The Daily Audio Bible
1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.(A)
The Wickedness of Judah
2 Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth,
for the Lord has spoken:
I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.(B)
3 The ox knows its owner
and the donkey its master’s crib,
but Israel does not know;
my people do not understand.(C)
4 Woe, sinful nation,
people laden with iniquity,
offspring who do evil,
children who act corruptly,
who have forsaken the Lord,
who have despised the Holy One of Israel,
[[who are utterly estranged!]][a](D)
5 Why do you seek further beatings?
Why do you continue to rebel?
The whole head is injured,
and the whole heart faint.(E)
6 From the sole of the foot to the head,
there is no soundness in it,
only bruises and sores
and bleeding wounds;
they have not been drained or bound up
or softened with oil.(F)
7 Your country lies desolate;
your cities are burned with fire;
in your very presence
aliens devour your land;
it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.(G)
8 And daughter Zion is left
like a booth in a vineyard,
like a shelter in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.
9 If the Lord of hosts
had not left us a few survivors,
we would have been like Sodom
and become like Gomorrah.(H)
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!(I)
11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls
or of lambs or of goats.(J)
12 When you come to appear before me,[b]
who asked this from your hand?
Trample my courts no more!(K)
13 Bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and calling of convocation—
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.(L)
14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.(M)
15 When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.(N)
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove your evil deeds
from before my eyes;
cease to do evil;(O)
17 learn to do good;
seek justice;
rescue the oppressed;
defend the orphan;
plead for the widow.(P)
18 Come now, let us argue it out,
says the Lord:
If your sins are like scarlet,
will they become like snow?
If they are red like crimson,
will they become like wool?(Q)
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land,(R)
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured by the sword,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(S)
The Degenerate City
21 How the faithful city
has become a prostitute!
She that was full of justice,
righteousness lodged in her—
but now murderers!(T)
22 Your silver has become dross;
your wine is mixed with water.(U)
23 Your princes are rebels
and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
and runs after gifts.
They do not defend the orphan,
and the widow’s cause does not come before them.(V)
24 Therefore says the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel:
Surely I will pour out my wrath on my enemies
and avenge myself on my foes!(W)
25 I will turn my hand against you;
I will smelt away your dross as with lye
and remove all your alloy.(X)
26 And I will restore your judges as at the first
and your counselors as at the beginning.
Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness,
the faithful city.(Y)
27 Zion shall be redeemed by justice,
and those in her who repent, by righteousness.
28 But rebels and sinners shall be destroyed together,
and those who forsake the Lord shall be consumed.(Z)
29 For you shall be ashamed of the oaks
in which you delighted,
and you shall blush for the gardens
that you have chosen.(AA)
30 For you shall be like an oak
whose leaf withers
and like a garden without water.
31 The strong shall become like tinder
and their work like a spark;
they and their work shall burn together,
with no one to quench them.(AB)
The Future House of God
2 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.(AC)
2 In days to come
the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains
and shall be raised above the hills;
all the nations shall stream to it.(AD)
3 Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.(AE)
4 He shall judge between the nations
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
neither shall they learn war any more.(AF)
5 O house of Jacob,
come, let us walk
in the light of the Lord!(AG)
Judgment Pronounced on Arrogance
6 You have forsaken your people,
the house of Jacob,
for they are full of diviners[c] from the East
and of soothsayers like the Philistines,
and they clasp hands with foreigners.(AH)
7 Their land is filled with silver and gold,
and there is no end to their treasures;
their land is filled with horses,
and there is no end to their chariots.(AI)
8 Their land is filled with idols;
they bow down to the work of their hands,
to what their own fingers have made.(AJ)
9 And so people are humbled,
and everyone is brought low—
[[do not forgive them!(AK)
10 Enter into the rock,
and hide in the dust
from the terror of the Lord
and from the glory of his majesty.]][d](AL)
11 The haughty eyes of people shall be brought low,
and the pride of everyone shall be humbled,
and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.(AM)
12 For the Lord of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up and high;[e](AN)
13 against all the cedars of Lebanon,
lofty and lifted up;
and against all the oaks of Bashan;(AO)
14 against all the high mountains
and against all the lofty hills;(AP)
15 against every high tower
and against every fortified wall;
16 against all the ships of Tarshish
and against all the highly prized vessels.(AQ)
17 The haughtiness of people shall be humbled,
and the pride of everyone shall be brought low,
and the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.(AR)
18 The idols shall utterly pass away.(AS)
19 Enter the caves of the rocks
and the holes of the ground,
from the terror of the Lord
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.(AT)
20 On that day people will throw away
to the moles and to the bats
their idols of silver and their idols of gold,
which they made for themselves to worship,(AU)
21 to enter the caverns of the rocks
and the clefts in the crags,
from the terror of the Lord
and from the glory of his majesty,
when he rises to terrify the earth.(AV)
22 [[Turn away from mortals,
who have only breath in their nostrils,
for of what account are they?]][f](AW)
Paul Defends His Ministry
10 I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you but bold toward you when I am away!(A)— 2 I ask that when I am present I need not show boldness by daring to oppose those who think we are acting according to human standards.[a](B) 3 Indeed, we live as humans[b] but do not wage war according to human standards,[c] 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human,[d] but they have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments(C) 5 and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.(D) 6 We are ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.(E)
7 Look[e] at what is before your eyes. If you are confident that you belong to Christ, remind yourself of this, that just as you belong to Christ, so also do we.(F) 8 Now, even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.(G) 9 I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 For someone says,[f] “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible.”(H) 11 Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent we will also do when present.
12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense.(I) 13 We, however, will not boast beyond limits but will keep within the field that God has assigned to us, to reach out even as far as you. 14 For we were not overstepping our limits when we reached you; we were the first to come all the way to you with the good news[g] of Christ.(J) 15 We do not boast beyond limits, that is, in the labors of others, but our hope is that, as your faith increases, our field among you may be greatly enlarged, 16 so that we may proclaim the good news[h] in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in someone else’s field. 17 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”(K) 18 For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved but those whom the Lord commends.(L)
Psalm 52
Judgment on the Deceitful
To the leader. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
1 Why do you boast, O mighty one,
of mischief done against the godly?[a]
All day long(A) 2 you are plotting destruction.
Your tongue is like a sharp razor,
you worker of treachery.(B)
3 You love evil more than good
and lying more than speaking the truth. Selah(C)
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.(D)
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah(E)
6 The righteous will see and fear
and will laugh at the evildoer,[b] saying,(F)
7 “See the one who would not take
refuge in God
but trusted in abundant riches
and sought refuge in wealth!”[c](G)
26 Do not be one of those who give pledges,
who become surety for debts.(A)
27 If you have nothing with which to pay,
why should your bed be taken from under you?
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.