The Daily Audio Bible
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16 But first, I will send for many fishermen who will catch them. After this, I will summon many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and every hill, in every crack and crevice of this land. 17 My eyes are fixed on all they are doing. Nothing is hidden from Me; their sins are exposed before My eyes. 18 For their wickedness and sin—polluting My land with the lifeless husks of their disgusting idols, taking what is Mine and filling it with these abominable things—I will repay them doubly.
Jeremiah: 19 O Eternal One, You are my strength,
my fortress, my sanctuary in times of trouble.
The day will come when the nations will come from all over the world and admit,
“Our ancestors were fools! They inherited and clung to empty lies,
Worthless gods that gained them nothing good.
20 Can people make their own gods?
No, because a man-made idol is not a god.”
21 Eternal One: Behold, I will teach these people.
This time, they will learn of My power and strength.
I will teach them, and they will know and fully understand that I am the Eternal.
17 Eternal One: Judah’s sin is engraved on the tablets of their hearts, inscribed on the horns of their altars with an iron tool, tipped with a diamond point. 2 Their children remember their pagan altars and the sacred poles[a] used in idol worship beside leafy green trees on high hills. 3 I will see that My mountain in the land, your nation’s wealth, and all your treasures will be handed over as plunder to your enemies. I will even give your pagan high places to pay the cost for the sins you committed all over Judah. 4 You’ll let this inheritance I gave you slip through your fingers. I will make you slaves to your enemies in a land you have never known because you have stirred My anger into a roaring fire that will last forever.
5 Cursed is the one who trusts in human strength and the abilities of mere mortals.
His very heart strays from the Eternal.
6 He is like a little shrub in the desert that never grows;
he will see no good thing come his way.
He will live in a desert wasteland,
a barren land of salt where no one lives.
7 But blessed is the one who trusts in Me alone;
the Eternal will be his confidence.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots beside the stream.
It does not fear the heat or even drought.
Its leaves stay green and its fruit is dependable, no matter what it faces.
The choices and consequences are clear. Rely on people alone, and life will be tough and brutish. Rely on the one True God, and life will be rich and productive.
9 The heart is most devious and incurably sick.
Who can understand it?
10 It is I, the Eternal One, who probes the innermost heart
and examines the innermost thoughts.
I will compensate each person justly,
according to his ways and by what his actions deserve.
11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs that are not hers,
so is the person who gains wealth unfairly.
In the middle of his life a fool’s money will abandon him.
In the end he, too, will be shown for what he is—a fool.
12 Jeremiah (to God): But from the beginning, Your throne of glory,
our holy place, has always been exalted.
13 O Eternal One, the hope of Israel,
all who forsake You will be put to shame.
Those who turn their backs on You will be written in the dirt,
because they have forsaken You, the spring of living water.
14 Heal me, O Eternal One, and I will be healed.
You alone can save me; to You alone do I sing my praise.
15 The scoffers keep mocking me, saying,
“Where is the word of the Eternal you keep talking about?
Why haven’t His words come to pass?”
16 You know I have not run from my calling—
I have been a shepherd to Your people as You commanded.
I have not secretly desired the day of disaster and sorrow.
You know everything I’ve spoken to these people,
because it was the task You’d set before me.
17 Do not turn and terrify me.
Be my refuge when the dreaded day of reckoning comes.
18 Bring shame on those who persecute me, but save me from that shame.
Bring terror on them, but save me from that terror.
Bring them to the day of disaster; shatter them, destroy them with double the destruction.
Eternal One (to Jeremiah): 19 Go, stand at the public gate of Jerusalem, the one through which the kings of Judah come and go; then take up your post at the other gates around the city. 20 Say to them, Listen, you kings of Judah, you people of Judah, you citizens of Jerusalem, and any who pass through these gates. Listen to the words of the Eternal; 21 this is what He says: “For the welfare of your lives and the good of this city, be careful! Stop violating My Sabbaths by carrying your loads through Jerusalem’s gates on the Sabbath day. 22 Do not bring your loads out of the house on that day—do not work at all on the Sabbath. Keep the Sabbath day holy as I commanded your ancestors all those years ago.[b] 23 But even then, they did not listen or pay attention to Me; instead, they stiffened their resolve not to listen or accept any instruction from Me.
24 “But if you will listen to My words and obey Me by not carrying your loads through these city gates on the Sabbath, if you will live differently on the Sabbath, differently from the rest of your week by not working on it, I promise Jerusalem will be your home forever. 25 The family of David will always reign on his throne here. The kings and rulers of this land will pass through these gates in chariots and on horses. As for their officers, the people of Judah, and the citizens of Jerusalem, they will live securely in this city forever. 26 People will come from Jerusalem’s surrounding villages and the towns and the regions in Judah. They will come from the territory of Benjamin, from the rolling hills in the west, from the hill country, and from the Negev wilderness. They will bring their burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings, incense, and freewill offerings to the Eternal’s temple. 27 But if you refuse to obey Me—if you continue to bring your loads though the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath even though I’ve separated that day as a time of rest—you will be punished. I will kindle a fire to these very gates that cannot be quenched, and all Jerusalem will burn—even her palaces.”
18 The word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah.
Now God’s message comes through another prophetic drama played out in a potter’s shop somewhere in the city. The prophet sees an ordinary event but receives an extraordinary message.
Eternal One: 2 Go down to the potter’s shop in the city, and wait for My word.
3 So I went down to the potter’s shop and found him making something on his wheel. 4 And as I watched, the clay vessel in his hands became flawed and unusable. So the potter started again with the same clay. He crushed and squeezed and shaped it into another vessel that was to his liking. 5 In that moment, I heard again God’s word for His rebellious people.
Eternal One: 6 O people of Israel, can I not do the same to you as this potter has done? You are like clay in My hands—I will mold you as I see fit. 7 If I declare that I am going to uproot, stamp out, or destroy a nation or kingdom because of its wicked ways, and 8 then that same nation I warned turns away from its evil, then I will change My plans. In My compassion, I will not destroy it. 9 If at some other time I declare that I am going to build up and establish a nation, 10 but then it ignores My voice, thus committing evil right in front of Me, I will hold back the good I had planned for them.
(to Jeremiah) 11 Now, prophet, say to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem these words from the Eternal: “Look! I am planning and shaping disaster against you. Like clay on a wheel, I will shape you and your destiny. Turn back from your evil ways—all of you—before it is too late. Do what is right and good.” 12 But they will tell you, “It’s no use trying to persuade us. We have our own thoughts about how we should live, and each of us is firmly committed to our own way, evil or not.”
13 Who has heard of such betrayal as this? Ask the nations around you.
Even they won’t believe this dreadful thing the virgin Israel has done to Me.
14 Does the snow ever melt on the peaks of Lebanon’s mountains?
Does the cool water of those mountain streams ever run dry?[c]
15 They have forgotten Me. Instead, My people offer incense to worthless gods,
worshiping them as though they are real.
They have lost their way, stumbling from the ancient path of blessing.
Now they walk in the ruts of rebellion instead of taking the high road of obedience.
16 Because of their forgetfulness, their homeland will become a wasteland;
those who pass by will hiss and whistle;
Disturbed at the sight of this eerie desolation,
they will shake their heads in horror.
17 As the strong east wind off the desert scatters the dust,
so I will scatter My people before their enemies.
Just as they turned from Me, now I will turn from them.
I will not even look their way on the day of their disaster.
The strong words of Jeremiah and the warnings from God are difficult to hear. But it seems when evil is entrenched in a life, when people stubbornly persist in their wicked ways, such words are not just difficult, they are infuriating. The people of Judah now conspire again to silence this outspoken prophet.
People of Judah (to one another): 18 Come on. Let’s devise a plan against Jeremiah, for there is no way the teaching of our priests, the wisdom of our elders, or the words of our prophets are going to be lost and proven wrong. Do we really need to hear any more from him? Let’s attack his reputation, ruin his standing among us, and ignore everything he has to say.
19 Jeremiah: O Eternal my God, please listen to me.
Do You hear what my enemies are saying?
20 Should good be repaid with such evil?
They have set a trap for me.
Remember how I stood before You in prayer,
begging You to do them good,
Pleading for You to turn Your anger away from them,
and this is how they repay me!
21 Well then. Let their children starve!
Let their young warriors fall in battle!
Let their wives become childless widows!
Let their husbands be struck down and killed
and their young men die in battle!
22 Let them scream from their houses
when You suddenly release the attackers on them.
Why? Because they have set a trap for me;
they have hidden snares along the way to trip me up.
23 Yet, You knew this already, Eternal.
You know of their plans to kill me.
That’s why I am asking You not to forgive them,
not to forget their sins or erase their crimes from Your sight.
Let them be overthrown and killed before Your eyes.
Deal with them while Your anger is still hot.
4 So finally, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus, we ask you, we beg you to remember what we have taught you: live a life that is pleasing to God as you are already doing. Yes, we urge you to keep living and thriving in that life! 2 For you know the instructions we gave you, instructions that came through the Lord Jesus. 3 Now this is God’s will for you: set yourselves apart and live holy lives; avoid polluting yourselves with sexual defilement. 4 Learn how to take charge over your own body, maintaining purity and honor. 5 Don’t let the swells of lustful passion run your life as they do the outsiders who don’t know God. 6 Don’t violate or take advantage of a fellow believer in such matters. As we told you before and warned you: the Lord will settle the score with anyone who does these things. 7 Here’s why: God does not call us to live impure, adulterous, scandalous lives, but to seek holiness and purity. 8 If you ignore this message, then you’re not only rejecting us but you’re rejecting God, the One who has given His Holy Spirit to live in you.
Paul uses the language of a loving faith family reaching out to others.
9 Now there’s no need for us to send you instructions on caring for your faith family because God Himself has already taught you how to love outside yourselves. 10 And it’s evident you learned that lesson well by the way you love all the people of Macedonia. Brothers and sisters, we urge you to love even more 11 and make it your goal to lead a peaceful life, mind your own business, and keep your hands busy in your work, as we have instructed you. 12 That way you will live peacefully with those on the outside, and all your needs will be met without depending on others.
What a beautiful, dramatic transformation! This is Paul’s progression from spoon-feeding people better moral choices to trusting them to live by love according to the conviction of the Spirit, their guide to becoming active participants in the kingdom of God. Paul is acknowledging that there is a power at work that is much greater than his pen. In fact, the same Spirit that inspires Paul’s words in these letters is teaching the believers in Thessalonica to live as true believers and teaches us still today.
13 Brothers and sisters, we want you to be fully informed about those who have fallen asleep in death so that you will not be overwhelmed with grief like those who live outside of the true hope. 14 Here’s what we believe: since Jesus died and rose again, in the same way, God will bring with Jesus all who have died through Him. 15 For we can say all this to you confidently because it is the word of the Lord: we who are still alive and left behind when the Lord comes will not precede those who have fallen asleep in death. 16 On that day, with a command that thunders into the world, with a voice of a chief heavenly messenger, and with a blast of God’s trumpet, the Lord Himself will descend from heaven; and all those who died in the Anointed One, our Liberating King, will rise from the dead first. 17 Then we who are alive and left behind will be snatched up together with them into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. This is how we, the resurrected and the living, will be with Him forever. 18 So comfort one another with this hope, and encourage one another with these words.
Many people fear death; perhaps it’s the idea of the unknown that stirs the imagination. Death is the great enemy that stands before believers; but through Jesus’ own death and resurrection, the power of death is broken. Paul uses the gentle image of the faithful being asleep as a new perspective on the finality of death. One minute you close your eyes to this world; the next you are celebrating with Jesus and experiencing the resurrection of the body. Those sleeping will not even miss a moment; it will all happen in the blink of an eye.
5 Now, brothers and sisters, you don’t need further instruction from us or anyone else for that matter regarding how the seasons and times will play out. 2 That’s because you know the truth well enough. The day of the Lord will race onto the scene and surprise us like a thief in the night. 3 People will be going about their business chanting, “All is well! All is at peace!” and in the next moment, ruin and destruction will suddenly seize them as labor pains grip a woman about to give birth; for them there will be no escape.
Psalm 81
For the worship leader. A song of Asaph accompanied by the harp.[a]
God’s covenant people celebrated many festivals honoring God and His provisions. Poets composed songs specifically for use on feast days. Psalm 81 is one of those. It was written to celebrate the Festival of Booths. God commanded His people to celebrate this festival every year so they would remember how God provided for them as they moved toward the promised land (Deuteronomy 16:13–15). A portion of this psalm (verses 5b–16) would have been sung by the lead musician as if he were speaking for God.
In the annual rhythm of festivals and praise, God is reminding the people of all He has done for them and of their past disobedience in spite of His love. He is also calling His people to renew their commitment to Him, a reasonable request on a holiday honoring Him.
1 Sing with joy to God, our strength, our fortress.
Raise your voices to the True God of Jacob.
2 Sing and strike up a melody;
sound the tambourine,
strum the sweet lyre and the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet to announce the new moon,
the full moon, the day of our feast.[b]
4 For this is prescribed for Israel,
a rule ordained by the True God of Jacob.
5 A precept established by God in Joseph
during His journey in Egypt.
I hear it said in a language foreign to me:
6 “I removed the burden from your shoulders;
I removed heavy baskets from your hands.
7 You cried out to Me, I heard your distress, and I delivered you;
I answered you from the secret place, where clouds of thunder roll.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
[pause][c]
8 “O My people, hear Me; I will rebuke you.
Israel, Israel! If you would only listen to Me.
9 Do not surround yourselves with other gods
or bow down to strange gods.
10 I am the Eternal, your True God.
I liberated you from slavery, led you out from the land of Egypt.
If you open your mouth wide, I will fill it.
11 “But My own people did not hear My voice!
Israel refused to obey Me.
12 So I freed them to follow their hard hearts,
to do what they thought was best.
13 If only My people would hear My voice
and Israel would follow My direction!
14 Then I would not hesitate to humble their enemies
and defeat their opposition Myself.
15 Those who hate the Eternal will cower in His presence, pretending to submit;
they secretly loathe Him, yet their doom is forever.
16 But you—I will feed you the best wheat
and satisfy you with honey out of the rock.”
6 Do not claim to be important in the presence of the king
or vie for a position within the company of great men.
7 Truly, it is far sweeter to have someone of influence say to you, “Come up here and join us,”
than to be ordered to some lower rank in front of a noble.
Just because you think you have seen something
8 doesn’t mean you should be quick to go to court,
For what will you do
when your neighbor disproves the charge and embarrasses you?
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.