Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
The One Year Bible TLB (223 page)
Good news from far away is like cold water to the thirsty.
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If a godly man compromises with the wicked, it is like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.
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Just as it is harmful to eat too much honey, so also it is bad for men to think about all the honors they deserve!
October 21Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, did not appoint Coniah (King Jehoiakim’s son) to be the new king of Judah.
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Instead he chose Zedekiah (son of Josiah).
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But neither King Zedekiah nor his officials nor the people who were left in the land listened to what the Lord said through Jeremiah.
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Nevertheless, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal (son of Shelemiah) and Zephaniah the priest (son of Maaseiah) to ask Jeremiah to pray for them.
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(Jeremiah had not been imprisoned yet, so he could come and go as he pleased.)
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When the army of Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt appeared at the southern border of Judah to relieve the besieged city of Jerusalem, the Babylonian army withdrew from Jerusalem to fight the Egyptians.
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Then the Lord sent this message to Jeremiah:
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“The Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ask me what is going to happen, that Pharaoh’s army, though it came here to help you, is about to return in flight to Egypt! The Babylonians shall defeat them and send them scurrying home.
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These Babylonians shall capture this city and burn it to the ground.
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Don’t fool yourselves that the Babylonians are gone for good. They aren’t!
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Even if you destroyed the entire Babylonian army until there was only a handful of survivors and they lay wounded in their tents, yet they would stagger out and defeat you and put this city to the torch!”
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When the Babylonian army set out from Jerusalem to engage Pharaoh’s army in battle,
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Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the land of Benjamin, to see the property he had bought.
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But as he was walking through the Benjamin Gate, a sentry arrested him as a traitor, claiming he was defecting to the Babylonians. The guard making the arrest was Irijah (son of Shelemiah, grandson of Hananiah).
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“That’s not true,” Jeremiah said. “I have no intention whatever of doing any such thing!”
But Irijah wouldn’t listen; he took Jeremiah before the city officials.
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They were incensed with Jeremiah and had him flogged and put into the dungeon under the house of Jonathan the scribe, which had been converted into a prison. Jeremiah was kept there for several days,
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but eventually King Zedekiah sent for him to come to the palace secretly. The king asked him if there was any recent message from the Lord. “Yes,” said Jeremiah, “there is! You shall be defeated by the king of Babylon!”
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Then Jeremiah broached the subject of his imprisonment. “What have I ever done to deserve this?” he asked the king. “What crime have I committed? Tell me what I have done against you or your officials or the people?
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Where are those prophets now who told you that the king of Babylon would not come?
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Listen, O my lord the king: I beg you, don’t send me back to that dungeon, for I’ll die there.”
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Then King Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah not be returned to the dungeon but be placed in the palace prison instead, and that he be given a small loaf of fresh bread every day as long as there was any left in the city. So Jeremiah was kept in the palace prison.
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38:
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But when Shephatiah (son of Mattan) and Gedaliah (son of Pashhur) and Jucal (son of Shelemiah) and Pashhur (son of Malchiah) heard what Jeremiah had been telling the people—
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that everyone remaining in Jerusalem would die by sword, starvation, or disease, but anyone surrendering to the Babylonians would live,
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and that the city of Jerusalem would surely be captured by the king of Babylon—
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they went to the king and said: “Sir, this fellow must die. That kind of talk will undermine the morale of the few soldiers we have left, and of all the people too. This man is a traitor.”
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So King Zedekiah agreed. “All right,” he said. “Do as you like—I can’t stop you.”
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They took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes into an empty cistern in the prison yard. (It belonged to Malchiah, a member of the royal family.) There was no water in it, but there was a thick layer of mire at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it.
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When Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an important palace official, heard that Jeremiah was in the cistern,
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he rushed out to the Gate of Benjamin where the king was holding court.
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“My lord the king,” he said, “these men have done a very evil thing in putting Jeremiah into the cistern. He will die of hunger, for almost all the bread in the city is gone.”
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Then the king commanded Ebed-melech to take thirty men with him and pull Jeremiah out before he died.
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So Ebed-melech took thirty men and went to a palace depot for discarded supplies where used clothing was kept. There he found some old rags and discarded garments which he took to the cistern and lowered to Jeremiah on a rope.
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Ebed-melech called down to Jeremiah, “Use these rags under your armpits to protect you from the ropes.” Then, when Jeremiah was ready,
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they pulled him out and returned him to the palace prison, where he remained.
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One day King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah to meet him at the side entrance of the Temple.
“I want to ask you something,” the king said, “and don’t try to hide the truth.”
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Jeremiah said, “If I tell you the truth, you will kill me. And you won’t listen to me anyway.”
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So King Zedekiah swore before Almighty God his Creator that he would not kill Jeremiah or give him to the men who were after his life.
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Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The Almighty Lord, the God of Israel, says: If you will surrender to Babylon, you and your family shall live and the city will not be burned.
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If you refuse to surrender, this city shall be set afire by the Babylonian army and you will not escape.”
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“But I am afraid to surrender,” the king said, “for the Babylonians will hand me over to the Jews who have defected to them, and who knows what they will do to me?”
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Jeremiah replied, “You won’t get into their hands if only you will obey the Lord; your life will be spared, and all will go well for you.
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But if you refuse to surrender, the Lord has said that all the women left in your palace will be brought out and given to the officers of the Babylonian army; and these women will taunt you with bitterness. ‘Fine friends you have,’ they’ll say, ‘those Egyptians. They have betrayed you and left you to your fate!’
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All your wives and children will be led out to the Babylonians, and you will not escape. You will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned.”
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Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “On pain of death, don’t tell anyone you told me this!
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And if my officials hear that I talked with you and they threaten you with death unless you tell them what we discussed,
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just say that you begged me not to send you back to the dungeon in Jonathan’s house, for you would die there.”
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And sure enough, it wasn’t long before all the city officials came to Jeremiah and asked him why the king had called for him. So he said what the king had told him to, and they left without finding out the truth, for the conversation had not been overheard by anyone.
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And Jeremiah remained confined to the prison yard until the day Jerusalem was captured.
Christian slaves should work hard for their owners and respect them; never let it be said that Christ’s people are poor workers. Don’t let the name of God or his teaching be laughed at because of this.
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If their owner is a Christian, that is no excuse for slowing down; rather they should work all the harder because a brother in the faith is being helped by their efforts.
Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage all to obey them.
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Some may deny these things, but they are the sound, wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and are the foundation for a godly life.
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Anyone who says anything different is both proud and stupid. He is quibbling over the meaning of Christ’s words and stirring up arguments ending in jealousy and anger, which only lead to name-calling, accusations, and evil suspicions.
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These arguers—their minds warped by sin—don’t know how to tell the truth; to them the Good News is just a means of making money. Keep away from them.
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Do you want to be truly rich? You already are if you are happy and good.
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After all, we didn’t bring any money with us when we came into the world, and we can’t carry away a single penny when we die.
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So we should be well satisfied without money if we have enough food and clothing.
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But people who long to be rich soon begin to do all kinds of wrong things to get money, things that hurt them and make them evil-minded and finally send them to hell itself.
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For the love of money is the first step toward all kinds of sin. Some people have even turned away from God because of their love for it, and as a result have pierced themselves with many sorrows.
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O Timothy, you are God’s man. Run from all these evil things, and work instead at what is right and good, learning to trust him and love others and to be patient and gentle.
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Fight on for God. Hold tightly to the eternal life that God has given you and that you have confessed with such a ringing confession before many witnesses.
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I command you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a fearless testimony before Pontius Pilate,
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that you fulfill all he has told you to do so that no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
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For in due season Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only Almighty God, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
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who alone can never die, who lives in light so terrible that no human being can approach him. No mere man has ever seen him nor ever will. Unto him be honor and everlasting power and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
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Tell those who are rich not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone, but their pride and trust should be in the living God who always richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.
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Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them.
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By doing this they will be storing up real treasure for themselves in heaven—it is the only safe investment for eternity! And they will be living a fruitful Christian life down here as well.
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Oh, Timothy, don’t fail to do these things that God entrusted to you. Keep out of foolish arguments with those who boast of their “knowledge” and thus prove their lack of it.
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Some of these people have missed the most important thing in life—they don’t know God. May God’s mercy be upon you.
Sincerely, Paul
Then why cast me off, rejected? Why be so angry with the one you chose as king?
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Have you renounced your covenant with him? For you have thrown his crown in the dust.
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You have broken down the walls protecting him and laid in ruins every fort defending him.
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Everyone who comes along has robbed him while his neighbors mock.
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You have strengthened his enemies against him and made them rejoice.
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You have struck down his sword and refused to help him in battle.
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You have ended his splendor and overturned his throne.
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You have made him old before his time and publicly disgraced him.
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O Jehovah, how long will this go on? Will you hide yourself from me forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?
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Oh, remember how short you have made man’s lifespan. Is it an empty, futile life you give the sons of men?
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No man can live forever. All will die. Who can rescue his life from the power of the grave?
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Lord, where is the love you used to have for me? Where is your kindness that you promised to David with a faithful pledge?
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Lord, see how all the people are despising me.
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Your enemies joke about me, the one you anointed as their king.
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And yet—blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and amen!