The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday September 9, 2021 (NIV)

Isaiah 3-5

See here! The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies,
will take away the supply of bread and water—
the whole supply—from Jerusalem and Judah.
He will take away their heroes and warriors,
judges and prophets, fortune-tellers and elders,
He will take away their military officers and high-ranking officials,
advisers and skilled workers, and experts with charms and amulets.
In the chaos of their absence, I will make mere kids rule.
Even infants will govern them,
Leaving people to take advantage of each other,
making their lives miserable.
Youngsters will terrorize the elderly,
and the most despicable will bully the upstanding.
Desperate people will grab anyone who seems the least bit ordinary.

People: You managed to hold on to your coat, so you must be our leader;
this heap of rubble will be under your command!

Chosen Leader: I will not play the nurse for your wounds.
Do not elect me to lead the people—I can barely feed and clothe my own.

O how this precious city, this Jerusalem, has gone wrong,
and Judah is in shambles.
For all they say and do is an affront to the Eternal,
resisting His glorious presence.
The look on their faces tells the true story;
they flaunt their sins like Sodom.
They don’t even try to hide them—how terrible it will be for them,
for they will pay for their self-serving carelessness.
10 Tell those who have done right in the eyes of God
that all will be well for them,
For they will be rightly rewarded.
11 But whoever persists in wrongdoing will rue the day—
everything will go wrong for him—
Whatever he’s done will come back to him.
12 Oh, how I ache for my people! They are oppressed by children,
ruled by women, naïve and inexperienced.
O my people, your leaders are misleading you,
guiding you down the path to disaster.

13 But now the Eternal is taking the bench; He’s ready to judge;
He rises to lay out the people’s case.
14 The Eternal will bring charges
against those in positions of authority over His people.

Eternal One: You are charged with devouring everything in the vineyard,
and leaving nothing for the needy.
You’ve ransacked the poor to fill your houses.
15 How dare you! How dare you crush My people,
and grind the faces of the poor into the ground!

This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies has to say.

16 Eternal One: Because the daughters of Zion are so proud,
so preoccupied with themselves—strutting and flirting,
Skipping and dancing, winking and giggling for attention
17 I will shame them with unsightly scabs on their heads,
these daughters who should be the pride of Zion, God’s precious place.
I will make them feel naked
when I uncover their foreheads and make them bald.

Under God’s judgment they will lose all the things they have that make others notice, desire, or envy them.

18-23 When the time comes, the Lord will simply take away the jewelry for their ankles, heads, noses, arms, ears, wrists, and fingers; these chains and gems, baubles and bangles, sashes and veils, perfume bottles and lucky charms, festive clothes and undergarments, purses and mirrors—everything that consumed their attention to get attention.

24 Then instead of a lovely scent—they’ll smell of decay;
instead of leather belts—they’ll don a rope;
Instead of a cut and style—they’ll have bald heads;
instead of silky-soft fabric—they’ll put on scratchy burlap sacks;
Instead of beauty—they’ll be branded with shame.
25 Jerusalem, your fathers and sons will be slaughtered,
your valiant protectors killed in battle,
26 And your gates will cry out in grief.
The city will sit in a heap on the ground, desolate and empty.

On that day, seven women will beg the same man:

Women: Please, take away our shame. We will support ourselves—eat our own bread, make our own clothes—just let us be called by your name.

The prophet warns of a time when only a few of God’s people will be left. The shredded fabric of families will leave the most vulnerable exposed and desperate. Women, who in this ancient Israelite society depend on relationships to men for social and financial security, will resort to doing whatever they can to survive beyond the deaths of their fathers, brothers, and husbands. Although the framework of their culture will seem to have crumbled, the story will move forward as the God of Israel remembers His own. There will always be a remnant of those who follow the Lord. Utter despair gives way to hope.

Then, oh then, a tiny shoot cultivated and nurtured by the Eternal will emerge new and green, promising beauty and glory. Everything that comes from the earth will offer itself, lovely and magnificent, to those who escaped Israel’s demise. Those who survived in precious Zion, all who remain in that special city, Jerusalem, will be called holy. They are destined to be alive, these remaining few, in Jerusalem. Then the Lord will wash away the filth that clung to the daughters of Zion and clean up the blood that stained Jerusalem’s streets with a spirit of justice and the breath of fire. And the Eternal will create wonders over the whole of Mount Zion and those who gather there—cloud and smoke to dim the day, bright shining fire to light the night, all billowing over Zion’s glory like a satin canopy. And it will be a resting place, protected from the heat of the day, a place of shelter and retreat amid storms and rain.

This prophecy echoes stories of the great exodus, when God led Israel out of slavery in Egypt and guided them safely through the barren, rocky crags of the Sinai Peninsula. God was their comfort and sustainer, an ever-present guide and protection. The ancients spoke of traveling beneath the cool shade of a cloud by day and a pillar of warm, bright fire by night. Now the prophet sees ahead to a day when God will provide His people rest and comfort—a new exodus—in His chosen place, Zion.

Let me now sing for my dear friend,
a love song about his vineyard.
My friend, whom I dearly love,
had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
He labored to prepare the ground, tilling the soil and digging out rocks,
and then he planted it with the best plants he could find.
In its midst, he built a watchtower over it
and cut out a winepress in the hill nearby;
Then he waited, hoping it would be bountiful.
But the vineyard produced only wild, bitter grapes.

Eternal One: That’s it. Enough. Now, you who live in My special city, Jerusalem,
you people of this choice country, Judah,
Who’s in the right—Me or My vineyard?
What else could I possibly have done to make it flourish?
Why, when I had every reason to expect great beauty and bushels of grapes,
Did it yield only wild, bitter fruit?

I’ll tell you what I’m going to do,
what I’ve determined to do to My vineyard:
I’m going to take away its protective fence
and let the deer, raccoons, and rabbits devour it.
I’ll break down its wall,
let the vines be eaten and trampled.
I will set it up for destruction—
do no pruning, no tilling—
And it will be overrun with nasty briars and thornbushes.
I will even order the clouds not to water it.

See here, the vineyard of the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies,
is the house of Israel, His special people.
And the shoots and buds He nursed so lovingly along
are the people of this choice country, Judah.
He expected a paragon of justice and righteousness—
but everywhere injustice runs bloodred in the streets, and cries echo in the city!
Oh, how bad for those who hoard property and wealth,
buying up houses and fields, right and left,
Until there is no place left for anyone else;
you will find yourselves very alone in the midst of this great land!
I was there when the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies, told us what to expect.

Eternal One: Make no mistake about it: many houses will be abandoned.
Grand, beautiful houses with all the luxury will echo empty.
10 Huge investments in 10-acre vineyards
will yield tiny dividends, mere gallons of wine.
Prime property planted with plenty of seed
will grow a nearly worthless amount of grain.

11 Oh, I can’t help but groan for people who rise and drink
without stopping from early morning to late evening
Until their passions and emotions burn within them.
12 They entertain themselves with lyres and harps,
tambourines and flutes, and plenty of wine at their feasts.
But they don’t think for a minute about all the Eternal has done.
They don’t stop to consider the work of His hands.

13 Eternal One: Make no mistake: My people are headed for exile
because they never took note;
Even the most honorable among them will endure hunger
while the majority will be parched with thirst.

14 Make no mistake: the force of death is insatiable.
The great gaping grave is opened wide
To swallow whole Jerusalem’s opulence and pageantry—
her noble citizens and her common folk, all the raucous revelry.
15 Human beings will be cut down to size, one after another.
Those who walk around with their noses in the air will be humiliated.
16 By contrast, the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies,
will be high and mighty because He judges fairly.
The holy God will be shown to be so because He does what is right.
17 At that time, Jerusalem will become a pasture where lambs graze,
and foreigners will eat in the ruins where the wealthy once dined.

18 O how terrible for those who drag their guilt around,
worthlessness and wrongdoing in tow—
19 They sneer, “Well, where is He? Let Him be quick about it!
Let’s see this business of the Holy One of Israel;
Let’s see what He has in store so we can know what it is.”
20 O how terrible for those who confuse good with evil,
right with wrong, light with dark, sweet with bitter.
21 O how terrible for those who think they’re so wise,
who consider themselves so clever.
22 O how terrible for those heroes who can outdrink anyone,
those champions who take pride in mixing drinks,
23 Those judges who set the guilty free in exchange for “a little something,”
all the while denying the innocent what they deserve!
24 Therefore, as fire eats up the stubble and dry grass is engulfed by flames,
so it will be for everything they count on for the future—
Their roots will rot, their flowers will wither and fly away like dust,
for they refused to accept the law of the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies;
They derided and disparaged the word of the Holy One of Israel.

25 It’s no wonder the Eternal burns with anger at His people.
He has raised His hand against them and crushed them,
So that the whole earth rang with the blow, and you couldn’t move
without stumbling over their corpses lying like trash in the street.
Despite all this, He’s still very angry;
His hand is still raised; He’s not done yet.
26 He will signal to distant nations,
and whistle for their armies: unleash the dogs of war.
At breakneck speed they come,
a war machine like no other
27 Never tired, never weak;
no one needs to rest or sleep.
Not a belt needs tightening,
not a sandal strap needs fixing.
28 Their arrows have been sharpened;
their bows have been bent, ready for action.
Their horses’ hooves spark like flint;
their chariots’ wheels spin like whirlwinds.
29 Their roaring is deafening, like a lion, like a pack of roaring lions.
When they attack, they growl and pounce on their prey,
Carrying them away; no chance of a rescue.
30 On that day, they will roar over this people like a roaring, angry sea,
and the land will go sorrowfully dark, the light eclipsed by the clouds of war.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

2 Corinthians 11:1-15

Paul’s tone changes. Some believe chapters 10–13 may be from his second letter “covered with tears” (2:4). His rebuke and strong warning are meant to lead the Corinthians lovingly to repentance.

11 Please endure a little foolishness on my part; you have come so far with me already. To be completely honest, I am extremely jealous for you; but it’s the same kind of jealousy God has for you. You see, like an attentive father, I have pledged your hand in marriage and promised to present you as a pure virgin to the One who would be your husband, the Anointed One. But now I’m afraid that as that serpent tricked Eve with his wiles, so your hearts and minds will be tricked and you will stray from the single-minded love and pure devotion to Him. So then, if someone comes along and presents you with a Jesus different from the one we told you about, or if you receive a spirit different from the one gifted through our Lord Jesus, or even if you hear a gospel different from the one you heard through us; then you’re ready to go with it.

I consider myself in league with the so-called great emissaries; I lack nothing. Even if I’m not the greatest speaker, I make up for it by what I know of God and have proved it time and again to you. Was it a sin to humble myself and serve you so that you might be lifted up? Did I wrong you somehow by instructing you in the good news of God without charge? In a sense, I robbed other churches by accepting their support just so I could serve you. If any need arose while I was with you, I didn’t trouble anyone. When the brothers and sisters arrived from Macedonia, they covered all my needs so that I didn’t become a burden to any of you; and I plan on keeping it that way. 10 For I tell you, as the truth of the Anointed One lives in me, I will continue to boast about this all throughout Achaia. 11 Why am I doing this? It’s not because I don’t love you—God knows I do— 12-13 but I will continue doing what I am doing to cut off any opportunity—clearly some are looking for one—for these false emissaries, these low-down, untrustworthy preachers, these posers who act as emissaries of the Anointed, to claim that they work under the same terms that we do. 14 No wonder they are so good at it. Satan himself poses as a messenger of heavenly light, 15 so why should we expect less from his servants—plodding over the earth, pretending to be ministers of righteousness—but in the end, they’ll get what’s coming to them.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Psalm 53

Psalm 53

For the worship leader. A contemplative song[a] of David. A song for the dance.[b]

The foolish are convinced deep down that there is no God.
Their souls are polluted, and they commit gross injustice.
Not one of them does good.

From heaven the one True God examines the earth
to see if any understand the big picture,
if any seek to know the True God.

All have turned back to their wicked ways; they’ve become totally perverse.
Not one of them does good,
not even one.

Do the wicked relish their ignorance,
the wicked ones who consume My people as if they were bread
and fail to call upon the True God?

They trembled with great fear,
though they’d never been afraid before,
Because the True God ravaged the bones of those who rose against you.
You humiliated them because the True God spat them out.

Oh, that the liberation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When the True God reclaims His people,
let Jacob celebrate; let Israel rejoice.

Footnotes:

  1. 53:title Hebrew, maskil
  2. 53:title Hebrew, mahalath, meaning is uncertain.
The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

Proverbs 22:28-29

28 Do not steal property from your neighbors by moving the boundary markers
your ancestors established.
29 And as for those who are skilled in their work,
they will be recognized and invited to serve kings
rather than regular folk.

The Voice (VOICE)

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.