The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Tuesday October 4, 2022 (NIV)

“Have I been a desert to Israel
or a land of great darkness?^(A)
Why do my people say, ‘We are free to roam;
we will come to you no more’?^(B)
32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry,
a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten^(C) me,
days without number.
³³ How skilled you are at pursuing^(D) love!
Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.
³⁴ On your clothes is found
the lifeblood^(E) of the innocent poor,
though you did not catch them breaking in.^(F)
Yet in spite of all this
³⁵ you say, ‘I am innocent;^(G)
he is not angry with me.’
But I will pass judgment^(H) on you
because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’^(I)
36 Why do you go about so much,
changing^(J) your ways?
You will be disappointed by Egypt^(K)
as you were by Assyria.
³⁷ You will also leave that place
with your hands on your head,^(L)
for the Lord has rejected those you trust;
you will not be helped^(M) by them.

3 “If a man divorces^(N) his wife
and she leaves him and marries another man,
should he return to her again?
Would not the land be completely defiled?^(O)
But you have lived as a prostitute with many lovers^(P)—
would you now return to me?”^(Q)
declares the Lord.
² “Look up to the barren heights^(R) and see.
Is there any place where you have not been ravished?
By the roadside^(S) you sat waiting for lovers,
sat like a nomad in the desert.
You have defiled the land^(T)
with your prostitution^(U) and wickedness.
³ Therefore the showers have been withheld,^(V)
and no spring rains^(W) have fallen.
Yet you have the brazen^(X) look of a prostitute;
you refuse to blush with shame.^(Y)
4 Have you not just called to me:
‘My Father,^(Z) my friend from my youth,^(AA)
5 will you always be angry?^(AB)
Will your wrath continue forever?’
This is how you talk,
but you do all the evil you can.”

“‘Return,^(AW) faithless^(AX) Israel,’ declares the Lord,
‘I will frown on you no longer,
for I am faithful,’^(AY) declares the Lord,
‘I will not be angry^(AZ) forever.
¹³ Only acknowledge^(BA) your guilt—
you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
you have scattered your favors to foreign gods^(BB)
under every spreading tree,^(BC)
and have not obeyed^(BD) me,’”
declares the Lord.

“‘How gladly would I treat you like my children
and give you a pleasant land,^(BS)
the most beautiful inheritance^(BT) of any nation.’
I thought you would call me ‘Father’^(BU)
and not turn away from following me.
²⁰ But like a woman unfaithful to her husband,
so you, Israel, have been unfaithful^(BV) to me,”
declares the Lord.

²¹ A cry is heard on the barren heights,^(BW)
the weeping^(BX) and pleading of the people of Israel,
because they have perverted their ways
and have forgotten^(BY) the Lord their God.

²² “Return,^(BZ) faithless people;
I will cure^(CA) you of backsliding.”^(CB)

“Yes, we will come to you,
for you are the Lord our God.
²³ Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills^(CC)
and mountains is a deception;
surely in the Lord our God
is the salvation^(CD) of Israel.
²⁴ From our youth shameful^(CE) gods have consumed
the fruits of our ancestors’ labor—
their flocks and herds,
their sons and daughters.
²⁵ Let us lie down in our shame,^(CF)
and let our disgrace cover us.
We have sinned^(CG) against the Lord our God,
both we and our ancestors;^(CH)
from our youth^(CI) till this day
we have not obeyed^(CJ) the Lord our God.”

4 “If you, Israel, will return,^(CK)
then return to me,”
declares the Lord.
“If you put your detestable idols^(CL) out of my sight
and no longer go astray,
² and if in a truthful, just and righteous way
you swear,^(CM) ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’^(CN)
then the nations will invoke blessings^(CO) by him
and in him they will boast.^(CP)”

“Break up your unplowed ground^(CQ)
and do not sow among thorns.^(CR)
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
circumcise your hearts,^(CS)
you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
or my wrath^(CT) will flare up and burn like fire^(CU)
because of the evil^(CV) you have done—
burn with no one to quench^(CW) it.

⁷ A lion^(DD) has come out of his lair;^(DE)
a destroyer^(DF) of nations has set out.
He has left his place
to lay waste^(DG) your land.
Your towns will lie in ruins^(DH)
without inhabitant.
⁸ So put on sackcloth,^(DI)
lament^(DJ) and wail,
for the fierce anger^(DK) of the Lord
has not turned away from us.

⁹ “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“the king and the officials will lose heart,^(DL)
the priests will be horrified,
and the prophets will be appalled.”^(DM)

¹³ Look! He advances like the clouds,^(DS)
his chariots^(DT) come like a whirlwind,^(DU)
his horses^(DV) are swifter than eagles.^(DW)
Woe to us! We are ruined!^(DX)
14 Jerusalem, wash^(DY) the evil from your heart and be saved.^(DZ)
How long^(EA) will you harbor wicked thoughts?
¹⁵ A voice is announcing from Dan,^(EB)
proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.^(EC)
16 “Tell this to the nations,
proclaim concerning Jerusalem:
‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land,^(ED)
raising a war cry^(EE) against the cities of Judah.^(EF)
17 They surround^(EG) her like men guarding a field,
because she has rebelled^(EH) against me,’”
declares the Lord.
¹⁸ “Your own conduct and actions^(EI)
have brought this on you.^(EJ)
This is your punishment.
How bitter^(EK) it is!
How it pierces to the heart!”

⁴ You are radiant with light,^(F)
more majestic than mountains rich with game.
⁵ The valiant^(G) lie plundered,
they sleep their last sleep;^(H)
not one of the warriors
can lift his hands.
⁶ At your rebuke,^(I) God of Jacob,
both horse and chariot^(J) lie still.

⁷ It is you alone who are to be feared.^(K)
Who can stand^(L) before you when you are angry?^(M)
8 From heaven you pronounced judgment,
and the land feared^(N) and was quiet—
⁹ when you, God, rose up to judge,^(O)
to save all the afflicted^(P) of the land.
¹⁰ Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,^(Q)
and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.^[c]

¹¹ Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them;^(R)
let all the neighboring lands
bring gifts^(S) to the One to be feared.
¹² He breaks the spirit of rulers;
he is feared by the kings of the earth.