The One Year Bible TLB (217 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
Don’t demand an audience with the king as though you were some powerful prince. It is better to wait for an invitation rather than to be sent back to the end of the line, publicly disgraced!
October 12The Lord said, Buy a clay jar and take it out into the valley of Ben-hinnom by the east gate of the city. Take some of the elders of the people and some of the older priests with you, and speak to them whatever words I give you.
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Then the Lord spoke to them and said: Listen to the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will bring terrible evil upon this place, so terrible that the ears of those who hear it will prickle.
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For Israel has forsaken me and turned this valley into a place of shame and wickedness. The people burn incense to idols—idols that neither this generation nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah have worshiped before—and they have filled this place with the blood of innocent children.
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They have built high altars to Baal, and there they burn their sons in sacrifice—a thing I never commanded them nor even thought of !
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The day is coming, says the Lord, when this valley shall no longer be called Topheth or Ben-hinnom Valley, but the Valley of Slaughter.
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For I will upset the battle plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and I will let invading armies kill you here and leave your dead bodies for vultures and wild animals to feed upon.
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And I will wipe Jerusalem off the earth, so that everyone going by will gasp with astonishment at all that I have done to her.
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I will see to it that your enemies lay siege to the city until all food is gone and those trapped inside begin to eat their own children and friends.
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And now, Jeremiah, as these men watch, smash the jar you brought with you,
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and say to them, This is the message to you from the Lord Almighty: As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Jerusalem; and as this jar cannot be mended, neither can they. The slaughter shall be so great that there won’t be room enough for decent burial anywhere, and their bodies shall be heaped in this valley.
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And as it will be in this valley, so it will be in Jerusalem. For I will fill Jerusalem with dead bodies too.
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And I will defile all the homes in Jerusalem, including the palace of the kings of Judah—wherever incense has been burned upon the roofs to your star gods, and libations poured out to them.
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As Jeremiah returned from Topheth where he had delivered this message, he stopped in front of the Temple of the Lord and said to all the people,
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The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will bring upon this city and her surrounding towns all the evil I have promised because you have stubbornly refused to listen to the Lord.
20:
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Now when Pashhur (son of Immer), the priest in charge of the Temple of the Lord, heard what Jeremiah was saying,
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he arrested Jeremiah and had him whipped and put in the stocks at Benjamin Gate near the Temple.
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He left him there all night.
The next day when Pashhur finally released him, Jeremiah said, “Pashhur, the Lord has changed your name. He says from now on to call you ‘The Man Who Lives in Terror.’
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For the Lord will send terror on you and all your friends, and you will see them die by the swords of their enemies. I will hand over Judah to the king of Babylon, says the Lord, and he shall take away these people as slaves to Babylon and kill them.
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And I will let your enemies loot Jerusalem. All the famed treasures of the city, with the precious jewels and gold and silver of your kings, shall be carried off to Babylon.
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And as for you, Pashhur, you and all your family and household shall become slaves in Babylon and die there—you and those to whom you lied when you prophesied that everything would be all right.”
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O Lord, you deceived me when you promised me your help. I have to give them your messages because you are stronger than I am, but now I am the laughingstock of the city, mocked by all.
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You have never once let me speak a word of kindness to them; always it is disaster and horror and destruction. No wonder they scoff and mock and make my name a household joke.
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And I can’t quit! For if I say I’ll never again mention the Lord—never more speak in his name—then his word in my heart is like fire that burns in my bones, and I can’t hold it in any longer.
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Yet on every side I hear their whispered threats and am afraid. “We will report,” they say. Even those who were my friends are watching me, waiting for a fatal slip. “He will trap himself,” they say, “and then we will get our revenge on him.”
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But the Lord stands beside me like a great warrior, and before him, the Mighty, Terrible One, they shall stumble. They cannot defeat me; they shall be shamed and thoroughly humiliated, and they shall have a stigma upon them forever.
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O Lord Almighty, who knows those who are righteous and examines the deepest thoughts of hearts and minds, let me see your vengeance on them. For I have committed my cause to you.
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Therefore, I will sing out in thanks to the Lord! Praise him! For he has delivered me, poor and needy, from my oppressors.
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Yet, cursed be the day that I was born!
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Cursed be the man who brought my father the news that a son was born.
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Let that messenger be destroyed like the cities of old which God overthrew without mercy. Terrify him all day long with battle shouts
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because he did not kill me at my birth! Oh, that I had died within my mother’s womb, that it had been my grave!
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Why was I ever born? For my life has been but trouble and sorrow and shame.
21:
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Then King Zedekiah sent Pashhur (son of Malchiah) and Zephaniah the priest (son of Maaseiah) to Jeremiah and begged, “Ask the Lord to help us, for Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has declared war on us!
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Perhaps the Lord will be gracious to us and do a mighty miracle as in olden times
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and force Nebuchadnezzar to withdraw his forces.”
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Jeremiah replied, “Go back to King Zedekiah and tell him the Lord God of Israel says, I will make all your weapons useless against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans besieging you. In fact, I will bring your enemies right into the heart of this city,
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and I myself will fight against you, for I am very angry.
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And I will send a terrible plague on this city, and both men and animals shall die.
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And finally I will deliver King Zedekiah himself and all the remnant left in the city into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to slaughter them without pity or mercy.
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“Tell these people: This is what the Lord says! Take your choice of life or death!
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Stay here in Jerusalem and die—slaughtered by your enemies, killed by starvation and disease—or go out and surrender to the Chaldean army and live.
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For I have set my face against this city; I will be its enemy and not its friend, says the Lord. It shall be captured by the king of Babylon and he shall reduce it to ashes.
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“And to the king of Judah, the Lord says:
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I am ready to judge you because of all the evil you are doing. Quick! Give justice to these you judge! Begin doing what is right before my burning fury flashes out upon you like a fire no man can quench.
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I will fight against this city of Jerusalem that boasts, ‘We are safe; no one can touch us here!’
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And I myself will destroy you for your sinfulness, says the Lord. I will light a fire in the forests that will burn up everything in its path.”
But, dear brothers, you are not in the dark about these things, and you won’t be surprised as by a thief when that day of the Lord comes.
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For you are all children of the light and of the day, and do not belong to darkness and night.
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So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Watch for his return and stay sober.
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Night is the time for sleep and the time when people get drunk.
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But let us who live in the light keep sober, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the happy hope of salvation.
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For God has not chosen to pour out his anger upon us but to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ;
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he died for us so that we can live with him forever, whether we are dead or alive at the time of his return.
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So encourage each other to build each other up, just as you are already doing.
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Dear brothers, honor the officers of your church who work hard among you and warn you against all that is wrong.
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Think highly of them and give them your wholehearted love because they are straining to help you. And remember, no quarreling among yourselves.
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Dear brothers, warn those who are lazy, comfort those who are frightened, take tender care of those who are weak, and be patient with everyone.
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See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to everyone else.
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Always be joyful.
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Always keep on praying.
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No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
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Do not smother the Holy Spirit.
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Do not scoff at those who prophesy,
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but test everything that is said to be sure it is true, and if it is, then accept it.
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Keep away from every kind of evil.
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May the God of peace himself make you entirely pure and devoted to God; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept strong and blameless until that day when our Lord Jesus Christ comes back again.
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God, who called you to become his child, will do all this for you, just as he promised.
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Dear brothers, pray for us.
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Shake hands for me with all the brothers there.
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I command you in the name of the Lord to read this letter to all the Christians.
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And may rich blessings from our Lord Jesus Christ be with you, every one.
Sincerely, Paul
God stands up to open heaven’s court. He pronounces judgment on the judges.
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How long will you judges refuse to listen to the evidence? How long will you shower special favors on the wicked?
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Give fair judgment to the poor man, the afflicted, the fatherless, the destitute.
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Rescue the poor and helpless from the grasp of evil men.
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But you are so foolish and so ignorant! Because you are in darkness, all the foundations of society
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are shaken to the core.
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I have called you all “gods” and “sons of the Most High.”
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But in death you are mere men. You will fall as any prince—for all must die.
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Stand up, O God, and judge the earth. For all of it belongs to you. All nations are in your hands.
Don’t be hotheaded and rush to court! You may start something you can’t finish and go down before your neighbor in shameful defeat. So discuss the matter with him privately. Don’t tell anyone else, lest he accuse you of slander and you can’t withdraw what you said.
October 13Then the Lord said to me: Go over and speak directly to the king of Judah and say,
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Listen to this message from God, O king of Judah, sitting on David’s throne; and let your servants and your people listen too.
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The Lord says: Be fair-minded. Do what is right! Help those in need of justice! Quit your evil deeds! Protect the rights of aliens and immigrants, orphans and widows; stop murdering the innocent!
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If you put an end to all these terrible deeds you are doing, then I will deliver this nation and once more give kings to sit on David’s throne, and there shall be prosperity for all.
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But if you refuse to pay attention to this warning, I swear by my own name, says the Lord, that this palace shall become a shambles.
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For this is the Lord’s message concerning the palace: You are as beloved to me as fruitful Gilead and the green forests of Lebanon; but I will destroy you and leave you deserted and uninhabited.
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I will call for a wrecking crew to bring out its tools to dismantle you. They will tear out all of your fine cedar beams and throw them on the fire.
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Men from many nations will pass by the ruins of this city and say to one another, “Why did the Lord do it? Why did he destroy such a great city?”
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And the answer will be, “Because the people living here forgot the Lord their God and violated his agreement with them, for they worshiped idols.”
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Don’t weep for the dead! Instead weep for the captives led away! For they will never return to see their native land again.
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For the Lord says this about Jehoahaz who succeeded his father
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King Josiah and was taken away as a captive:
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He shall die in a distant land
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and never again see his own country.
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And woe to you, King Jehoiakim,
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for you are building your great palace with forced labor. By not paying wages you are building injustice into its walls and oppression into its doorframes and ceilings.
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You say, “I will build a magnificent palace with huge rooms and many windows, paneled throughout with fragrant cedar and painted a lovely red.”
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But a beautiful palace does not make a great king! Why did your father Josiah reign so long? Because he was just and fair in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him.
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He saw to it that justice and help were given the poor and the needy and all went well for him. This is how a man lives close to God.
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But you! You are full of selfish greed and all dishonesty! You murder the innocent, oppress the poor, and reign with ruthlessness.
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Therefore this is God’s decree of punishment against King Jehoiakim, who succeeded his father Josiah on the throne: His family will not weep for him when he dies. His subjects will not even care that he is dead.
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He shall be buried like a dead donkey—dragged out of Jerusalem and thrown on the garbage dump beyond the gate!
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Weep, for your allies are gone. Search for them in Lebanon; shout for them at Bashan; seek them at the fording points of Jordan. See, they are all destroyed. Not one is left to help you!
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When you were prosperous, I warned you, but you replied, “Don’t bother me.” Since childhood you have been that way—you just won’t listen!
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And now all your allies have disappeared with a puff of wind; all your friends are taken off as slaves. Surely at last you will see your wickedness and be ashamed.
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It’s very nice to live graciously in a beautiful palace among the cedars of Lebanon, but soon you will cry and groan in anguish—anguish as of a woman in labor.
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And as for you, Coniah,
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son of Jehoiakim king of Judah—even if you were the signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off and give you to those who seek to kill you, of whom you are so desperately afraid—to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his mighty army.
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I will throw you and your mother out of this country, and you shall die in a foreign land.
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You will never again return to the land of your desire.
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This man Coniah is like a discarded, broken dish. He and his children will be exiled to distant lands.
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O earth, earth, earth! Hear the word of the Lord!
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The Lord says: Record this man Coniah as childless, for none of his children shall ever sit upon the throne of David or rule in Judah.
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His life will amount to nothing.
23:
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The Lord declares:
I will send disaster upon the leaders of my people—the shepherds of my sheep—for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were to care for.
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Instead of leading my flock to safety, you have deserted them and driven them to destruction. And now I will pour out judgment upon you for the evil you have done to them.
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And I will gather together the remnant of my flock from wherever I have sent them and bring them back into their own fold, and they shall be fruitful and increase.
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And I will appoint responsible shepherds to care for them, and they shall not need to be afraid again; all of them shall be accounted for continually.
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For the time is coming, says the Lord, when I will place a righteous Branch upon King David’s throne. He shall be a King who shall rule with wisdom and justice and cause righteousness to prevail everywhere throughout the earth.
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And this is his name:
The Lord Our Righteousness.
At that time Judah will be saved and Israel will live in peace.
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In that day people will no longer say when taking an oath, “As the Lord lives who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt,”
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but they will say, “As the Lord lives who brought the Jews back to their own land of Israel from the countries to which he had exiled them.”
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My heart is broken for the false prophets, full of deceit. I awake with fear and stagger as a drunkard does from wine because of the awful fate awaiting them,
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for God has decreed holy words of judgment against them.
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For the land is full of adultery, and the curse of God is on it. The land itself is mourning—the pastures are dried up—for the prophets do evil, and their power is used wrongly.
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The priests are like the prophets, all ungodly, wicked men. I have seen their despicable acts right here in my own Temple, says the Lord.
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Therefore, their paths will be dark and slippery; they will be chased down dark and treacherous trails and fall. For I will bring evil upon them and see to it, when their time has come, that they pay their penalty in full for all their sins.
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I knew the prophets of Samaria were unbelievably evil, for they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel into sin;
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but the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse! The things they do are horrible; they commit adultery and love dishonesty. They encourage and compliment those who are doing evil instead of turning them back from their sins. These prophets are as thoroughly depraved as the men of Sodom and Gomorrah were.
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Therefore the Lord Almighty says: I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink. For it is because of them that wickedness fills this land.
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This is my warning to my people, says the Lord Almighty. Don’t listen to these false prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say. They do not speak for me!
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They keep saying to these rebels who despise me, “Don’t worry! All is well!”; and to those who live the way they want to, “The Lord has said you shall have peace!”
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But can you name even one of these prophets who lives close enough to God to hear what he is saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen?
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See, the Lord is sending a furious whirlwind to sweep away these wicked men.
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The terrible anger of the Lord will not abate until it has carried out the full penalty he decrees against them. Later, when Jerusalem has fallen,
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you will see what I mean.
From:
Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
To:
The church of Thessalonica—kept safe in God our Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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May God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you rich blessings and peace-filled hearts and minds.
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Dear brothers, giving thanks to God for you is not only the right thing to do, but it is our duty to God because of the really wonderful way your faith has grown and because of your growing love for each other.
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We are happy to tell other churches about your patience and complete faith in God, in spite of all the crushing troubles and hardships you are going through.
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This is only one example of the fair, just way God does things, for he is using your sufferings to make you ready for his Kingdom,
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while at the same time he is preparing judgment and punishment for those who are hurting you.
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And so I would say to you who are suffering, God will give you rest along with us when the Lord Jesus appears suddenly from heaven in flaming fire with his mighty angels,
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bringing judgment on those who do not wish to know God and who refuse to accept his plan to save them through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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They will be punished in everlasting hell, forever separated from the Lord, never to see the glory of his power
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when he comes to receive praise and admiration because of all he has done for his people, his saints. And you will be among those praising him because you have believed what we told you about him.
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And so we keep on praying for you, that our God will make you the kind of children he wants to have—will make you as good as you wish you could be!—rewarding your faith with his power.
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Then everyone will be praising the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because of the results they see in you; and your greatest glory will be that you belong to him. The tender mercy of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ has made all this possible for you.
O God, don’t sit idly by, silent and inactive when we pray. Answer us! Deliver us!
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Don’t you hear the tumult and commotion of your enemies? Don’t you see what they are doing, these proud men who hate the Lord?
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They are full of craftiness and plot against your people, laying plans to slay your precious ones.
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“Come,” they say, “and let us wipe out Israel as a nation—we will destroy the very memory of her existence.”
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This was their unanimous decision at their summit conference—they signed a treaty to ally themselves against Almighty God—
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these Ishmaelites and Edomites and Moabites and Hagrites;
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people from the lands of Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia and Tyre;
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Assyria has joined them too, and is allied with the descendants of Lot.
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Do to them as once you did to Midian, or as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon,
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and as you did to your enemies at Endor, whose decaying corpses fertilized the soil.
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Make their mighty nobles die as Oreb did, and Zeeb;
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let all their princes die like Zebah and Zalmunna,
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who said, “Let us seize for our own use these pasturelands of God!”
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O my God, blow them away like dust; like chaff before the wind—
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as a forest fire that roars across a mountain.
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Chase them with your fiery storms, tempests, and tornados.
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Utterly disgrace them until they recognize your power and name, O Lord.
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Make them failures in everything they do; let them be ashamed and terrified
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until they learn that you alone, Jehovah, are the God above all gods in supreme charge of all the earth.
Timely advice is as lovely as gold apples in a silver basket.
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It is a badge of honor to accept valid criticism.
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A faithful employee is as refreshing as a cool day
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in the hot summertime.
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One who doesn’t give the gift he promised is like a cloud blowing over a desert without dropping any rain.