Today is the 30th day of October. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I'm Brian. Great to be here with you today as we settle into the rhythm of this week.

And so we got off to a big start yesterday beginning the book of lamentations and then reading Paul's letter to Philemon.

We'll continue in lamentations today but we read Philemon in one sitting which will bring us to the book of Hebrews where we'll camp out for a while once we get to the New Testament.

And we'll talk about that when we get there but now we are here.

We are reading from the good news translation this week.

I am one who knows what it is to be punished by God. He drove me deeper and deeper into darkness and beat me again and again with merciless blows.

He has left my flesh open and raw and has broken my bones. He has shut me in a prison of misery and anguish.

He has forced me to live in the stagnant darkness of death. He has bound me in chains. I am a prisoner with no hope of escape.

I cry aloud for help but God refuses to listen. I stagger as I walk. Stone walls block me wherever I turn.

He waited for me like a bear. He pounced on me like a lion. He chased me off the road, tore me to pieces and left me.

He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows. He shot his arrows deep into my body.

People laugh at me all day long. I am a joke to them all.

Bitter suffering is all he has given me for food and drink.

He rubbed my face in the ground and broke my teeth on rocks. I have forgotten what health and peace and happiness are.

I do not have much longer to live. My hope in the Lord is gone. The thought of my pain, my homelessness is bitter poison.

I think of it constantly and my spirit is depressed. Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing.

The Lord's unfailing love and mercy still continue.

Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise, the Lord is all I have. And so in Him I put my hope.

The Lord is good to everyone who trusts in Him. So it is best for us to wait in patience, to wait for Him to save us.

And it is best to learn this patience in our youth. When we suffer, we should sit alone in silent patience.

We should bow in submission for their may still be hope. Though beaten and insulted, we should accept it all.

The Lord is merciful and will not reject us forever. He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong.

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