The Daily Audio Bible
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The Valley of Vision
22 The [mournful, inspired] oracle ([a]a burden to be carried) concerning the Valley of Vision:
What is the matter with you now, that you have all gone up to the housetops,
2
You [Jerusalem] who were full of noise,
A tumultuous city, a joyous and exuberant city;
Your slain were not slain [in a glorious death] with the sword,
Nor did they die in battle.
3
All your leaders have fled together [with your king],
And have been captured without the bow [which they had thrown away];
All of you who were found were taken captive together,
Though they had fled far away.
4
Therefore I say, “Look away from me;
Let me weep bitterly.
Do not try to comfort me over the destruction of the daughter of my people.”
5
For the Lord God of hosts has a day of panic and of tumult, of trampling, of confusion
In the Valley of Vision,
A [day of] breaking down walls
And a crying [for help] to the mountain.
6
Elam took up the quiver
With the chariots, infantry and horsemen;
And Kir uncovered the shield.
7
And it came to pass that your choicest valleys were full of chariots,
And the horsemen took their fixed positions [in an offensive array] at the gate [of Jerusalem].(A)
8
Then God removed the [protective] covering of Judah;
And in that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest (Solomon’s armory).(B)
9
You saw that the breaches
In the wall of the City of David [the citadel of Zion] were many;
You collected [within the city’s walls] the waters of the Lower Pool (Siloam).
10
Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem
And you tore down the houses [to get materials] to fortify the city wall [by extending it].
11
You also made a reservoir between the two walls
For the waters of the [b]Old Pool,
But you did not look to its Maker,
Nor did you recognize Him who planned it long ago.
12
Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to mourning,
To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth [in humiliation].
13
Instead, there is joy and jubilation,
Killing of oxen and slaughtering of sheep,
Eating meat and drinking wine, saying,
“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”
14
But the Lord of hosts revealed Himself in my ears,
“This sin absolutely will not be forgiven you
Until you die,” says the Lord God of hosts.
15
For the Lord God of hosts says this, “Go to this [contemptible] steward,
To [c]Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household [but is building himself a tomb worthy of a king, and say to him],
16
‘What business do you have here?
And whom do you have here,
That you have hewn out a tomb here for yourself,
You who hew a sepulcher on the height,
You who carve a resting place for yourself in the rock?
17
‘Listen carefully, the Lord is about to hurl you away violently, O man;
And He is about to grasp you firmly
18
And roll you up tightly like a ball
And toss you into a vast country;
There you will die
And there your splendid chariots will be,
You shame of your master’s house.’
19
“I will depose you from your office,
And you will be pulled down from your position [of importance].
20
“Then it will come to pass in that day
That I will summon My servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah.
21
“And I will clothe him with your tunic [of distinction]
And tie your sash securely around him.
I will entrust him with your authority;
He will become a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
22
“Then I will set on his shoulder the key of the house of David;
When he opens no one will shut,
When he shuts no one will open.
23
“I will drive him like a peg in a firm place,
And he will become a throne of honor and glory to his father’s house.
24 “So they will hang on him all the honor and glory [the complete responsibility] of his father’s house, offspring and issue [of the family, high and low], all the least of the articles, from the bowls to all the jars. 25 In that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “the peg (Eliakim) that was driven into the firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the burden hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken.”
The Fall of Tyre
23 The [mournful, inspired] oracle ([d]a burden to be carried) concerning [e]Tyre:
Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For Tyre is destroyed, without house, without harbor;
It is reported to them from the land of Cyprus (Kittim).
2
Be silent, you inhabitants of the coastland,
You [f]merchants of Sidon;
[g]Your messengers crossed the sea
3
And they were on great waters.
The grain of the [h]Shihor, the harvest of the Nile River, was Tyre’s revenue;
And she was the market of nations.
4
Be ashamed, O Sidon [mother-city of Tyre, now like a widow bereaved of her children];
For the sea speaks, the stronghold of the sea, saying,
“I have neither labored nor given birth [to children];
I have neither brought up young men nor reared virgins.”
5
When the report reaches Egypt,
They will be in agony at the report about Tyre.
6
Cross over to Tarshish [to seek safety as exiles];
Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland [of Tyre].
7
Is this your jubilant city,
Whose origin dates back to antiquity,
Whose feet used to carry her [far away] to colonize distant places?
8
Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?
9
The Lord of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,
To bring into contempt and humiliation all the honored of the earth.
10
Overflow your land like [the overflow of] the Nile, O Daughter of Tarshish;
There is no more restraint [on you to make you pay tribute to Tyre].
11
He has stretched out His hand over the sea,
He has shaken the kingdoms;
The Lord has given a command concerning Canaan to destroy her strongholds and her fortresses [like Tyre and Sidon].
12
He has said, “You shall never again exult [in triumph], O crushed Virgin Daughter of Sidon.
Arise, cross over to Cyprus; even there you will find no rest.”
13 Now look at the land of the Chaldeans (Babylonia)—this is the people which was not; the Assyrians allocated Tyre for desert creatures—they set up their [i]siege towers, they stripped its palaces, they made it a ruin.
14
Wail, O ships of Tarshish,
For your stronghold [of Tyre] is destroyed.
15 Now in that day Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, like the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the prostitute’s song:
16
Take a harp, walk around the city,
O forgotten prostitute;
Play the strings skillfully, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered.
17 It will come to pass at the end of seventy years that the Lord will remember Tyre. Then she will return to her prostitute’s wages and will play the [role of a] prostitute [by trading] with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18 But her commercial gain and her prostitute’s wages will be [j]dedicated to the Lord; it will not be treasured or stored up, but her commercial gain will become sufficient food and stately clothing for those who dwell (minister) in the presence of the Lord.
Judgment on the Earth
24 Behold, the Lord [k]lays waste to the earth, devastates it, twists and distorts its face and scatters its inhabitants. 2 And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor [as God’s impartial judgment of sin comes on all]. 3 The earth will be completely laid waste and utterly pillaged, for the Lord has spoken this word. 4 The earth dries up and crumbles away, the world dries out and crumbles away, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. 5 The earth also is polluted [l]by its inhabitants, because they have transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.(C) 6 Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God’s wrath], and few people are left.(D)
7
The new wine mourns,
The vine decays;
All the merry-hearted sigh and groan.
8
The mirth of the timbrels (tambourines) ceases,
The noise of those who rejoice ends,
The joy of the harp ceases.
9
They do not drink wine with a song;
Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
10
The city of chaos is broken down;
Every house is shut up so that no one may enter.
11
There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine;
All jubilation is darkened,
The joy of the earth is banished.
12
Horrible desolation is left in the city,
And the gate is battered into ruins.
13
For so it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples,
As the shaking of an olive tree,
As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over [and only a little of the fruit remains].
14
They [who have escaped and remain] raise their voices, they shout for joy;
They rejoice from the [Mediterranean] Sea in the majesty of the Lord.
15
Therefore honor and glorify the Lord in the east [in the region of light],
The name of the Lord, the God of Israel [honor His name],
In the coastlands and islands of the [Mediterranean] Sea.
16
From the ends of the earth we hear songs, “Glory and honor to the Righteous One,”
But I say, “I waste away, I waste away. Woe to me!
The treacherous deal treacherously,
Indeed, the treacherous deal very treacherously.”
17
Terror and pit [of destruction] and snare
Confront you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18
Then it will be that he who flees at the sound of terror will fall into the pit,
And he who comes up out of the pit will be caught in the snare;
For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble.
19
The earth is broken completely apart,
The earth is split apart,
The earth is shaken violently.
20
The earth reels back and forth like a drunkard
And sways like a shack;
Its transgression lies heavily upon it,
And it will fall and not rise again.
21
So it will happen in that day
That the Lord will visit and punish the host (fallen angels) of heaven on high,
And the kings of the earth on the earth.(E)
22
They will be gathered together
As prisoners [are gathered] in a dungeon;
They will be shut up in prison,
And after many days they will be visited and punished.(F)
23
Then the full moon will be embarrassed and the sun ashamed,
For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
And His glory and brilliance will shine before His elders.
17 But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ [by faith], we ourselves are found to be sinners, does that make Christ an advocate or promoter of our sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I [or anyone else should] rebuild [through word or by practice] what I once tore down [the belief that observing the Law is essential for salvation], I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the Law I died to the Law and its demands on me [because salvation is provided through the death and resurrection of Christ], so that I might [from now on] live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 I do not ignore or nullify the [gracious gift of the] grace of God [His amazing, unmerited favor], for if righteousness comes through [observing] the Law, then Christ died needlessly. [His suffering and death would have had no purpose whatsoever.]”
Faith Brings Righteousness
3 O you foolish and thoughtless and superficial Galatians, who has bewitched you [that you would act like this], to whom—right before your very eyes—Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified [in the gospel message]? 2 This is all I want to ask of you: did you receive the [Holy] Spirit as the result of obeying [the requirements of] the Law, or was it the result of hearing [the message of salvation and] with faith [believing it]? 3 Are you so foolish and senseless? Having begun [your new life by faith] with the Spirit, are you now being perfected and reaching spiritual maturity by the flesh [that is, by your own works and efforts to keep the Law]? 4 Have you suffered so many things and experienced so much all for nothing—if indeed it was all for nothing? 5 So then, does He who supplies you with His [marvelous Holy] Spirit and works miracles among you, do it as a result of the works of the Law [which you perform], or because you [believe confidently in the message which you] heard with faith?
6 Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, [as conformity to God’s will and purpose—so it is with you also].(A) 7 So understand that it is the people who live by faith [with confidence in the power and goodness of God] who are [the true] sons of [a]Abraham. 8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the good news [of the Savior] to Abraham in advance [with this promise], saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”(B) 9 So then those who are people of faith [whether Jew or Gentile] are blessed and favored by God [and declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing with Him] along with Abraham, the believer.
Lament over Defeat in Battle, and Prayer for Help.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “The Lily of the Testimony.” A Mikhtam of David [intended to record memorable thoughts and] to teach; when he struggled with the Arameans of Mesopotamia and the Arameans of Zobah, and when Joab returned and struck twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
60 O God, You have rejected us and cast us off. You have broken [down our defenses and scattered] us;
You have been angry; O restore us and turn again to us.
2
You have made the land quake, You have split it open;
Heal its rifts, for it shakes and totters.
3
You have made Your people experience hardship;
You have given us wine to drink that makes us stagger and fall.
4
You have set up a banner for those who fear You [with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder—a banner to shield them from attack],
A banner that may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.
5
That Your beloved ones may be rescued,
Save with Your right hand and answer us.
6
God has spoken in His holiness [in His promises]:
“I will rejoice, I will divide [the land of] Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth [west to east].
7
“Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim is My helmet;
Judah is My scepter.
8
“Moab is My [a]washbowl;
Over Edom I shall throw My shoe [in triumph];
Over Philistia I raise the shout [of victory].”
9
Who will bring me into the besieged city [of Petra]?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10
Have You not rejected us, O God?
And will You not go out with our armies?
11
Give us help against the enemy,
For the help of man is worthless (ineffectual, without purpose).
12
Through God we will have victory,
For He will trample down our enemies.
15
My son, if your heart is wise,
My heart will also be glad;
16
Yes, my heart will rejoice
When your lips speak right things.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.