The One Year Bible TLB (214 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
Don’t testify spitefully against an innocent neighbor. Why lie about him? Don’t say, “Now I can pay him back for all his meanness to me!”
October 9O Lord, you always give me justice when I bring a case before you to decide. Now let me bring you this complaint: Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil men so happy?
2
You plant them. They take root and their business grows. Their profits multiply, and they are rich. They say, “Thank God!” But in their hearts they give no credit to you.
3
But as for me—Lord, you know my heart—you know how much it longs for you. (And I am poor,
*
O Lord!) Lord, drag them off like helpless sheep to the slaughter. Judge them, O God!
4
How long must this land of yours put up with all their goings-on? Even the grass of the field groans and weeps over their wicked deeds! The wild animals and birds have moved away, leaving the land deserted. Yet the people say, “God won’t bring judgment on us. We’re perfectly safe!”
5
The Lord replied to me: If racing with mere men—these men of Anathoth—has wearied you, how will you race against horses, against the king, his court, and all his evil priests?
*
If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in Jordan’s jungles?
6
Even your own brothers, your own family, have turned against you. They have plotted to call for a mob to lynch you. Don’t trust them, no matter how pleasantly they speak. Don’t believe them.
7
Then the Lord said: I have abandoned my people, my inheritance; I have surrendered my dearest ones to their enemies.
8
My people have roared at me like a lion of the forest, so I have treated them as though I hated them.
9
My people have fallen. I will bring upon them swarms of vultures and wild animals to pick the flesh from their corpses.
10
Many foreign rulers have ravaged my vineyard, trampling down the vines, and turning all its beauty into barren wilderness.
11
They have made it desolate; I hear its mournful cry. The whole land is desolate and no one cares.
12
Destroying armies plunder the land; the sword of the Lord devours from one end of the nation to the other; nothing shall escape.
13
My people have sown wheat but reaped thorns; they have worked hard, but it does them no good. They shall harvest a crop of shame, for the fierce anger of the Lord is upon them.
14
And now the Lord says this to the evil nations, the nations surrounding the land God gave his people Israel: See, I will force you from your land just as Judah will be forced from hers;
15
but afterwards I will return and have compassion on all of you and will bring you home to your own land again, each man to his inheritance.
16
And if these heathen nations quickly learn my people’s ways and claim me as their God instead of Baal (whom they taught my people to worship), then they shall be strong among my people.
17
But any nation refusing to obey me will be expelled again and finished, says the Lord.
13:
1
The Lord said to me, Go and buy a linen loincloth and wear it, but don’t wash it—don’t put it in water at all.
2
So I bought the loincloth and put it on.
3
Then the Lord’s message came to me again. This time he said,
4
Take the loincloth out to the Euphrates River and hide it in a hole in the rocks.
5
So I did; I hid it as the Lord had told me to.
6
Then, a long time afterwards, the Lord said: Go out to the river again and get the loincloth.
7
And I did; I dug it out of the hole where I had hidden it. But now it was mildewed and falling apart. It was utterly useless!
8-9
Then the Lord said: This illustrates the way that I will rot the pride of Judah and Jerusalem.
10
This evil nation refuses to listen to me and follows its own evil desires, and worships idols; therefore, it shall become as this loincloth—good for nothing.
11
Even as a loincloth clings to a man’s loins, so I made Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the Lord. They were my people, an honor to my name. But then they turned away.
12
Tell them this: The Lord God of Israel says, All your wine jugs will be full of wine. And they will reply, Of course, you don’t need to tell us how prosperous we will be!
*
13
Then tell them: That’s not what I mean.
*
I mean that I will fill everyone living in this land with helpless bewilderment—from the king sitting on David’s throne, and the priests and the prophets, right on down to all the people.
14
And I will smash fathers and sons against each other, says the Lord. I will not let pity nor mercy spare them from utter destruction.
15
Oh, that you were not so proud and stubborn! Then you would listen to the Lord, for he has spoken.
16
Give glory to the Lord your God before it is too late, before he causes deep, impenetrable darkness to fall upon you so that you stumble and fall upon the dark mountains; then, when you look for light, you will find only terrible darkness.
17
Do you still refuse to listen? Then in loneliness my breaking heart shall mourn because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears because the Lord’s flock shall be carried away as slaves.
18
Say to the king and queen mother,
*
Come down from your thrones and sit in the dust, for your glorious crowns are removed from your heads. They are no longer yours.
19
The cities of the Negeb to the south of Jerusalem have closed their gates against the enemy. They must defend themselves, for Jerusalem cannot help;
*
and all Judah shall be taken away as slaves.
20
See the armies marching from the north! Where is your flock, Jerusalem,
*
your beautiful flock he gave you to take care of ?
21
How will you feel when he sets your allies over you as your rulers? You will writhe in pain like a woman having a child.
22
And if you ask yourself, Why is all this happening to me? It is because of the grossness of your sins; that is why you have been raped and destroyed by the invading army.
23
Can the Ethiopian change the color of his skin? or a leopard take away his spots? Nor can you who are so used to doing evil now start being good.
24-25
Because you have put me out of your mind and put your trust in false gods, I will scatter you as chaff is scattered by the fierce winds off the desert. This then is your allotment, that which is due you, which I have measured out especially for you.
26
I myself will expose you to utter shame.
27
I am keenly aware of your apostasy, your faithlessness to me, and your abominable idol worship in the fields and on the hills. Woe upon you, O Jerusalem! How long before you will be pure?
14:
1
This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord, explaining why he was holding back the rain:
2
Judah mourns; business has ground to a halt; all the people prostrate themselves to the earth, and a great cry rises from Jerusalem.
3
The nobles send servants for water from the wells, but the wells are dry. The servants return, baffled and desperate, and cover their heads in grief.
4
The ground is parched and cracked for lack of rain; the farmers are afraid.
5
The deer deserts her fawn because there is no grass.
6
The wild donkeys stand upon the bare hills panting like thirsty jackals. They strain their eyes looking for grass to eat, but there is none to be found.
7
O Lord, we have sinned against you grievously, yet help us for the sake of your own reputation!
8
O Hope of Israel, our Savior in times of trouble, why are you as a stranger to us, as one passing through the land who is merely stopping for the night?
9
Are you also baffled? Are you helpless to save us? O Lord, you are right here among us, and we carry your name; we are known as your people. O Lord, don’t desert us now!
10
But the Lord replies: You have loved to wander far from me and have not tried to follow in my paths. Now I will no longer accept you as my people; now I will remember all the evil you have done and punish your sins.
From:
Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
To:
The church at Thessalonica—to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: May blessing and peace of heart be your rich gifts from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Lord.
2
We always thank God for you and pray for you constantly.
3
We never forget your loving deeds as we talk to our God and Father about you, and your strong faith and steady looking forward to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
4
We know that God has chosen you, dear brothers, much beloved of God.
5
For when we brought you the Good News, it was not just meaningless chatter to you; no, you listened with great interest. What we told you produced a powerful effect upon you, for the Holy Spirit gave you great and full assurance that what we said was true. And you know how our very lives were further proof to you of the truth of our message.
6
So you became our followers and the Lord’s; for you received our message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the trials and sorrows it brought you.
7
Then you yourselves became an example to all the other Christians in Greece.
8
And now the Word of the Lord has spread out from you to others everywhere, far beyond your boundaries, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your remarkable faith in God. We don’t need to tell
them
about it,
9
for
they
keep telling
us
about the wonderful welcome you gave us, and how you turned away from your idols to God so that now the living and true God only is your Master.
10
And they speak of how you are looking forward to the return of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God brought back to life—and he is our only Savior from God’s terrible anger against sin.
2:
1
You yourselves know, dear brothers, how worthwhile that visit was.
2
You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet God gave us the courage to boldly repeat the same message to you, even though we were surrounded by enemies.
3
So you can see that we were not preaching with any false motives or evil purposes in mind; we were perfectly straightforward and sincere.
4
For we speak as messengers from God, trusted by him to tell the truth; we change his message not one bit to suit the taste of those who hear it; for we serve God alone, who examines our hearts’ deepest thoughts.
5
Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you very well know, and God knows we were not just pretending to be your friends so that you would give us money!
6
As for praise, we have never asked for it from you or anyone else, although as apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to some honor from you.
7
But we were as gentle among you as a mother feeding and caring for her own children.
8
We loved you dearly—so dearly that we gave you not only God’s message, but our own lives too.
O God, your land has been conquered by the heathen nations. Your Temple is defiled, and Jerusalem is a heap of ruins.
2
The bodies of your people lie exposed—food for birds and animals.
3
The enemy has butchered the entire population of Jerusalem; blood has flowed like water. No one is left even to bury them.
4
The nations all around us scoff. They heap contempt on us.
5
O Jehovah, how long will you be angry with us? Forever? Will your jealousy burn till every hope is gone?
6
Pour out your wrath upon the godless nations—not on us—on kingdoms that refuse to pray, that will not call upon your name!
7
For they have destroyed your people Israel, invading every home.
8
Oh, do not hold us guilty for our former sins! Let your tenderhearted mercies meet our needs, for we are brought low to the dust.
9
Help us, God of our salvation! Help us for the honor of your name. Oh, save us and forgive our sins.
10
Why should the heathen nations be allowed to scoff, “Where is their God?” Publicly avenge this slaughter of your people!
11
Listen to the sighing of the prisoners and those condemned to die. Demonstrate the greatness of your power by saving them.
12
O Lord, take sevenfold vengeance on these nations scorning you.
13
Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will thank you forever and forever, praising your greatness from generation to generation.