The One Year Bible TLB (242 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
November 14Late in December of the tenth year (of the imprisonment of King Jehoiachin), this message came to me from the Lord:
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“Son of dust, face toward Egypt and prophesy against Pharaoh her king and all her people.
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Tell them that the Lord God says: ‘I am your enemy, Pharaoh, king of Egypt—mighty dragon lying in the middle of your rivers. For you have said, “The Nile is mine; I have made it for myself!”
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I will put hooks into your jaws and drag you out onto the land with fish sticking to your scales.
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And I will leave you and all the fish stranded in the desert to die, and you won’t be buried, for I have given you as food to the wild animals and birds.
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“‘Because of the way your might collapsed when Israel called on you for aid instead of trusting me,
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all of you shall know I am the Lord.
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Israel leaned on you but, like a cracked staff, you snapped beneath her hand and wrenched her shoulder out of joint and made her stagger with the pain.
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Therefore the Lord God says: I will bring an army against you, O Egypt, and destroy both men and herds.
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The land of Egypt shall become a desolate wasteland, and the Egyptians will know that I, the Lord, have done it.
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“‘Because you said: “The Nile is mine! I made it!” therefore I am against you and your river, and I will utterly destroy the land of Egypt, from Migdol to Syene, as far south as the border of Ethiopia.
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For forty years not a soul will pass that way, neither men nor animals. It will be completely uninhabited.
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I will make Egypt desolate, surrounded by desolate nations, and her cities will lie as wastelands for forty years. I will exile the Egyptians to other lands.
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“‘But the Lord God says that at the end of the forty years he will bring the Egyptians home again from the nations to which they will be banished.
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And I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring her people back to the land of Pathros in southern Egypt where they were born, but she will be an unimportant, minor kingdom.
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She will be the lowliest of all the nations; never again will she raise herself above the other nations; never again will Egypt be great enough for that.
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“‘Israel will no longer expect any help from Egypt. Whenever she thinks of asking for it, then she will remember her sin in seeking it before. Then Israel will know that I alone am God.’”
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In the twenty-seventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,
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around the middle of March, this message came to me from the Lord:
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“Son of dust, the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon fought hard against Tyre. The soldiers’ heads were bald from carrying heavy basketfuls of earth; their shoulders were raw and blistered from burdens of stones for the siege. And Nebuchadnezzar received no compensation and could not pay the army for all this work.”
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Therefore, the Lord God says, “I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he will carry off her wealth, plundering everything she has, for his army.
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Yes, I have given him the land of Egypt for his salary because he was working for me during those thirteen years at Tyre,” says the Lord.
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“And the day will come when I will cause the ancient glory of Israel to revive, and then at last her words will be respected, and Egypt shall know I am the Lord.”
30:
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Another message from the Lord!
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“Son of dust, prophesy and say: The Lord God says, ‘Weep, for the terrible day is almost here; the day of the Lord; a day of clouds and gloom; a day of despair for the nations!
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A sword shall fall on Egypt; the slain shall cover the ground. Her wealth is taken away, her foundations destroyed. The land of Cush has been ravished.
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For Cush, Put, Lud, Arabia, and Libya, and all the countries leagued with them shall perish in that war.’”
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For the Lord says: “All Egypt’s allies shall fall, and the pride of her power shall end. From Migdol to Syene they shall perish by the sword.
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She shall be desolate, surrounded by desolate nations, and her cities shall be in ruins, surrounded by other ruined cities.
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And they will know I am the Lord when I have set Egypt on fire and destroyed her allies.
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At that time I will send swift messengers to bring panic to the Ethiopians; great terror shall befall them at that time of Egypt’s doom. This will all come true.”
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For the Lord God says: “Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, will destroy the multitudes of Egypt.
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He and his armies—the terror of the nations—are sent to demolish the land. They shall war against Egypt and cover the ground with the slain.
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I will dry up the Nile and sell the whole land to wicked men. I will destroy Egypt and everything in it, using foreigners to do it. I, the Lord, have spoken it.
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“And I will smash the idols of Egypt and the images at Memphis, and there will be no king in Egypt; anarchy shall reign!
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“The cities of Pathros along the upper Nile,
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Zoan, and Thebes shall lie in ruins by my hand.
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And I will pour out my fury upon Pelusium, the strongest fortress of Egypt, and I will stamp out the people of Thebes.
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Yes, I will set fire to Egypt; Pelusium will be racked with pain. Thebes will be torn apart; Memphis will be in daily terror.
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The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis shall die by the sword, and the women will be taken away as slaves.
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When I come to break the power of Egypt, it will be a dark day for Tahpanhes too; a dark cloud will cover her, and her daughters will be taken away as captives.
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And so I will greatly punish Egypt and they shall know I am the Lord.”
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A year later,
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around the middle of March of the eleventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me:
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“Son of dust, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh,
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king of Egypt, and it has not been set nor put into a cast to make it strong enough to hold a sword again.
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For the Lord God says, I am against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and I will break both his arms—the strong one and the one that was broken before, and I will make his sword clatter to the ground.
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And I will banish the Egyptians to many lands.
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And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and place my sword in his hand. But I will break the arms of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he shall groan before the king of Babylon as one who has been wounded unto death.
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I will strengthen the hands of the king of Babylon, while the arms of Pharaoh fall useless to his sides. Yes, when I place my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he swings it over the land of Egypt, Egypt shall know I am the Lord.
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I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations; then they shall know I am the Lord.”
Well, how much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah and David and Samuel and all the other prophets.
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These people all trusted God and as a result won battles, overthrew kingdoms, ruled their people well, and received what God had promised them; they were kept from harm in a den of lions
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and in a fiery furnace. Some, through their faith, escaped death by the sword. Some were made strong again after they had been weak or sick. Others were given great power in battle; they made whole armies turn and run away.
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And some women, through faith, received their loved ones back again from death. But others trusted God and were beaten to death, preferring to die rather than turn from God and be free—trusting that they would rise to a better life afterwards.
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Some were laughed at and their backs cut open with whips, and others were chained in dungeons.
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Some died by stoning and some by being sawed in two; others were promised freedom if they would renounce their faith, then were killed with the sword. Some went about in skins of sheep and goats, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in dens and caves. They were hungry and sick and ill-treated—too good for this world.
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And these men of faith, though they trusted God and won his approval, none of them received all that God had promised them;
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for God wanted them to wait and share the even better rewards that were prepared for us.
12:
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Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.
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Keep your eyes on Jesus, our leader and instructor. He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterwards; and now he sits in the place of honor by the throne of God.
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If you want to keep from becoming fainthearted and weary, think about his patience as sinful men did such terrible things to him.
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After all, you have never yet struggled against sin and temptation until you sweat great drops of blood.
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And have you quite forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you, his child? He said, “My son, don’t be angry when the Lord punishes you. Don’t be discouraged when he has to show you where you are wrong.
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For when he punishes you, it proves that he loves you. When he whips you, it proves you are really his child.”
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Let God train you, for he is doing what any loving father does for his children. Whoever heard of a son who was never corrected?
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If God doesn’t punish you when you need it, as other fathers punish their sons, then it means that you aren’t really God’s son at all—that you don’t really belong in his family.
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Since we respect our fathers here on earth, though they punish us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to God’s training so that we can begin really to live?
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Our earthly fathers trained us for a few brief years, doing the best for us that they knew how, but God’s correction is always right and for our best good, that we may share his holiness.
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Being punished isn’t enjoyable while it is happening—it hurts! But afterwards we can see the result, a quiet growth in grace and character.
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So take a new grip with your tired hands, stand firm on your shaky legs,
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and mark out a straight, smooth path for your feet so that those who follow you, though weak and lame, will not fall and hurt themselves but become strong.
Praise the Lord! For all who fear God and trust in him are blessed beyond expression. Yes, happy is the man who delights in doing his commands.
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His children shall be honored everywhere, for good men’s sons have a special heritage.
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He himself shall be wealthy, and his good deeds will never be forgotten.
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When darkness overtakes him, light will come bursting in. He is kind and merciful—
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and all goes well for the generous man who conducts his business fairly.
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Such a man will not be overthrown by evil circumstances. God’s constant care of him will make a deep impression on all who see it.
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He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen. For he is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him.
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That is why he is not afraid but can calmly face his foes.
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He gives generously to those in need. His deeds will never be forgotten.
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He shall have influence and honor.
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Evil-minded men will be infuriated when they see all this; they will gnash their teeth in anger and slink away, their hopes thwarted.
A friendly discussion is as stimulating as the sparks that fly when iron strikes iron.
November 15In mid-May of the eleventh year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,
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this message came to me from the Lord:
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“Son of dust, tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and all his people: ‘You are as Assyria was—a great and mighty nation—like a cedar of Lebanon, full of thick branches and forest shade, with its head high up among the clouds.
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Its roots went deep into the moist earth. It grew luxuriantly and gave streamlets of water to all the trees around.
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It towered above all the other trees. It prospered and grew long thick branches because of all the water at its roots.
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The birds nested in its branches, and in its shade the flocks and herds gave birth to young. All the great nations of the world lived beneath its shadow.
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It was strong and beautiful, for its roots went deep to water.
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This tree was taller than any other in the garden of God; no cypress had branches equal to it; none had boughs to compare; none equaled it in beauty.
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Because of the magnificence that I gave it, it was the envy of all the other trees of Eden.’
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“But Egypt
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has become proud and arrogant,” the Lord God says. “Therefore because she has set herself so high above the others, reaching to the clouds,
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I will deliver her into the hands of a mighty nation, to destroy her as her wickedness deserves. I, myself, will cut her down.
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A foreign army (from Babylon)—the terror of the nations—will invade her land and cut her down and leave her fallen on the ground. Her branches will be scattered across the mountains and valleys and rivers of the land. All those who live beneath her shade will go away and leave her lying there.
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The birds will pluck off her twigs, and the wild animals will lie among her branches;
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let no other nation exult with pride for its own prosperity, though it be higher than the clouds, for all are doomed, and they will land in hell along with all the proud men of the world.”
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The Lord God says: “When she fell, I made the oceans mourn for her and restrained their tides.
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I clothed Lebanon in black and caused the trees of Lebanon to weep.
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I made the nations shake with fear at the sound of her fall, for I threw her down to hell with all the others like her. And all the other proud trees of Eden, the choicest and the best of Lebanon, the ones whose roots went deep into the water, are comforted to find her there with them in hell.
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Her allies, too, are all destroyed and perish with her. They went down with her to the netherworld—those nations that had lived beneath her shade.
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“O Egypt, you are great and glorious among the trees of Eden—the nations of the world. And you will be brought down to the pit of hell with all these other nations. You will be among the nations you despise, killed by the sword. This is the fate of Pharaoh and all his teeming masses,” says the Lord.
32:
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In mid-February of the twelfth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, this message came to me from the Lord:
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“Son of dust, mourn for Pharaoh, king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You think of yourself as a strong young lion among the nations, but you are merely a crocodile
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along the banks of the Nile, making bubbles and muddying the stream.’”
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The Lord God says: “I will send a great army to catch you with my net. I will haul you out
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and leave you stranded on the land to die. And all the birds of the heavens will light upon you, and the wild animals of the whole earth will devour you until they are glutted and full.
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And I will cover the hills with your flesh and fill the valleys with your bones.
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And I will drench the earth with your gushing blood, filling the ravines to the tops of the mountains.
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I will blot you out, and I will veil the heavens and darken the stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give you her light.
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Yes, darkness will be everywhere across your land—even the bright stars will be dark above you.
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“And when I destroy you,
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grief will be in many hearts among the distant nations you have never seen.
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Yes, terror shall strike in many lands, and their kings shall be terribly afraid because of all I do to you. They shall shudder with terror when I brandish my sword before them. They shall greatly tremble for their lives on the day of your fall.”
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For the Lord God says: “The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon you.
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I will destroy you with Babylon’s mighty army—the terror of the nations. It will smash the pride of Egypt and all her people; all will perish.
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I will destroy all your flocks and herds that graze beside the streams, and neither man nor animal will disturb those waters anymore.
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Therefore, the waters of Egypt will be as clear and flow as smoothly as olive oil,” the Lord God says.
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“And when I destroy Egypt and wipe out everything she has, then she shall know that I, the Lord, have done it.
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Yes, cry for the sorrows of Egypt. Let all the nations weep for her and for her people,” says the Lord.
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Two weeks later,
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another message came to me from the Lord. He said:
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“Son of dust, weep for the people of Egypt and for the other mighty nations. Send them down to the netherworld among the denizens of death.
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What nation is as beautiful as you, O Egypt? Yet your doom is the pit; you will be laid beside the people you despise.
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The Egyptians will die with the multitudes slain by the sword, for the sword is drawn against the land of Egypt. She will be drawn down to judgment.
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The mighty warriors in the netherworld will welcome her as she arrives with all her friends, to lie there beside the nations she despised, all victims of the sword.
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“The princes of Assyria lie there surrounded by the graves of all her people, those the sword has slain.
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Their graves are in the depths of hell, surrounded by their allies. All these mighty men who once struck terror into the hearts of everyone are now dead at the hands of their foes.
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“Great kings of Elam lie there with their people. They scourged the nations while they lived, and now they lie undone in hell; their fate is the same as that of ordinary men.
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They have a resting place among the slain, surrounded by the graves of all their people. Yes, they terrorized the nations while they lived, but now they lie in shame in the pit, slain by the sword.
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“The princes of Meshech and Tubal are there, surrounded by the graves of all their armies—all of them idolaters—who once struck terror to the hearts of all; now they lie dead.
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They are buried in a common grave and not as the fallen lords who are buried in great honor with their weapons beside them, with their shields covering them and their swords beneath their heads.
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They were a terror to all while they lived.
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Now you will lie crushed and broken among the idolaters, among those who are slain by the sword.
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“Edom is there with her kings and her princes; mighty as they were, they too lie among the others whom the sword has slain, with the idolaters who have gone down to the pit.
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All the princes of the north are there and the Sidonians, all slain. Once a terror, now they lie in shame; they lie in ignominy with all the other slain who go down to the pit.
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“When Pharaoh arrives, he will be comforted to find that he is not alone in having all his army slain,” says the Lord God.
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“For I have caused my terror to fall upon all the living. And Pharaoh and his army shall lie among the idolaters who are slain by the sword.”
Try to stay out of all quarrels, and seek to live a clean and holy life, for one who is not holy will not see the Lord.
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Look after each other so that not one of you will fail to find God’s best blessings. Watch out that no bitterness takes root among you, for as it springs up it causes deep trouble, hurting many in their spiritual lives.
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Watch out that no one becomes involved in sexual sin or becomes careless about God as Esau did: he traded his rights as the oldest son for a single meal.
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And afterwards, when he wanted those rights back again, it was too late, even though he wept bitter tears of repentance. So remember, and be careful.
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You have not had to stand face to face with terror, flaming fire, gloom, darkness, and a terrible storm as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai when God gave them his laws.
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For there was an awesome trumpet blast and a voice with a message so terrible that the people begged God to stop speaking.
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They staggered back under God’s command that if even an animal touched the mountain it must die.
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Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he shook with terrible fear.
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But you have come right up into Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the gathering of countless happy angels;
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and to the church, composed of all those registered in heaven; and to God who is Judge of all; and to the spirits of the redeemed in heaven, already made perfect;
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and to Jesus himself, who has brought us his wonderful new agreement; and to the sprinkled blood, which graciously forgives instead of crying out for vengeance as the blood of Abel did.
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So see to it that you obey him who is speaking to you. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, how terrible our danger if we refuse to listen to God who speaks to us from heaven!
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When he spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but, “Next time,” he says, “I will not only shake the earth but the heavens too.”
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By this he means that he will sift out everything without solid foundations so that only unshakable things will be left.
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Since we have a Kingdom nothing can destroy, let us please God by serving him with thankful hearts and with holy fear and awe.
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For our God is a consuming fire.
Hallelujah! O servants of Jehovah, praise his name.
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Blessed is his name forever and forever.
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Praise him from sunrise to sunset!
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For he is high above the nations; his glory is far greater than the heavens.
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Who can be compared with God enthroned on high?
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Far below him are the heavens and the earth; he stoops to look,
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and lifts the poor from the dirt and the hungry from the garbage dump,
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and sets them among princes!
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He gives children to the childless wife, so that she becomes a happy mother.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord.
114:
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Long ago when the Israelis escaped from Egypt, from that land of foreign tongue,
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then the lands of Judah and of Israel became God’s new home and kingdom.
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The Red Sea saw them coming and quickly broke apart before them. The Jordan River opened up a path for them to cross.
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The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs!
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What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you cut yourself in two? What happened, Jordan River, to your waters? Why were they held back?
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Why, mountains, did you skip like rams? Why, little hills, like lambs?
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Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Jacob.
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For he caused gushing streams to burst from flinty rock.
A workman may eat from the orchard he tends; anyone should be rewarded who protects another’s interests.
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A mirror reflects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.
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Ambition
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and death are alike in this: neither is ever satisfied.