The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NIV. Switch to the NIV to read along with the audio.
11 The Lord said to me: Do not pray for the welfare of this people.(A) 12 Although they fast, I do not hear their cry, and although they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I do not accept them, but by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence I consume them.(B)
Denunciation of Lying Prophets
13 Then I said: “Ah, Lord God! Here are the prophets saying to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you true peace in this place.’ ”(C) 14 And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name; I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.(D) 15 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name though I did not send them and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not come on this land’: By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed.(E) 16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword. There shall be no one to bury them—themselves, their wives, their sons, and their daughters—for I will pour out their wickedness upon them.”(F)
17 You shall say to them this word:
Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
and let them not cease,
for the virgin daughter of my people is struck down with a crushing blow,
with a very grievous wound.(G)
18 If I go out into the field,
look—those killed by the sword!
And if I enter the city,
look—those sick with[a] famine!
For both prophet and priest ply their trade throughout the land
and have no knowledge.(H)
The People Plead for Mercy
19 Have you completely rejected Judah?
Does your heart loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
so that there is no healing for us?
We look for peace but find no good,
for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.(I)
20 We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
the iniquity of our ancestors,
for we have sinned against you.(J)
21 Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake;
do not dishonor your glorious throne;
remember and do not break your covenant with us.(K)
22 Can any idols of the nations bring rain,
or can the heavens give showers?
Is it not you, O Lord our God?
We set our hope on you,
for it is you who do all this.(L)
Punishment Is Inevitable
15 Then the Lord said to me: Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!(M) 2 And when they say to you, “Where shall we go?” you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord:
Those destined for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those destined for the sword, to the sword;
those destined for famine, to famine,
and those destined for captivity, to captivity.(N)
3 And I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, says the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth to devour and destroy.(O) 4 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what King Manasseh son of Hezekiah of Judah did in Jerusalem.(P)
5 Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
or who will bemoan you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6 You have rejected me, says the Lord;
you are going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
I am weary of relenting.(Q)
7 I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork
in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
they did not turn from their ways.(R)
8 Their widows became more numerous
than the sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of youths
a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
fall upon her suddenly.
9 She who bore seven has languished;
she has swooned away;
her sun went down while it was yet day;
she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
before their enemies,
says the Lord.(S)
Jeremiah Complains Again and Is Reassured
10 Woe is me, my mother, that you ever bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me.(T) 11 The Lord said: Surely I have intervened in your life[b] for good; surely I have brought enemies upon you[c] in a time of trouble and in a time of distress.(U) 12 Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze?
13 Your wealth and your treasures I will give as plunder, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory.(V) 14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn against you.(W)
15 O Lord, you know;
remember me and visit me,
and bring down retribution for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance do not take me away;
know that on your account I suffer insult.(X)
16 Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
O Lord, God of hosts.(Y)
17 I did not sit in the company of merrymakers,
nor did I rejoice;
under the weight of your hand I sat alone,
for you had filled me with indignation.(Z)
18 Why is my pain unceasing,
my wound incurable,
refusing to be healed?
Truly, you are to me like a deceitful brook,
like waters that fail.(AA)
19 Therefore thus says the Lord:
If you turn back, I will take you back,
and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless,
you shall serve as my mouth.
It is they who will turn to you,
not you who will turn to them.(AB)
20 And I will make you to this people
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
to save you and deliver you,
says the Lord.(AC)
21 I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked
and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.(AD)
Jeremiah’s Celibacy and Message
16 The word of the Lord came to me:(AE) 2 You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place.(AF) 3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place and concerning the mothers who bear them and the fathers who father them in this land:(AG) 4 They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried; they shall become like dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall become food for the birds of the air and for the wild animals of the earth.(AH)
5 For thus says the Lord: Do not enter the house of mourning or go to lament or bemoan them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, says the Lord, my steadfast love and mercy.(AI) 6 Both great and small shall die in this land; they shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them; there shall be no gashing, no shaving of the head for them.(AJ) 7 No one shall break bread[d] for the mourner, to offer comfort for the dead, nor shall anyone give them the cup of consolation to drink for their fathers or their mothers.(AK) 8 You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink.(AL) 9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to banish from this place, in your days and before your eyes, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.(AM)
10 And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, “Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?”(AN) 11 then you shall say to them: It is because your ancestors have forsaken me, says the Lord, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them and have forsaken me and have not kept my law,(AO) 12 and because you have behaved worse than your ancestors, for here you are, every one of you, following your stubborn evil will, refusing to listen to me.(AP) 13 Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.(AQ)
God Will Restore Israel
14 Therefore, the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, “As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt,”(AR) 15 but “As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them.” For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their ancestors.(AS)
9 You remember our labor and toil, brothers and sisters; we worked night and day so that we might not burden any of you while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.(A) 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers.(B) 11 As you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children, 12 urging and encouraging you and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.(C)
13 We also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the word of God that you heard from us you accepted it not as a human word but as what it really is, God’s word, which is also at work in you believers.(D) 14 For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you suffered the same things from your own compatriots as they did from the Jews(E) 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets[a] and drove us out; they displease God and oppose everyone(F) 16 by hindering us from speaking to the gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they have constantly been filling up the measure of their sins, but wrath[b] has overtaken them at last.[c](G)
Paul’s Desire to Visit the Thessalonians Again
17 As for us, brothers and sisters, when for a short time we were made orphans by being separated from you—in person, not in heart—we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face.(H) 18 For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again—but Satan blocked our way.(I) 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?(J) 20 Yes, you are our glory and joy!
3 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we decided to be left alone in Athens(K) 2 and sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker[d] in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you for the sake of your faith,(L) 3 so that no one would be shaken by these persecutions. Indeed, you yourselves know that this is what we are destined for.(M) 4 In fact, when we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know. 5 For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith; I was afraid that somehow the tempter had tempted you and that our labor had been in vain.(N)
Timothy’s Encouraging Report
6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought us the good news of your faith and love. He has told us also that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, just as we long to see you.(O) 7 For this reason, brothers and sisters, during all our distress and persecution we have been encouraged about you through your faith. 8 For we now live, if you continue to stand firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face and restore whatever is lacking in your faith.(P)
11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.(Q) 13 And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.[e](R)
Psalm 80
Prayer for Israel’s Restoration
To the leader: on Lilies, a Covenant. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth(A)
2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
and come to save us!(B)
3 Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.(C)
4 O Lord God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?(D)
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.(E)
6 You make us the scorn[a] of our neighbors;
our enemies laugh among themselves.(F)
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.(G)
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.(H)
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches;
11 it sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?(I)
13 The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.(J)
14 Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven and see;
have regard for this vine,(K)
15 the stock that your right hand planted.[b]
16 It has been burned with fire; it has been cut down;
may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.(L)
17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the one whom you made strong for yourself.(M)
18 Then we will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name.(N)
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
Further Wise Sayings of Solomon
25 These are other proverbs of Solomon that the officials of King Hezekiah of Judah copied.(A)
2 It is the glory of God to conceal things,
but the glory of kings is to search things out.(B)
3 Like the heavens for height, like the earth for depth,
so the mind of kings is unsearchable.
4 Take away the dross from the silver,
and the smith has material for a vessel;(C)
5 take away the wicked from the presence of the king,
and his throne will be established in righteousness.(D)
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.