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Take a breath, find your place, and read deeply. Discover the joy of reading God’s word with the Immerse New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.
This daily Bible podcast will take you through the Bible in a year following the Immerse Bible Reading Experience. So grab your family and small group and go through the Bible in a year together with Immerse. Each of the 6 volumes is available online or at your favorite Christian bookstore.
Nancy: Welcome To Immerse: The
Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 200 and 51
isaiah's son of Amos received this message
concerning the destruction of Babylon.
Raise a signal flag on a bear hilltop.
Call up an army against Babylon.
Wave your hand to encourage them as
they march into the policies of the
high and mighty I, the Lord have
dedicated these soldiers for this task.
Yes, I have called Mighty warriors
to express my anger and they
will rejoice when I am exalted.
Hear the noise on the mountains.
Listen, as the Vast Army's march, it is
the noise and shouting of many nations.
The Lord of heaven's armies
has called this army together.
They come from distant countries
from beyond the farthest horizons.
They are the Lord's weapons to
carry out his anger with them.
He will destroy the whole land.
Scream in terror for the
day of the Lord has arrived.
The time for the almighty to destroy.
Every arm is paralyzed with fear.
Every heart melts and
people are terrified.
Pangs of anguish grip them
like those of a woman in labor.
They look helplessly at one another.
Their faces a flame with fear.
Foresee the day of the Lord is coming, the
terrible day of his fury and fierce anger.
The land will be made desolate and
all the sinners destroyed with it,
the heavens will be black above them.
The stars will give no light.
The sun will be dark when it rises,
and the moon will provide no light.
I, the Lord will punish the world for
its evil and the wicked for their sin.
I will crush the arrogance of the proud
and humble, the pride of the mighty.
I will make people scarcer than gold.
More rare than the fine gold of
Ur, for I will shake the heavens.
The earth will move from its place when
the Lord of heaven's armies displays his
wrath in the day of his fierce anger.
Everyone in Babylon will run
about like a hunted gazelle,
like sheep without a shepherd.
They will try to find their own
people and flee to their own land.
Anyone who is captured will be cut
down, run through with a sword.
Their little children will be
dashed to death before their eyes.
Their homes will be sacked
and their wives will be raped.
Look, I will stir up the
meads against Babylon.
They cannot be tempted by
silver or bribed with gold.
The attacking armies will shoot
down the young men with arrows.
They will have no mercy on helpless babies
and will show no compassion for children.
Babylon the most glorious of kingdoms.
The flower of Chaldean pride
will be devastated like Sodom and
Gomorrah when God destroyed them.
Babylon will never be inhabited again.
It will remain empty for
generation after generation.
Nomads will refuse to camp there, and
shepherds will not bed down their sheep.
Desert animals will move into the
ruined city, and the houses will
be haunted by howling creatures.
Owls will live among the ruins and
wild goats will go there to dance.
Hyenas will howl in its
fortresses and jackals will make
dens in its luxurious palaces.
Babylon's days are numbered.
It's time of destruction will soon
arrive, but the Lord will have
mercy on the descendants of Jacob.
He will choose Israel
as his special people.
Once again, he will bring them back to
settle once again in their own land.
People from many different nations
will come and join them there and
unite with the people of Israel.
The nations of the world will help
the people of Israel to return,
and those who come to live in
the Lord's land will serve them.
Those who captured Israel will
themselves be captured and Israel
will rule over its enemies.
In that wonderful day, when the Lord
gives his people rest from sorrow
and fear from slavery and chains,
you will taunt the king of Babylon.
You will say the mighty
man has been destroyed.
Yes, your insolence is ended for
the Lord has crushed your wicked
power and broken your evil rule.
You struck the people with endless blows
of rage and held the nations in your
angry grip with unrelenting tyranny.
But finally, the earth
is at rest and quiet.
Now it can sing again.
Even the trees of the forest, the
Cyprus trees, and the cedars of
Lebanon, sing out this joyous song.
Since you have been cut down, no
one will come now to cut us down.
In the place of the dead, there
is excitement over your arrival.
The spirits of world leaders
and mighty kings long dead stand
up to see you with one voice.
They all cry out.
Now you are as weak as we are.
Your might and power were buried with you.
The sound of the harp in
your palace has ceased Now.
Maggots are your sheet
and worms your blanket.
How you are fallen from
heaven, o shining star.
Son of the morning, you have been
thrown down to the earth, you who
destroyed the nations of the world.
For you said to yourself, I
will ascend to heaven and set
my throne above God's stars.
I will preside on the mountain of
the gods far away in the north.
I will climb to the highest heavens
and be like the most high instead.
You will be brought down to the place
of the debt down to its lowest depths.
Everyone there will stare at
you and ask, can this be the one
who shook the earth and made the
kingdoms of the world tremble?
Is this the one who destroyed the
world and made it into a wasteland?
Is this the king who demolished
the world's greatest cities and
had no mercy on his prisoners?
The kings of the nation's lion
stately glory each in his own tomb.
But you will be thrown out of your
grave like a worthless branch,
like a corpse trampled underfoot.
You will be dumped into a mass grave.
With those killed in battle,
you will descend to the pit.
You will not be given a proper
burial for you have destroyed your
nation and slaughtered your people.
The descendants of such an evil
person will never again receive honor,
kill this man's children, let them
die because of their father's sins.
They must not rise and conquer the earth,
filling the world with their cities.
This is what the Lord
of Heaven's armies says.
I myself have risen against Babylon.
I will destroy its children and its
children's children, says the Lord.
I will make Babylon a desolate place
of owls filled with swamps and marshes.
I will sweep the land with
the broom of destruction.
I the Lord of heaven's armies have spoken.
The Lord of heaven's
armies has sworn this oath.
It will all happen as I have planned.
It will be as I have decided.
I will break the Assyrians
when they are in Israel.
I will trample them on my mountains.
My people will no longer be their slaves
nor bow down under their heavy loads.
I have a plan for the whole earth, a
hand of judgment upon all the nations.
The Lord of heaven's armies has spoken.
Who can change his plans
when his hand is raised?
Who can stop him?
This message came to me
the year King Ahaz died.
Do not rejoice EU Philistines that the
rod that struck you is broken, that the
king who attacked you is dead for from
that snake, a more poisonous snake will
be born, a fiery serpent to destroy you.
I will feed the poor in my pasture.
The needy will lie down in peace.
But as for you, I will wipe you
out with famine and destroy the
few who remain whale at the gates.
Weep in the cities melt with fear.
EU Philistines.
A powerful army comes
like smoke from the north.
Each soldier rushes
forward, eager to fight.
What should we tell the
Philistine messengers?
Tell them the Lord has built Jerusalem.
Its walls will give refuge
to his oppressed people.
This message came to me concerning Moab.
In one night, the town of R
will be leveled and the city
of Kir will be destroyed.
Your people will go to their
temple in Daon to mourn.
They will go to their
sacred shrines to weep.
They will wail for the fate of nibo
and MEbA, shaving their heads in
sorrow and cutting off their beards.
They will wear burlap as they wander
The streets from every home and public
square will come, the sound of whaling.
The people of Heshbon
and Alala will cry out.
Their voices will be
heard as far away as JHAs.
The bravest warriors of Moab
will cry out in utter terror.
They will be helpless with fear.
My heart weeps for Moab.
Its people flee to Zoar
and Agla, CIA weeping.
They climb the road to lu.
Their cries of distress can be
heard all along the road to em.
Even the waters of Nim rim are dried up.
The grassy banks are scorched.
The tender plants are gone.
Nothing green remains.
The people grab their possessions and
carry them across the ravine of willows.
A cry of distress echoes through
the land of Moab, from one end
to the other, from Egle to beer.
Elam, the stream near Dban
runs red with blood, but I am
still not finished with Dban.
Lions will hunt down the survivors,
both those who try to escape and those
who remain behind send lambs from Sila
as tribute to the ruler of the land.
Send them through the desert to
the mountain of beautiful Zion.
The women of Moab are left like
homeless birds at the shallow
crossings of the Arnon River.
Help us, they cry.
Defend us against our enemies.
Protect us from their relentless attack.
Do not betray us now that we have escaped.
Let our refugees stay among
you, hide them from our enemies
until the terror is passed.
When oppression and destruction
have ended and enemy Raiders have
disappeared, then God will establish
one of David's descendants as king.
He will rule with mercy and truth.
He will always do what is just
and be eager to do what is right.
We have heard about proud Moab about
its pride and arrogance and rage, but
all that boasting has disappeared.
The entire land of Moab Weeps.
Yes, everyone in Moab mourns for
the cakes of raisins from Kir.
They are all gone now.
The farms of Heshbon are abandoned.
The vineyards at Sigma are destroyed.
The rulers of the
nations have broken down.
Moab, that beautiful grapevine.
Its tendrils spread north as far
as the town of Jaser and trailed
eastward into the wilderness.
Its chutes reached so far west that
they crossed over the dead sea.
So now I weep for jaser
and the vineyards of Sigma.
My tears will flow for hessan
and ela, there are no more
shouts of joy over your summer.
Fruits and harvest gone.
Now is the gladness
gone, the joy of harvest.
There will be no singing in the vineyards.
No more happy shouts, no treading
of grapes in the wine presses.
I have ended all their harvest joys.
My heart's cry for Moab is
like a lament on a harp.
I am filled with anguish for Kir Herseth.
The people of Moab will worship
at their pagan shrines, but
it will do them no good.
They will cry to the gods
in their temples, but no one
will be able to save them.
The Lord has already said these things
about Moab in the past, but now the
Lord says, within three years counting,
each day, the glory of Moab will
be ended from its great population,
only a feeble few will be left alive.
This message came to
me concerning Damascus.
Look, the city of Damascus will disappear.
It will become a heap of ruins.
The towns of Aurora will be deserted.
Flocks will graze in the streets
and lie down undisturbed with
no one to chase them away.
The fortified towns of Israel will also be
destroyed and the royal power of Damascus
will end all that Remains of Syria will
share the fate of Israel's departed glory
declares the Lord of heaven's armies.
That day, Israel's glory will grow.
Dimm, its robust body will waste away.
The whole land will
look like a grain field.
After the harvesters have gathered
the grain, it will be desolate like
the fields in the valley of em.
After the harvest, only a few
of its people will be left like
stray olives left on a tree.
After the harvest, only two or three
remain in the highest branches.
Four or five scattered here and
there on the limbs, declares
the Lord, the God of Israel.
Then at last, the people will look
to their creator and turn their
eyes to the holy one of Israel.
They will no longer look to
their idols for help or worship
what their own hands have made.
They will never again bow down to
their Asher poles or worship at
the pagan shrines they have built.
Their largest cities will
be like a deserted forest.
Like the land, the highes
and Amorites abandoned.
When the Israelites came here so long
ago, it will be utterly desolate.
Why?
Because you have turned from
the God who can save you.
You have forgotten the rock.
Who can hide you?
You may plant the finest grapevines and
import the most expensive seedlings They
may sprout on the day you set them out.
Yes, they may blossom on the very
morning, you plant them, but you
will never pick any grapes from them.
Your only harvest will be a load
of grief and unrelieved pain.
Listen, the armies of many nations
roar like the roaring of the sea.
Hear the thunder of the mighty forces as
they rush forward, like thundering waves.
But though they thunder like
breakers on a beach, God will
silence them and they will run away.
They will flee like chaff,
scattered by the wind, like a
tumbleweed whirling before a storm.
In the evening, Israel waits in terror,
but by dawn its enemies are dead.
This is the just reward of
those who plunder us, a fitting
end for those who destroy us.
Listen, Ethiopia land of fluttering
sails, that lies at the headwaters
of the Nile that sends ambassadors
in swift boats down the river.
Go swift messengers.
Take a message to a tall, smooth skinned
people who are feared far and wide
for their conquests and destruction,
and whose land is divided by rivers.
All you people of the world,
everyone who lives on the earth.
When I raise my battle flag
on the mountain, look, when I
blow the Ram's horn, listen,
for the Lord has told me this.
I will watch quietly from my dwelling
place as quietly as the heat rises
on a summer day or as the morning
dew forms during the harvest,
even before you begin your attack.
While your plans are ripening like grapes,
the Lord will cut off your new growth.
With pruning shears, he will snip off
and discard your spreading branches.
Your mighty army will be left dead
in the fields for the mountain
vultures and wild animals.
The vultures will tear at
the corpses all summer.
The wild animals will gnaw
at the bones all winter.
At that time, the Lord of heaven's
armies will receive gifts from this land
divided by rivers from this tall, smooth
skinned people who are feared far and
wide for their conquests and destruction.
They will bring the gifts to Jerusalem
where the Lord of heaven's armies dwells.
This message came to me concerning Egypt.
Look, the Lord is advancing against Egypt.
Riding on a swift cloud.
The idols of Egypt tremble the hearts
of the Egyptians melt with fear.
I will make Egyptian fight against
Egyptian brother, against brother,
neighbor against neighbor, city, against
city, province, against province.
The Egyptians will lose heart
and I will confuse their plans.
They will plead with their idols for
wisdom and call on spirits, mediums, and
those who consult the spirits of the dead.
I will hand Egypt over
to a hard, cruel master.
A fierce king will rule them, says
the Lord, the Lord of heaven's armies.
The waters of the Nile will fail
to rise and flood the fields.
The riverbed will be parched and dry.
The canals of the Nile will dry up and the
streams of Egypt will stink with rotting
reeds and rushes all the greenery along
the river bank, and all the crops along
the river will dry up and blow away.
The fishermen will
lament for lack of work.
Those who cast hooks into the
Nile will groan, and those
who use nets will lose heart.
There will be no flax for the
harvesters, no thread for the weavers.
They will be in despair and all
the workers will be sick at heart.
What fools are the officials ofan
their best counsel to the king
of Egypt is stupid and wrong.
Will they still boast to
Pharaoh of their wisdom?
Will they dare brag about
all their wise ancestors?
Where are your wise counselors?
Pharaoh?
Let them tell you what God
plans, what the Lord of heaven's
armies is going to do to Egypt.
The officials of zoon are fools, and
the officials of Memphis are deluded.
The leaders of the people
have led Egypt astray.
The Lord has sent a spirit of
foolishness on them, so all
their suggestions are wrong.
They cause Egypt to stagger
like a drunk in his vomit.
There is nothing Egypt can do.
All are helpless.
The head and the tail, the noble
palm branch and the lowly reed.
In that day, the Egyptians
will be as weak as women.
They will cower in fear
beneath the Upraised fist of
the Lord of Heaven's armies.
Just to speak the name of
Israel will terrorize them.
For the Lord of Heaven's armies has
laid out his plans against them.
In that day five of Egypt cities will
follow the Lord of Heaven's armies.
They will even begin to speak Hebrew.
The language of Canaan,
one of these cities will be
Heliopolis, the city of the Sun.
In that day, there will be an altar to the
Lord in the heart of Egypt, and there will
be a monument to the Lord at its border.
It will be a sign and a witness
that the Lord of heaven's armies
is worshiped in the land of Egypt.
When the people cry to the Lord for help
against those who oppress them, he will
send them a savior who will rescue them.
The Lord will make himself
known to the Egyptians.
Yes.
They will know the Lord and will give
their sacrifices and offerings to him.
They will make a vow to
the Lord and will keep it.
The Lord will strike Egypt and then he
will bring healing for the Egyptians
will turn to the Lord and he will
listen to their pleas and heal them.
In that day, Egypt and assy
will be connected by a highway.
The Egyptians and Assyrians will move
freely between their lands and they
will both worship God In that day.
Israel will be the third
along with Egypt and Assyria.
A blessing in the midst of the earth.
For the Lord of Heaven's, armies
will say, blessed be Egypt.
My people.
Blessed be Assyria.
The land I have made.
Blessed be Israel my special possession.
In the year when King Saigon of
Assyria sent his commander in chief
to capture the Philistine city of
Ashdod, the Lord told Isaiah, son of
Amos, take off the burlap you have
been wearing and remove your sandals.
Isaiah did as he was told, and
walked around naked and barefoot.
Then the Lord said, my servant Isaiah
has been walking around naked and
barefoot for the last three years.
This is a sign, a symbol of the
terrible troubles I will bring
upon Egypt and Ethiopia for the
King of Assyria will take away the
Egyptians and Ethiopians as prisoners.
He will make them walk naked and
barefoot, both young and old.
Their buttocks beared
to the shame of Egypt.
Then the Philistines will be
thrown into panic for they counted
on the power of Ethiopia and
boasted of their allies in Egypt.
They will say, if this can happen
to Egypt, what chance do we have?
We were counting on Egypt to
protect us from the King of Assyria.
This concludes today's
immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.
I.