The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NIV. Switch to the NIV to read along with the audio.
Jeremiah’s Plea
12 Righteous are You, O Lord,
that I plead with You.
Indeed, let me talk with You about matters of justice.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why are all those happy who deal very treacherously?
2 You have planted them; indeed, they have taken root;
they grow; indeed, they bring forth fruit.
You are near in their mouth,
but far from their mind.
3 But You, O Lord, know me;
You have seen me and tested my heart toward You.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
and prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long shall the land mourn
and the herbs of every field wither?
For the wickedness of those who dwell in it,
the beasts and the birds have been snatched away,
because they said,
“He will not see our latter end.”
God Answers Jeremiah
5 If you have run with the footmen,
and they have wearied you,
then how can you contend with horses?
And if in the land of peace in which you trusted, they wearied you,
then how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?
6 For even your brothers and the household of your father,
even they have dealt treacherously with you.
Indeed, they have cried aloud after you.
Do not believe them
though they speak fair words to you.
7 I have forsaken My house,
I have abandoned My heritage;
I have given the dearly beloved of My soul
into the hand of her enemies.
8 My heritage is to Me
as a lion in the forest.
She cries out against Me;
therefore I have hated her.
9 My heritage is to Me
as a speckled vulture;
the vultures all around are against her.
Come, assemble all the beasts of the field,
bring them to devour.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard;
they have trodden My portion under foot;
they have made My pleasant portion
a desolate wilderness.
11 They have made it desolate,
and being desolate, it mourns to Me.
The whole land has been made desolate,
because no man lays it to heart.
12 The destroyers have come
upon all high places through the wilderness,
for the sword of the Lord shall devour
from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land.
No one shall have peace.
13 They have sown wheat, but reap thorns;
they have strained themselves, but shall not profit.
And they shall be ashamed of your harvest
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
14 Thus says the Lord: Against all My evil neighbors who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit, I will pluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 15 It shall come to pass that after I have plucked them out, I will again have compassion on them, and will bring them back, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. 16 It shall come to pass if they will diligently learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, “As the Lord lives,” as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of My people. 17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, says the Lord.
A Linen Sash
13 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it upon your loins, and do not put it in water.” 2 So I bought a waistband according to the word of the Lord and put it on my loins.
3 The word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying, 4 “Take the waistband that you have, which is upon your loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a hole of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had commanded me.
6 After many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take the waistband from there, which I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it. But the waistband was destroyed. It was profitable for nothing.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 Thus says the Lord: After this manner I will destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who walk in the imagination of their hearts, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall be even as this waistband which is good for nothing. 11 For as the waistband cleaves to the loins of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cleave to Me, says the Lord, so that they might be to Me a people for renown, and for a praise, and for a glory; but they would not listen.
The Metaphor of Wine Bottles
12 Therefore you shall speak to them this word: Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And when they say to you, “Do we not certainly know that every bottle should be filled with wine?” 13 then you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: I will fill all the inhabitants of this land—even the kings that sit on the throne of David, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness. 14 I will dash them against one another, even the fathers and the sons together, says the Lord. I will not show pity nor spare nor have mercy, but will destroy them.
Exile Threatened
15 Hear and give heed;
do not be proud,
for the Lord has spoken.
16 Give glory to the Lord your God,
before He causes darkness
and before your feet stumble
on the dark mountains,
and while you look for light,
He turns it into the shadow of death
and makes it gross darkness.
17 But if you will not listen to it,
my soul will weep in secret places
for your pride;
and my eyes will weep sorely
and run down with tears,
because the flock of the Lord is carried away captive.
18 Say to the king and to the queen mother:
“Humble yourselves, sit down,
for your beautiful crown
shall come down from your head.”
19 The cities of the Negev will be shut up,
and no one will open them;
all Judah will be carried away into captivity;
it will be wholly carried away captive.
20 Lift up your eyes and see
those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you,
your beautiful flock?
21 What will you say when He appoints over you
those you yourself had taught to be companions to you?
Shall not sorrows take hold of you,
as a woman in labor?
22 And if you say in your heart,
“Why have these things come upon me?”
for the greatness of your iniquity
your skirts have been removed
and your heels made bare.
23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin
or the leopard his spots?
Then you also can do good,
who are accustomed to doing evil.
24 Therefore I will scatter them as the stubble
that passes away by the wind of the wilderness.
25 This is your lot,
the portion of your measures from Me,
says the Lord,
because you have forgotten Me
and trusted in falsehood.
26 Therefore I Myself have uncovered your skirts over your face
so that your shame may appear.
27 I have seen your adulteries and your lustful neighings,
the lewdness of your harlotry,
and your abominations
on the hills in the fields.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will you remain unclean?
Drought, Famine, and Sword
14 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2 Judah mourns,
and the gates languish;
they sit on the ground while mourning,
and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.
3 Their nobles have sent their servants for water;
they came to the cisterns and found no water.
They returned with their vessels empty;
they were ashamed and humiliated,
and covered their heads.
4 Because the ground is chapped,
for there was no rain in the earth,
the plowmen were ashamed;
they have covered their heads.
5 Indeed, the hind also calved in the field
and abandoned her young
because there was no grass.
6 The wild donkeys stand in the high places;
they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
because there is no grass.
7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us,
do it for Your name’s sake.
Indeed, our backslidings are many;
we have sinned against You.
8 O the Hope of Israel,
its Savior in time of trouble,
why should You be as a stranger in the land,
and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to pitch his tent for a night?
9 Why should You be as a man dismayed,
as a mighty man who cannot save?
Yet You, O Lord, are in our midst,
and we are called by Your name.
Do not forsake us!
10 Thus says the Lord to this people:
Even so they have loved to wander;
they have not restrained their feet.
Therefore, the Lord does not accept them;
He will now remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.
Salutation
1 Paul, Silas, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Thessalonians’ Faith and Example
2 We give thanks to God always for you all, mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patient hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God and our Father.
4 For we know, beloved brothers, your election by God. 5 For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, just as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. 6 You became followers of us and the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit. 7 Therefore you were examples to all who believe in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord sounded out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we do not need to say anything. 9 For they themselves declare how we were received by you, and how you turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come.
Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica
2 You yourselves know, brothers, that our visit to you was not in vain. 2 But even after we had previously suffered and were shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to declare to you the gospel of God amid much opposition. 3 For our exhortation was not from deceit, nor from uncleanness, nor in guile. 4 But as we were allowed by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not to please men, but God, who examines our hearts. 5 For neither at any time did we come with flattering words, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed. God is our witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you, or from others, even though we might have made demands as the apostles of Christ.
7 But we were gentle among you, like a nurse caring for her own children. 8 So having great love toward you, we were willing to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you were dear to us.
Psalm 79
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance;
Your holy temple they have defiled;
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 The dead bodies of Your servants
they have given to the birds of the sky for food
and the flesh of Your faithful to the animals of the land.
3 Their blood they have poured out like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
a scorn and derision to those who are around us.
5 How long, O Lord? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out Your wrath
upon the nations who do not know You,
and upon the kingdoms
who have not called upon Your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob,
and laid waste his dwelling place.
8 Do not choose to remember our former iniquities;
let Your tender mercies come swiftly to us,
for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of Your name;
deliver us, and purge away our sins,
for Your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
May the avenging of the shed blood of Your servants
be known among the nations before our eyes.
11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before You;
according to the greatness of Your power
preserve those who are appointed to die.
12 And render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their lap
the reproach that they have reproached You, O Lord.
13 But we are Your people, the sheep of Your pasture,
and will give You thanks forever;
we will declare Your praise
to all generations.
30 I went by the field of the slothful,
and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;
31 and it was all grown over with thorns,
and nettles covered its surface,
and the stone wall was broken down.
32 Then I saw, and considered it;
I looked on it and received instruction:
33 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to sleep,
34 so your poverty will come like a stalker,
and your need as an armed man.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.