Bible in a Year - Day 253 - Thursday 10th September 2026

0:00The Bible in a year, bringing the Word to life. Father God, in Psalm 119 the psalmist writes, How sweet are your words to my test, sweeter than honey to my mouth? May that be true for me today, as I listen to your word. Amen. Psalm 106 verses 32 to 39. By the waters of Mirabar, they angered the Lord, and trouble came to Moses because of them, for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips. They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them, but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs.

1:00They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to false gods. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood. They defiled themselves by what they did. By their deeds, they prostituted themselves. 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 16 to 33. I repeat, let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. In this self-confident boasting, I'm not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast.

2:01You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise. In fact, you even put up with anyone who when slaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that. Whatever anyone else dares to boast about, I am speaking as a fool. I also dare to boast about, are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. Are they the servants of Christ? I am out of my mind to talk like this. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews, the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones.

3:02Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep. I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food. I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who was weak, and I do not feel weak, who was led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn. If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who was to be praised forever,

4:02knows that I am not lying. In Damascus, the governor and a king of retas, had the city of the damocines guarded in order to arrest me, but I was lowered in a basket from a window on the wall and slipped through his hands. Isaiah chapter 24, 25 and 26. See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth and devastated. He will ruin its face and scatter its inhabitants. It will be the same for priest as for people, for the master as for his servant, for the mistress as for her servant, for the seller as for the buyer, for borrower as for lender, for debtor as for creditor. The earth will be completely laid waste and totally plundered. The Lord has spoken this word. The earth dries up and withers.

5:03The world languishes and withers. The heavens languish with the earth. The earth is defiled by its people. They have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth. Its people must bear their guilt. Therefore, earths inhabitants are burned up and very few are left. The new wine dries up and the vine withers, all the merry-makers grown. The joyful tambourines are stilled. The noise of the revelers has stopped. The joyful harp is silent. No longer do they drink wine with a song. The beer is bitter to its drinkers. The ruined city lies desolate. The entrance to every house is barred. In the streets they cry out for wine.

6:05Or joy turns to gloom. Or joyful sounds are banished from the earth. The city is left in ruins. Its gate is battered to pieces. So will it be on the earth and among the nations? As when an olive tree is beaten, or as when gleanings are left after the grape harvest. There is their voices, there shout for joy. From the west they acclaim the Lord's majesty. Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord. Exalt the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the islands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we hear singing, glory to the righteous one. But I said, I waste away. I waste away. War to me. The treacherous betrayal. With treachery the treacherous betray.

7:05Terror and pit and snare await you, people of the earth. Whoever flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit. Whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare. The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is violently shaken. The earth reels like a drunken. Its sway is like a hut in the wind. So heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls, never to rise again. In that day the Lord will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below. They will be heard together like prisoners bound in a dungeon. They will be shut up in prison and be punished after many days.

8:09The moon will be dismayed, the sun ashamed. For the Lord Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before it elders with great glory. Isaiah chapter 25 Lord you are my God, I will exalt you and praise your name. For in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago. You have made the city a heap of rubble, the fortified town a ruin, the foreign stronghold a city no more. It will never be rebuilt. Therefore strong peoples will honor you. Cities of ruthless nations will revere you. You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress,

9:09a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall unlike the heat of the desert. You silence the uproar of foreigners as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled. On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine, the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations. He will swallow up death forever. Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces. He will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth.

10:11The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, surely this is our God. We trusted in Him and He saved us. This is the Lord. We trusted in Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation. The hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain, but more will be trampled in their land, a straw is trampled down in the manure. They will stretch out their hands in it, as swimmers stretch out their hands to swim. God will bring down their pride despite the cleveness of their hands. He will bring down your high fortified walls and lay them low. He will bring them down to the ground, to the very dust. Isaiah 26 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah.

11:17We have a strong city. God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord the Lord Himself is the rock eternal. He humbles those who dwell on high. He lays the lofty city-law, he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust. Feet trample it down, the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor. The path of the righteous is level. You, the upright one, make the way of the righteous smooth. Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you.

12:20Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night. In the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness. Even in the land of uprightness, they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the Lord. Lord, your hand is lifted high, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame. Let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them. Lord, you established peace for us, or that we have accomplished you have done for us.

13:20Lord, our God, other Lords beside you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honour. They are now dead, they live no more, their spirits do not rise. You punish them and brought them to ruin. You wiped out all memory of them. You have enlarged the nation, Lord. You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for yourself. You have extended all the borders of the land. Lord, they came to you in their distress. When you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer. As a pregnant woman about to give birth, rise and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, Lord. We were with child, we rived in labour, but we gave birth to wind.

14:22We have not brought salvation to the earth, and the people of the world have not come to life. But your dead will live, Lord. Their bodies will rise. Let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy. Your Jew is like the Jew of the morning. The earth will give birth to her dead. Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you. Hide yourselves for a little while until His wrath has passed by. See, the Lord is coming out of His dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the bloodshed on it. The earth will conceal its slain no longer. Father God, thank you for the blessing of your word. Help us to treasure it and to put it at the very heart of our lives.

15:25Amen. For more resources to help you bring the word to life, go to premier.org.uk or slash by bell. This reading has been taken from the LIV Bible Biblical and is published by Hodder and Stanton.