The Daily Audio Bible
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Jeremiah’s Question
12 O Yahweh, even if I would argue my case with you,
you would always be right.
Yet, I want to talk to you about your justice.
Why do wicked people succeed?
Why do treacherous people have peace and quiet?
2 You plant them, and they take root.
They grow, and they produce fruit.
They speak well of you with their lips,
but their hearts are far from you.
3 You know me, O Yahweh.
You see me and test my devotion to you.
Drag them away like sheep to be slaughtered.
Prepare them for the day of slaughter.
4 How long will the land mourn?
How long will the plants in every field remain dried up?
The animals and the birds are dying,
because people are wicked.
They think that Elohim[a] doesn’t know what they are doing.
The Lord’s Reply
5 “If you have raced against others on foot, and they have tired you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in open country,
how can you live in the jungle along the Jordan River?
6 Even your relatives and members of your father’s household betray you.
They have also formed a mob to find you.
Don’t trust them when they say good things about you.
7 “I have abandoned my nation.
I have left my own people.
I have handed the people I love over to their enemies.
8 My people have turned on me like a lion in the forest.
They roar at me, so I hate them.
9 My people are like a colorful bird of prey.
Other birds of prey surround it.
Go, gather all the animals in the field,
and bring them to devour it.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard.
They’ve trampled my property.
They’ve turned my pleasant property into a wasteland.
11 They’ve left it a wasteland.
Devastated, it mourns in my presence.
The whole land is destroyed,
but no one takes this to heart.
12 Looters swarm all over the bare hills in the desert.
Yahweh’s sword destroys them
from one end of the land to the other.
No one will be safe.
13 My people planted wheat, but they harvested thorns.
They worked until they became sick, but they gained nothing by it.
They were disappointed by their harvests
because of the burning anger of Yahweh.
14 “This is what I, Yahweh, say about all my evil neighbors who take the inheritance that I gave my people Israel: I am going to uproot those neighbors from their lands. I will also uproot the people of Judah from among them. 15 After I’ve uprooted them, I will have compassion on them again. I will return them to their inheritance and to their lands. 16 Suppose they learn carefully the ways of my people. Suppose they take an oath in my name, ‘As Yahweh lives . . .’ as they taught my people to take an oath in the name of Baal. Then they will build homes among my people. 17 But suppose they don’t listen. Then I will uproot that nation and destroy it,” declares Yahweh.
Jeremiah’s Linen Belt
13 This is what Yahweh said to me: “Buy a linen belt. Put it around your waist. Don’t let it get wet.” 2 So I bought the belt, as Yahweh had told me, and put it around my waist.
3 Yahweh spoke his word to me again. He said, 4 “Take the belt that you bought, the one you’re wearing. Go to the Euphrates River, and bury it there in a crack in the rocks.” 5 So I went and buried it by the Euphrates, as Yahweh had told me.
6 After many days Yahweh said to me, “Go to the Euphrates, and get the belt from where I told you to bury it.” 7 So I went back to the Euphrates and dug it up. I got the belt from where I had buried it. Now the belt was ruined. It was good for nothing.
8 Then Yahweh spoke his word to me. He said, 9 “This is what Yahweh says: This is how I will destroy Judah’s arrogance and Jerusalem’s extreme arrogance. 10 These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They go their own stubborn ways and follow other gods in order to serve them and worship them. They are like this good-for-nothing belt. 11 As a belt clings to a person’s waist, so I have made the entire nation of Israel and the entire nation of Judah cling to me,” declares Yahweh. “I did this so that they would be my people and bring fame, praise, and honor to me. However, they wouldn’t listen.
12 “Give this message to them, ‘This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: Every bottle will be filled with wine.’ Then they will say to you, ‘We know that every bottle will be filled with wine.’ 13 Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh says: I’m going to make everyone who lives in this land drunk. The kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all those who live in Jerusalem will become drunk. 14 Then I will smash them like bottles against each other. I will smash parents and children together, declares Yahweh. I will have no pity, mercy, or compassion when I destroy them.’”
15 Listen, and pay attention!
Don’t be arrogant. Yahweh has spoken.
16 Honor Yahweh your Elohim before it gets dark,
before your feet stumble on the mountains in the twilight.
You will look for light,
but Yahweh will turn it into the shadow of death
and change it into deep darkness.
17 If you won’t listen,
I will cry secretly over your arrogance.
I will cry bitterly, and my eyes will flow with tears
because Yahweh’s flock will be taken captive.
18 Say to the king and his mother,
“Come down from your thrones,
because your crowns have fallen off your heads.”
19 The cities in the Negev will be locked up,
and there will be no one to reopen them.
All the people of Judah will be taken away into captivity.
20 Look up, and see those who are coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was given to you—your beautiful sheep?
21 What will you say
when Yahweh makes the people you thought were your friends
your new masters?
Won’t pain grip you like a woman in labor?
22 If you ask yourself,
“Why do these things happen to me?”
it’s because you have so many sins.
Your clothes have been torn off
and your limbs are bare.
23 Can Ethiopians change the color of their skin
or leopards change their spots?
Can you do good
when you’re taught to do wrong?
24 “I will scatter you like straw that is blown away by a desert wind.
25 This is your fate, the destiny I have planned for you,”
declares Yahweh.
“You have forgotten me and trusted false gods.
26 I will also tear off your clothes,
and your shame will be seen.
27 I have seen you commit adultery and squeal with delight.
I have seen you act like a shameless prostitute
on the hills and in the fields.
How horrible it will be for you, Jerusalem!
Will you ever be clean?”[b]
The Lord Sends a Drought
14 Yahweh spoke his word to Jeremiah about the drought.
2 Judah mourns; its gates fall apart.
The people of Judah sit in mourning on the ground.
Their cry goes up from Jerusalem.
3 Important people send their assistants out for water.
They go to the cisterns, but they don’t find any water.
They come back with their containers empty.
They cover their heads, because they are ashamed and disgraced.
4 The ground is cracked because there has been no rain in the land.
The farmers are disappointed. They cover their heads.
5 Even deer in the fields give birth and abandon their young
because there’s no grass.
6 Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills.
They sniff the air like jackals.
Their eyesight fails because they have no green plants.
7 Do something, Yahweh, for the sake of your name,
even though our sins testify against us.
We have been unfaithful and have sinned against you.
8 You are Israel’s hope,
the one who saves it in times of trouble.
Why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler who stays only one night?
9 Why should you be like someone taken by surprise,
like a strong man who cannot help?
You, O Yahweh, are among us.
We are called by your name.
Don’t leave us!
10 This is what Yahweh says about these people: They love to wander. They don’t keep their feet where they belong. So Yahweh isn’t happy with them. He will remember their crimes and punish their sins.
Greeting
1 From Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
To the church at Thessalonica united with God the Father and the Lord Yeshua Christ.
Good will[a] and peace are yours!
Paul’s Prayer for the Thessalonians
2 We always thank God for all of you as we remember you in our prayers. 3 In the presence of our God and Father, we never forget that your faith is active, your love is working hard, and your confidence in our Lord Yeshua Christ is enduring. 4 Brothers and sisters, we never forget this because we know that God loves you and has chosen you. 5 We know this because the Good News we brought came to you not only with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with complete certainty. In the same way you know what kind of people we were while we were with you and the good things we did for you.
6 You imitated us and the Lord. In spite of a lot of suffering, you welcomed God’s word with the kind of joy that the Holy Spirit gives. 7 This way, you became a model for all the believers in the province of Macedonia and Greece. 8 From you the Lord’s word has spread out not only through the province of Macedonia and Greece but also to people everywhere who have heard about your faith in God. We don’t need to say a thing about it. 9 They talk about how you welcomed us when we arrived. They even report how you turned away from false gods to serve the real, living God 10 and to wait for his Son to come from heaven. His Son is Yeshua, whom he brought back to life. Yeshua is the one who rescues us from God’s coming anger.
Paul Remembers When He Was with the Thessalonians
2 You know, brothers and sisters, that our time with you was not wasted. 2 As you know, we suffered rough and insulting treatment in Philippi. But our God gave us the courage to tell you his Good News in spite of strong opposition.
3 When we encouraged you, we didn’t use unethical schemes, corrupt practices, or deception. 4 Rather, we are always spreading the Good News. God trusts us to do this because we passed his test. We don’t try to please people but God, who tests our motives. 5 As you know, we never used flattery or schemes to make money. God is our witness! 6 We didn’t seek praise from people, from you or from anyone else, 7 although as apostles of Christ we had the right to do this.
Instead, we were gentle when we were with you, like a mother taking care of her children. 8 We felt so strongly about you that we were determined to share with you not only the Good News of God but also our lives. That’s how dear you were to us!
Psalm 79
A psalm by Asaph.
1 O Elohim, the nations have invaded the land that belongs to you.
They have dishonored your holy temple.
They have left Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the dead bodies of your servants
to the birds for food.
They have given the flesh of your godly ones
to the animals.
3 They have shed the blood of your people around Jerusalem
as though it were water.
There is no one to bury your people.
4 We have become a disgrace to our neighbors,
an object of ridicule and contempt to those around us.
5 How long, O Yahweh?
Will you remain angry forever?
Will your fury continue to burn like fire?
6 Pour your fury on the nations that do not know you,
on the kingdoms that have not called you.
7 They have devoured Jacob.
They have destroyed his home.
8 Do not hold the crimes of our ancestors against us.
Reach out to us soon with your compassion,
because we are helpless.
9 Help us, O Elohim, our savior, for the glory of your name.
Rescue us, and forgive our sins for the honor of your name.
10 Why should the nations be allowed to say,
“Where is their Elohim?”
Let us watch as the nations learn
that there is punishment for shedding the blood of your servants.
11 Let the groans of prisoners come into your presence.
With your powerful arm rescue those who are condemned to death.
12 Pay each one of our neighbors back
with seven times the number of insults they used to insult you, O Adonay.
13 Then we, your people, the flock in your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever.
We will praise you throughout every generation.
30 I passed by a lazy person’s field,
the vineyard belonging to a person without sense.
31 I saw that it was all overgrown with thistles.
The ground was covered with weeds,
and its stone fence was torn down.
32 When I observed this, I took it to heart.
I saw it and learned my lesson.
33 “Just a little sleep,
just a little slumber,
just a little nap.”
34 Then your poverty will come like a drifter,
and your need will come like a bandit.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.