10/31/2018 DAB Transcript

Lamentations 4:5-22, Hebrews 2:1-18, Psalms 103:1-22, Proverbs 26:23

Today is the 31st day of October. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it’s great to be here with you as we end our 10th month together. Seven days a week we’ve been taking this journey and, I mean, we’re just right around the bend from being able to see the home stretch. So, well done. This is our 304th day together as we’ve taken daily, step-by-step, to get this far. So, we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week and we will move back into the book of Lamentations, chapter 4 verse 1 through 5:22 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in Lamentations, you know, there’s some pretty awful mourning going on. I mean, obviously it’s a lament. These are poems of lament and we can certainly enter into them as we spoke of when we began the book of Lamentations because they give us language, right, for this pouring out of the heart from such deep sadness. But as we read of the deep sadness in Lamentations we can go like, wow, like those are some…it’s pretty bad if a tenderhearted woman is cooking her…her starved child to survive. Like, that’s pretty awful and we can look at that and go, like, that’s pretty awful, and why is in the Bible? Why would God let that stuff happen? Why would God bring that kind of judgment on people? And that’s the thing about the books of prophecy. We get this very, very angry God kind of mentality. But we have to pause. So, push pause for a second on that idea. All we have to do is go back one book, one book to the book of Jeremiah. We could go lots of other places but all we have to do is go back one book to the book of Jeremiah and understand in this prophet Jeremiah prophesied for 20 years about what was on its way and had specific counsel from God. And that specific counsel was, the generational sin has gotta be wiped off the map, and the king of Babylon is coming and is part of that process. Surrender to the king of Babylon and you won’t die, right? Now we explored all that when we were going through the book of Jeremiah and we can understand why that would have been a difficult instruction. Had the old bead God’s word though, had they obeyed we wouldn’t be reading the book of Lamentations because there wouldn’t be the events that brought the book of Lamentations to lament about. So, yes, we are reading definitely sad territory and it is pretty, pretty sad stuff but it didn’t have to happen, which is the nature of the prophetic books, they’re prophetic, right? So, they’re words in advance of something that doesn’t have to happen. And we can pause. You know, maybe we don’t have our own personal book of prophecy to us about what specifically might, you know, where the trajectory is leading but we can pause and go like, we have allot of material in the Bible to show us the paths that people take and where they lead. And we can think, okay, where am I heading? Where is this going? Is this the road I want to be on? Because if it’s not than we need to be on different road. And if there’s one thing that the Bible has instructed us on is that there is one road and it is a narrow path and it leads to life and few ever find it. And, so when we go through these prophecies we can go like, yeah, they didn’t they didn’t find that. But they were certainly invited too. And what was the primary invitation? Return to me. It’s like, come home, come home son. What are you doing this for? Come on, come on sweetheart. Why are you going in this direction that is going to destroy you? Turn around. Come home. It doesn’t have to go this way. And may we remember this. May we spend some time contemplating the trajectory that we are on because it’s going somewhere. We’re all going somewhere and we’re gonna end up right where we’re going. And we can look and see whether that’s where we want to go.

And then in the book of Hebrews, I just want to remind us, we’re moving into Hebrew territory. And, so, the Christian faith that we believe comes out of Judaism and is affected by Judaism. The apostle Paul spends a lot of his ministry trying to make distinctions about what has ended and what is beginning, like what the new thing God is doing in the world through Jesus is. But it comes from that context. The book of Hebrews is even more so. There’s no way that we can read the book of Hebrews and understand any of it without understanding the Jewish context. And we’ll explore that as we go through it but we need to understand just how intertwined what it is that we believe is and where it comes from because the Christian faith is certainly influenced by Judaism. I’ll just give you one example. Like, we read about Jesus being a high priest. And we’ll explore this more because the book of Hebrews will explore this more. Well, if we’re Gentile and we have never in any way ever been around Judaism, we would be thinking like, who cares? Like, high priest of what? Like what does this matter. So, these things that we kind of take for granted in our faith, we’re going to explore them in detail because the book of Hebrews explores them in detail. And if a pay attention it will be a very rich foundation for our faith.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You. We thank You with our whole hearts. What will we do without You? And this gift that You have given to us in Your word that guides and directs every day of our lives, what a gift it. It’s beyond words and were grateful because it continually orients us to You. And, so, we trust You Lord and we glory in You and we rejoice in You and we worship You for You are the God of heaven’s armies and the Lord of our hearts. We love You Jesus. Come Holy Spirit, plant the words that we read from the Scriptures today in our lives and let them stick, let them change us from within we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, that can be done at dailyaudiobible.com as well and I couldn't…I mean…there’s a lot of years of practice, but the words…the words fail me. It's…it’s a grateful heart. We wouldn’t be here, we wouldn’t have a community, we wouldn’t be doing this every day if we didn’t do it together. And, so, I’m glad we’re doing it together. Thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

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

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

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi family, this is Gee and I just wanted to say thank you. __ welcome home __ any time soon. Thank you, thank you, thank you everybody for your calls for me, for the women who called, and the men who stood up like men, for those who shared their stories. __ you have given me strength. __. Thank you. I feel a huge weight off my shoulders and your calls encouraged me. There are so many horrific things from that night I could’ve shared but I just know that you’re __ and I hear your advice __ seeking help. And if there’s anybody, anyone, anyone, anyone that has gone through something like this, please tell somebody. Say it to somebody. Thank you so much family. Thank you.

Hello DAB DABbers, family, I’m calling from Arkansas and I’m calling to let the parents, the mother of a young man named Josh, that I am praying for him, mightily. I have put him on the altar and I know that he is safe there and God will hear our prayers. I want to know that you’re not alone in praying for your son Josh. I empathize with you because I have grandsons that I am praying for but I’ve already put them on the altar but remind God about them every now and then, reminding Him that they are there. But he has a purpose for each and every one of us and my prayer is that Josh will be surrounded by friends that God has placed in his life that he will become a new creation as God says that we are really come to Him. My prayer is for you also to hold out. Don’t let the devil make you nervous or anxious. God hears the prayers of the righteous and He does answer prayer but He does it in his own time. God bless and God keep you and remember that someone in Arkansas is praying for you and your family. Bye-bye now.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family, I greet you in the name of our beautiful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today is the 29th October. This is Egbert from California by way of __ city. I’m calling in for Asia this morning my sister. Psalms 30 and 5, we’ve been named __ for a night but joy comes in the morning. I want to let you know that Jesus said that He ever stands on our behalf to make intercession for us. So, just know that He is there, and He is interceded on your behalf. I greet all the brothers and sisters, Brian, his family, all the Daily Audio Bible family in the name of Jesus. I pray that you would keep me in your prayers. I thank you for the compassion and for the love this community provides in the name of Jesus. Alleluia, I pray. Amen.

Hi DAB family, I’m just so grateful right now to be able to call in these prayer requests. Please pray for Callie, she is a sick week-old baby that is in Children’s Hospital with RSD right now and she’s in intensive care. And I’m just so thankful that she is in the hospital and being cared for. Just pray for healing. I also ask for prayer for my fifth-grade son who was beat up in the locker room school on Wednesday and is also being bullied by another kid. And I just…I pray for protection over our kids. And then I also would like to lift my husband up in prayer. He’s been battling alcohol addiction and one of his friends passed away. And now he’s really starting to assess his own self and he really wants to break free of this bondage. And I am just asking for all of your prayers to cover him so that he can he can have victory over this and allow God to continue to work in his life. Family, I’m so thankful for you and your awesome and just…this is such a great body of believers. And for those of you that are listening that aren’t sure if God is speaking to you, He is. He is speaking loud and clear. So, He has called because He wants you home with Him someday. Thank you, family. Love you, bye.

Hello Daily Audio Bible family, this is Nathan from Bloomington Illinois. I know it’s been several months before I called but I was recently reminded of a few phone calls we’ve heard regarding similar circumstances and yet opposite circumstances. Joe the Protector’s daughter, age 15, I know this is not the way you pictured life and probably more so for your daughter. But now you’ve got this challenge in front of you. You’ve got a baby coming into your presence whom you can have influence. And Asia, oh my, we’ve been with you a long-time girl and this is not the way you pictured life. This has been your hope to have another baby and yet this is not what you asked for. Very similar circumstances, a picture of life that we did not ask for and yet we’re faced with and we can be sad and it is a sad moment and we can be troubled and it is a troublesome moment and we can feel hopeless. But the root word of hopeless is still hope. The root word of testimony is still test. And we cannot provide that testimony if we are not tested. So, I come preaching to people who know exactly what I’m talking about. So, we are praying for both your situations, that there is still a God who knows what’s going on despite the fact that we may not. I used to and, have a great day make it a great day but I’m going to start ending with a motto of my wife’s practice. Listen to this. Embrace your journey. Thanks family.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday October 31, 2018 (NIV)

Lamentations 4:1-5:2

God’s Anger Satisfied

How the gold has lost its luster!
Even the finest gold has become dull.
The sacred gemstones
lie scattered in the streets!

See how the precious children of Jerusalem,[a]
worth their weight in fine gold,
are now treated like pots of clay
made by a common potter.

Even the jackals feed their young,
but not my people Israel.
They ignore their children’s cries,
like ostriches in the desert.

The parched tongues of their little ones
stick to the roofs of their mouths in thirst.
The children cry for bread,
but no one has any to give them.

The people who once ate the richest foods
now beg in the streets for anything they can get.
Those who once wore the finest clothes
now search the garbage dumps for food.

The guilt[b] of my people
is greater than that of Sodom,
where utter disaster struck in a moment
and no hand offered help.

Our princes once glowed with health—
brighter than snow, whiter than milk.
Their faces were as ruddy as rubies,
their appearance like fine jewels.[c]

But now their faces are blacker than soot.
No one recognizes them in the streets.
Their skin sticks to their bones;
it is as dry and hard as wood.

Those killed by the sword are better off
than those who die of hunger.
Starving, they waste away
for lack of food from the fields.

10 Tenderhearted women
have cooked their own children.
They have eaten them
to survive the siege.

11 But now the anger of the Lord is satisfied.
His fierce anger has been poured out.
He started a fire in Jerusalem[d]
that burned the city to its foundations.

12 Not a king in all the earth—
no one in all the world—
would have believed that an enemy
could march through the gates of Jerusalem.

13 Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets
and the sins of her priests,
who defiled the city
by shedding innocent blood.

14 They wandered blindly
through the streets,
so defiled by blood
that no one dared touch them.

15 “Get away!” the people shouted at them.
“You’re defiled! Don’t touch us!”
So they fled to distant lands
and wandered among foreign nations,
but none would let them stay.

16 The Lord himself has scattered them,
and he no longer helps them.
People show no respect for the priests
and no longer honor the leaders.

17 We looked in vain for our allies
to come and save us,
but we were looking to nations
that could not help us.

18 We couldn’t go into the streets
without danger to our lives.
Our end was near; our days were numbered.
We were doomed!

19 Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight.
If we fled to the mountains, they found us.
If we hid in the wilderness,
they were waiting for us there.

20 Our king—the Lord’s anointed, the very life of our nation—
was caught in their snares.
We had thought that his shadow
would protect us against any nation on earth!

21 Are you rejoicing in the land of Uz,
O people of Edom?
But you, too, must drink from the cup of the Lord’s anger.
You, too, will be stripped naked in your drunkenness.

22 O beautiful Jerusalem,[e] your punishment will end;
you will soon return from exile.
But Edom, your punishment is just beginning;
soon your many sins will be exposed.

Prayer for Restoration

Lord, remember what has happened to us.
See how we have been disgraced!
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,
our homes to foreigners.

Footnotes:

  1. 4:2 Hebrew precious sons of Zion.
  2. 4:6 Or punishment.
  3. 4:7 Hebrew like lapis lazuli.
  4. 4:11 Hebrew in Zion.
  5. 4:22 Hebrew O daughter of Zion.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Hebrews 2

A Warning against Drifting Away

So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose.

Jesus, the Man

And furthermore, it is not angels who will control the future world we are talking about. For in one place the Scriptures say,

“What are mere mortals that you should think about them,
or a son of man[a] that you should care for him?
Yet for a little while you made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.[b]
You gave them authority over all things.”[c]

Now when it says “all things,” it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all things put under their authority. What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. 10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.

11 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.[d] 12 For he said to God,

“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.
I will praise you among your assembled people.”[e]

13 He also said,

“I will put my trust in him,”
that is, “I and the children God has given me.”[f]

14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had[g] the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters,[h] so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.

Footnotes:

  1. 2:6 Or the Son of Man.
  2. 2:7 Some manuscripts add You gave them charge of everything you made.
  3. 2:6-8 Ps 8:4-6 (Greek version).
  4. 2:11 Greek brothers; also in 2:12.
  5. 2:12 Ps 22:22.
  6. 2:13 Isa 8:17-18.
  7. 2:14 Or has.
  8. 2:17 Greek like the brothers.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 103

Psalm 103

A psalm of David.

Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
He fills my life with good things.
My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

The Lord gives righteousness
and justice to all who are treated unfairly.

He revealed his character to Moses
and his deeds to the people of Israel.
The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
10 He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
11 For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
12 He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
13 The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
14 For he knows how weak we are;
he remembers we are only dust.
15 Our days on earth are like grass;
like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
16 The wind blows, and we are gone—
as though we had never been here.
17 But the love of the Lord remains forever
with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children’s children
18 of those who are faithful to his covenant,
of those who obey his commandments!

19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne;
from there he rules over everything.

20 Praise the Lord, you angels,
you mighty ones who carry out his plans,
listening for each of his commands.
21 Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels
who serve him and do his will!
22 Praise the Lord, everything he has created,
everything in all his kingdom.

Let all that I am praise the Lord.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 26:23

23 Smooth[a] words may hide a wicked heart,
just as a pretty glaze covers a clay pot.

Footnotes:

  1. 26:23 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads Burning.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


10/30/2018 DAB Transcript

Lamentations 2:20-3:66, Hebrews 1:1-14, Psalms 102:1-28, Proverbs 26:21-22

Today is the 30th day of October. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today just like it’s a joy to be here with you every single day that we gather to take the next step forward as we continue the journey that is the Bible in a year. So, yesterday we began the book of Lamentations and we talked about that and it’s context and then we also read the letter to Philemon. Which means that we’ll continue our journey through Lamentations today, but when we get to the New Testament, we will be at a new threshold and that is known as the book of Hebrews. And we’ll talk about that when we get there. But first, we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Lamentations 3:1-66.

Introduction to the book of Hebrews:

Okay. So, we are about to begin the book of Hebrews, which is actually a letter. And is one of the most compelling exhortations to keep the faith and stay true and endure that we’ll find in the whole New Testament. And while that’s true, Hebrews the letter is a bit of an anomaly because we don’t fully know it’s origins. I mean, the apostle Paul’s been credited with authorship at different points in history, but most biblical scholars would agree - and this is a long-running thing -that this is very unlikely. Whoever did write Hebrews was a master communicator and was obviously clearly well -educate d. They, for sure, possessed a skilled understanding of the Torah and of the Jewish religion, Judaism. And so two candidates that would fit that criteria would be Barnabus and Apollos. But no one is certain and there’s all kinds of theories. But what is certain is that the author of the letter to the Hebrews had the authority to write such a work and that the work was regarded with the utmost respect, obviously, because it was preserved, and we now have it in the New Testament. Paul’s protege and son in the faith, Timothy, (and, of course, we just recently read the two personal letters from the Apostle Paul to Timothy) -Timothy’s mentioned in the letter to the Hebrews, so Hebrews is probably reasonably contemporary with Paul’s writings or maybe just a little bit later. And it’s clear in the discussion in the letter itself that persecution of those who believed in Jesus had begun within the Jewish community. And that brings up an important distinction. Hebrews was written to Hebrews. So, to Jewish people. Whereas Paul’s ministry’s largely to a Gentile audience, even though he was a Pharisee and very well knew Judaism and could definitely hold debate and discourse about Judaism. But anyway, even though persecution had begun in the Jewish community it hadn’t reached the level of martyrdom in most cases. The Jewish believers and those who were sympathetic to those who believed in Jesus, these people had begun to be marginalized and suffer, like, verbal abuse and ridicule. And in the process were being stereotyped as irrelevant and weird and it’s easy enough to see this in the modern culture. Like if you’re around media, often if a Christian is portrayed in the media, they’re kind of weird, backward, irrelevant, right? A little off. And so that’s kind of what was going on here. And these cultural pressures were causing a lot of Hebrew believers to just kind of back off, just withdraw into the woodwork and disappear into the culture and hide their faith in Jesus. While others were just turning their backs and walking away altogether and just going back into traditional Judaism. So, the writer of Hebrews saw this happening and then stepped into that breach and encouraged the Hebrew believers to stay faithful to Jesus and not to go back to their former ways. And Hebrews encourages us in the same way, to hold fast to the hope that we have in Christ without wavering, without walking away, without disappearing into the woodwork. And it’s a very important message for all of us, even today. And it’s given brilliantly through the lens of the Old Testament and the Jewish heritage. And again, even though I just mentioned that, that is so important to understand in Hebrews. If we could just remember this little thing: Hebrews was written to Hebrews. It’ll help us a lot because we’re looking through the gospel, but we’re looking at the gospel of Jesus through the lens of Hebrew culture and religion, so of Jewish culture and religion. So, with that, we begin. Hebrews chapter 1.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for the counsel of it, the comfort of it, the rebuke of it, the way that it is capable of touching just about everything in our lives. And we welcome that guidance, we need that guidance and that’s one of the reasons that we show up here every day to allow Your word to speak to us and we thank You for that. And as we begin the book of Hebrews, Father, we ask that You give us an attentive heart and a mind for understanding and an open heart as we see why it is that we believe the things that we do. Come, Holy Spirit, we pray. Plant the words deep into our lives, yielding the fruit of the Spirit within us, we pray. In Jesus name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

Certainly, pray for your brothers and sisters at the Prayer Wall.

If you wanna partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link that just lives on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, Tennessee, 37174.

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

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

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday October 30, 2018 (NIV)

Lamentations 3

Hope in the Lord’s Faithfulness

I am the one who has seen the afflictions
that come from the rod of the Lord’s anger.
He has led me into darkness,
shutting out all light.
He has turned his hand against me
again and again, all day long.

He has made my skin and flesh grow old.
He has broken my bones.
He has besieged and surrounded me
with anguish and distress.
He has buried me in a dark place,
like those long dead.

He has walled me in, and I cannot escape.
He has bound me in heavy chains.
And though I cry and shout,
he has shut out my prayers.
He has blocked my way with a high stone wall;
he has made my road crooked.

10 He has hidden like a bear or a lion,
waiting to attack me.
11 He has dragged me off the path and torn me in pieces,
leaving me helpless and devastated.
12 He has drawn his bow
and made me the target for his arrows.

13 He shot his arrows
deep into my heart.
14 My own people laugh at me.
All day long they sing their mocking songs.
15 He has filled me with bitterness
and given me a bitter cup of sorrow to drink.

16 He has made me chew on gravel.
He has rolled me in the dust.
17 Peace has been stripped away,
and I have forgotten what prosperity is.
18 I cry out, “My splendor is gone!
Everything I had hoped for from the Lord is lost!”

19 The thought of my suffering and homelessness
is bitter beyond words.[a]
20 I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.
21 Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:

22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends![b]
His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!”

25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.
26 So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord.
27 And it is good for people to submit at an early age
to the yoke of his discipline:

28 Let them sit alone in silence
beneath the Lord’s demands.
29 Let them lie face down in the dust,
for there may be hope at last.
30 Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them
and accept the insults of their enemies.

31 For no one is abandoned
by the Lord forever.
32 Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion
because of the greatness of his unfailing love.
33 For he does not enjoy hurting people
or causing them sorrow.

34 If people crush underfoot
all the prisoners of the land,
35 if they deprive others of their rights
in defiance of the Most High,
36 if they twist justice in the courts—
doesn’t the Lord see all these things?

37 Who can command things to happen
without the Lord’s permission?
38 Does not the Most High
send both calamity and good?
39 Then why should we, mere humans, complain
when we are punished for our sins?

40 Instead, let us test and examine our ways.
Let us turn back to the Lord.
41 Let us lift our hearts and hands
to God in heaven and say,
42 “We have sinned and rebelled,
and you have not forgiven us.

43 “You have engulfed us with your anger, chased us down,
and slaughtered us without mercy.
44 You have hidden yourself in a cloud
so our prayers cannot reach you.
45 You have discarded us as refuse and garbage
among the nations.

46 “All our enemies
have spoken out against us.
47 We are filled with fear,
for we are trapped, devastated, and ruined.”
48 Tears stream from my eyes
because of the destruction of my people!

49 My tears flow endlessly;
they will not stop
50 until the Lord looks down
from heaven and sees.
51 My heart is breaking
over the fate of all the women of Jerusalem.

52 My enemies, whom I have never harmed,
hunted me down like a bird.
53 They threw me into a pit
and dropped stones on me.
54 The water rose over my head,
and I cried out, “This is the end!”

55 But I called on your name, Lord,
from deep within the pit.
56 You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading!
Hear my cry for help!”
57 Yes, you came when I called;
you told me, “Do not fear.”

58 Lord, you have come to my defense;
you have redeemed my life.
59 You have seen the wrong they have done to me, Lord.
Be my judge, and prove me right.
60 You have seen the vengeful plots
my enemies have laid against me.

61 Lord, you have heard the vile names they call me.
You know all about the plans they have made.
62 My enemies whisper and mutter
as they plot against me all day long.
63 Look at them! Whether they sit or stand,
I am the object of their mocking songs.

64 Pay them back, Lord,
for all the evil they have done.
65 Give them hard and stubborn hearts,
and then let your curse fall on them!
66 Chase them down in your anger,
destroying them beneath the Lord’s heavens.

Footnotes:

  1. 3:19 Or is wormwood and gall.
  2. 3:22 As in Syriac version; Hebrew reads of the Lord keeps us from destruction.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Hebrews 1

Jesus Christ Is God’s Son

Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. This shows that the Son is far greater than the angels, just as the name God gave him is greater than their names.

The Son Is Greater Than the Angels

For God never said to any angel what he said to Jesus:

“You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.[a]

God also said,

“I will be his Father,
and he will be my Son.”[b]

And when he brought his supreme[c] Son into the world, God said,[d]

“Let all of God’s angels worship him.”[e]

Regarding the angels, he says,

“He sends his angels like the winds,
his servants like flames of fire.”[f]

But to the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever.
You rule with a scepter of justice.
You love justice and hate evil.
Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you,
pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.”[g]

10 He also says to the Son,

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth
and made the heavens with your hands.
11 They will perish, but you remain forever.
They will wear out like old clothing.
12 You will fold them up like a cloak
and discard them like old clothing.
But you are always the same;
you will live forever.”[h]

13 And God never said to any of the angels,

“Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
until I humble your enemies,
making them a footstool under your feet.”[i]

14 Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.

Footnotes:

  1. 1:5a Or Today I reveal you as my Son. Ps 2:7.
  2. 1:5b 2 Sam 7:14.
  3. 1:6a Or firstborn.
  4. 1:6b Or when he again brings his supreme Son [or firstborn Son] into the world, God will say.
  5. 1:6c Deut 32:43.
  6. 1:7 Ps 104:4 (Greek version).
  7. 1:8-9 Ps 45:6-7.
  8. 1:10-12 Ps 102:25-27.
  9. 1:13 Ps 110:1.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 102

Psalm 102

A prayer of one overwhelmed with trouble, pouring out problems before the Lord.

Lord, hear my prayer!
Listen to my plea!
Don’t turn away from me
in my time of distress.
Bend down to listen,
and answer me quickly when I call to you.
For my days disappear like smoke,
and my bones burn like red-hot coals.
My heart is sick, withered like grass,
and I have lost my appetite.
Because of my groaning,
I am reduced to skin and bones.
I am like an owl in the desert,
like a little owl in a far-off wilderness.
I lie awake,
lonely as a solitary bird on the roof.
My enemies taunt me day after day.
They mock and curse me.
I eat ashes for food.
My tears run down into my drink
10 because of your anger and wrath.
For you have picked me up and thrown me out.
11 My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows.
I am withering away like grass.

12 But you, O Lord, will sit on your throne forever.
Your fame will endure to every generation.
13 You will arise and have mercy on Jerusalem[a]
and now is the time to pity her,
now is the time you promised to help.
14 For your people love every stone in her walls
and cherish even the dust in her streets.
15 Then the nations will tremble before the Lord.
The kings of the earth will tremble before his glory.
16 For the Lord will rebuild Jerusalem.
He will appear in his glory.
17 He will listen to the prayers of the destitute.
He will not reject their pleas.

18 Let this be recorded for future generations,
so that a people not yet born will praise the Lord.
19 Tell them the Lord looked down
from his heavenly sanctuary.
He looked down to earth from heaven
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners,
to release those condemned to die.
21 And so the Lord’s fame will be celebrated in Zion,
his praises in Jerusalem,
22 when multitudes gather together
and kingdoms come to worship the Lord.

23 He broke my strength in midlife,
cutting short my days.
24 But I cried to him, “O my God, who lives forever,
don’t take my life while I am so young!
25 Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth
and made the heavens with your hands.
26 They will perish, but you remain forever;
they will wear out like old clothing.
You will change them like a garment
and discard them.
27 But you are always the same;
you will live forever.
28 The children of your people
will live in security.
Their children’s children
will thrive in your presence.”

Footnotes:

  1. 102:13 Hebrew Zion; also in 102:16.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 26:21-22

21 A quarrelsome person starts fights
as easily as hot embers light charcoal or fire lights wood.

22 Rumors are dainty morsels
that sink deep into one’s heart.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


10/29/2018 DAB Transcript

Lamentations 1:1-2:19, Philemon 1-25, Psalms 101:1-8, Proverbs 26:20

Today is the 29th day of October. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It is great to be here with you today as we take the next step forward in the Scriptures as we continue to move our way through the year. And we’ve come to a unique day in our year. Yesterday we finished the book of Jeremiah and we finished the letter to Titus, which means in the Old and New Testaments we’ll be beginning new territory. So, in the Old Testament, we will be stepping into the book of Lamentations, which definitely changes the complexion and moves us into some strange and mournful territory.

Introduction to the book of Lamentations:

So, to kind of wrap our minds around the territory that we’re going into, the book Lamentations is composed of five poems of lament. And these laments are over the fall and destruction of Jerusalem. Now we can just blow by that and go, whatever. That was a long time ago. Keep hearing about this. Predictions of it in prophecy and then they’re destroyed…like, we’ve been through this territory. But if we’re to say the fall and destruction of Los Angeles, right? Or the fall and destruction of New York. Or the fall and destruction of Sydney or London. Then we would actually be talking about the magnitude of what’s being described in Lamentations. And we can understand this soul wrenching emotion that these dirges come from. Jerusalem was lost! The temple of the Almighty God had been destroyed, right? So, ash is in the air. Fires are burning all over the place. Blood is everywhere. In Hebrew, this book is called Eykhoh, which means how, right? How could this happen? And of course, we know that it did happen because the Babylonians did breach the wall of Jerusalem and destroy the city. And we not only know this from the Scriptures, but archaeological evidence of this conquest can still be found in Jerusalem today. How it could happen was largely the subject matter that we just read of in the prophecies of Jeremiah. The prophet warned for decades of the impending doom that would befall God’s people if they didn’t turn from their wicked ways. And so now in Lamentations, the prophecies have come true.

And the book of Lamentations doesn’t reveal its author. Not within the text. The tradition is that these mournful writings were written by Jeremiah. And this is one of the reasons why Lamentations follows Jeremiah in the Bible. But biblical scholars have debated this for centuries and there’s compelling theories in favour of Jeremiah and compelling reasons why it couldn’t be Jeremiah. But there is a general consensus on one thing: whoever did write Lamentations was likely an eyewitness to the destruction of the holy city. So, the Babylonians conqured and wiped Jerusalem out in 586 BC. And Lamentations was probably written very shortly thereafter. And until today, in the Jewish culture, on the 9th day of Av, Lamentations is read on a day of fasting to comemorate the great fall of Jerusalem. And as each poem is read, it provides a backdrop for personal and deep reflection. And we’re moving into some territory of lament, right? And so lamenting is never an easy thing. Grief is hard. But it has a way of washing us clean. It strips us away until all the layers are gone, until all that’s left is what is really bedrock in our lives. And even though it’s intensely painful, it’s also freeing. When we have fallen into the depths of sadness, there is hope for our future and lamenting helps us give language to suffering, right? And this is what we stuff. This is the kind of stuff that we stuff down and pretend it’s not there and just allow it to simmer inside of us and turn until it turns into so much anxiety that we can’t think straight. Lamenting gives language to this and helps is release it. It helps us let go of who we once were and what we are lamenting. Because we’re not only lamenting what’s happened to us, whatever it is that’s made us so sad. We’re also lamenting the end of a chapter so that we can begin anew. And we’ll find this in the book of Lamentations. And if we’ll let it, if we’ll enter into it, we can find this in our lives. And, so, we begin. Lamentations 1:1-2:22. And we’re reading from the New Living Translation this week.

Introduction to the book of Philemon:

Okay. So, as we mentioned at the beginning, we’re also beginning a new work in the New Testament, which is another of the Apostle Paul’s letters. And this is the final letter that’s clearly attributed to the Apostle Paul. And like the pastoral letters, this is a personal letter, but it’s not a pastoral letter. It’s a personal letter to a person named Philemon. And it’s short.We’re gonna read the whole thing in just a minute. And it probably was a short letter that accompanied the delivery of the letter to the Colossians that we know as Colossians in the New Testament. Philemon was a church leader in Colossae. And it’s pretty likely that he was probably one of the more wealthy and influential church men in Colossae. According to the letter, a congregation met in his home. And he had a servant. And his servant’s name was Onesimus and Onesimus ran away. And he probably stole from Philemon in the process, which would have been an offense punishable by death. And Onesimus likely fled to Rome from Colossae in an attempt to disappear. At the same time this is happening, Paul was in Rome under house arrest awaiting trial. So, in a strange twist of divine providence, Onesimus came into contact with Paul and then under Paul’s instruction, Onesimus, the runaway slave, became a follower of Jesus. And after his conversion, then Onesimus served Paul and cared for his needs while he was under arrest in Rome. So, sometime later after this, Paul wrote a letter to the church in Colossae, intending to send Tychicus on the journey to hand deliver it and in the process, Paul also wrote this personal note to Philemon and sent Onesimus to accompany Tychicus back to his hometown and master. And this would have been… I mean, you can put yourself in the runaway slave Onesimus’ shoes. This would have been a pretty frightening step of faith because his life hung in the balance. He could be executed for what he had done. But Paul’s influence, not to mention his own imprisonment, gave Onesimus the courage to leave his life in God’s hands and do the right thing. And, so, this letter goes along with Onesimus and packs a punch. It shows us the importance of forgiveness. It teaches us that no matter what our level of authority is over another person, if they’re a believer in Jesus, then they are brothers and sisters and they should be treated as brothers and sisters. And it also gives us a compelling example of how God does, in fact, work all things together for the good of those who love him. And so we begin and end (because we’re reading in its entirety) the book or letter to Philemon.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we thank You for this new territory that we’re entering into in the book of Lamentations and we invite Your Holy Spirit. Some of us are lamenting in our lives right now. All of us, though, have experienced this. And so we invite Your Holy Spirit to give us language to those times in our lives when sadness and grief are our companion. Usually we spend all of our efforts trying to avoid those things or to get away from those things, but they are not purposeless. And when we find ourselves walking through that season, giving language to it gives language to our soul. So, we invite Your Holy Spirit to show us how to enter into this so that it can wash us clean and give us a fresh start. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

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

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday October 29, 2018 (NIV)

Lamentations 1-2

Sorrow in Jerusalem

Jerusalem, once so full of people,
is now deserted.
She who was once great among the nations
now sits alone like a widow.
Once the queen of all the earth,
she is now a slave.

She sobs through the night;
tears stream down her cheeks.
Among all her lovers,
there is no one left to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her
and become her enemies.

Judah has been led away into captivity,
oppressed with cruel slavery.
She lives among foreign nations
and has no place of rest.
Her enemies have chased her down,
and she has nowhere to turn.

The roads to Jerusalem[a] are in mourning,
for crowds no longer come to celebrate the festivals.
The city gates are silent,
her priests groan,
her young women are crying—
how bitter is her fate!

Her oppressors have become her masters,
and her enemies prosper,
for the Lord has punished Jerusalem
for her many sins.
Her children have been captured
and taken away to distant lands.

All the majesty of beautiful Jerusalem[b]
has been stripped away.
Her princes are like starving deer
searching for pasture.
They are too weak to run
from the pursuing enemy.

In the midst of her sadness and wandering,
Jerusalem remembers her ancient splendor.
But now she has fallen to her enemy,
and there is no one to help her.
Her enemy struck her down
and laughed as she fell.

Jerusalem has sinned greatly,
so she has been tossed away like a filthy rag.
All who once honored her now despise her,
for they have seen her stripped naked and humiliated.
All she can do is groan
and hide her face.

She defiled herself with immorality
and gave no thought to her future.
Now she lies in the gutter
with no one to lift her out.
Lord, see my misery,” she cries.
“The enemy has triumphed.”

10 The enemy has plundered her completely,
taking every precious thing she owns.
She has seen foreigners violate her sacred Temple,
the place the Lord had forbidden them to enter.

11 Her people groan as they search for bread.
They have sold their treasures for food to stay alive.
“O Lord, look,” she mourns,
“and see how I am despised.

12 “Does it mean nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Look around and see if there is any suffering like mine,
which the Lord brought on me
when he erupted in fierce anger.

13 “He has sent fire from heaven that burns in my bones.
He has placed a trap in my path and turned me back.
He has left me devastated,
racked with sickness all day long.

14 “He wove my sins into ropes
to hitch me to a yoke of captivity.
The Lord sapped my strength and turned me over to my enemies;
I am helpless in their hands.

15 “The Lord has treated my mighty men
with contempt.
At his command a great army has come
to crush my young warriors.
The Lord has trampled his beloved city[c]
like grapes are trampled in a winepress.

16 “For all these things I weep;
tears flow down my cheeks.
No one is here to comfort me;
any who might encourage me are far away.
My children have no future,
for the enemy has conquered us.”

17 Jerusalem reaches out for help,
but no one comforts her.
Regarding his people Israel,[d]
the Lord has said,
“Let their neighbors be their enemies!
Let them be thrown away like a filthy rag!”

18 “The Lord is right,” Jerusalem says,
“for I rebelled against him.
Listen, people everywhere;
look upon my anguish and despair,
for my sons and daughters
have been taken captive to distant lands.

19 “I begged my allies for help,
but they betrayed me.
My priests and leaders
starved to death in the city,
even as they searched for food
to save their lives.

20 Lord, see my anguish!
My heart is broken
and my soul despairs,
for I have rebelled against you.
In the streets the sword kills,
and at home there is only death.

21 “Others heard my groans,
but no one turned to comfort me.
When my enemies heard about my troubles,
they were happy to see what you had done.
Oh, bring the day you promised,
when they will suffer as I have suffered.

22 “Look at all their evil deeds, Lord.
Punish them,
as you have punished me
for all my sins.
My groans are many,
and I am sick at heart.”

God’s Anger at Sin

The Lord in his anger
has cast a dark shadow over beautiful Jerusalem.[e]
The fairest of Israel’s cities lies in the dust,
thrown down from the heights of heaven.
In his day of great anger,
the Lord has shown no mercy even to his Temple.[f]

Without mercy the Lord has destroyed
every home in Israel.[g]
In his anger he has broken down
the fortress walls of beautiful Jerusalem.[h]
He has brought them to the ground,
dishonoring the kingdom and its rulers.

All the strength of Israel
vanishes beneath his fierce anger.
The Lord has withdrawn his protection
as the enemy attacks.
He consumes the whole land of Israel
like a raging fire.

He bends his bow against his people,
as though he were their enemy.
His strength is used against them
to kill their finest youth.
His fury is poured out like fire
on beautiful Jerusalem.[i]

Yes, the Lord has vanquished Israel
like an enemy.
He has destroyed her palaces
and demolished her fortresses.
He has brought unending sorrow and tears
upon beautiful Jerusalem.

He has broken down his Temple
as though it were merely a garden shelter.
The Lord has blotted out all memory
of the holy festivals and Sabbath days.
Kings and priests fall together
before his fierce anger.

The Lord has rejected his own altar;
he despises his own sanctuary.
He has given Jerusalem’s palaces
to her enemies.
They shout in the Lord’s Temple
as though it were a day of celebration.

The Lord was determined
to destroy the walls of beautiful Jerusalem.
He made careful plans for their destruction,
then did what he had planned.
Therefore, the ramparts and walls
have fallen down before him.

Jerusalem’s gates have sunk into the ground.
He has smashed their locks and bars.
Her kings and princes have been exiled to distant lands;
her law has ceased to exist.
Her prophets receive
no more visions from the Lord.

10 The leaders of beautiful Jerusalem
sit on the ground in silence.
They are clothed in burlap
and throw dust on their heads.
The young women of Jerusalem
hang their heads in shame.

11 I have cried until the tears no longer come;
my heart is broken.
My spirit is poured out in agony
as I see the desperate plight of my people.
Little children and tiny babies
are fainting and dying in the streets.

12 They cry out to their mothers,
“We need food and drink!”
Their lives ebb away in the streets
like the life of a warrior wounded in battle.
They gasp for life
as they collapse in their mothers’ arms.

13 What can I say about you?
Who has ever seen such sorrow?
O daughter of Jerusalem,
to what can I compare your anguish?
O virgin daughter of Zion,
how can I comfort you?
For your wound is as deep as the sea.
Who can heal you?

14 Your prophets have said
so many foolish things, false to the core.
They did not save you from exile
by pointing out your sins.
Instead, they painted false pictures,
filling you with false hope.

15 All who pass by jeer at you.
They scoff and insult beautiful Jerusalem,[j] saying,
“Is this the city called ‘Most Beautiful in All the World’
and ‘Joy of All the Earth’?”

16 All your enemies mock you.
They scoff and snarl and say,
“We have destroyed her at last!
We have long waited for this day,
and it is finally here!”

17 But it is the Lord who did just as he planned.
He has fulfilled the promises of disaster
he made long ago.
He has destroyed Jerusalem without mercy.
He has caused her enemies to gloat over her
and has given them power over her.

18 Cry aloud[k] before the Lord,
O walls of beautiful Jerusalem!
Let your tears flow like a river
day and night.
Give yourselves no rest;
give your eyes no relief.

19 Rise during the night and cry out.
Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord.
Lift up your hands to him in prayer,
pleading for your children,
for in every street
they are faint with hunger.

20 “O Lord, think about this!
Should you treat your own people this way?
Should mothers eat their own children,
those they once bounced on their knees?
Should priests and prophets be killed
within the Lord’s Temple?

21 “See them lying in the streets—
young and old,
boys and girls,
killed by the swords of the enemy.
You have killed them in your anger,
slaughtering them without mercy.

22 “You have invited terrors from all around,
as though you were calling them to a day of feasting.
In the day of the Lord’s anger,
no one has escaped or survived.
The enemy has killed all the children
whom I carried and raised.”

Footnotes:

  1. 1:4 Hebrew Zion; also in 1:17.
  2. 1:6 Hebrew of the daughter of Zion.
  3. 1:15 Hebrew the virgin daughter of Judah.
  4. 1:17 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.
  5. 2:1a Hebrew the daughter of Zion; also in 2:8, 10, 18.
  6. 2:1b Hebrew his footstool.
  7. 2:2a Hebrew Jacob; also in 2:3b. See note on 1:17.
  8. 2:2b Hebrew the daughter of Judah; also in 2:5.
  9. 2:4 Hebrew on the tent of the daughter of Zion.
  10. 2:15 Hebrew the daughter of Jerusalem.
  11. 2:18 Hebrew Their heart cried.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Philemon

Greetings from Paul

This letter is from Paul, a prisoner for preaching the Good News about Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy.

I am writing to Philemon, our beloved co-worker, and to our sister Apphia, and to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church that meets in your[a] house.

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer

I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon, because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God’s people. And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ. Your love has given me much joy and comfort, my brother, for your kindness has often refreshed the hearts of God’s people.

Paul’s Appeal for Onesimus

That is why I am boldly asking a favor of you. I could demand it in the name of Christ because it is the right thing for you to do. But because of our love, I prefer simply to ask you. Consider this as a request from me—Paul, an old man and now also a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus.[b]

10 I appeal to you to show kindness to my child, Onesimus. I became his father in the faith while here in prison. 11 Onesimus[c] hasn’t been of much use to you in the past, but now he is very useful to both of us. 12 I am sending him back to you, and with him comes my own heart.

13 I wanted to keep him here with me while I am in these chains for preaching the Good News, and he would have helped me on your behalf. 14 But I didn’t want to do anything without your consent. I wanted you to help because you were willing, not because you were forced. 15 It seems you lost Onesimus for a little while so that you could have him back forever. 16 He is no longer like a slave to you. He is more than a slave, for he is a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will mean much more to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

17 So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to me. 19 I, PAUL, WRITE THIS WITH MY OWN HAND: I WILL REPAY IT. AND I WON’T MENTION THAT YOU OWE ME YOUR VERY SOUL!

20 Yes, my brother, please do me this favor[d] for the Lord’s sake. Give me this encouragement in Christ.

21 I am confident as I write this letter that you will do what I ask and even more! 22 One more thing—please prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that God will answer your prayers and let me return to you soon.

Paul’s Final Greetings

23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. 24 So do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my co-workers.

25 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Footnotes:

  1. 2 Throughout this letter, you and your are singular except in verses 3, 22, and 25.
  2. 9 Or a prisoner of Christ Jesus.
  3. 11 Onesimus means “useful.”
  4. 20 Greek onaimen, a play on the name Onesimus.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 101

Psalm 101

A psalm of David.

I will sing of your love and justice, Lord.
I will praise you with songs.
I will be careful to live a blameless life—
when will you come to help me?
I will lead a life of integrity
in my own home.
I will refuse to look at
anything vile and vulgar.
I hate all who deal crookedly;
I will have nothing to do with them.
I will reject perverse ideas
and stay away from every evil.
I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors.
I will not endure conceit and pride.

I will search for faithful people
to be my companions.
Only those who are above reproach
will be allowed to serve me.
I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house,
and liars will not stay in my presence.
My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked
and free the city of the Lord from their grip.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 26:20

20 Fire goes out without wood,
and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


10/28/2018 DAB Transcript

Jeremiah 51:54-52:34, Titus 3:1-15, Psalms 100:1-5, Proverbs 26:18-19

Today is the 28th day of October. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you as we walk into a brand-new, sparkly, shiny week together. And before this week is over we’ll be walking into a brand-new, shiny, sparkly month together. So, we will finish strong with the month of October by beginning this shiny, sparkly week strong. We’ll read from the new living translation this week. Jeremiah chapter 51 verse 54 through 52 verse 34 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, as we walk into this shiny, sparkly, new week we have some pretty stark advice coming to greet us from the book of Proverbs. So, let’s try to flesh this out a little bit. Have you ever seen somebody, observed a person, that’s harsh, but they attempt to pass off their belittling as a joke. Right? They’ll like nick you or maybe it’s you…and cut with their words but then, if confronted, the whole story flips. Right? So, that the problem isn’t that you’ve been nicked or cut or have experienced abusive words or some kind of hurtful intent, that’s not really the issue. Instead, the issue is the inability of the receiving person to take a joke. So, that’s like a no win situation because the nicks and cuts that came with the words, they were really indeed meant to harm but there’s this plausible deniability, right, in the situation. And, so, it allows a falseness to remain intact in the whole scenario. It’s a lie, but it’s a twisted lie they can just make you crazy because you know that the person was trying to hurt you, even just offhandedly, even with these little, kind of jabs. But then they’re saying, no, I didn’t mean any of that, it was just a joke. So the proverb says, just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon is someone who lies to a friend and then says I was only joking. Alright, a madman shooting a deadly weapon? That is a hauntingly familiar image these days and the proverb is essentially saying that sidestep, that maneuver, like, you shoot and then you sidestep, that deceptive tactic that insults or diminishes another person and then re-injures that same person by trying to make believe that the whole thing was a joke is like a madman shooting a deadly weapon. I mean…I mean, let that sink in. So, if this has been happening to you then you can stop feeling like you’re going crazy. You’re in an unhealthy situation. Maybe you need some counsel. Or maybe you just need to name it and bring it into the light. But on the other side of this, if you’re feeling conviction because this is little bit…this is a little bit too real at the beginning of this shiny, sparkly, new week, then name and face it. I mean there are times we shouldn't…we shouldn’t wag our tongues, we should bite them. And insulting another and then passing it off as a joke is dangerous and harmful to all relationships. And, so, when we’re pulled to this behavior, we need consider the implications that were starkly detailed in the book of Proverbs today and invite God into the situation. So, as we go into this brand-new week let’s steward what we say today, tomorrow, the next day, because our words can align us with God’s kingdom or we can be like a dangerous madman shooting a deadly weapon. And we get to choose how we’re gonna live that out this week.

Prayer:

Father, that’s pretty stark stuff, pretty strong medicine as we get the week going and we invite you into that, whether it is that we’re being verbally abused in some sort of offhanded way that has been beating us down or whether that’s what we do so that we can dominate other people. The reality is that we do this most with those that we love the most. And so here we are. This is the threshold of a new week and it doesn’t have to be that way this week. In fact, it doesn’t have to be that way ever again. We just have to face it and name it. And, so, come Holy Spirit. Lead us into all truth. Show us the implications and the impact of our words. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

Check other resources available in the Shop, visit the Prayer Wall, just stay connected in any way that you want to.

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

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

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

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday October 28, 2018 (NIV)

Jeremiah 51:54-52:34

Babylon’s Complete Destruction

54 “Listen! Hear the cry of Babylon,
the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians.
55 For the Lord is destroying Babylon.
He will silence her loud voice.
Waves of enemies pound against her;
the noise of battle rings through the city.
56 Destroying armies come against Babylon.
Her mighty men are captured,
and their weapons break in their hands.
For the Lord is a God who gives just punishment;
he always repays in full.
57 I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
along with her captains, officers, and warriors.
They will fall asleep
and never wake up again!”
says the King, whose name is
the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

58 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:
“The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground,
and her massive gates will be burned.
The builders from many lands have worked in vain,
for their work will be destroyed by fire!”

Jeremiah’s Message Sent to Babylon

59 The prophet Jeremiah gave this message to Seraiah son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah, a staff officer, when Seraiah went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah. This was during the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign.[a] 60 Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the terrible disasters that would soon come upon Babylon—all the words written here. 61 He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, read aloud everything on this scroll. 62 Then say, ‘Lord, you have said that you will destroy Babylon so that neither people nor animals will remain here. She will lie empty and abandoned forever.’ 63 When you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone and throw it into the Euphrates River. 64 Then say, ‘In this same way Babylon and her people will sink, never again to rise, because of the disasters I will bring upon her.’”

This is the end of Jeremiah’s messages.

The Fall of Jerusalem

52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. But Zedekiah did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Jehoiakim had done. These things happened because of the Lord’s anger against the people of Jerusalem and Judah, until he finally banished them from his presence and sent them into exile.

Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. So on January 15,[b] during the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar[c] of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah’s reign.

By July 18 in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign,[d] the famine in the city had become very severe, and the last of the food was entirely gone. Then a section of the city wall was broken down, and all the soldiers fled. Since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians,[e] they waited for nightfall. Then they slipped through the gate between the two walls behind the king’s garden and headed toward the Jordan Valley.[f]

But the Babylonian troops chased King Zedekiah and overtook him on the plains of Jericho, for his men had all deserted him and scattered. They captured the king and took him to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath. There the king of Babylon pronounced judgment upon Zedekiah. 10 The king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as he slaughtered his sons. He also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at Riblah. 11 Then he gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in bronze chains, and the king of Babylon led him away to Babylon. Zedekiah remained there in prison until the day of his death.

The Temple Destroyed

12 On August 17 of that year,[g] which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard and an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. 13 He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings[h] in the city. 14 Then he supervised the entire Babylonian[i] army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem on every side. 15 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took as exiles some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. 16 But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields.

17 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the Lord’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon. 18 They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, basins, dishes, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple. 19 The captain of the guard also took the small bowls, incense burners, basins, pots, lampstands, ladles, bowls used for liquid offerings, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver.

20 The weight of the bronze from the two pillars, the Sea with the twelve bronze oxen beneath it, and the water carts was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the Lord’s Temple in the days of King Solomon. 21 Each of the pillars was 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference.[j] They were hollow, with walls 3 inches thick.[k] 22 The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7 1⁄2 feet[l] high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around. 23 There were 96 pomegranates on the sides, and a total of 100 pomegranates on the network around the top.

24 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took with him as prisoners Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the priest of the second rank, and the three chief gatekeepers. 25 And from among the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer who had been in charge of the Judean army; seven of the king’s personal advisers; the army commander’s chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment; and sixty other citizens. 26 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 And there at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them all put to death. So the people of Judah were sent into exile from their land.

28 The number of captives taken to Babylon in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign[m] was 3,023. 29 Then in Nebuchadnezzar’s eighteenth year[n] he took 832 more. 30 In Nebuchadnezzar’s twenty-third year[o] he sent Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who took 745 more—a total of 4,600 captives in all.

Hope for Israel’s Royal Line

31 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to[p] Jehoiachin and released him from prison on March 31 of that year.[q] 32 He spoke kindly to Jehoiachin and gave him a higher place than all the other exiled kings in Babylon. 33 He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine in the king’s presence for the rest of his life. 34 So the Babylonian king gave him a regular food allowance as long as he lived. This continued until the day of his death.

Footnotes:

  1. 51:59 The fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign was 593 B.c.
  2. 52:4a Hebrew on the tenth day of the tenth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. A number of events in Jeremiah can be cross-checked with dates in surviving Babylonian records and related accurately to our modern calendar. This day was January 15, 588 B.c.
  3. 52:4b Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar; also in 52:12, 28, 29, 30.
  4. 52:6 Hebrew By the ninth day of the fourth month [in the eleventh year of Zedekiah’s reign]. This day was July 18, 586 B.c.; also see note on 52:4a.
  5. 52:7a Or the Chaldeans; similarly in 52:8, 17.
  6. 52:7b Hebrew the Arabah.
  7. 52:12 Hebrew On the tenth day of the fifth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was August 17, 586 B.c.; also see note on 52:4a.
  8. 52:13 Or destroyed the houses of all the important people.
  9. 52:14 Or Chaldean.
  10. 52:21a Hebrew 18 cubits [8.3 meters] tall and 12 cubits [5.5 meters] in circumference.
  11. 52:21b Hebrew 4 fingers thick [8 centimeters].
  12. 52:22 Hebrew 5 cubits [2.3 meters].
  13. 52:28 This exile in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 597 B.c.
  14. 52:29 This exile in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 586 B.c.
  15. 52:30 This exile in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign occurred in 581 B.c.
  16. 52:31a Hebrew He raised the head of.
  17. 52:31b Hebrew on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This day was March 31, 561 B.c.; also see note on 52:4a.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Titus 3

Do What Is Good

Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.

Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. But—

When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.[a] He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.

This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you to insist on these teachings so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good. These teachings are good and beneficial for everyone.

Do not get involved in foolish discussions about spiritual pedigrees[b] or in quarrels and fights about obedience to Jewish laws. These things are useless and a waste of time. 10 If people are causing divisions among you, give a first and second warning. After that, have nothing more to do with them. 11 For people like that have turned away from the truth, and their own sins condemn them.

Paul’s Final Remarks and Greetings

12 I am planning to send either Artemas or Tychicus to you. As soon as one of them arrives, do your best to meet me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to stay there for the winter. 13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos with their trip. See that they are given everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive.

15 Everybody here sends greetings. Please give my greetings to the believers—all who love us.

May God’s grace be with you all.

Footnotes:

  1. 3:5 Greek He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
  2. 3:9 Or spiritual genealogies.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Psalm 100

Psalm 100

A psalm of thanksgiving.

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.[a]
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Footnotes:

  1. 100:3 As in an alternate reading in the Masoretic Text; the other alternate and some ancient versions read and not we ourselves.
New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


Proverbs 26:18-19

18 Just as damaging
as a madman shooting a deadly weapon
19 is someone who lies to a friend
and then says, “I was only joking.”

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


10/27/2018 DAB Transcript

Jeremiah 51:1-53, Titus 2:1-15, Psalms 99:1-9, Proverbs 26:17

Today is the 27th day of October. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. Welcome to the end of another week together. It’s great to be here with you today and I’m excited to see what’s in store for us in the Scriptures. And if you can believe it, next week, I mean, which starts tomorrow, we’ll be moving into the 11th month of the year. So, we are indeed putting one step in front of the other and making progress as we move toward the end of the Bible. Today we’ll be reading from the Christian Standard Bible. And in our Old Testament reading, Jeremiah 51:1-53.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and its constant in our lives. The days go by and every single day of our lives is imprinted by Your word because every single day we spend time in it, allowing our hearts to open to it, allowing it to make an indelible mark on us. Allowing it to guide and direct our paths and steps. And we certainly ask forgiveness for the times that we willingly simply do not obey what has been shared with us by the scriptures. But Your word tells us Your mercies are new every morning. So, every day is a reset and every day is a restart. So, we ask, Holy Spirit, come, plant the word of God deeply into our lives, transforming us from within as we give ear to it and as we apply it into our behaviors and all of the issues of life. Come Holy Spirit, we pray. In Jesus name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

Check out the resources that are available in the shop. Stay connected via social media if that’s one of the things that you do. All of those links are in the community section at dailyaudiobible.com.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There’s a link on the homepage. Thank you. Thank you for your partnership. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the give button in the upper right-hand corner. Or if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, Tennessee, 37174.

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

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

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday October 27, 2018 (NIV)

Jeremiah 51:1-53

God’s Judgment on Babylon

51 This is what the Lord says:

I am about to rouse the spirit of a destroyer[a] against Babylon(A)
and against the population of Leb-qamai.[b][c]
I will send strangers to Babylon
who will scatter her and strip her land bare,(B)
for they will come against her
from every side in the day of disaster.
Don’t let the archer string his bow;
don’t let him put on[d] his armor.(C)
Don’t spare her young men;
completely destroy her entire army!
Those who were slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans,
those who were pierced through, in her streets.(D)
For Israel and Judah are not left widowed
by their God, the Lord of Armies,
though their land is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.(E)

Leave Babylon;(F)
save your lives, each of you!(G)
Don’t perish because of her guilt.
For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance—
he will pay her what she deserves.(H)
Babylon was a gold cup in the Lord’s hand,(I)
making the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;(J)
therefore, the nations go mad.(K)
Suddenly Babylon fell and was shattered.
Wail for her;
get balm(L) for her wound—
perhaps she can be healed.

We tried to heal Babylon,
but she could not be healed.
Abandon her!
Let each of us go to his own land,(M)
for her judgment extends to the sky
and reaches as far as the clouds.(N)

10 The Lord has brought about our vindication;(O)
come, let’s tell in Zion
what the Lord our God has accomplished.(P)

11 Sharpen the arrows!(Q)
Fill the quivers![e]
The Lord has roused the spirit
of the kings of the Medes
because his plan is aimed at Babylon
to destroy her,
for it is the Lord’s vengeance,
vengeance for his temple.(R)
12 Raise up a signal flag(S)
against the walls of Babylon;
fortify the watch post;
set the watchmen in place;
prepare the ambush.
For the Lord has both planned and accomplished
what he has threatened
against those who live in Babylon.(T)
13 You who reside by abundant water,(U)
rich in treasures,
your end has come,
your life thread is cut.

14 The Lord of Armies has sworn by himself:

I will fill you up with men as with locusts,
and they will sing the victory song over you.

15 He made the earth by his power,
established the world(V) by his wisdom,(W)
and spread out the heavens by his understanding.(X)
16 When he thunders,[f]
the waters in the heavens are tumultuous,(Y)
and he causes the clouds
to rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from his storehouses.(Z)

17 Everyone is stupid and ignorant.
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved image,(AA)
for his cast images are a lie;(AB)
there is no breath in them.(AC)
18 They are worthless,(AD) a work to be mocked.
At the time of their punishment they will be destroyed.(AE)
19 Jacob’s Portion[g] is not like these
because he is the one who formed all things.(AF)
Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;(AG)
the Lord of Armies is his name.(AH)

20 You are my war club,
my weapons of war.
With you I will smash nations;
with you I will bring kingdoms to ruin.
21 With you I will smash the horse and its rider;
with you I will smash the chariot and its rider.
22 With you I will smash man and woman;(AI)
with you I will smash the old man and the youth;
with you I will smash the young man and the young woman.
23 With you I will smash the shepherd and his flock;
with you I will smash the farmer and his ox-team.[h]
With you I will smash governors and officials.

24 “Before your very eyes, I will repay Babylon and all the residents of Chaldea for all their evil they have done in Zion.”(AJ)

This is the Lord’s declaration.

25 Look, I am against you, devastating mountain.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
You devastate the whole earth.
I will stretch out my hand against you,(AK)
roll you down from the cliffs,
and turn you into a charred mountain.
26 No one will be able to retrieve a cornerstone
or a foundation stone from you,
because you will become desolate forever.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

27 Raise a signal flag(AL) in the land;
blow a ram’s horn among the nations;(AM)
set apart the nations against her.(AN)
Summon kingdoms against her—
Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a marshal against her;
bring up horses like a swarm[i] of locusts.
28 Set apart the nations for battle against her—
the kings of Media,
her governors and all her officials,
and all the lands they rule.
29 The earth quakes(AO) and trembles
because the Lord’s intentions against Babylon stand:
to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
30 Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting;(AP)
they sit in their strongholds.
Their might is exhausted;
they have become like women.
Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze,
her gate bars are shattered.(AQ)
31 Messenger races to meet messenger,(AR)
and herald to meet herald,
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his city has been captured
from end to end.(AS)
32 The fords have been seized,(AT)
the marshes set on fire,
and the fighting men are terrified.

33 For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says:

Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trampled.(AU)
In just a little while her harvest time will come.(AV)

34 “King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me;
he has crushed me.
He has set me aside like an empty dish;
he has swallowed me like a sea monster;(AW)
he filled his belly with my delicacies;
he has vomited me out.[j]
35 Let the violence done to me and my family be done to Babylon,”
says the inhabitant of Zion.
“Let my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
says Jerusalem.

36 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

I am about to champion your cause(AX)
and take vengeance on your behalf;
I will dry up her sea(AY)
and make her fountain run dry.
37 Babylon will become a heap of rubble,
a jackals’ den,
a desolation and an object of scorn,(AZ)
without inhabitant.(BA)
38 They will roar together like young lions;
they will growl like lion cubs.
39 While they are flushed with heat, I will serve them a feast,
and I will make them drunk so that they celebrate.[k](BB)
Then they will fall asleep forever
and never wake up.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams together with male goats.(BC)

41 How Sheshach[l](BD) has been captured,(BE)
the praise(BF) of the whole earth seized.
What a horror Babylon has become
among the nations!(BG)
42 The sea has risen over Babylon;(BH)
she is covered with its tumultuous waves.
43 Her cities have become a desolation,(BI)
an arid desert,
a land where no one lives,
where no human being even passes through.
44 I will punish Bel(BJ) in Babylon.
I will make him vomit what he swallowed.(BK)
The nations will no longer stream to him;(BL)
even Babylon’s wall will fall.

45 Come out from among her, my people!(BM)
Save your lives, each of you,(BN)
from the Lord’s burning anger.
46 May you not become cowardly and fearful
when the report is proclaimed in the land,
for the report will come one year,
and then another the next year.
There will be violence in the land
with ruler against ruler.
47 Therefore, look, the days are coming(BO)
when I will punish Babylon’s carved images.(BP)
Her entire land will suffer shame,
and all her slain will lie fallen within her.(BQ)
48 Heaven and earth and everything in them
will shout for joy(BR) over Babylon
because the destroyers from the north(BS)
will come against her.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

49 Babylon must fall because of the slain of Israel,
even as the slain of the whole earth fell
because of Babylon.
50 You who have escaped the sword,(BT)
go and do not stand still!
Remember the Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come to your mind.

51 We are ashamed
because we have heard insults.(BU)
Humiliation covers our faces
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the Lord’s temple.(BV)

52 Therefore, look, the days are coming—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
when I will punish her carved images,
and the wounded will groan
throughout her land.
53 Even if Babylon should ascend to the heavens(BW)
and fortify her tall fortresses,
destroyers will come against her from me.
This is the Lord’s declaration.

Footnotes:

  1. 51:1 Or to stir up a destructive wind
  2. 51:1 Lit heart of my adversaries
  3. 51:1 = Chaldeans
  4. 51:3 Hb obscure
  5. 51:11 Or Grasp the shields!
  6. 51:16 Lit At his giving of the voice
  7. 51:19 = The Lord
  8. 51:23 Lit yoke
  9. 51:27 Hb obscure
  10. 51:34 Lit has rinsed me off
  11. 51:39 LXX reads pass out
  12. 51:41 = Babylon

Cross references:

  1. 51:1 : Jr 4:11-12; 50:9
  2. 51:2 : Jr 15:7; Mt 3:12
  3. 51:3 : Jb 41:13; Jr 46:4
  4. 51:4 : Jr 51:47,52
  5. 51:5 : Ps 78:41; Is 37:23; Jr 50:29
  6. 51:6 : Jr 50:8; Rv 18:4
  7. 51:6 : Jr 48:6; 51:45
  8. 51:6 : Ps 28:4; 137:8; Is 66:6
  9. 51:7 : Rv 17:4
  10. 51:7 : Rv 14:8; 18:3
  11. 51:7 : Jr 25:16
  12. 51:8 : Jr 8:22; 46:11
  13. 51:9 : Is 13:14
  14. 51:9 : Rv 18:5
  15. 51:10 : Ps 37:6
  16. 51:10 : Jr 50:28
  17. 51:11 : Is 5:28; Jr 50:9,14,29; 51:3
  18. 51:11 : Jr 50:28
  19. 51:12 : Ps 60:4; Is 5:26; 18:3
  20. 51:12 : Is 14:26; 19:12,17; 23:8; Jr 18:11; 49:20,30; 50:45; Mc 2:3
  21. 51:13 : Rv 17:1
  22. 51:15 : Jb 38:4; Ps 93:1; 96:10
  23. 51:15 : Pr 3:19-20; 8:22-29
  24. 51:15 : Jb 9:8; Ps 104:2; Is 45:12
  25. 51:16 : Jr 5:22; 31:35
  26. 51:16 : Jb 38:25-30,34-38; Ps 135:7
  27. 51:17 : Is 40:18-31; 46:1-7
  28. 51:17 : Is 41:29
  29. 51:17 : Hab 2:19
  30. 51:18 : Jr 10:3,8
  31. 51:18 : Jr 6:15; 10:15; 49:8
  32. 51:19 : Gn 2:7-8,19; Ps 95:5; Is 43:1
  33. 51:19 : Dt 4:20; 32:8-9; Ps 74:2; 78:71; Is 63:17; Mc 7:18; Eph 1:18
  34. 51:15-19 : Jr 10:12-16
  35. 51:22 : 2Ch 36:17; Is 13:15-18
  36. 51:24 : 2Sm 12:11; Is 1:7; Jr 16:9; 20:4; 29:21; 39:16; 50:15,29
  37. 51:25 : Jr 15:6; Ezk 6:14; 25:7
  38. 51:27 : Ps 60:4; Is 5:26; 18:3
  39. 51:27 : Jr 4:5; 6:1
  40. 51:27 : Jr 6:4; 22:7; 50:9
  41. 51:29 : Ps 18:7; Is 13:13; Jr 50:46
  42. 51:30 : Jr 50:37
  43. 51:30 : Lm 2:9; Nah 3:13
  44. 51:31 : 2Ch 30:6
  45. 51:31 : Jr 50:24
  46. 51:32 : Jdg 12:5
  47. 51:33 : Is 21:10
  48. 51:33 : Is 17:5; Jl 3:13; Rv 14:15
  49. 51:34 : Ps 74:13; Is 27:1; Ezk 29:3
  50. 51:36 : 1Sm 24:15; Pr 23:11; Jr 50:34
  51. 51:36 : Ex 14:16—15:21
  52. 51:37 : 2Ch 29:8; Jr 18:16; 19:8
  53. 51:37 : Jr 4:7; 9:11; 33:10; 34:22; 44:2,22; 46:19; 48:9; 49:33
  54. 51:39 : Jr 51:57
  55. 51:40 : Is 34:6; Ezk 39:18
  56. 51:41 : Jr 25:26
  57. 51:41 : Jr 25:26
  58. 51:41 : Jr 33:9; 49:25
  59. 51:41 : Jr 50:23
  60. 51:42 : Is 8:7-8
  61. 51:43 : Jr 50:12
  62. 51:44 : Is 46:1; Jr 50:2
  63. 51:44 : Jb 20:15
  64. 51:44 : Is 2:2; Mc 4:1
  65. 51:45 : Jr 51:6
  66. 51:45 : Jr 48:6; 51:6
  67. 51:47 : Jr 7:32; 16:14; 19:6; 23:7; 48:12; 49:2; 51:52
  68. 51:47 : Jr 50:2
  69. 51:47 : Jr 50:12
  70. 51:48 : Is 44:23; 49:13
  71. 51:48 : Is 41:25; Jr 4:6,20; 6:1; 15:12; 47:2; 50:3,9,41
  72. 51:50 : Jr 44:28
  73. 51:51 : Ps 44:15
  74. 51:51 : Lm 1:10
  75. 51:53 : Gn 11:4; Is 14:12-14; Jr 49:16
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.

Titus 2

Sound Teaching and Christian Living

But you are to proclaim things consistent with sound teaching.(A) Older men(B) are to be self-controlled, worthy of respect, sensible, and sound in faith, love,(C) and endurance. In the same way, older women(D) are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not slaves to excessive drinking. They are to teach what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children, to be self-controlled, pure, workers at home, kind, and in submission(E) to their husbands, so that God’s word(F) will not be slandered.

In the same way, encourage the young men(G) to be self-controlled in everything. Make yourself an example of good works with integrity and dignity[a] in your teaching. Your message is to be sound beyond reproach,(H) so that any opponent will be ashamed, because he doesn’t have anything bad to say about us.

Slaves are to submit to their masters(I) in everything, and to be well-pleasing,(J) not talking back 10 or stealing, but demonstrating utter faithfulness, so that they may adorn the teaching of God our Savior(K) in everything.

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation[b] for all people,(L) 12 instructing us to deny godlessness(M) and worldly lusts(N) and to live in a sensible, righteous,(O) and godly(P) way in the present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope,(Q) the appearing of the glory(R) of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14 He gave himself for us(S) to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession,(T) eager to do good works.

15 Proclaim these things; encourage and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard[c] you.

Footnotes:

  1. 2:7 Other mss add and incorruptibility
  2. 2:11 Or appeared with saving power
  3. 2:15 Or despise
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.

Psalm 99

Psalm 99

The King Is Holy

The Lord reigns! Let the peoples tremble.
He is enthroned between the cherubim.(A)
Let the earth quake.(B)
The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted above all the peoples.(C)
Let them praise your great
and awe-inspiring name.(D)
He is holy.(E)

The mighty King loves justice.
You have established fairness;
you have administered justice
and righteousness in Jacob.(F)
Exalt the Lord our God;
bow in worship at his footstool.(G)
He is holy.(H)

Moses and Aaron were among his priests;(I)
Samuel also was among those calling on his name.
They called to the Lord and he answered them.(J)
He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud;(K)
they kept his decrees and the statutes he gave them.
Lord our God, you answered them.
You were a forgiving God to them,(L)
but an avenger of their sinful actions.(M)

Exalt the Lord our God;
bow in worship at his holy mountain,
for the Lord our God is holy.(N)

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.

Proverbs 26:17

17 A person who is passing by and meddles in a quarrel that’s not his
is like one who grabs a dog by the ears.

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.