Learning to Hear God's Voice

Judges Part 2: Gideon

Go Into All the World

Commissioned: Pray First: Unlocking Hearts Through Prayer

Psalms Daily Reading Plan

Chasing False Needs Versus Resting in Reality

Psalms 1-5: Your Summer in the Psalms

Seven Days of Revelation

Restoration

Gratitude: Rooted in God's Goodness

The Listener’s Bible®: NIV Edition

New International Version™  (Anglicised), Audio Edition

Holy Bible, New International Version™ (Anglicised), South Asian Audio Edition

<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEST">
 <div class="chapter ch7" data-usfm="EST.7">
 <div class="label">7</div><div class="s1">Haman Impaled</div><div class="p"> 1So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther&#8217;s banquet, 2and as they were drinking wine on the second day, the king again asked, &#8220;Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 3Then Queen Esther answered, &#8220;If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life&#8212;this is my petition. And spare my people&#8212;this is my request. 4For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.#7:4 Or quiet, but the compensation our adversary offers cannot be compared with the loss the king would suffer&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 5King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, &#8220;Who is he? Where is he&#8212;the man who has dared to do such a thing?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 6Esther said, &#8220;An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!&#8221;</div><div class="p">Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. 7The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.</div><div class="p"> 8Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.</div><div class="p">The king exclaimed, &#8220;Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?&#8221;</div><div class="p">As soon as the word left the king&#8217;s mouth, they covered Haman&#8217;s face. 9Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, &#8220;A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits#7:9 That is, about 75 feet or about 23 meters stands by Haman&#8217;s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.&#8221;</div><div class="p">The king said, &#8220;Impale him on it!&#8221; 10So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king&#8217;s fury subsided.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkEST">
 <div class="chapter ch8" data-usfm="EST.8">
 <div class="label">8</div><div class="s1">The King&#8217;s Edict in Behalf of the Jews</div><div class="p"> 1That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. 2The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman&#8217;s estate.</div><div class="p"> 3Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews. 4Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him.</div><div class="p"> 5&#8220;If it pleases the king,&#8221; she said, &#8220;and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king&#8217;s provinces. 6For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people? How can I bear to see the destruction of my family?&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 7King Xerxes replied to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, &#8220;Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther, and they have impaled him on the pole he set up. 8Now write another decree in the king&#8217;s name in behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king&#8217;s signet ring&#8212;for no document written in the king&#8217;s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 9At once the royal secretaries were summoned&#8212;on the twenty-third day of the third month, the month of Sivan. They wrote out all Mordecai&#8217;s orders to the Jews, and to the satraps, governors and nobles of the 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush.#8:9 That is, the upper Nile region These orders were written in the script of each province and the language of each people and also to the Jews in their own script and language. 10Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king&#8217;s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.</div><div class="p"> 11The king&#8217;s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children,#8:11 Or province, together with their women and children, who might attack them; and to plunder the property of their enemies. 12The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. 13A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.</div><div class="p"> 14The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king&#8217;s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa.</div><div class="s1">The Triumph of the Jews</div><div class="p"> 15When Mordecai left the king&#8217;s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. 16For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. 17In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkMAL">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="MAL.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="p"> 1A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.#1:1 Malachi means my messenger.</div><div class="s1">Israel Doubts God&#8217;s Love</div><div class="p"> 2&#8220;I have loved you,&#8221; says the Lord.</div><div class="p">&#8220;But you ask, &#8216;How have you loved us?&#8217;</div><div class="p">&#8220;Was not Esau Jacob&#8217;s brother?&#8221; declares the Lord. &#8220;Yet I have loved Jacob, 3but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.&#8221;</div><div class="p"> 4Edom may say, &#8220;Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.&#8221;</div><div class="p">But this is what the Lord Almighty says: &#8220;They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord. 5You will see it with your own eyes and say, &#8216;Great is the Lord&#8212;even beyond the borders of Israel!&#8217;</div><div class="s1">Breaking Covenant Through Blemished Sacrifices</div><div class="p"> 6&#8220;A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?&#8221; says the Lord Almighty.</div><div class="p">&#8220;It is you priests who show contempt for my name.</div><div class="p">&#8220;But you ask, &#8216;How have we shown contempt for your name?&#8217;</div><div class="p"> 7&#8220;By offering defiled food on my altar.</div><div class="p">&#8220;But you ask, &#8216;How have we defiled you?&#8217;</div><div class="p">&#8220;By saying that the Lord&#8217;s table is contemptible. 8When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?&#8221; says the Lord Almighty.</div><div class="p"> 9&#8220;Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?&#8221;&#8212;says the Lord Almighty.</div><div class="p"> 10&#8220;Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,&#8221; says the Lord Almighty, &#8220;and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,&#8221; says the Lord Almighty.</div><div class="p"> 12&#8220;But you profane it by saying, &#8216;The Lord&#8217;s table is defiled,&#8217; and, &#8216;Its food is contemptible.&#8217; 13And you say, &#8216;What a burden!&#8217; and you sniff at it contemptuously,&#8221; says the Lord Almighty.</div><div class="p">&#8220;When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?&#8221; says the Lord. 14&#8220;Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,&#8221; says the Lord Almighty, &#8220;and my name is to be feared among the nations.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkMAL">
 <div class="chapter ch2" data-usfm="MAL.2">
 <div class="label">2</div><div class="s1">Additional Warning to the Priests</div><div class="p"> 1&#8220;And now, you priests, this warning is for you. 2If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,&#8221; says the Lord Almighty, &#8220;I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.</div><div class="p"> 3&#8220;Because of you I will rebuke your descendants#2:3 Or will blight your grain; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. 4And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,&#8221; says the Lord Almighty. 5&#8220;My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.</div><div class="p"> 7&#8220;For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. 8But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,&#8221; says the Lord Almighty. 9&#8220;So I have caused you to be despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">Breaking Covenant Through Divorce</div><div class="p"> 10Do we not all have one Father#2:10 Or father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?</div><div class="p"> 11Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god. 12As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove him from the tents of Jacob#2:12 Or 12 May the Lord remove from the tents of Jacob anyone who gives testimony in behalf of the man who does this&#8212;even though he brings an offering to the Lord Almighty.</div><div class="p"> 13Another thing you do: You flood the Lord&#8217;s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14You ask, &#8220;Why?&#8221; It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.</div><div class="p"> 15Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.#2:15 The meaning of the Hebrew for the first part of this verse is uncertain. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.</div><div class="p"> 16&#8220;The man who hates and divorces his wife,&#8221; says the Lord, the God of Israel, &#8220;does violence to the one he should protect,&#8221;#2:16 Or &#8220;I hate divorce,&#8221; says the Lord, the God of Israel, &#8220;because the man who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence,&#8221; says the Lord Almighty.</div><div class="p">So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.</div><div class="s1">Breaking Covenant Through Injustice</div><div class="p"> 17You have wearied the Lord with your words.</div><div class="p">&#8220;How have we wearied him?&#8221; you ask.</div><div class="p">By saying, &#8220;All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them&#8221; or &#8220;Where is the God of justice?&#8221;</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bkACT">
 <div class="chapter ch27" data-usfm="ACT.27">
 <div class="label">27</div><div class="s1">Paul Sails for Rome</div><div class="p"> 1When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. 2We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.</div><div class="p"> 3The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. 4From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.</div><div class="p"> 9Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement.#27:9 That is, Yom Kippur So Paul warned them, 10&#8220;Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.&#8221; 11But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. 12Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.</div><div class="s1">The Storm</div><div class="p"> 13When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. 15The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. 16As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure, 17so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor#27:17 Or the sails and let the ship be driven along. 18We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19On the third day, they threw the ship&#8217;s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.</div><div class="p"> 21After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: &#8220;Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24and said, &#8216;Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.&#8217; 25So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.&#8221;</div><div class="s1">The Shipwreck</div><div class="p"> 27On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic#27:27 In ancient times the name referred to an area extending well south of Italy. Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. 28They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet#27:28 Or about 37 meters deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet#27:28 Or about 27 meters deep. 29Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. 30In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 31Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, &#8220;Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.&#8221; 32So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.</div><div class="p"> 33Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. &#8220;For the last fourteen days,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food&#8212;you haven&#8217;t eaten anything. 34Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.&#8221; 35After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.</div><div class="p"> 39When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. 40Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. 41But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.</div><div class="p"> 42The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. 43But the centurion wanted to spare Paul&#8217;s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. 44The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.</div>
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<div class="version vid111 iso6393eng" data-vid="111" data-iso6393="eng">
 <div class="book bk3JN">
 <div class="chapter ch1" data-usfm="3JN.1">
 <div class="label">1</div><div class="p"> 1The elder,</div><div class="b"></div><div class="p">To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 2Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.</div><div class="p"> 5Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters,#1:5 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God&#8217;s family. even though they are strangers to you. 6They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. 7It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth.</div><div class="p"> 9I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. 10So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.</div><div class="p"> 11Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 12Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone&#8212;and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.</div><div class="p"> 13I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.</div><div class="b"></div><div class="b"></div><div class="p"> 15Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.</div>
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