The Daily Audio Bible
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14 The Lord is your Redeemer, Israel's Holy God. He says this:
‘I will send an army to attack Babylon,
so that you, my people, will be safe.
I will cause all the Babylonians to run away.
They were proud of their great ships,
but now they will use them to escape from their enemies.
15 I am the Lord, your Holy God.
I am the one who created Israel.
I am your King.’
16 The Lord is the one who made a road through the sea for you to cross. You went on a dry path in the middle of the deep water. 17 He led the enemy's great army, with their chariots and their horses, to chase you. They all fell down and the water drowned them. Their lives finished, like the flame of a lamp that stops burning.
18 The Lord did all that for you, but now he says,
‘Forget those things that happened a long time ago.
Do not think about past events.
19 Look! Now I will do something that is new!
It is already beginning to happen.
Surely, you can recognize it.
Yes, I will make a road through the desert.
I will make streams in the wilderness.
20 The wild animals in the desert praise me,
including the jackals and the owls.
They praise me because I put water in the desert,
and streams in the wilderness.
I am giving water to the people that I have chosen,
so that they will not be thirsty.
21 They are the people that I made for myself,
so that they would praise me aloud.
22 But you Israelites, Jacob's descendants,
you did not call to me to help you.
You became tired of serving me.
23 You did not bring sheep to me as burnt offerings.
You did not make sacrifices to me,
to show that you respect me.
I did not make it difficult for you,
when I asked you to bring offerings to me.
When I asked you to burn incense to worship me,
that should not have made you tired.
24 You did not buy any spices
to offer them to me.
You did not bring me the fat from your sacrifices
to make me happy.
Instead, you have made it difficult for me,
because of all your sins.
All the evil things that you do
have caused me to become very tired.
25 But I am the one who removes your sins
when you do not obey me.
I, the Lord, do that, because of who I am.
I do not hold your sins in my mind.
26 So let us talk together about what has happened.
Show me why you think that you are right!
27 Your first ancestor did not obey me.[a]
Your leaders and teachers turned against me.
28 So I caused the priests of your temple
to become ashamed.
I caused enemies to destroy Israel.
I let them insult Jacob's descendants.’
44 ‘Israelites, Jacob's descendants, listen to me!
I have chosen you to be my servant.’
2 The Lord created you. Before you were born, he was already taking care of you. He will continue to help you. He says to you,
‘Do not be afraid, my servant, Jacob.
I call you “Jeshurun”,
and I have chosen you to belong to me.
3 I will pour water onto land that is thirsty.
I will pour streams of water on the dry ground.
I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants,
and I will bless them.
4 They will grow up like fresh grass in a field.
They will grow like willow trees beside a river.
5 Someone will say, “I belong to the Lord.”
Another person will call himself by the name “Jacob”.
Someone else will write on his hand, “I am the Lord's”,
and he will call himself “Israel”.’
6 The Lord is Israel's King and Redeemer. He is the Lord Almighty. He says,
‘I am the first and I am the last.
There is no God, except me.
7 Is there anyone like me? If there is, he should say so!
He must tell me why he thinks he is so great.
Long ago I made my people become a nation.
Let him say what he has done since then!
Let him tell us what will happen in future years!
8 My people, do not shake with fear.
Long ago I told you about things that would happen.
You can tell people the truth about me.
You know that I am the only true God.
There is no other Rock to keep you safe.[b]
There surely is no other God except me.’
9 All the people who make idols are fools.
The images which make them so happy are useless.
Those who worship idols cannot see the truth.
They do not understand what they are doing,
and they will be ashamed.
10 Only a fool makes an idol and thinks that it is his god.
An image cannot help him.
11 Those who work with him will all be ashamed.
Those workers with special skills are only human.
They should come together,
and they should stand in front of me.
That will make them very frightened.
They will realize how foolish they are!
12 This is how they make their idols:
A man who works with iron takes his tool. He makes the metal hot in the fire. Then he uses hammers to hit it with his strong arms. He hits it so that it has the right shape. But then he becomes hungry. He is too weak to work any more. He does not drink any water and so he feels tired.
13 A carpenter measures a piece of wood. Then he draws a shape for the image. He uses his tools to cut the wood. He carefully makes it have the right shape. He makes the image have the shape of a human. It looks like a beautiful person. Now it is ready to go in its special room.
14 He may cut down cedar trees to make something. He may cut down a cypress tree, or an oak tree. He takes these trees from the forest. Or he may plant his own pine tree, so that the rain helps it to grow well. 15 He uses some of the wood to burn. He makes himself warm beside the fire. He may light a fire and then he may bake bread on it. Then he uses some of the wood to make a god that he will worship! Yes, he makes an idol, and he bends down in front of it. 16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire. He uses it to cook his meat, and he eats plenty of food. He makes himself warm and he says, ‘Good! Now I am warm as I look at the fire.’ 17 He uses the rest of the wood to make an idol to be his god. He bends down in front of it and he worships it. He prays to it and he says, ‘Save me, because you are my god!’
18 People like that are stupid. They do not understand anything. They cannot see the truth, as if they are blind. Their minds cannot think properly. 19 None of them think carefully about what they are doing. They do not say to themselves, ‘I burned half of the wood in the fire. I even baked bread and I cooked meat on it. It gave me food to eat. Then I used the rest of the wood to make a useless idol! I took a piece of wood and I worshipped it! Why did I do that?’
20 Someone like that is stupid enough to eat ashes. His mind has deceived him. He cannot save himself from his lies. He will not say to himself, ‘This thing that I hold in my right hand is completely false!’
The Lord takes care of his people
21 The Lord says:
‘Jacob's descendants, remember these things,
because you, Israel, are my servant.
I created you to be my servant.
Israel, I will not forget you.
22 I have removed the guilt of your sins,
like the wind blows away a cloud.
When you turned against me,
I have quickly forgiven you.
Return to me now,
because I have rescued you.’
23 Sing aloud with joy, you heavens above us,
because the Lord has done it!
Shout as loudly as you can,
places deep below the earth.
You mountains, sing with joy,
and you forests and trees as well!
Be happy, because the Lord has redeemed his people.
He has rescued the Israelites, Jacob's descendants,
to show how great he is.
24 The Lord is your Redeemer. He took care of you before you were born. He says,
‘I am the Lord. I made everything.
I alone hung up the sky like a curtain.
I made the whole earth by myself.
25 I show that the false prophets speak useless messages.
I show that those who use magic to say what will happen are fools.
I cause the ideas of wise people to become useless.
People think that their advice is foolish.
26 But I do the things that my servants say will happen.
I show that my prophets' messages are true.
I say about Jerusalem, “People will live there again.”
I say about the towns in Judah, “I will cause people to build them again,
so that they are no longer heaps of stones.”
27 I say to the deep sea, “Become dry!”
and its streams become dry.
28 I say about King Cyrus,
“He is my shepherd.[c]
He will do what I want him to do.”
He will give a command about Jerusalem.
He will say, “Build the city again!”
He will say about the temple,
“Build its foundation.” ’
45 The Lord says this to Cyrus, the king that he has chosen to serve him:
‘I hold your right hand.
I give you power over other nations,
to take away the weapons of their kings.
I will open the gates of cities in front of you,
and they will stay open.
2 I will go in front of you,
and I will make the mountains flat.
I will break bronze gates into pieces,
and I will cut through iron bars.[d]
3 I will take valuable things that people have stored in secret places,
and I will give them to you.
Then you will know that I am the Lord, Israel's God.
I am the one who calls you by your name.
4 I have called you on behalf of my people,
to help my servant, Jacob's descendants.
They are Israel's people, that I have chosen for myself.
You do not know me as your God,
but I have given to you an important name.
5 I am the Lord and there is nobody else like me.
There is no other God, except me.
You do not know me as your God,
but I will make you strong to fight battles.
6 Then all over the world, from east to west,
people will know that there is no other God.
Yes, I am the Lord
and there is nobody else like me.
7 I make light and I also make darkness.
I make peace as well as trouble.
I am the Lord.
I do all these things.
8 Let justice pour down from the sky like rain!
Let the earth be ready to receive it!
Then salvation and righteousness will grow together,
like strong plants.
I am the Lord,
and I will cause it to happen.’
9 It will be very bad for people who quarrel with their Maker. They are like pieces of a pot that are lying on the ground among all the other pieces. The clay does not say to the potter, ‘What do you think you are you making?’ The pot does not say to the potter, ‘Your work is useless!’
10 It will be very bad for people who say to their fathers, ‘What kind of child have you become a father to?’ And it will be bad for people who say to their mothers, ‘What kind of baby are you giving birth to?’
God has chosen Paul to help the Gentiles
3 That is why I pray for you. I, Paul, am in prison because I serve Christ Jesus. He has sent me to help you Gentiles. 2 You must have heard that God has chosen me to do that. He has been very kind to give me this work to help you. 3 God has clearly shown to me his true purpose. That was a secret before, but God has helped me to know it. I have written a few words about this already.[a] 4 When you read those words, you will be able to understand. I have come to know God's true message about Christ. 5 God did not tell this secret message to the people who lived before us. But now the Holy Spirit has shown it to God's apostles and prophets. 6 This is the message of God's good news: Gentiles, as well as Jews, may receive the good things that God has prepared for his children. We may all belong to the same group of God's people, like we are his body. Everyone who is united with Christ Jesus receives the good things that God has promised.
7 I tell that good news to other people, because God chose me to serve him in that way. That was God's gift to me, because he is so kind. God uses his great power to help me in that work. 8 I am the least important of all God's people. But God has given this special work to me because he is so kind. He has sent me to tell his good news to the Gentiles. Then they know about the many valuable things that Christ has prepared for us.
9 I help everyone to know how God makes his purpose happen. God himself created all things, and he has hidden this secret during past times. 10 But now God wants the people of his church to show everyone how wise he is in every way. He wants the spiritual rulers and everything that has authority in the heavens to know this. 11 This had always been God's purpose, from the beginning of all things. And it was our Lord Christ Jesus who made it happen.
12 Because we are united with Christ, we can come near to God. We are not afraid to do that. We can be sure that God will accept us, because we trust in Christ. 13 So do not become weak or afraid. I am now suffering so that I can help you. So you should be strong, so that God will bless you.
Paul prays for the Christians at Ephesus
14 Yes, that is why I pray for you. I go down on my knees to pray to God, our Father. 15 Every family, those in heaven and those on earth, receives its true name from him. 16 I pray that God will cause you to be strong in your spirits. God has great and valuable things in heaven to help you. I pray that God's Spirit will help you with God's own power. 17 I pray that Christ will make his home in you, as you believe in him. Then you will know God's love very well. You will be like trees that have roots which go down deep into God's love. That will make you strong. 18 Then you will understand, with all God's people, how much Christ loves us. That love is very wide and long and high and deep! 19 Christ's love for us is so great that nobody can ever completely know it. As you understand this more and more, God's own nature will completely fill you.
20 We praise God, who causes his power to work in us. In that way, he is able to do much more than we could ever ask for. He can do much more than we could even think about. 21 We want all God's people to know that God is great! Everyone who belongs to his church and who trusts in Christ Jesus should praise him! We should praise him always and for ever. Amen. That is true!
This psalm is a song that David wrote for the music leader.
God will win![a]
68 God will rise up
and he will chase his enemies away!
The people who hate him
will quickly run away from him![b]
2 God, blow them away,
as wind blows smoke away.
Destroy those wicked people,
as wax melts near a fire!
3 But righteous people will be happy,
when they come near to you.
They will shout with joy,
because they are so happy!
4 Sing songs to God!
Sing to praise his name!
He is the one who rides on the clouds,
so praise him aloud!
His name is the Lord!
Shout with joy to worship him!
5 God is a father for those who have no father.
He takes care of widows.
He rules from his holy home.
6 God gives homes and a family to lonely people.
He makes prisoners go free
so that they are happy.
But people who turn against him
have to live in a hot, dry land.[c]
7 God, you led your people out.
You took them across the desert.
Selah.
8 Then the ground shook,
and rain poured down from the sky.
You showed your power at Sinai mountain.
You are the God who rules at Sinai.[d]
You are the God that Israel's people serve.
9 God, you caused much rain to fall
on your special land.
You made it fresh again
when it had been dry.[e]
10 Your own people came to live in it.
God, because you are kind,
you gave many good things to poor people.
11 The Lord gives a command!
Very many women take his message to other places.
12 Kings with large armies quickly run away.
Yes, they run away!
The women at home share the valuable things
that the armies have left behind.
13 Even those who stayed to take care of the sheep
found valuable things,
like a dove with silver wings
and bright gold feathers.[f]
14 When the Almighty God chased away foreign kings,
it was like snow that fell on Mount Zalmon.
15 Bashan mountain is great, like God.
It has many high rocks.
16 You high mountains, why are you jealous
when you look at Zion mountain?
That is the mountain where God has chosen to live.
Yes, that is where the Lord will live for ever!
17 God has millions of chariots.
The Lord has come from Sinai mountain
to his own holy place.
18 When you went up to the highest place,
you took many prisoners with you.
You received gifts from men,
even from the men who had fought against you.
Yes, the Lord God lives there!
More wise thoughts
24 19. Do not be jealous of evil people. Do not try to be friends with them. 2 They only think about how to cause trouble. They only speak to be cruel.
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