12/11/2019 DAB Transcript

Amos 4:1-6:14, Revelation 2:18-3:6, Psalms 130:1-8, Proverbs 29:21-22

Today is the 11th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and, of course, it’s great to be here with you today, it’s great to be here with you every day, it’s great to share the rhythm of a year together day after day after day as we move through all of the different seasons of the year in community. And we find ourselves on the home stretch. And it is wonderful to be here with you around the Global Campfire today. So, we’re working our way through the book of Amos, which we began yesterday and will conclude tomorrow. And we’re reading from the Common English Bible this week. Today Amos chapters 4, 5, and 6.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for another day in Your word, we thank You for Your faithfulness to speak to us through Your word, we thank You that…that we can see now, we can see what You’ve been doing all year, we can see how transformation has suddenly taken place. We…we certainly can see that we have a long way to go. Like…we have to collaborate in this life of transformation and sanctification. But we see how Your word has informed that process in us and we are grateful. And, so, we, along with the psalmist today say, “Father we cry out to You from the depths, listen to our voice. Let Your ears pay close attention to our request for mercy. If You kept track of sins Lord, who would stand a chance? But forgiveness is with You.” And that’s why we worship and honor You. Our hope is in You, Lord. We wait for Your promises. Our whole being waits for You Lord, more than the night watch waits for morning because faithful love is with You Lord, because great redemption is with our God. You are the one who will redeem us from all sin. And, so, come Holy Spirit, forgive us, lead us into all truth, reveal the path that leads to life, and narrow as it might be, we want to find it, we want to walk it, and this will only happen in collaboration with You. So, come Holy Spirit we pray. In the mighty name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it's…yeah…home base, where you find out what’s going on around here like I say every day because it is.

And what is going on around here is, you know, Christmas time is upon us. So, we have the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas Box for 2019 available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. And we have the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards for 2019 available there in the Christmas section of the Shop. And our very own Family Christmas album of music is available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. With that, you can also, you know, stream it with apple music or google play…wherever you stream music or get your digital music it’s available. Just search for my name and you’ll…Family Christmas is the name of the record. And, so, it’s a great soundtrack for the seasons. So, check that out.

And I need to say this because…so the international ship date to…for arrival for Christmas, that has indeed passed. We’ll still send them until…until we don’t have them anymore. But the United States, the domestic shipping cutoff for Christmas arrival is one week from today. So, if supplies last until one week from today that will be the cutoff for shipping for Christmas for the Christmas Box 2019. So, be aware of that.

The other Christmas thing that’s going on right now is that we are getting ready for our annual Christmas party, our global Christmas party around the Global Campfire. And, so, the way that works is that during this week we all call in our holiday wishes, our holiday prayers, the things that we would say to each other, those that have been in community for this entire year moving the way forward through the Bible. So, it’s time to call in your holiday greeting. And it’s pretty simple because it’s the same way that we call in our prayer requests. So, we have Hotline button in the top of the app that you can press or, you know, several phone numbers you can call. We’ll talk about those in a minute. Same numbers, same button that we use for the prayer requests only when it turns Christmas time for one week this particular week, we also take these holiday greetings for one another. And the rule is simple. Simply don’t combine a prayer request and a holiday greeting in the same call. This is one time when you can actually hang up and call right back again. If you have a prayer request call that in separate. If you have a holiday greeting make sure that that stays separate as well and that will help us as we put this all together, going into next week. But during this week you can call in your holiday greetings. So,…so, do that.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that dailyaudiobible.com as well. And as we approach the end of the year, I thank you with all of my heart for your partnership. With all the gratitude of my soul I thank you. And, so…so, there’s a link on the homepage. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if that’s your preference, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment or holiday greeting, you just press the Hotline button in the app, or you can dial 877-942-4253 if you are in the Americas. If you are in Europe or the UK 44-20-3608-8078 or if you are in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to dial.

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

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday December 11, 2019 (NIV)

Amos 4-6

Judgment on Israel’s elite

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan,
who are on Mount Samaria,
who cheat the weak,
who crush the needy,
who say to their husbands, “Bring drinks, so we can get drunk!”
The Lord God has solemnly promised by his holiness:
The days are surely coming upon you,
when they will take you away with hooks,
even the last one of you with fishhooks.
You will go out through the broken wall,
each one after another;
and you will be flung out into Harmon,
says the Lord.

A divine taunt

Come to Bethel—and commit a crime;
multiply crimes at Gilgal.
Bring your sacrifices every morning,
your tenth-part gifts every three days.
Offer a thanksgiving sacrifice of leavened bread,
and publicize your gifts to the Lord;
for so you love to do, people of Israel!
says the Lord God.

Israel’s stubbornness

I have sent a famine in all your cities,
and not provided enough bread in all your places,
yet you didn’t return to me,
says the Lord.
I also withheld rain from you
when there were still three months to the harvest.
I allowed rain to fall on one city,
no rain to fall on another city.
One field was rained on,
and the field dried up where it didn’t rain.
So two or three thirsty towns went to one city to drink water, and weren’t satisfied;
yet you didn’t return to me,
says the Lord.

I struck you with disease and mildew.
I destroyed your gardens and your vineyards.
The locust devoured your fig trees and your olive trees;
yet you didn’t return to me,
says the Lord.

10 I sent a plague against you like the one in Egypt.
I killed your young men with the sword.
I carried away your horses.
I made the stink of your camp go up into your nostrils;
yet you didn’t return to me,
says the Lord.

11 I destroyed some of you,
as when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning coal plucked out of the fire;
yet you didn’t return to me,
says the Lord.
12 Truly, Israel,
I will act in this way toward you;
therefore, I will do this to you.
Prepare to meet your God, Israel!

13 The one who forms the mountains, creates the wind,
makes known his thoughts to humankind,
makes the morning darkness,
and moves over the heights of the earth—
the Lord, the God of heavenly forces is his name!

A song of lament

Hear this word—a funeral song—that I am lifting up against you, house of Israel:

Fallen, no more to rise,
is virgin Israel,
deserted on her land,
with no one to raise her up.
The Lord God proclaims:
The city that marched out one thousand people
will have one hundred left,
and the city that marched out one hundred will have ten left in the house of Israel.

Words of encouragement

The Lord proclaims to the house of Israel:
Seek me and live.
But don’t seek Bethel,
don’t enter into Gilgal,
or cross over to Beer-sheba;
for Gilgal will go into exile,
and Bethel will come to nothing.
Seek the Lord and live,
or else God might rush like a fire against the house of Joseph.
The fire will burn up Bethel, with no one to put it out.

Words of doom

Doom to you who turn justice into poison,
and throw righteousness to the ground!
The one who made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning,
and darkens the day into night;
who summons the waters of the sea,
and pours them out on the surface of the earth—
this one’s name is the Lord
who causes destruction to flash out against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

10 They hate the one who judges at the city gate,
and they reject the one who speaks the truth.
11 Truly, because you crush the weak,
and because you tax their grain,
you have built houses of carved stone,
but you won’t live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you won’t drink their wine.
12 I know how many are your crimes,
and how numerous are your sins—
afflicting the righteous,
taking money on the side,
turning away the poor who seek help.
13 Therefore, the one who is wise will keep silent in that time;
it is an evil time.

Words of inspiration

14 Seek good and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of heavenly forces,
will be with you just as you have said.
15 Hate evil, love good,
and establish justice at the city gate.
Perhaps the Lord God of heavenly forces
will be gracious to what is left of Joseph.

Divine wrath anticipated

16 Truly, the Lord proclaims,
the God of heavenly forces, the Lord:
Crying will be heard in all the squares.
In all the streets they will say, “Oh no! Oh no!”
They will call upon the farmers to wail,
and those skilled in mourning to lament.
17 In all the vineyards there will be bitter crying because
I will pass through your midst,
says the Lord.

A statement of divine disgust

18 Doom to those who desire the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
19 as if someone fled from a lion,
and was met by a bear;
or sought refuge in a house,
rested a hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a snake.
20 Isn’t the day of the Lord darkness, not light;
all dark with no brightness in it?

21 I hate, I reject your festivals;
I don’t enjoy your joyous assemblies.
22 If you bring me your entirely burned offerings and gifts of food—
I won’t be pleased;
I won’t even look at your offerings of well-fed animals.
23 Take away the noise of your songs;
I won’t listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
25 Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
during the forty years in the wilderness, house of Israel?
26 You will take up Sakkuth your king,
and Kaiwan your star-god,
your images, which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore, I will take you away
beyond Damascus, says the Lord,
whose name is the God of heavenly forces.

Warnings to the self-satisfied

Doom to those resting comfortably in Zion
and those trusting in Mount Samaria,
the chiefs of the nations,
to whom the house of Israel comes!
Cross over to Calneh and see;
from there go to Hamath the great;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is your territory greater than their territory?

Doom to those who ignore the evil day
and make violent rule draw near:
who lie on beds of ivory,
stretch out on their couches,
eat lambs from the flock,
and bull calves from the stall;
who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,
and, like David, compose tunes on musical instruments;
who drink bowls of wine,
put the best of oils on themselves,
but who aren’t grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
Therefore, they will now be the first to be taken away,
and the feast of those who lounged at the table will pass away.

The Lord God has solemnly sworn,
says the Lord, the God of heavenly forces:
I reject the pride of Jacob.
I hate his fortresses.
I will hand over the city and all that is in it.
If ten people remain in one house,
then they will die.
10 If a relative, someone who burns the dead,
picks up the body to bring it out of the house,
and says to someone inside the house,
“Is anyone else with you?”
the answer will be, “No.”
Then the relative will say,
“Hush! We mustn’t mention the name of the Lord.”
11 Look, the Lord is giving an order;
he will shatter the great house into bits
and the little house into pieces.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
Does one plow the sea with oxen?
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness—
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,
who say, “Haven’t we by our own strength taken Karnaim for ourselves?”
14 Indeed, I will raise up against you a nation, house of Israel, says the Lord God of heavenly forces,
and they will oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the desert ravine.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Revelation 2:18-3:6

Message to Thyatira

18 “Write this to the angel of the church in Thyatira:

These are the words of God’s Son, whose eyes are like a fiery flame, and whose feet are like fine brass. 19 I know your works, your love and faithfulness, your service and endurance. I also know that the works you have done most recently are even greater than those you did at first. 20 But I have this against you: you put up with that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. You allow her to teach and to mislead my servants into committing sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to change her heart and life, but she refuses to change her life of prostitution. 22 Look! I’m throwing her onto a sickbed. I am casting those who have committed adultery with her into terrible hardship—if they don’t change their hearts from following her practices— 23 and I will even put her children to death with disease. Then all the churches will know that I’m the one who examines minds and hearts, and that I will give to each of you what your actions deserve. 24 As for the rest of you in Thyatira—those of you who don’t follow this teaching and haven’t learned the so-called “deep secrets” of Satan—I won’t burden you with anything else. 25 Just hold on to what you have until I come. 26 To those who emerge victorious, keeping my practices until the end, I will give authority over the nations— 27 to rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like pottery— 28 just as I received authority from my Father. I will also give them the morning star. 29 If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Message to Sardis

“Write this to the angel of the church in Sardis:

These are the words of the one who holds God’s seven spirits and the seven stars: I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, and you are in fact dead. Wake up and strengthen whatever you have left, teetering on the brink of death, for I’ve found that your works are far from complete in the eyes of my God. So remember what you received and heard. Hold on to it and change your hearts and lives. If you don’t wake up, I will come like a thief, and you won’t know what time I will come upon you. But you do have a few people in Sardis who haven’t stained their clothing. They will walk with me clothed in white because they are worthy. Those who emerge victorious will wear white clothing like this. I won’t scratch out their names from the scroll of life, but will declare their names in the presence of my Father and his angels. If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Psalm 130

Psalm 130

A pilgrimage song.

130 I cry out to you from the depths, Lord
my Lord, listen to my voice!
Let your ears pay close attention to my request for mercy!
If you kept track of sins, Lord
my Lord, who would stand a chance?
But forgiveness is with you—
that’s why you are honored.

I hope, Lord.
My whole being[a] hopes,
and I wait for God’s promise.
My whole being waits for my Lord—
more than the night watch waits for morning;
yes, more than the night watch waits for morning!

Israel, wait for the Lord!
Because faithful love is with the Lord;
because great redemption is with our God!
He is the one who will redeem Israel
from all its sin.

Footnotes:

  1. Psalm 130:5 Or soul; also in 132:6
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Proverbs 29:21-22

21 Pamper servants from a young age,
and later on there will be trouble.
22 Angry people stir up conflict;
hotheads cause much offense.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

12/10/2019 DAB Transcript

Amos 1:1-3:15, Revelation 2:1-17, Psalms 129:1-8, Proverbs 29:19-20

Today is the 10th day of the December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today. As odd as it is, three weeks from today is the end of the year. So, well done! You’ve made it this far. We can do this. We will finish strong together. We have been moving quickly through a lot of territory and talking about the different…the different books and letters that we’re reading and today is no different. In the Old Testament, we will begin the book of Amos, which is another of the minor prophets but…but thankfully we’ll camp out in Amos for a few days. And we’re in the book of Revelation in the New Testament. So, that will carry us all the way until the end of the year. So, let’s talk about Amos.

Introduction to the book of Amos:

Amos, this book is likely the earliest collection of…of prophetic utterances that were written down, that are found in the Bible. Amos prophesied in the mid eighth century BC at a time when the northern and the southern kingdoms were actually experiencing peace and prosperity. The thing about Amos was he wasn’t trained. Like he wasn’t a trained priest, or he hadn’t been raised up for religious work. He…he seems to have been an ordinary person living, basically, the ordinary life of a shepherd and farmer. And we don’t know whether he was like just a common laborer who worked on someone’s farm or was a shepherd for someone or whether he owned flocks and groves, but he was certainly educated, and he was certainly aware of what was going on around him. He lived in the city of Toccoa, which was about 10 miles south of Jerusalem. So, that means he lived in the southern kingdom of Judah, but his mission was to prophesy in the northern kingdom of Israel and he probably did that just by crossing the border over into Bethel. And we’ll have to go back to the books of Samuel and Kings to remember the northern and the southern kingdoms split. So, the northern kingdom of Israel, its northernmost city would’ve been Dan and its southernmost city would’ve been Bethel. So, Amos would’ve crossed over the border into the northern kingdom and probably given his prophecies in Bethel because this was a major trade city and hub for idol worship in the northern kingdom. But like we just said, the northern and the southern kingdoms were experiencing peace and prosperity that they hadn’t seen really since the reign of King Solomon. So, it could seem weird that God would send an ordinary person from the southern kingdom to deliver a severe message of judgment in the northern kingdom. And no doubt for Amos this would’ve been a tough mission to…to get involved in but this is what Amos was told to do. The peace and the prosperity that the kingdoms were experiencing had opened the doors for corruption, which had begun to run rampant in the society. The poor were being oppressed while greed to continue to rule the hearts of those in leadership and Amos forcefully denounces the praying upon the less fortunate, which makes social justice a major theme in the book of Amos. Amos is thousands of years old. So, it would seem like after thousands of years we would see the cycle but we’re still grappling with the same kinds of issues today and the message that we’ll find in Amos is that we are nowhere near as powerful as we think we are and God is much more powerful than we can possibly even comprehend. In fact, what Amos is making clear is that the world is God’s, right? The world belongs to God. He made it. It’s his not ours and He is absolutely sovereign over all people and all things. So, as we spend a few days here reading from Amos, let’s consider our own path and…and wisely choose, as the apostle Peter told us, to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. And, so, we’re reading from the Common English Bible this week. Amos, chapters 1 through 2.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and as we move into the book of Amos, we ask that You speak to us and as we continue this first part of Revelation here You, Jesus, are speaking to the churches may we as was spoken in Revelation have eyes to see and ears to hear. Come Holy Spirit we pray in the mighty name of our Savior, Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is…it is the website, and that’s where you find out what’s going on around here. And it’s all things Christmas. It’s like the world itself has awakened to the fact that a Savior was born. And we should pay attention to that. I’ve been watching some of the, you know, like the programs, the Christmas sort of variety programs that come on. And I don’t know…I noticed this in the past but maybe never more than this year. Like, wow, I’m watching network television. I’m watching people worship God openly and broadcast it through the networks and it’s just a beautiful thing to see. So, it’s Christmas time around here and it’s Christmas time here at the Daily Audio Bible in the community here.

So, a couple of things about that. One, I talked about this yesterday. Every year we have a Christmas party around the Global Campfire because we’re virtual and we can’t all get together in the same place at the same time we just roll with it. We’re a virtual community so we celebrate virtually. And, so, all during this week the lines are open for you to call in your Christmas wishes and Christmas prayers, things that you would say to the community that you’ve traveled with this year as we approach the holidays. And we compile all of that and then Jill and I, we share for a while and then we just kind of sit back and hear each other. It is…well…I am not a big weeping crying kind of person normally, I think I cry a lot more by myself than maybe publicly, but these Christmas parties, I…I just never get to the end of them without finding myself just in tears of gratitude. And, so, it’s just a wonderful time. So, we’re taking those calls this week. The way that you do it is the same way and the same method that you would call in a prayer request like we do every day, same method. So, if you have the Daily Audio Bible app and you use that little Hotline button up the top, that’s fantastic. That’s a great way to the call in a Christmas greeting or any of the phone numbers you can use as well. The only rule, because it’s the prayer line, the only rule is don’t call in a holiday greeting and a prayer request combined into the same calling. This is the one time you can break that rule. And if you have something going on and need prayer for, call that in and share it, but if you also want to participate in and call in a holiday greeting, do that separately. And we’ll filter it all and figure it all out and make our Christmas party like we do every year. So, we’re doing that all this week, which means we’re doing that today.

And I’ll also remind you we have the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box, Daily Audio Bible family Christmas for 2019 and it is full of resources that we think will be incredibly helpful, things to keep, things to give away, this is your choice. So, this new book, the God of Your Story, which is kind of the Daily Audio Bible commentary in written form in a 365-day devotional format. We have assigned hardback edition in the Christmas Box this year. Daily Audio Bible Journal 2.0, the Global Campfire candle, your choice of our DAB blend fresh roasted coffee or the boutique tea, the Daily Audio Bible Christmas ornament with our word for the year, “Maintain”, that is only available in the…the Christmas Box is in the Christmas box, a pack of 20 Christmas cards for 2019, Global Campfire pop socket, Global Campfire stickers, Global Campfire postcards. Like, it’s full of resources that are just fun to unpack and choose who you’re gonna give them to or where you’re gonna put them or how you can use them. So, check that out while supplies last.

And also reminding you, the God of Your Story is…is actually honestly a good Christmas gift because it’s offering the journey the path that we…that we voyage through toward transformation in our lives each year as we go through the Bible. So, it’s a wonderful, wonderful way to invite those that you love into that rhythm of life. So, you know, you can get the God of Your Story separate from the Christmas Box for sure. And when you get the God of Sour Story you also have the opportunity get Sneezing Jesus or Reframe, two of my previous books. Those are five dollars ach, I mean you can buy as many of them as you want for five dollars. We’ve…we did that when we released the God of Your story but it’s still going on as long as we…as long as we have supplies. And, so, as many as you want. That's…that’s our cost. So, these aren’t marked up. That’s what it costs. So, I mean even if they were marked up, all of these resources, these are sewn into the architecture and platform that exists to bring God’s spoken word to us each and every day. So, but anyway, Sneezing Jesus and Reframe are available as well.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible as we approach the end of this year then I thank you, I thank you. I mean, I’ve said so many times that I don’t know what words to use. The words gratitude, the word humility, these are all real, but they’re just smaller than I feel it's…it brings awe to me that we can do this. And, so, I thank you. And I’m in awe of this community that we’re still here and I thank you for your partnership. So, 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 the mailing address, if that’s your preference, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment or, right now a holiday greeting, you can press the Hotline button in the…at the top of the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that is 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 December 10, 2019 (NIV)

Amos 1-3

Introduction

These are the words of Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoa. He perceived these things concerning Israel two years before the earthquake, in the days of Judah’s King Uzziah and in the days of Israel’s King Jeroboam, Joash’s son.

Proclamation of divine judgment

He said:
The Lord roars from Zion.
He shouts from Jerusalem;
the pastures of the shepherds wither,
and the top of Carmel dries up.

A word to Damascus

The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Damascus,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they have harvested Gilead
with sharp iron tools.
I will send down fire on the house of Hazael;
it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
I will break the fortified gates of Damascus,
and eliminate the people from the Aven Valley,
including the one who rules from Beth-eden;
the people of Aram will be forced to live in Kir,
says the Lord.

A word to Gaza and Ashdod

The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Gaza,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they rounded up entire communities,
to hand them over to Edom.
I will send down a fire on the wall of Gaza;
it will devour Gaza’s palaces.
I will eliminate the people from Ashdod,
the one who rules from Ashkelon.
I will turn my hand against Ekron,
and the Philistines who remain will perish,
says the Lord God.

A word to Tyre

The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Tyre,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they have delivered up entire communities over to Edom,
and neglected their covenantal obligations.
10 So I will send a fire on the wall of Tyre;
it will devour their palaces.

A word to Edom

11 The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Edom,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because he chased after his brother with the sword,
denied all compassion,
kept his anger alive,
and fueled his wrath forever.
12 So I will send a fire on Teman;
it will devour the fortresses of Bozrah.

A word to Ammon

13 The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of the Ammonites,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead
in order to possess more land.
14 So I will start a fire at the wall of Rabbah;
the fire will devour its palaces,
with a war cry on the day of battle,
with strong wind on the day of the storm.
15 Then their king will be taken away,
he and his officials together,
says the Lord.

A word to Moab

The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Moab,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because he burned to lime
the bones of the king of Edom.
So I will send down a fire on Moab;
it will devour the palaces of Kerioth.
Moab will die in a great uproar,
with a war cry, with the sound of the ram’s horn.
I will remove their judge from them
and slay all their officials with him,
says the Lord.

A word to Judah

The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Judah,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they have rejected the Instruction of the Lord,
and haven’t kept his laws.
They have been led off the right path by the same lies
after which their ancestors walked.
So I will send a fire on Judah,
and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

A word to Israel

The Lord proclaims:
For three crimes of Israel,
and for four, I won’t hold back the punishment,
because they have sold the innocent for silver,
and those in need for a pair of sandals.
They crush the head of the poor into the dust of the earth,
and push the afflicted out of the way.
Father and son have intercourse with the same young woman,
degrading my holy name.
They stretch out beside every altar
on garments taken in loan;
in the house of their god they drink
wine bought with fines they imposed.
Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them,
whose height was as tall as cedar trees,
and whose strength was as strong as oak trees.
I destroyed his fruit above
and his roots below.
10 Also I brought you up out of the land of Egypt,
and led you forty years in the wilderness,
to lay claim to the land of the Amorite.
11 I raised up some of your children to be prophets
and some of your youth to be nazirites.
Isn’t this so, people of Israel?
says the Lord.

12 But you made the nazirites drink wine,
and commanded the prophets,
saying, “You won’t prophesy.”
13 So now I will oppress you,
just like a cart is weighed down[a]
when it is full of harvested grain.
14 Fast runners will find no refuge;
the strong will lose their strength;
the mighty will be unable to save their lives.
15 Those who shoot the bow won’t survive.
Fast runners won’t escape;
those who ride horses won’t save themselves.
16 The bravest warrior
will flee away naked in that day,
says the Lord.

Words of doom for Israel

Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought out of the land of Egypt:

You only have I loved so deeply
of all the families of the earth.
Therefore, I will punish you
for all your wrongdoing.
Will two people walk together
unless they have agreed to do so?[b]
Does a lion roar in the forest
when it has no prey?
Does a young lion cry out from its den
if it has caught nothing?
Will a bird fall into a trap on the ground
when there is no bait for it?
Will a trap spring up from the ground
when it has taken nothing?
If a ram’s horn is blown in a city,
won’t people tremble?
If disaster falls on a city,
is it the Lord who has done it?
Surely the Lord God does nothing
without revealing his secret
to his servants the prophets.

A lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
who can but prophesy?
Proclaim it to the palaces of Ashdod
and to the palaces in the land of Egypt.
Say, “Gather yourselves on Mount Samaria,
and see the great turmoil in the city,
and what violent deeds are inside it.”
10 They don’t know how to do right,
says the Lord
those who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
11 Therefore, the Lord my God proclaims:
An enemy will surround the land;
he will bring you down from your protected places,
and your palaces will be robbed.

12 The Lord proclaims:

Just as the shepherd rescues two legs or the piece of an ear from the mouth of the lion, so will the people of Israel be rescued. Those who live in Samaria will escape with the corner of a bed, and those in Damascus with a piece of a couch.[c]

13 Hear this and speak against the house of Jacob,
says the Lord God, the God of heavenly forces:
14 On the day I punish the crimes of Israel,
I will also visit the altars of Bethel;
the horns of the altar will be cut off
and will fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter house as well as the summer house;
the houses of ivory will perish;
the great houses will be swept away,
says the Lord.

Footnotes:

  1. Amos 2:13 Heb uncertain
  2. Amos 3:3 Or Will two walk together unless they have agreed?
  3. Amos 3:12 Heb uncertain
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Revelation 2:1-17

Message to Ephesus

“Write this to the angel of the church in Ephesus:

These are the words of the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven gold lampstands: I know your works, your labor, and your endurance. I also know that you don’t put up with those who are evil. You have tested those who say they are apostles but are not, and you have found them to be liars. You have shown endurance and put up with a lot for my name’s sake, and you haven’t gotten tired. But I have this against you: you have let go of the love you had at first. So remember the high point from which you have fallen. Change your hearts and lives and do the things you did at first. If you don’t, I’m coming to you. I will move your lampstand from its place if you don’t change your hearts and lives. But you have this in your favor: you hate what the Nicolaitans are doing, which I also hate. If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I will allow those who emerge victorious to eat from the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise.

Message to Smyrna

“Write this to the angel of the church in Smyrna:

These are the words of the one who is the first and the last, who died and came back to life: I know your hardship and poverty (though you are actually rich). I also know the hurtful things that have been spoken about you by those who say they are Jews (though they are not, but are really Satan’s synagogue). 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are going to suffer. Look! The devil is going to throw some of you into prison in order to test you. You will suffer hardship for ten days. Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Those who emerge victorious won’t be hurt by the second death.

Message to Pergamum

12 “Write this to the angel of the church in Pergamum:

These are the words of the one who has the sharp, two-edged sword: 13 I know that you are living right where Satan’s throne is. You are holding on to my name, and you didn’t break faith with me even at the time that Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed among you, where Satan lives. 14 But I have a few things against you, because you have some there who follow Balaam’s teaching. Balaam had taught Balak to trip up the Israelites so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. 15 In the same way, you have some who follow the Nicolaitans’ teaching. 16 So change your hearts and lives. If you don’t, I am coming to you soon, and I will make war on them with the sword that comes from my mouth. 17 If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I will give those who emerge victorious some of the hidden manna to eat. I will also give to each of them a white stone with a new name written on it, which no one knows except the one who receives it.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Psalm 129

Psalm 129

A pilgrimage song.

129 From youth, people have constantly attacked me—
let Israel now repeat!—
from youth people have constantly attacked me—
but they haven’t beaten me!
They plowed my back like farmers;
they made their furrows deep.
But the Lord is righteous—
God cut me free from the ropes of the wicked!

Let everyone who hates Zion be ashamed, thoroughly frustrated.
Let them be like grass on a roof
that dies before it can be pulled up,
which won’t fill the reaper’s hand
or fill the harvester’s arms.
Let no one who passes by say to them:
“May the Lord’s blessing be on you!
We bless you in the Lord’s name!”

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Proverbs 29:19-20

19 Servants aren’t disciplined by words;
they might understand, but they don’t respond.
20 Do you see people who are quick to speak?
There is more hope for fools than for them.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

12/09/2019 DAB Transcript

Joel 1:1-3:21, Revelation 1:1-20, Psalms 128:1-6, Proverbs 29:18

Today is the 9th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we continue our journey forward. And, yeah, we can practically count down the days, we can practically see the shore on the voyage that we’ve been on together. Today we’re going to be beginning new books in both the Old and the New Testaments and when we get to the New Testament, we have reached the final book. So, we’ll be spending the rest of our time in the New Testament in the book of Revelation. But as we get into the Old Testament we have come to the book of Joel.

Introduction to the book of Joel:

Joel is another of the minor prophets and we’ll read the whole thing. We’ll read the entire book of Joel today. So, let’s just consider what it is we’re going to read. Ironically, nobody really knows who Joel was. There are other people in the Bible with the name Joel, but scholars don’t believe that any…any of those people are the author of this book. But stylistically this is prophecy and Joel shares a similar language style with other prophets like Ezekiel or Jeremiah or other minor prophets like Amos, Micah and Zephaniah. Some scholars have argued that Joel could be the work more one prophet, then others considered the fact that the similarities between other prophetic books just to simply be a byproduct of…of the time like of the shared culture the shared tradition and the shared language. But Joel doesn’t really give any historical clues inside the text either, which makes dating this book really hard. And, so, many scholars have come to many different conclusions over many different centuries. But like in just broad terms, Joel has been dated somewhere between 500 and 800 B.C. but dating the book…I mean scholars have agreed that dating the book isn’t necessary to understand the books meaning and impact. Joel writes of a vast horde of locusts that invaded the land and destroyed it, ate all…everything green, destroyed all the vegetation, destroyed the crops and a great famine followed this plague of locusts. And Joel used this natural disaster as his backdrop to call the children of Israel back to repentance. And most scholars think that this locust invasion, this was an actual event not just like a metaphor or an allegory, it actually happened. And Joel used that event to speak…well…to speak the apocalyptic prophetic message of judgment that is found in this book. And as is the case with much of the Bible, Joel’s words were intended to reveal a fork in the road. Like if…if you’ve noticed on our journey through this year, we keep being brought to forks in the road. Nearly every day we’re…we’re allowed to see a path that goes this way and a path that goes that way and where they’re going to end up. And Joel, the path of repentance would lead them to blessing and restoration, and the path of rebellion would lead to what Joel calls the great and terrible day of the Lord. And, so, we begin. We’ll actually begin and end the book of Joel today. Joel has three chapters and we’ll read them all. And we’re reading from the Common English Bible this week.

Introduction to the book of Revelation:

Okay. This brings us to the final book of the New Testament, and for that matter the final book of the Bible. And Revelation has captured the fascination of readers in ways that no other book has. And the interpretations of this book are myriad, and it’s been looked at through many lenses over thousands of years and some of them are pragmatic and some of them are fantastic. So, this book is self identifies the author as John, but it doesn't…it doesn’t say clearly which John we’re talking about. So, traditionally the accepted author is the apostle John, who wrote the gospel of John as well as first second and third John. This has been questioned though, since at least the third century and we are in the 21st-century, so a long time and that continues until today. But based on the evidence, the tradition that the apostle John was the author is very possibly true. And if that’s the case then the apostle John later in his life was banished to the island of Patmos where Revelation says it was written. And this little island of Patmos it’s believed was like a Roman penal colony, where…where like criminals and like political opponents and the prisoners, they would be exiled onto this island and just kinda left there to figure it out. And it’s a real island, it still exists until today. It’s in the Aegean Sea. So, between like Greece and Turkey not that far from Ephesus actually where…where it is believed that John spent his later life. So, Revelation is considered a work of apocalyptic literature, which is why there is so much intrigue and confusion around it because the genre is highly symbolic, and the reader must discern what is to be taken literally and what is to be looked at allegorically or as a symbol of something else. And since the subject matter is like the beginning of the world as we know it and an emerging new era for all of humanity, then obviously people want to figure out what to take symbolically and what to take literally which leads to widely diverse conclusions. And this has been the case for thousands of years. So, for example, some read the book of Revelation entirely from a first century perspective, right? Trying to route themselves specifically in the time that it was written and read it that way and would then conclude the events in Revelation as already taken place. Then others see the book outlining like a chain of events beginning in the first century and lasting until the end of the world. And then others believe that the symbolism that’s in Revelation is…is…is timeless…is just outside of time, it’s describing things that are beyond what we can fully comprehend and is beyond time and is describing a cosmic struggle between good and evil. Any of these views can be legitimate. But getting lost in the details, like just being lost in the mystery and attempting to just take all of the pieces and force them to fit in some sort of way, that might not work. It’s been the custom of every generation for all of these thousands of years, and nobody’s been right, at least in trying to outline, you know, sort of a date and time for all of these events to take place. But one thing that we will…will not be able to avoid as we move through Revelation is a theme that has been emerging for months, endurance. In some ways it’s like we’ve been following this theme of endurance all the way to get to Revelation so that we can then begin to see how endurance is irreplaceable in the ultimate battle between darkness and light. Revelation ultimately tells us that those who endure, that those who stay faithful to the testimony of Jesus, in other words that their lives are speaking of Christ and endure until the end no matter what happens because of that, those will be eternally victorious or quoting it from Revelation, “they defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” So, as we move into Revelation and move through all of its imagery, we need to focus our attention on this theme of endurance because it’s critical. And we’ll discover that endurance isn’t like hiding…hiding away, hiding yourself and just trying to wait something out. Endurance isn’t a passive thing. It’s not a defensive posture, right? Remaining true when the whole world is against you and you could lose your life, that is a powerful statement against deception. And its deception as we’ll see, that has always been the greatest force set against mankind. We saw that from the very beginning of our journey in the book of Genesis and we will see it in the book of Revelation. We are to remain true. Our witness, the word of our testimony, the way we live our lives in the light and in the truth will expose the darkness and this will keep happening until the very end. And as we will see, as we get to the end of our time together for this year, the end that causes so much fear because of the book of Revelation is actually a new beginning. And, so, we begin. Revelation chapter 1.

Prayer:

Father we thank You for Your word. And as we continue to move into this month and get settled in this new week we just keep moving through new territory in the Scriptures and it’s as if the Scriptures speed up as our year speeds up and this gives us a fantastic opportunity to quicken our pace to stay in lockstep with You and everything that we say and do. And, so, as we move into the book of Revelation, we invite Your Holy Spirit to lead us to the understanding that we need for this season in our lives. And as we continue to move through the minor prophets, and we learn a lot of history we invite You to speak to us. Come Holy Spirit we pray, we invite You into everything we do and say today, everything that we think today. Help us to see the path that we are walking through the eyes of the kingdom. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

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

And it’s Christmas and that’s what’s going on around here. And we have a Christmas tradition here around the Global Campfire that…I was trying to remember the first year of this tradition and I’m thinking it was maybe the second or third…I think that I can safely say for the last decade during these two thousand tens we’ve had this tradition, and that is our annual Christmas party. And we’re a virtual community, right? So, we’re wrapped all over the world and that we so…so…I mean, wow! What an enjoyable thing if we could all get together in some stadium somewhere and have a Christmas party but the logistics of that…I don’t even…yeah…I just…we’re a virtual community and we have a virtual home. And, so, we have to celebrate and have our Christmas party together around the Global Campfire virtually. And, so, what we do is we call in our Christmas blessings, Christmas stories, Christmas wishes, and we share those with each other. We’ll compile them all sometime next week, but for this week you can call in and share your Christmas wishes to the community that you’ve shared this year as we’ve traveled through the Bible. So, you can obviously dial 877-942-4253 or you can dial any of the other numbers. Like in the UK you could dial 44-20-3608-8078 or if you’re in Australia you can dial 61-3-8820-5459 or no matter where you are in the world, if you have the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the little Red button at the top, the one that we use to call in our prayer requests. The same numbers that we use to communicate via prayer with one another, this is what we’ll use for Christmas. There’s only one rule. This is one time when you can call in more than once because if you have a prayer request you need to make that a separate call. If you have a holiday greeting, you need to make that a separate call. Just don’t combine a prayer request in a Christmas greeting in the same call or it’s gonna get real confusing around here. But all this week until the end of the week we’ll take these calls. Use the Hotline button, use the phone, however you please but call in and share your holiday greetings with your brothers and sisters who have been sitting around this Global Campfire for the year and taking this journey together and then next week we’ll start putting that all together and we’ll release our annual Christmas party.

Additionally, we’ve been talking about this for I guess about a couple…couple weeks…roughly-ish…the Daily Audio Bible Christmas Box for 2019 is available and it is packed full of some of the most popular resources that we have. And we are just thrilled about it and I’m thrilled…thrilled just to watch it go all over the world. And that is available in the Daily Audio Bible shop. You’ll find a Christmas section. And, so, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link and that link lives on the homepage and I thank you for your partnership. If…if you…if you want to use the Daily Audio Bible app, you can just press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer the mail, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment or right now for this week a holiday greeting, you can just press the Hotline button in the app or dial any of the numbers that we talked about just a couple minutes ago.

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

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday December 9, 2019 (NIV)

Joel 1-3

Song of lament

The Lord’s word that came to Joel, Pethuel’s son:

Hear this, elders;
pay attention, everyone in the land!
Has anything like this ever happened in your days,
or in the days of your ancestors?[a]
Tell it to your children,
and have your children tell their children,
and their children tell their children.
What the cutting locust left,
the swarming locust has eaten.
What the swarming locust left,
the hopping locust has eaten.
And what the hopping locust left,
the devouring locust has eaten.[b]
Wake up, you who drink too much, and weep.
Scream over the sweet wine,
all you wine drinkers,
because it is snatched from your mouth;
because a nation, powerful and beyond number,
has invaded my land.

Its teeth are like lions’ teeth;
its fangs are like those of a lioness.
It has destroyed my vines,
splintered my fig trees,
stripped off their bark and thrown it down;
their branches have turned white.
Lament like a woman dressed in funeral clothing,
one who has lost the husband of her youth.
The grain offering and the drink offering are gone from the Lord’s temple.
The priests and the Lord’s ministers mourn.
10 The fields are devastated,
the ground mourns;
for the grain is destroyed,
the new wine dries up,
the olive oil fails.
11 Be shocked, you farmers;
howl, you vinedressers,
over the wheat and the barley,
for the crops of the field are destroyed.
12 The grapevine is dried up;
the fig tree withers.
Pomegranate, palm, and apple—
all the trees of the field are dried up.
Joy fades away from the people.[c]

Call to mourn

13 Dress for a funeral and grieve, you priests;
lament, ministers of the altar.
Come, spend the night in funeral clothing, servants of my God,
because the grain offering and the drink offering
have gone from the temple of your God.
14 Demand a fast,
request a special assembly.
Gather the elders
and all the land’s people
to the temple of the Lord your God,
and cry out to the Lord.

Time of suffering

15 What a terrible day!
The day of the Lord is near;
it comes like chaos from the Almighty.[d]
16 Isn’t the food cut off
right before our eyes?
Aren’t joy and gladness also gone from our God’s house?
17 The grain shrivels under the shovels;[e]
the barns are empty.
The granaries are in ruin
because the grain has dried up.
18 How the animals groan!
Herds of cattle are in distress
because there is no pasture for them;
even the flocks of sheep pant.

The prophet’s prayer

19 To you, Lord, I cry,
for fire has completely destroyed
the pastures of the wilderness;
and flames have burned
all the trees of the field.
20 Even the field’s wild animals cry to you
because the streams have dried up;
the fire has completely destroyed
the meadows of the wilderness.

Announcement of alarm and peril

Blow the horn in Zion;
give a shout on my holy mountain!
Let all the people of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming.
It is near—
a day of darkness and no light,
a day of clouds and thick darkness!
Like blackness spread out upon the mountains,
a great and powerful army[f] comes,
unlike any that has ever come before them,
or will come after them in centuries ahead.
In front of them a fire consumes;
and behind them a flame burns.
Land ahead of them is like Eden’s garden,
but they leave behind them a barren wasteland;
nothing escapes them.
They resemble horses,
and like warhorses they charge,
like the rumbling of chariots.
They leap on the mountaintops—
like the crackling of a fire’s flame,
devouring the stubble;
like a powerful army
ready for battle.
In their presence, peoples shake with fear;
all faces turn red with worry.
Like warriors they charge;
like soldiers they climb the wall.
Each keeps to their own path;
they didn’t change their course.
They don’t crowd each other;
each keeps to their own path.
Even if they fall among the weapons,
they won’t stop.
They rush upon the city;
they run upon the walls.
They climb into the houses;
they enter through the windows like thieves.
10 The earth quakes before them;
the heavens shake.
The sun and the moon are darkened;
the stars have stopped shining,
11 because the Lord utters his voice
at the head of his army.
How numerous are his troops!
Mighty are those who obey his word.
The day of the Lord is great;
it stirs up great fear—who can endure it?

Change your hearts

12 Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your hearts,
with fasting, with weeping, and with sorrow;
13 tear your hearts
and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is merciful and compassionate,
very patient, full of faithful love,
and ready to forgive.
14 Who knows whether he will have a change of heart
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the Lord your God?
15 Blow the horn in Zion;
demand a fast;
request a special assembly.
16 Gather the people;
prepare a holy meeting;
assemble the elders;
gather the children,
even nursing infants.
Let the groom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.
17 Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the Lord’s ministers, weep.
Let them say, “Have mercy, Lord, on your people,
and don’t make your inheritance a disgrace,
an example of failure among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

Words of compassion and promise

18 Then the Lord became passionate about this land,[g] and had pity on his people.

19 The Lord responded to the people:
See, I am sending you
the corn, new wine, and fresh oil,
and you will be fully satisfied by it;
and I will no longer make you
a disgrace among the nations.
20 I will remove the northern army far from you
and drive it into a dried-up and desolate land,
its front into the eastern sea,
and its rear into the western sea.
Its stench will rise up;
its stink will come to the surface.
The Lord is about to do great things!
21 Don’t fear, fertile land;
rejoice and be glad,
for the Lord is about to do great things!
22 Don’t be afraid, animals of the field,
for the meadows of the wilderness will turn green;
the tree will bear its fruit;
the fig tree and grapevine will give their full yield.
23 Children of Zion,
rejoice and be glad in the Lord your God,
because he will give you the early rain as a sign of righteousness;
he will pour down abundant rain for you,
the early and the late rain, as before.[h]
24 The threshing floors will be full of grain;
the vats will overflow with new wine and fresh oil.
25 I will repay you for the years
that the cutting locust,
the swarming locust, the hopping locust, and the devouring locust have eaten—
my great army, which I sent against you.
26 You will eat abundantly and be satisfied,
and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has done wonders for you;
and my people will never again be put to shame.
27 You will know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I am the Lord your God—no other exists;
never again will my people be put to shame.
28 After that I will pour out my spirit upon everyone;
your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 In those days, I will also pour out my
spirit on the male and female slaves.

30 I will give signs in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 32 But everyone who calls on the Lord’s name will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be security, as the Lord has promised; and in Jerusalem, the Lord will summon those who survive.

Judgment on the nations

Truly, in those days and in that time, I will bring back to Judah and Jerusalem those who were sent away. I will gather all the nations, and I will bring them to the Jehoshaphat Valley. There I will enter into judgment with them in support of my people and my possession, Israel, which they have scattered among the nations. They have divided my land, and have cast lots for my people. They have traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine, which they drank down. What are you to me, Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, then in a flash I will turn your deeds back upon your own heads. You have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border. But now I am calling them from the places where you have sold them, and I will repay you for your deeds. I will sell your sons and your daughters as a possession of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away; for the Lord has spoken.

Declaration of war

Announce this among the nations:
Prepare a holy war,
wake up the warriors;
let all the soldiers draw near,
let them come up!
10 Beat the iron tips of your plows into swords
and your pruning tools into spears;
let the weakling say, “I am mighty.”
11 Come quickly,
all you surrounding nations;
gather yourselves there;
bring your mighty ones, Lord.
12 Let the nations prepare themselves,
and come up to the Jehoshaphat Valley;
for there I will sit to judge
all the surrounding nations.
13 Cut with the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Go and crush grapes,
for the winepress is full.
The jars overflow with wine,
for their wickedness is great.
14 Crowd after crowd fills the valley of judgment,
for the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of judgment.
15 The sun and the moon are darkened;
the stars have ceased shining.

Salvation for God’s people

16 The Lord roars from Zion,
and utters his voice from Jerusalem;
the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a refuge for his people,
a shelter for the people of Israel.
17 So you will know that I am the Lord your God,
settle down in Zion, my holy mountain.
Jerusalem will be holy,
and never again will strangers pass through it.
18 In that day
the mountains will drip sweet wine,
the hills will flow with milk,
and all the streambeds of Judah
will flow with water;
a spring will come forth from the Lord’s house
and water the Shittim Valley.
19 Egypt will become desolate
and Edom a desolate wilderness.
This is because of the violence done to the people of Judah,
in whose land they have shed innocent blood.
20 But Judah will be inhabited forever,
and Jerusalem for all generations.
21 I will forgive their bloodguilt,
which I had not forgiven.
I will act on their account;
I will not pardon the guilty.

The Lord dwells in Zion.

Footnotes:

  1. Joel 1:2 Or your fathers
  2. Joel 1:4 The Heb uses several different words for locust; none of the meanings are identical.
  3. Joel 1:12 Or from the sons of men; cf 2:1 Heb the people of the land
  4. Joel 1:15 Heb Shaddai
  5. Joel 1:17 Heb uncertain
  6. Joel 2:2 Or a great and strong people
  7. Joel 2:18 Or then the Lord became jealous for his land
  8. Joel 2:23 Or at the first
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Revelation 1

Greetings

A revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. Christ made it known by sending it through his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the witness of Jesus Christ, including all that John saw. Favored is the one who reads the words of this prophecy out loud, and favored are those who listen to it being read, and keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

John, to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace and peace to you from the one who is and was and is coming, and from the seven spirits that are before God’s throne, and from Jesus Christ—the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To the one who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, who made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be glory and power forever and always. Amen.

Look, he is coming with the clouds! Every eye will see him, including those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. This is so. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is and was and is coming, the Almighty.”

Christ appears to John

I, John, your brother who shares with you in the hardship, kingdom, and endurance that we have in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and my witness about Jesus. 10 I was in a Spirit-inspired trance on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice that sounded like a trumpet. 11 It said, “Write down on a scroll whatever you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

12 I turned to see who was speaking to me, and when I turned, I saw seven oil lamps burning on top of seven gold stands. 13 In the middle of the lampstands I saw someone who looked like the Human One.[a] He wore a robe that stretched down to his feet, and he had a gold sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white as white wool—like snow—and his eyes were like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like fine brass that has been purified in a furnace, and his voice sounded like rushing water. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword. His appearance was like the sun shining with all its power.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. But he put his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I was dead, but look! Now I’m alive forever and always. I have the keys of Death and the Grave. 19 So write down what you have seen, both the scene now before you and the things that are about to unfold after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands, here is what they mean: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Footnotes:

  1. Revelation 1:13 Or Son of Man
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Psalm 128

Psalm 128

A pilgrimage song.

128 Everyone who honors the Lord,
who walks in God’s ways, is truly happy!

You will definitely enjoy what you’ve worked hard for—
you’ll be happy; and things will go well for you.
In your house, your wife will be like a vine full of fruit.
All around your table, your children will be like olive trees, freshly planted.
That’s how it goes for anyone who honors the Lord:
they will be blessed!

May the Lord bless you from Zion.
May you experience Jerusalem’s goodness your whole life long.
And may you see your grandchildren.

Peace be on Israel!

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Proverbs 29:18

18 When there’s no vision, the people get out of control,
but whoever obeys instruction is happy.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

12/08/2019 DAB Transcript

Hosea 10:1-14:9, Jude 1:1-25, Psalms 127:1-5, Proverbs 29:15-17

Today is the 8th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is a great to be here with you as we move into our second week of this month. And here we are at the beginning of the week so it’s a shiny sparkly threshold that we walk through and the week is out in front of us and that will write the story of our lives on that week and it will all boil down to our thoughts, words, and deeds. And, so, often at the beginning of the week we’ll…we’ll consider that and walk into a new week together. And we are in the holiday season, obviously. And, so, we’re in the season of Advent on the Christian calendar. So, this is the second Sunday in Advent. And, of course, as we mentioned in the past, Advent is this season that we celebrate leading up to Christmas that allows us to put our hearts in the correct posture. Advent means arrival. So, we’re working toward the day that we commemorate the arrival of the Savior on Christmas, but we have to remember that there was a time before the Savior arrived and that the people were expecting a Savior to come and longing for this kind of restoration. And we also acknowledge that even as they were waiting and the Savior did come, we find ourselves in the same place of longing for His return, His Advent, His arrival. So, lots of you when you go to church, you know, there’ll be an Advent wreath, maybe a candle lighting ceremony. Today is the week that we week that we consider faith, that the way of the Lord was being prepared and that we are a part of that story in preparing the way of the Lord. So, this is the second Sunday in Advent. So, that’s where we are in the year. Now let’s move our hearts and minds toward the Scriptures for today. We will read from the Common English Bible this week, we’ll move back into the book of Hosea in the Old Testament and then we get to the New Testament we have new territory to go into, the book or letter of Jude. But first, Hosea chapter 10 through chapter 14.

Introduction to the book of Jude:

Okay. So, we have come to the book or the epistle or the letter of Jude and we’ll read the entire letter today in the same way that we read through the like, second and third John and some of the other shorter letters. And Jude may sound familiar. Many biblical scholars accepted the idea that second Peter actually imitates Jude’s letter and if that’s true, then Jude’s letter would predate second Peter and then would be dated somewhere in the mid 60s A.D. Now if that’s not the case and second Peter and Jude don’t say…don’t share similarities, then the letter could have been all the way to the end of Jude’s life, which could put it later, somewhere like 80 A.D. But aside from when this letter may have actually been written, who is Jude other than a song that the Beatles wrote a song about? That has actually been a question throughout church history, and it continues to be examined among scholars all the way until now. If you want to look for consensus then the majority of traditional scholars agree that Jude, who wrote this letter was the brother of James and Jesus the Lord. But even though he was a brother he wasn’t an apostle. He didn't…he didn’t move around with Jesus during His ministry and believe in Jesus during His ministry. And it’s not completely clear who Jude wrote this letter to. He says he’s writing to all who have been called by God the Father who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ. So, I mean, that…that…that would be anybody like that could be anybody who believe…who has ever believed in Jesus ever. So, we can certainly say that…that it applies to us. But if we go back to the similarities between second Peter and Jude, if second Peter does in many ways mimic Jude then Jude was probably writing to the same people Peter was writing to, which…which would be displaced believers who were fleeing persecution or those who had been exiled in generations past when the kingdoms fell to Assyria and Babylon. Now here’s what’s interesting about Jude, Jude had been planning on writing a totally different letter than the one he wrote and he says this in his greeting. He wanted to write a letter about the salvation that was shared among all who believed but instead he had to write about defending the faith that was entrusted by God to his people. And the issue that he was trying to address was a false teaching that was running around about God’s grace and this issue is addressed in many other letters in the New Testament. Here’s what was going on. He teaching of grace, like unmerited favor, something that we cannot earn or deserve but has been bestowed upon us by God, that understanding has always been core to the Christian faith but somewhere twisting the concept and making grace a license to do whatever they wanted with whoever they chose because the rationale was that sin no longer had claimed to them, they were free to sin and righteous before God. And, so, they could never earns God’s grace anyway. So, they can do whatever they want. So, Jude opposes this teaching throughout this letter and it’s not as if this is an action problem. It’s not as if were not still dealing with this exactly as they were and will see that Jude is clearly going to warn his readers and us away from that path because it’s not true. And Jude warns, warns that this kind of things going to happen, it was predicted, it’s happening, it will still happen, and it’s right. It’s still happening today. And, so, the followers of Jesus must build one another up to the power of the Holy Spirit. So, will read Jude’s letter in its entirety today and to just have our bearings and point out where we are, this is, this is one of our final stops. In fact this is the final stop before we move into the final book of the Bible. And, that will be taking us in completely different directions. So, this is the final letter that will read this year and let’s remember what all these letters have told us because the letters have told us of radical grace and that it’s true but accessing it can only happen in a covenantal relationship. It matters what we do, it matters what we say, matters what we think because these things create our lives and our actions are truly speaking into the world what we actually believe about God and what we actually believe toward one another. And, so, we begin the letter of Jude.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for a brand-new week. And as we continue to move through this season we invite Your Holy Spirit to lead us into a posture of contemplation that…that…that in spite of the busyness and in spite of all the festivities which are fantastic and wonderful, that we can maintain our center, that we can maintain our connection to the leading of Your Holy Spirit, that we don’t get distracted and taken out in this season, but rather we stay focused upon it, that You would come for us, that You would not abandon us, and we thank You for that. Come Holy Spirit into this week we pray. In the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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

I remind you of the Prayer Wall. This is definitely a time of year where, yeah, where just all…things get disrupted and so all kinds of things that have been kind of under the surface, they can find their way to the surface and find event in some sort of way. And, so, there’s all kinds of things that we’re shouldering as we move through the season and we don’t have to do it alone. There are thousands and thousands…tens of thousands of us who pray for each other every day and the Prayer Aall is one place to go for that. So, that is in the Community section at dailyaudiobible.com or just…if you’re using the…the Daily Audio Bible app you can press this little Drawer icon that’s in the upper left-hand corner and that’ll get you to the Prayer Wall as well. So, that is a fantastic resource as we move through this season.

If you…if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at the Daily Audio Bible website as well at dailyaudiobible.com and I cannot thank you enough as we move into the final weeks of the year for your partnership. So, there’s a link 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 PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment you can dial 877-942-4253 or you can just press that Hotline button in the app, the little red button that lives at the top and off you go.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian enjoy this second Sunday of Advent I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday December 8, 2019 (NIV)

Hosea 10-14

The folly of Israel’s idolatry

10 Israel is a growing vine
that yields its fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
the more altars he built;
the richer his land became,
the more he set up sacred standing stones.
Their heart is false;
now they must bear their guilt.
The Lord will break down their altars
and destroy their standing stones.
For now they will say:
“We have no king,
because we don’t love the Lord.
What then could a king do for us?”
They have spoken empty words,
swearing falsely when making covenants;
so judgment springs up like poisonous weeds
in the furrows of the field.
The inhabitants of Samaria shake
because of the calf of Beth-aven.
Its people will mourn over it,
just as its idolatrous priests who rejoiced over its glory that is now gone.

Shame and punishment

To Assyria it will be carried
as a gift for the great king.
Ephraim will be put to shame;
Israel will be ashamed of his own idol.
Samaria will be cut off;
her king is like a chip of wood on the surface of the water.
The sin of Israel, the shrines of Aven
will be torn down.
Thorn and thistle will sprout up
on their altars.
They will say to the mountains, “Cover us,”
to the hills, “Fall on us.”
Since the days of Gibeah, you have sinned, Israel;
there they have continued.
Will not war overtake them in Gibeah?
10 I will come and punish them;
nations will be gathered against them
when they are punished for their double crime.
11 Ephraim was a trained cow that loved to pull a plow;
I spared her fair neck;
but I will make Ephraim break through the ground;
Judah will plow;
Jacob will turn the soil for himself.
12 Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap faithful love;
break up your unplanted ground,
for it is time to seek the Lord,
that he may come
and rain righteousness upon you.
13 You have plowed wickedness,
you have reaped depravity,
you have eaten the fruit of lies,
because you have trusted in your way
and in your many warriors.
14 Therefore, the noise of war will rise against your people;
all your fortresses will be destroyed,
as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle,
when mothers were dashed into pieces with their children.
15 It will indeed happen to you, Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
At dawn, the king of Israel will be cut off completely.

Divine love

11 When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
The more I called them,
the further they went from me;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals,
and they burned incense to idols.
Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk;
I took them up in my arms,
but they did not know that I healed them.
I led them
with bands of human kindness,
with cords of love.
I treated them like those
who lift infants to their cheeks;
I bent down to them and fed them.

Divine frustration

They will return to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria will be their king,
because they have refused to return to me.
The sword will strike wildly in their cities;
it will consume the bars of their gates
and will take everything because of their schemes.
My people are bent on turning away from me;
and though they cry out to the Most High,[a]
he will not raise them up.

Divine compassion

How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart winces within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.

Israel’s and Judah’s responses

I won’t act on the heat of my anger;
I won’t return to destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not a human being,
the holy one in your midst;
I won’t come in harsh judgment.
10 They will walk after the Lord,
who roars like a lion.
When he roars,
his children will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come trembling like a bird,
and like a dove from the land of Assyria;
and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.
12 [b] Ephraim has surrounded me with lies,
the house of Israel with faithless acts;
but Judah still walks with God,
and is faithful to the holy one.

God’s charge against Judah

12 [c] Ephraim herds the wind,
and pursues the east wind all day long;
they multiply lies and violence;
they make a treaty with Assyria,
and oil is carried to Egypt.
The Lord has a charge against Judah,
and will punish Jacob according to his ways,
and respond to him according to his deeds.
From the womb he tried to be the oldest of twin brothers;
as an adult he struggled with God.
He struggled with the messenger and survived;
he wept and sought his favor;
he met him at Bethel,
and there he spoke with him.
The Lord God of heavenly forces,
the Lord is his name!
But you! Return to your God
with faithful love and justice,
and wait continually for your God.

He is a merchant; the means to cheat are in his hands;
he loves to take advantage of others.
Ephraim has said,
“I’m rich,
I’ve gained wealth for myself;
in all of my gain
no offense has been found in me
that would be sin.”
I am the Lord your God
from the land of Egypt;
I will make you live in tents again,
as in former days.
10 I spoke to the prophets;
and I multiplied visions,
and through them I uttered parables.
11 In Gilead there is wickedness;
they will surely come to nothing.
In Gilgal they sacrifice bulls,
so their altars will be like piles of stones
on the rows of the field.
12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram;
there Israel served for a wife,
and for a wife he kept watch over livestock.
13 By a prophet the Lord brought Israel up from Egypt,
and by a prophet he was guarded.
14 Ephraim has given bitter offense;
so the Lord will bring his crimes down on him
and pay him back for his wrongdoing.

Infidelity despite divine goodness

13 When Ephraim spoke, there was excitement;
he was praised in Israel;
but he became guilty through Baal and died.
And now they keep on sinning;
they have made metal images,
idols of silver,
as a result of their skill,
all of them the work of craftsmen.
“Sacrifice to these,” they say.
People are kissing calves!
Therefore, they will be like the morning mist,
like the dew that passes away early,
like husks that swirl from the threshing floor,
or like smoke from a window.
Yet I have been the Lord your God
ever since the land of Egypt;
and you will know no other gods but me;
there is no savior besides me.
I knew you in the wilderness,
in the land of no rain.
When I fed them, they were satisfied;
and their hearts became proud;
therefore, they forgot me.

Consequences of infidelity

So I will become like a lion to them;
like a leopard I will lurk beside the road.
I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
and I will tear open the covering of their hearts.
I will devour them like a lion,
as a wild animal would eat them.
I will destroy you, Israel;
for you didn’t realize that I could help you.
10 Where is your king now,
so that he can save you?
Where in all your cities are your judges,
of whom you said,
“Give me a king and rulers”?
11 I gave you a king in my anger,
and I took him away in my wrath.
12 Ephraim’s wickedness is bound up;
his sin is kept in store.
13 The pangs of a woman in childbirth come for him,
but he is not aware of the time to be born;
for at the proper time he doesn’t present himself
at the mouth of the womb.
14 Will I ransom them from the power of the grave[d]
Will I redeem them from death’s hold?
Death, where are your diseases?
Grave,[e] where is your destruction?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.
15 Although he may flourish among rushes,
the east wind will come—
the breath of God
rising from the wilderness;
and his spring will dry up;
his fountain will be dried up.
It will strip his household
of every cherished possession.
16 [f] Samaria will be desolate,
because she has rebelled against her God;
by the sword they will fall—
their babies will be dashed,
and their pregnant women ripped open.

A plea: Return to God

14 [g] Return, Israel, to the Lord your God;
you have stumbled because of your wickedness.
Prepare to speak
and return to the Lord;
say to the Lord,
“Forgive all wickedness;
and receive the good.
Instead of bulls,
let us offer what we can say:
Assyria won’t save us;
we won’t ride upon horses;
we will no longer say, ‘Our God,’
to the work of our hands.
In you the orphan finds compassion.”

Divine promise of healing

I will heal their faithlessness;
I will love them freely,
for my anger has turned from them.
I will be like the dew to Israel;
he will blossom like the lily;
he will cast out his roots like the forests of Lebanon.[h]
His branches will spread out;
his beauty will be like the olive tree,
and his fragrance like that of Lebanon.
They will again live beneath my shadow,
they will flourish like a garden;
they will blossom like the vine,
their fragrance will be like the wine of Lebanon.
Ephraim, what do idols have to do with me?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like a green cypress tree;
your fruit comes from me.

Be careful

Whoever is wise understands these things.
Whoever observes carefully knows them.
Truly, the Lord’s ways are right,
and the righteous will walk in them,
but evildoers will stumble in them.

Footnotes:

  1. Hosea 11:7 Heb uncertain
  2. Hosea 11:12 12:1 in Heb
  3. Hosea 12:1 12:2 in Heb
  4. Hosea 13:14 Heb Sheol
  5. Hosea 13:14 Heb Sheol
  6. Hosea 13:16 14:1 in Heb
  7. Hosea 14:1 14:2 in Heb
  8. Hosea 14:5 Or like Lebanon
Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Jude

Greeting

Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James.

To those who are called, loved by God the Father and kept safe by Jesus Christ.

May you have more and more mercy, peace, and love.

Certain judgment of the false teachers

Dear friends, I wanted very much to write to you concerning the salvation we share. Instead, I must write to urge you to fight for the faith delivered once and for all to God’s holy people. Godless people have slipped in among you. They turn the grace of our God into unrestrained immorality and deny our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Judgment was passed against them a long time ago.

I want to remind you of something you already know very well. The Lord, who once saved a people out of Egypt, later destroyed those who didn’t maintain their faith. I remind you too of the angels who didn’t keep their position of authority but deserted their own home. The Lord has kept them in eternal chains in the underworld until the judgment of the great day. In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and neighboring towns practiced immoral sexual relations and pursued other sexual urges. By undergoing the punishment of eternal fire, they serve as a warning.

Yet, even knowing this, these dreamers in the same way pollute themselves, reject authority, and slander the angels. The archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil about Moses’ body, did not dare charge him with slander. Instead, he said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these people slander whatever they don’t understand. They are destroyed by what they know instinctively, as though they were irrational animals.

Prophecies about the false teachers

11 They are damned, for they follow in the footsteps of Cain. For profit they give themselves over to Balaam’s error. They are destroyed in the uprising of Korah. 12 These people are like jagged rocks just below the surface of the water waiting to snag you when they join your love feasts. They feast with you without reverence. They care only for themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; fruitless autumn trees, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom the darkness of the underworld is reserved forever.

14 Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, prophesied about these people when he said, “See, the Lord comes with his countless holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on everyone and to convict everyone about every ungodly deed they have committed in their ungodliness as well as all the harsh things that sinful ungodly people have said against him.” 16 These are faultfinding grumblers, living according to their own desires. They speak arrogant words and they show partiality to people when they want a favor in return.

17 But you, dear friends, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the end time scoffers will come living according to their own ungodly desires.” 19 These people create divisions. Since they don’t have the Spirit, they are worldly.

A strategy for the faithful

20 But you, dear friends: build each other up on the foundation of your most holy faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep each other in the love of God, wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will give you eternal life. 22 Have mercy on those who doubt. 23 Save some by snatching them from the fire. Fearing God, have mercy on some, hating even the clothing contaminated by their sinful urges.

Blessing

24 To the one who is able to protect you from falling,
and to present you blameless and rejoicing before his glorious presence,
25 to the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
belong glory, majesty, power, and authority,
before all time, now and forever. Amen.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Psalm 127

Psalm 127

A pilgrimage song. Of Solomon.

127 Unless it is the Lord who builds the house,
the builders’ work is pointless.
Unless it is the Lord who protects the city,
the guard on duty is pointless.
It is pointless that you get up early and stay up late,
eating the bread of hard labor
because God gives sleep to those he loves.

No doubt about it: children are a gift from the Lord;
the fruit of the womb is a divine reward.
The children born when one is young
are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.
The person who fills a quiver full with them is truly happy!
They won’t be ashamed when arguing with their enemies in the gate.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

Proverbs 29:15-17

15 The rod and correction lead to wisdom,
but children out of control shame their mothers.
16 When the wicked become numerous, so do crimes;
the righteous will see their downfall.
17 Instruct your children; they will give you peace of mind
and bring delight into your life.

Common English Bible (CEB)

Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible

12/07/2019 DAB Transcript

Hosea 6:1-9:17, 3 John 1:1-15, Psalms 126:1-6, Proverbs 29:12-14

Today is the 7th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you as we complete, shutdown, and release into…into history the first week of this month of December. And as we conclude this week we will be going back into the book of Hosea in the Old Testament and then if we remember, we read second John in its entirety yesterday. So, when we get to the New Testament today, we will read in its entirety, third John. But before we get ahead of ourselves, we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week. Hosea chapters 6, 7, 8, and 9 today.

Introduction to third John:

Alright. So, we…like…like we talked about a minute ago, we read second John in its entirety yesterday. And, so we’ll do the same thing today with third John. And this letter was probably written somewhere around the same time as the other two letters. And like the other two, was probably written from Ephesus where it’s thought that John spent the latter part of his life. But third John is just a little different than the other two letters. It’s actually more like Paul’s letter to Philemon because third John is a personal letter and it was written to a man named Gaius who was a good man, a believer within the network of churches that John had influence over and leadership in. And John wrote this letter to personally encourage Gaius because he was passionate about the gospel and it wasn’t just a passion that he gave lip service to. He was willing to serve and support those who were traveling around teaching and sharing the good news, those that John would send throughout the churches. So, like, this isn't…this isn’t like a new idea…an old idea that we’ve never heard of before. This still happens today, the custom of welcoming itinerant ministers and caring for their needs as…as they travel. Sharing the message that God has given them is common and was common. And John saw this personal letter as a necessary communication because there was another church leader named Diotrephes who was distancing himself from John and refusing to offer hospitality to these…these ministers that were moving around the churches. And then to make it even worse, Diotrephes was throwing people out of the church who disagreed and assisted itinerant ministers. So, John wrote this personal letter to Gaius to…to encourage him and commend him for doing the right thing for…for his care and his hospitality to those who were bringing the gospel. But this would’ve held more weight than just a personal encouragement, like a nice email that you get that just encourages you. Like this is a letter that put John’s opinion in writing that Gaius was doing the right thing. And, so, you…you…you can imagine that a personal letter from one of the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ would’ve probably carried pretty…pretty good amount of weights against this Diotrephes who was stirring up all the…the problems in the church. So, third John gives us this personal glimpse into some of the tensions that were existing in the formative years of the church and it gives us an opportunity to understand that they were struggling with, you know, the same sort of heart issues that…that we face in our own lives. And, so, we read third John.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for another week in Your word and we thank You for bringing us through this first full week of this final month of the year. And on this, the 341st day of the year, we express our gratitude, our love, our devotion, our faithfulness, our worship for You. And yet we also confess that after the same fashion that we’re reading about in Hosea, we have drifted away at times, we have…we have run away at times, we have entered into direct and knowing rebellion against You at times. And then at other times we’ve just not been vigilant. And when endurance has arise…arisen in our lives we’ve just been taken out. So, it is Your faithfulness that actually makes it even possible for us to consider being faithful. It was Your love for us first. You came for us when we didn’t even know You when we were Your enemies and You loved us, and You drew us to Yourself and You adopted us and made us Your children. And, so, we confess it’s preposterous to even consider that we would ever betray that and yet we confess that we have. And, so, we repent here at the end of this week and we look forward to going into the new week together discovering anew how profound Your love for us actually is and how important that it is that we realize that You are loving the world through us and that we must open ourselves to love. Come Holy Spirit we pray into all of this. We ask in the name of Jesus our Savior. Amen.

Announcements:

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And it’s Christmas time. So, that’s what’s going on around here. Seems like that’s what’s going on everywhere. But I remind you of the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas Box for 2019. That is available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop and we have packed it full of our most popular resources. So, check it out.

And I remind you that we also have the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards for 2019. And those are available in the Shop as well. A pack a 20 cards with their envelopes for $4.99 and this is just a…we offer these every year to…just to pave the way. This is a wonderful opportunity to invite those that you love to accompany you on the journey next year when we set sail in mere weeks into a new decade. And what better way to start a decade then to start a rhythm of the Scriptures in your life for the next decade every day. And I can say, I think with some amount of authority, that if transformation in your life is what you seek…well…I’ve done this for a decade every day and I don’t know that I can fully recognize the man from a decade ago. The Bible has been a profound transport formative a blessing. So, it’s a wonderful way to invite friends and family on the journey with you as we go into the new year.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible as we move into the final chapter of this year then I think you with absolute humility and absolute gratefulness. Thank you deeply. We are a community and we come around the Global Campfire and the Global Campfire burns because we all throw logs on from time to time. So, I thank you humbly for your partnership. There’s a link that’s on the homepage at dailyaudiobibe.com or the mailing address is PO Box 1996, Spring Hill Tennessee 37174 or if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner.

And that is 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 Suzanne calling. I have stopped and started this so many times I can’t tell you. So, I really hope that some of those accidentally didn’t go in…go through. I just want to say, first of all, thank you Brian so much…it’s December 3rd…for the message today about how the…the light that Christ pours into us really needs to go out to others. And I am having a real struggle with my family. I am the only Christian in my family and there’s a lot of dysfunctional behavior that goes on and I ended up being extremely hurt over Thanksgiving. There was a lot of verbal abuse and just real selfish inconsiderate behavior towards me and I just ended up feeling so unloved and so unappreciated and ended up crying all day on Friday. So, what I really want prayer for is for me to understand how to…I just need to find tools and how to not accept unacceptable behavior and do it in a loving Christlike way so that I have His motives and I have His love and so that they can see the light of Him shining through me rather than my hurt self. So, I just need your prayer family and I appreciate it very much. God bless you.

Hello DAB this is Carla with a Broken Heart calling back again. I was just sitting here thinking about what a wonderful platform this is for people to be able to hear God’s word and to minister to one another and be able to call in with prayers because it lets me know that I’m not the only one going through when somebody else calls in with difficulties and I don’t feel so alone and too because the fact to know that I have someone that’s praying for me and don’t know anything about me or even knows anything about my situation but loves me enough to go before God for me on my behalf and my struggles means the world to me. And to be able to have a place where we can fellowship like that means everything to me. Going through my hard times and through my struggles, I feel alone a lot but just now after I made my first ball I sat here and thought about all those who pray for me, who call my name out, let’s me know that I’m not alone and that I am going to be able to get through. So, it’s just awesome to be able to have this even though Brian ministers the word and…and he reiterates the word at…at the end and his soothing voice is so peaceful to me, but just the prayers of the saints and those that call in who are struggling so that we all can love on one another means the world to me. And I can’t express how important DAB has been for me. I’ve been a member for more than 10 years and it’s carried me through some hard times and especially this time right now. I just praise God for. I just wanted to say that. Thank you. God bless.

Diana Davis this is Angel from California and I wanted to tell you my sister that I am praying for you. I know that you called in November the 30th in the podcast and you said that you were a Christian author and that you had to children with autism and that your husband is out of the home, you’re dealing with stage IV cancer. And I pray for you my sister. And I want you to know that the Lord is going to strengthen you and is gonna give you your heart desires. Praying for you. Don’t give up hope. God is the God of impossibilities. God bless you my sister this is Angel from California.

My name is Patsy, my husband’s name is Andy. We have two beautiful daughters together. He has one child from a previous marriage. I ask for prayer today. This time last year my husband left us. He said he was done, and he left. I would like to pray for reconciliation. I would like for my husband’s heart to be touched and so he’ll know that the…that divorce is not the answer, that we can work things out. I can’t change my husband, I know that, and I know that with God and through God things are always possible. God is so much bigger than this. Thank you, Daily Audio Bible for everything. You’ve gotten me through so, so much this one year alone. I’m Patsy and I love you.

Hello everyone, this is Paul calling from Barcelona. As we come into the Christmas season I might be so busy that I’ll forget to say this so I’ll say this right now, a very Merry Christmas to so many of you my friends across the world. But my heart has, you know, kind of set on one group of people in the DAB community that are almost never mentioned. And, so, I’m also sending them the warmest of readings from the bottom of my heart in the name of Jesus and that group are people struggling with their sexual identity, with her sexual orientation within our community. You know, in…in the church across the world this has become a very polemic and taboo subject. I won’t go there. I just want to talk to each one of those men and women who are dealing with this struggle with the day to day of this and often amongst us the feeling of being absolutely invisible and having nowhere to turn. And I just want to encourage you. Some of you may be listening are not able to go home to families who have rejected you because of the things you’re dealing with but I just want to give you encouragement and just want to point you to the Lord Jesus and just lay your head on His chest as I often like to say, just rest there, talk to Him about everything, share Him…share with Him everything that’s on your heart. You know, the Lord knows our hearts and His sheep know His voice. So, share everything that you want to share with Him this Christmas season and know that you’re deeply, deeply loved by your father and that’s all I have to say. I wish you peace and I wish you love. I send it for myself from Barcelona.

Good morning DAB family this is Danny from Southern Oregon. I just want to lift up those who are hurting this morning due to loss, specifically the man who called in from Florida who found his friend and neighbor passed away. Just the fact that you called your DAB family for comfort is just such a testimony to what this family does for each other. So, give us an update on how you’re doing. Praying for you for comfort and so sorry for your loss there. Also praying for Vicki from Arizona. Vicki I’ve got you on my calendar for December 10th. I’m going to be on my knees for you sister. Just the pain that you must be going through, I just can’t I can’t even imagine. So, lifting you up, praying God’s peace on you that you would feel so loved. And praying for Karen from Hemet who just lost her husband from Parkinson’s. And you described your sadness it’s…it’s just pouring over you like an ocean…like ocean waves. And I just…I just pray that that you would feel peace, that God would help you get through this difficult time. I just…I just pray for all of you who are hurting and have lost someone. Father, just wrap your loving arms around these people who are hurting, just fill them with peace Lord, let them know that you are there, surround them with love Lord and just…just…just send them people who will comfort them and build them up Lord and just love them. And I just thank You and praise You for this DAB family that we can all pray for each other…

The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Saturday December 7, 2019 (NIV)

Hosea 6-9

Israel and Judah Are Unrepentant

“Come, let us (A)return to the Lord;
for (B)he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and (C)he will bind us up.
After two days (D)he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
(E)Let us know; (F)let us press on to know the Lord;
(G)his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us (H)as the showers,
(I)as the spring rains that water the earth.”

What shall I do with you, (J)O (K)Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O (L)Judah?
Your love is (M)like a morning cloud,
(N)like the dew that goes early away.
Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets;
I have slain them (O)by the words of my mouth,
and my judgment goes forth as the light.
For (P)I desire steadfast love[a] and not sacrifice,
(Q)the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

But (R)like Adam they (S)transgressed the covenant;
(T)there they dealt faithlessly with me.
(U)Gilead is a city of evildoers,
(V)tracked with blood.
As robbers (W)lie in wait for a man,
so the priests band together;
they murder on the way to (X)Shechem;
they commit villainy.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
(Y)Ephraim's whoredom is there; (Z)Israel is defiled.

11 For you also, O (AA)Judah, (AB)a harvest is appointed.

When (AC)I restore the fortunes of my people,
(AD)when I would heal Israel,
the iniquity of Ephraim is revealed,
and the evil deeds of (AE)Samaria,
for (AF)they deal falsely;
the thief breaks in,
and the bandits raid outside.
But they do not consider
that (AG)I remember all their evil.
Now (AH)their deeds surround them;
(AI)they are before my face.
By their evil (AJ)they make (AK)the king glad,
and the princes by their treachery.
(AL)They are all adulterers;
they are like a heated oven
whose baker ceases to stir the fire,
from the kneading of the dough
until it is leavened.
On the day of (AM)our king, the princes
became sick with the heat of wine;
he stretched out his hand with mockers.
For with hearts like an oven (AN)they approach their intrigue;
all night their anger smolders;
in the morning it blazes like a flaming fire.
All of them are hot as an oven,
and they devour their rulers.
All (AO)their kings (AP)have fallen,
and none of them calls upon me.

Ephraim (AQ)mixes himself with the peoples;
Ephraim is a cake not turned.
(AR)Strangers devour his strength,
and (AS)he knows it not;
gray hairs are sprinkled upon him,
and (AT)he knows it not.
10 (AU)The pride of Israel testifies to his face;[b]
(AV)yet they do not return to the Lord their God,
nor seek him, for all this.

11 Ephraim is like a dove,
(AW)silly and without sense,
calling to (AX)Egypt, going to (AY)Assyria.
12 As they go, (AZ)I will spread over them my net;
I will bring them down like birds of the heavens;
(BA)I will discipline them (BB)according to the report made to their congregation.
13 (BC)Woe to them, for they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against me!
(BD)I would redeem them,
but (BE)they speak lies against me.

14 (BF)They do not cry to me from the heart,
but (BG)they wail upon their beds;
for grain and wine they gash themselves;
they rebel against me.
15 Although (BH)I trained and strengthened their arms,
yet they devise evil against me.
16 They (BI)return, but not upward;[c]
they are (BJ)like a treacherous bow;
their princes shall fall by the sword
because of (BK)the insolence of their tongue.
This shall be their derision (BL)in the land of Egypt.

Israel Will Reap the Whirlwind

Set (BM)the trumpet to your lips!
One (BN)like a vulture is over the house of the Lord,
because (BO)they have transgressed my covenant
and rebelled against my law.
To me they cry,
(BP)“My God, we—Israel—know you.”
Israel has spurned the good;
the enemy shall pursue him.

(BQ)They made kings, (BR)but not through me.
They set up princes, but I knew it not.
With their silver and gold they made idols
for their own destruction.
(BS)I have[d] spurned your calf, O Samaria.
My anger burns against them.
(BT)How long will they be incapable of innocence?
For it is from Israel;
a craftsman made it;
it is not God.
(BU)The calf of Samaria
(BV)shall be broken to pieces.[e]

For (BW)they sow the wind,
and they shall reap the whirlwind.
The standing grain has no heads;
it shall yield no flour;
if it were to yield,
(BX)strangers would devour it.
(BY)Israel is swallowed up;
already they are among the nations
as (BZ)a useless vessel.
For (CA)they have gone up to Assyria,
(CB)a wild donkey wandering alone;
Ephraim has hired lovers.
10 Though they hire allies among the nations,
I will soon gather them up.
And (CC)the king and princes (CD)shall soon writhe
because of the tribute.

11 Because Ephraim (CE)has multiplied altars for sinning,
they have become to him altars for sinning.
12 (CF)Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands,
they would be regarded as a strange thing.
13 As for my sacrificial offerings,
(CG)they sacrifice meat and eat it,
but the Lord does not accept them.
(CH)Now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins;
(CI)they shall return to Egypt.
14 For (CJ)Israel has forgotten (CK)his Maker
and (CL)built palaces,
and (CM)Judah has multiplied fortified cities;
so (CN)I will send a fire upon his cities,
and it shall devour her strongholds.

The Lord Will Punish Israel

Rejoice not, O Israel!
Exult not like the peoples;
(CO)for you have played the whore, forsaking your God.
(CP)You have loved a prostitute's wages
on all threshing floors.
(CQ)Threshing floor and wine vat shall not feed them,
and (CR)the new wine shall fail them.
They shall not remain in (CS)the land of the Lord,
but (CT)Ephraim shall return to Egypt,
and (CU)they shall eat unclean food in Assyria.

(CV)They shall not pour drink offerings of wine to the Lord,
(CW)and their sacrifices shall not please him.
It shall be like (CX)mourners' bread to them;
all who eat of it shall be defiled;
for their bread shall be for their hunger only;
(CY)it shall not come to the house of the Lord.

(CZ)What will you do on the day of the appointed festival,
and on the day of the feast of the Lord?
For behold, they are going away from destruction;
but (DA)Egypt shall gather them;
Memphis shall bury them.
Nettles shall possess (DB)their precious things of silver;
(DC)thorns shall be in their tents.

(DD)The days of punishment have come;
the days of recompense have come;
Israel shall know it.
(DE)The prophet is a fool;
the man of the spirit is mad,
because of your great iniquity
and great hatred.
The prophet is (DF)the watchman of Ephraim with my God;
yet (DG)a fowler's snare is on all his ways,
and hatred in the house of his God.
(DH)They have deeply corrupted themselves
as (DI)in the days of Gibeah:
(DJ)he will remember their iniquity;
he will punish their sins.

10 Like grapes in the wilderness,
(DK)I found Israel.
Like the first fruit on the fig tree
in its first season,
I saw your fathers.
But (DL)they came to Baal-peor
and (DM)consecrated themselves to the thing of shame,
and (DN)became detestable like the thing they loved.
11 Ephraim's (DO)glory shall fly away like a bird—
(DP)no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
12 (DQ)Even if they bring up children,
I will bereave them till none is left.
(DR)Woe to them
when (DS)I depart from them!
13 Ephraim, (DT)as I have seen, was like a young palm[f] planted in a meadow;
but (DU)Ephraim must lead his children out to slaughter.[g]
14 Give them, O Lord
what will you give?
Give them (DV)a miscarrying womb
and dry breasts.

15 Every evil of theirs is in (DW)Gilgal;
there I began to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
all (DX)their princes are (DY)rebels.

16 Ephraim is stricken;
(DZ)their root is dried up;
they shall bear no fruit.
Even (EA)though they give birth,
(EB)I will put their beloved children to death.
17 (EC)My God will reject them
because they have not listened to him;
(ED)they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Footnotes:

  1. Hosea 6:6 Septuagint mercy
  2. Hosea 7:10 Or in his presence
  3. Hosea 7:16 Or to the Most High
  4. Hosea 8:5 Hebrew He has
  5. Hosea 8:6 Or shall go up in flames
  6. Hosea 9:13 Or like Tyre
  7. Hosea 9:13 Hebrew to him who slaughters

Cross references:

  1. Hosea 6:1 : ch. 14:1; [ch. 3:5]
  2. Hosea 6:1 : ch. 5:14; [ch. 13:7, 8]
  3. Hosea 6:1 : [Isa. 30:26]
  4. Hosea 6:2 : Ps. 71:20; [Luke 24:27, 44; John 2:22; 20:9; 1 Cor. 15:4]
  5. Hosea 6:3 : [ch. 4:6]
  6. Hosea 6:3 : [ch. 4:6]
  7. Hosea 6:3 : Mic. 5:2
  8. Hosea 6:3 : [ch. 14:5]
  9. Hosea 6:3 : Joel 2:23
  10. Hosea 6:4 : [ch. 11:8]
  11. Hosea 6:4 : ver. 10, 11; ch. 4:15; 5:5; 8:14; 10:11; 11:12; 12:1, 2; See ch. 5:9-14
  12. Hosea 6:4 : ver. 10, 11; ch. 4:15; 5:5; 8:14; 10:11; 11:12; 12:1, 2; See ch. 5:9-14
  13. Hosea 6:4 : ch. 13:3
  14. Hosea 6:4 : ch. 13:3
  15. Hosea 6:5 : Jer. 23:29; [Heb. 4:12]
  16. Hosea 6:6 : Cited Matt. 9:13; 12:7; [1 Sam. 15:22]
  17. Hosea 6:6 : [ch. 2:20]
  18. Hosea 6:7 : [Gen. 3:11; Job 31:33; Rom. 5:14]
  19. Hosea 6:7 : ch. 8:1; Deut. 17:2
  20. Hosea 6:7 : ch. 5:7
  21. Hosea 6:8 : [ch. 12:11]
  22. Hosea 6:8 : See ch. 4:2
  23. Hosea 6:9 : [ch. 5:1; 7:6]
  24. Hosea 6:9 : Josh. 24:1
  25. Hosea 6:10 : ch. 5:3; 7:4; [ch. 4:2, 12, 14; 9:10]
  26. Hosea 6:10 : See ver. 4
  27. Hosea 6:11 : [See ver. 10 above]; See ver. 4
  28. Hosea 6:11 : See Joel 3:13
  29. Hosea 6:11 : Ps. 126:1; [Job 42:10]
  30. Hosea 7:1 : [ch. 6:4]
  31. Hosea 7:1 : [Jer. 23:13]
  32. Hosea 7:1 : [ch. 4:2]
  33. Hosea 7:2 : [ch. 5:3]
  34. Hosea 7:2 : Ps. 9:16; Prov. 5:22
  35. Hosea 7:2 : Ps. 90:8
  36. Hosea 7:3 : ver. 5; [Rom. 1:32]
  37. Hosea 7:3 : ver. 5; [Rom. 1:32]
  38. Hosea 7:4 : See ch. 6:10
  39. Hosea 7:5 : ver. 3
  40. Hosea 7:6 : ch. 6:9
  41. Hosea 7:7 : ch. 8:4
  42. Hosea 7:7 : 2 Kgs. 15:10, 14, 25, 30
  43. Hosea 7:8 : Ps. 106:35
  44. Hosea 7:9 : [ch. 8:7]
  45. Hosea 7:9 : Isa. 42:25
  46. Hosea 7:9 : Isa. 42:25
  47. Hosea 7:10 : ch. 5:5
  48. Hosea 7:10 : Isa. 9:13
  49. Hosea 7:11 : ch. 4:11
  50. Hosea 7:11 : [ch. 12:1; 2 Kgs. 17:4]
  51. Hosea 7:11 : See ch. 5:13
  52. Hosea 7:12 : See Ezek. 12:13
  53. Hosea 7:12 : ch. 10:10
  54. Hosea 7:12 : See Lev. 26:14-39; Deut. 28:15-68
  55. Hosea 7:13 : ch. 9:12
  56. Hosea 7:13 : ch. 13:14
  57. Hosea 7:13 : [ch. 11:12; 12:1; Mic. 6:12]
  58. Hosea 7:14 : Ps. 78:36, 37
  59. Hosea 7:14 : [Amos 6:4, 5]
  60. Hosea 7:15 : [ch. 11:3]
  61. Hosea 7:16 : [ch. 6:1]
  62. Hosea 7:16 : Ps. 78:57
  63. Hosea 7:16 : Ps. 73:9
  64. Hosea 7:16 : ch. 9:3
  65. Hosea 8:1 : ch. 5:8
  66. Hosea 8:1 : See Deut. 28:49
  67. Hosea 8:1 : ch. 6:7
  68. Hosea 8:2 : See Matt. 7:21-23
  69. Hosea 8:4 : ch. 7:7; 1 Kgs. 12:20
  70. Hosea 8:4 : [2 Chr. 13:5]
  71. Hosea 8:5 : ch. 10:5, 6; [1 Kgs. 12:28]
  72. Hosea 8:5 : [Jer. 13:27]
  73. Hosea 8:6 : [See ver. 5 above]; ch. 10:5, 6; [1 Kgs. 12:28]
  74. Hosea 8:6 : [Mic. 1:6, 7]
  75. Hosea 8:7 : [ch. 10:12, 13]
  76. Hosea 8:7 : [ch. 7:9]
  77. Hosea 8:8 : 2 Kgs. 17:6
  78. Hosea 8:8 : Jer. 22:28
  79. Hosea 8:9 : See ch. 5:13
  80. Hosea 8:9 : [Jer. 2:24]
  81. Hosea 8:10 : See Ezek. 26:7
  82. Hosea 8:10 : [ch. 4:7, 10]
  83. Hosea 8:11 : ch. 10:1; 12:11
  84. Hosea 8:12 : [Deut. 4:6, 8]
  85. Hosea 8:13 : Jer. 7:21; [Amos 4:4]
  86. Hosea 8:13 : ch. 9:9; Amos 8:7
  87. Hosea 8:13 : ch. 9:3; Deut. 28:68; [ch. 11:5]
  88. Hosea 8:14 : See ch. 6:4
  89. Hosea 8:14 : Isa. 17:7
  90. Hosea 8:14 : [Amos 5:11]
  91. Hosea 8:14 : See ch. 6:4
  92. Hosea 8:14 : Amos 2:5
  93. Hosea 9:1 : ch. 1:2
  94. Hosea 9:1 : ch. 2:5; Jer. 44:17
  95. Hosea 9:2 : [ch. 2:9]
  96. Hosea 9:2 : [ch. 2:9]
  97. Hosea 9:3 : Jer. 2:7; 16:18; See Lev. 25:23
  98. Hosea 9:3 : See ch. 8:13
  99. Hosea 9:3 : Ezek. 4:13; Dan. 1:8
  100. Hosea 9:4 : [ch. 3:4]
  101. Hosea 9:4 : [ch. 8:13]
  102. Hosea 9:4 : Deut. 26:14; Ezek. 24:17
  103. Hosea 9:4 : [Hag. 2:13]
  104. Hosea 9:5 : [Isa. 10:3]
  105. Hosea 9:6 : See ch. 8:13
  106. Hosea 9:6 : [ch. 10:8; Isa. 2:20]
  107. Hosea 9:6 : [ch. 10:8]
  108. Hosea 9:7 : See Isa. 10:3
  109. Hosea 9:7 : Ezek. 13:3
  110. Hosea 9:8 : Ezek. 3:17
  111. Hosea 9:8 : Ps. 91:3; [ch. 5:1]
  112. Hosea 9:9 : [ch. 5:2]
  113. Hosea 9:9 : ch. 10:9; Judg. 19:22
  114. Hosea 9:9 : [ch. 5:2]
  115. Hosea 9:10 : [Ps. 80:8; Isa. 5:1]
  116. Hosea 9:10 : Num. 25:3; Ps. 106:28
  117. Hosea 9:10 : [ch. 4:14]
  118. Hosea 9:10 : [Rom. 1:28, 29]
  119. Hosea 9:11 : ch. 10:5; [ch. 4:7]
  120. Hosea 9:11 : [Isa. 26:18]
  121. Hosea 9:12 : ch. 13:16
  122. Hosea 9:12 : ch. 7:13
  123. Hosea 9:12 : ch. 5:6; 1 Sam. 28:15, 16; Ezek. 10:18
  124. Hosea 9:13 : [Ezek. 27:3]
  125. Hosea 9:13 : [See ver. 12 above]; ch. 13:16
  126. Hosea 9:14 : [Luke 23:29]
  127. Hosea 9:15 : ch. 4:15; 12:11
  128. Hosea 9:15 : ch. 8:4
  129. Hosea 9:15 : [ch. 5:2]
  130. Hosea 9:16 : [ver. 11]
  131. Hosea 9:16 : [ver. 12, 13]
  132. Hosea 9:16 : [See ver. 12 above]; ch. 13:16
  133. Hosea 9:17 : [ch. 8:5]
  134. Hosea 9:17 : Deut. 28:64, 65
English Standard Version (ESV)

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

3 John

Greeting

(A)The elder to the beloved Gaius, (B)whom I love in truth.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. For (C)I rejoiced greatly when the brothers[a] came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that (D)my children are walking in the truth.

Support and Opposition

Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for (E)these brothers, (F)strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner (G)worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of (H)the name, (I)accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.

11 Beloved, (J)do not imitate evil but imitate good. (K)Whoever does good is from God; (L)whoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius (M)has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and (N)you know that our testimony is true.

Final Greetings

13 (O)I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, (P)each by name.

Footnotes:

  1. 3 John 1:3 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 5, 10
English Standard Version (ESV)

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

Psalm 126

Restore Our Fortunes, O Lord

A Song of (A)Ascents.

126 When the Lord (B)restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who (C)dream.
Then our (D)mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
(E)“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like streams in the Negeb!
(F)Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.

English Standard Version (ESV)

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

Proverbs 29:12-14

12 If a ruler listens to falsehood,
all his officials will be wicked.
13 The poor man and the oppressor (A)meet together;
the Lord (B)gives light to the eyes of both.
14 If a king (C)faithfully judges the poor,
his throne will (D)be established forever.

English Standard Version (ESV)

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