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, made me stand up,^(AB) ¹⁹and said, “I am here to tell you what will happen at the conclusion of the time of wrath, because it refers to the appointed time of the end.^(AC) ²⁰The two-horned ram^(AD) that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. ²¹The shaggy goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king.^[f] ²²The four horns that took the place of the broken horn represent four kingdoms. They will rise from that nation, but without its power.

²³Near the end of their kingdoms,
when the rebels have reached
the full measure of their sin,^[g]^(AE)
a ruthless^[h] king, skilled in intrigue,^[i]
will come to the throne.
²⁴His power will be great,
but it will not be his own.
He will cause outrageous destruction^(AF)
and succeed in whatever he does.
He will destroy the powerful
along with the holy people.^(AG)
²⁵He will cause deceit to prosper
through his cunning and by his influence,
and in his own mind he will exalt himself.
He will destroy many in a time of peace;
he will even stand against the Prince of princes.
Yet he will be broken—not by human hands.^(AH)
²⁶The vision of the evenings and the mornings
that has been told is true.
Now you are to seal up the vision^(AI)
because it refers to many days in the future.”

²⁷I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for days.^(AJ) Then I got up and went about the king’s business.^(AK) I was greatly disturbed by the vision and could not understand it.

Footnotes:

8:3 Lit I lifted my eyes and looked
8:5 Lit a horn of a vision
8:9 = Israel
8:10 Or some of the army, that is, some of the stars
8:14 LXX, Theod, Syr, Vg read him
8:21 = Alexander the Great
8:23 Lit have become complete
8:23 Lit strong of face
8:23 Lit king, and understanding riddles

Cross references:

8:1 : Dn 5:1
8:1 : Dn 7:1
8:2 : Ezr 4:9; Neh 1:1; Est 1:2; 2:8
8:2 : Gn 10:22; 14:1; Is 11:11; Jr 25:25; Ezk 33:24
8:3 : Dn 8:20
8:4 : Dt 33:17; 1Kg 22:11; Ezk 34:21
8:4 : Dn 11:3
8:5 : Dn 8:21
8:8 : 2Ch 26:16; Dn 5:20
8:8 : Dn 8:22
8:8 : Dn 7:2; Rv 7:1
8:9 : Dn 7:8; 8:23
8:9 : Ps 48:2; Dn 11:16,41
8:10 : Is 14:13; Jr 48:26; Rv 12:4
8:10 : Dn 7:7
8:11 : 2Kg 19:22–23; 2Ch 32:15–17; Is 37:23; Dn 11:36–37
8:11 : Jos 5:13–15
8:11 : Ezk 46:14; Dn 11:31; 12:11
8:12 : Is 59:14; Dn 11:36
8:13 : Dn 4:13,23; 1Pt 1:12
8:13 : Ps 74:10; 79:5; Is 6:11; Dn 12:6,8; Rv 6:10
8:13 : Is 63:18; Jr 12:10; Lk 21:24; Heb 10:29; Rv 11:2
8:15 : Dn 7:13; 10:16,18
8:16 : Dn 9:21; Lk 1:19,26
8:17 : Ezk 1:28; 44:4; Dn 2:46; Rv 1:17
8:17 : Dn 11:35,40
8:18 : Dn 10:9; Lk 9:32
8:18 : Ezk 2:2; Dn 10:10,16,18
8:19 : Mt 13:7
8:20 : Dn 8:3
8:23 : Gn 15:16
8:24 : Dn 11:36; 12:7
8:24 : Dn 7:27
8:25 : Jb 34:20; Dn 2:34,45
8:26 : Ezk 12:27; Dn 12:4,9; Rv 10:4; 22:10
8:27 : Dn 7:28; 8:17; Hab 3:16
8:27 : Dn 2:48

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

1 John 2:1-17

2 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate^(A) with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. ²He himself is the atoning sacrifice^[a]^(B) for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.^(C)

God’s Commands

³This is how we know^(D) that we know him: if we keep his commands.^(E) ⁴The one who says, “I have come to know him,” and yet doesn’t keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵But whoever keeps his word,^(F) truly in him the love of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him:^(G) ⁶The one who says he remains in him^(H) should walk just as he walked.

⁷Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command^(I) but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the word^(J) you have heard. ⁸Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away^(K) and the true light^(L) is already shining.^(M) ⁹The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister^(N) is in the darkness until now. ¹⁰The one who loves his brother or sister^(O) remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.^[b] ¹¹But the one who hates his brother or sister^(P) is in the darkness, walks in the darkness,^(Q) and doesn’t know where he’s going,^(R) because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Reasons for Writing

¹²I am writing to you, little children,
since your sins have been forgiven
on account of his name.^(S)
¹³I am writing to you, fathers,
because you have come to know
the one who is from the beginning.^(T)
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have conquered the evil one.^(U)
¹⁴I have written to you, children,
because you have come to know the Father.
I have written to you, fathers,
because you have come to know
the one who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
because you are strong,
God’s word^(V) remains in you,
and you have conquered the evil one.

A Warning about the World

¹⁵Do not love the world^(W) or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh,^(X) the lust of the eyes,^(Y) and the pride^(Z) in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷And the world with its lust is passing away,^(AA) but the one who does the will of God^(AB) remains forever.^(AC)

Footnotes:

2:2 Or the propitiation
2:10 Or it

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Psalm 120

A Cry for Truth and Peace

A song of ascents.

¹In my distress I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.^(A)
²“Lord, rescue me from lying lips
and a deceitful tongue.”^(B)

³What will he give you,
and what will he do to you,
you deceitful tongue?^(C)
⁴A warrior’s sharp arrows
with burning charcoal!^[a]^(D)

⁵What misery that I have stayed in Meshech,^[b]^(E)
that I have lived among the tents of Kedar!^[c]^(F)
⁶I have dwelt too long
with those who hate peace.^(G)
⁷I am for peace; but when I speak,
they are for war.^(H)

Footnotes:

120:4 Lit with coals of the broom bush
120:5 = a people far to the north of Palestine
120:5 = a nomadic people of the desert to the southeast

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

Proverbs 28:25-26

²⁵A greedy person stirs up conflict,^(A)
but whoever trusts in the Lord will prosper.^(B)

²⁶The one who trusts in himself^[a] is a fool,
but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.^(C)

Footnotes:

28:26 Lit his heart

Cross references:

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)