The Daily Audio Bible
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Israel Will Be Smashed Like a Clay Jar
19 This is what Yahweh says: Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the leaders of the people and some of the leaders of the priests. 2 Go to the valley of Ben Hinnom at the entrance to Potsherd Gate. Announce there the things I plan to do. 3 Say, “Listen to the word of Yahweh, you kings of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: I’m going to bring such a disaster on this place that the ears of everyone who hears about it will ring.
4 “The people, their ancestors, and the kings of Judah have abandoned me. They have made this place unrecognizable by burning incense as an offering to other gods that they hadn’t heard of. They have filled this place with the blood of innocent people. 5 They have built worship sites to burn their children as sacrifices to Baal. I didn’t ask them or command them to do this. It never entered my mind.
6 “That is why the days are coming, declares Yahweh, when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben Hinnom. Instead, it will be called Slaughter Valley. 7 I will smash the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will cut them down with swords in front of their enemies and with the hands of those who want to kill them. I will give their bodies as food to birds and to animals. 8 I will devastate this city. It will become something to hiss at. Everyone who goes by it will be stunned and hiss with contempt at all the disasters that happen to it. 9 I will make the people eat the flesh of their sons and daughters. They will eat each other’s flesh during blockades and hardships that their enemies impose on them when they want to kill them.”
10 The Lord says, “Then smash the jar in front of the men who went with you. 11 Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth says: I will smash these people and this city as this potter’s jar was smashed beyond repair. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there’s no other place to bury them. 12 That’s what I will do to this place and to those who live in it, declares Yahweh. I will make this city like Topheth. 13 The houses in Jerusalem, the houses of the kings of Judah, and all the rooftops of the houses will be unclean[a] like this city Topheth. This is because people burned incense to the entire army of heaven and poured out wine offerings to other gods.’”
14 Then Jeremiah left Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy. He stood in the courtyard of Yahweh’s temple and said to all the people, 15 “This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: I’m going to bring on this city and on all its towns the disasters that I threatened. They’ve become impossible to deal with, and they refuse to obey me.”
Pashhur Imprisons Jeremiah
20 Now the priest, Immer’s son Pashhur, the chief officer of Yahweh’s temple, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. 2 Pashhur struck the prophet Jeremiah and put him in prison at Upper Benjamin Gate that was in Yahweh’s temple.
3 The next day when Pashhur took Jeremiah out of prison, Jeremiah said to him, “Yahweh doesn’t call you Pashhur, but he calls you Terror Everywhere. 4 This is what Yahweh says: I’m going to make you terrify yourself and all your friends. Their enemies’ swords will kill them, and you will see it with your own eyes. I will hand all of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will take the people away as captives to Babylon or kill them with swords. 5 I will hand all the riches of this city over to their enemies. This will include all its produce, all its valuables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. Their enemies will loot them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon. 6 And you, Pashhur, and all those who live in your house will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon, and you will die there. You will be buried there together with all your friends to whom you prophesied these lies.”
Jeremiah Prays to the Lord
7 O Yahweh, you have deceived me, and I was deceived.
You overpowered me and won.
I’ve been made fun of all day long.
Everyone mocks me.
8 Each time I speak, I have to cry out and shout,
“Violence and destruction!”
The word of Yahweh has made me the object of insults
and contempt all day long.
9 I think to myself, “I can forget Yahweh
and no longer speak his name.”
But his word is inside me like a burning fire shut up in my bones.
I wear myself out holding it in, but I can’t do it any longer.
10 I have heard many people whispering,
“Terror is everywhere!
Report him! Let’s report him!”
All my closest friends are waiting to see me stumble.
They say, “Maybe he will be tricked.
Then we can overpower him and take revenge on him.”
11 But Yahweh is on my side like a terrifying warrior.
That is why those who persecute me will stumble. They can’t win.
They will be very ashamed that they can’t succeed.
Their eternal shame will not be forgotten.
12 But Yahweh Tsebaoth examines the righteous.
He sees their motives and thoughts.
I want to see you take revenge on them,
because I’ve brought my case to you.
13 Sing to Yahweh! Praise Yahweh!
He has rescued the lives of needy people
from the power of wicked people.
14 Cursed is the day that I was born,
the day that my mother gave birth to me.
May it not be blessed.
15 Cursed is the man who made my father very happy with the news
that he had just become the father of a baby boy.
16 May that man be like the cities
that Yahweh destroyed without pity.
May he hear a cry of alarm in the morning
and a battle cry at noon.
17 If only he had killed me while I was in the womb.
Then my mother would have been my grave,
and she would have always been pregnant.
18 Why did I come out of the womb?
All I’ve seen is trouble and grief.
I will finish my days in shame.
Jerusalem Will Be Captured by the Babylonians
21 Yahweh spoke his word to Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur, son of Malchiah, and the priest Zephaniah, son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah. They said, 2 “Consult Yahweh for us, because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking us. Maybe Yahweh will perform miracles for us so that Nebuchadnezzar will retreat.”
3 Jeremiah responded to them, “This is what you should say to Zedekiah, 4 ‘This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: I’m going to take your weapons away from you. You are using these weapons to fight the king of Babylon as well as the Babylonians who are now blockading you outside the wall. I will bring the Babylonians inside this city. 5 I will fight you in anger, fury, and rage with my powerful hand and my mighty arm. 6 I will defeat those who live in this city, both people and animals. They will die from a terrible plague. 7 Afterwards, declares Yahweh, I will hand over Judah’s King Zedekiah, his officials, the people, and everyone else in this city who survives the plague, war, and famine. They will be handed over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. Nebuchadnezzar will kill them with swords. He won’t spare them, show them compassion, or care for them.’
8 “Say to these people, ‘This is what Yahweh says: I am going to give you the choice of life or death. 9 Those who live in this city will die in the war, famine, or plague. Those of you who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will live. You will escape with your lives. 10 I’ve decided to harm this city, not to do good to it, declares Yahweh. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.’
11 “Say to the nation of the king of Judah, ‘Listen to the word of Yahweh, 12 descendants of David. This is what Yahweh says:
Judge fairly every morning.
Rescue those who have been robbed from those who oppress them.
Otherwise, my fury will break out and burn like fire.
No one will be able to put it out
because of the evil things you have done.
13 “‘I’m against you, Jerusalem.
You are the city that is in the valley
and on the rock in the plain,’”
declares Yahweh.
“‘But you ask, “Who can attack us?
Who can enter our places of refuge?”
14 “‘I will punish you because of the evil things you have done,’”
declares Yahweh.
“‘I will start a fire in your forests,
and it will burn up everything around you.’”
4 But, brothers and sisters, you don’t live in the dark. That day won’t take you by surprise as a thief would. 5 You belong to the day and the light not to the night and the dark. 6 Therefore, we must not fall asleep like other people, but we must stay awake and be sober. 7 People who sleep, sleep at night; people who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 Since we belong to the day, we must be sober. We must put on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 It was not God’s intention that we experience his anger but that we obtain salvation through our Lord Yeshua Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake in this life or asleep in death, we will live together with him. 11 Therefore, encourage each other and strengthen one another as you are doing.
Paul Encourages the Thessalonians
12 Brothers and sisters, we ask you to show your appreciation for those leaders who work among you and instruct you. 13 We ask you to love them and think very highly of them because of the work they are doing. Live in peace with each other.
14 We encourage you, brothers and sisters, to instruct those who are not living right, cheer up those who are discouraged, help the weak, and be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that no one ever pays back one wrong with another wrong. Instead, always try to do what is good for each other and everyone else.
16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Whatever happens, give thanks, because it is God’s will in Christ Yeshua that you do this.
19 Don’t put out the Spirit’s fire. 20 Don’t despise what God has revealed. 21 Instead, test everything. Hold on to what is good. 22 Keep away from every kind of evil.
Farewell
23 May the God who gives peace make you holy in every way. May he keep your whole being—spirit, soul, and body—blameless when our Lord Yeshua Christ comes. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.
25 Brothers and sisters, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss.
27 In the Lord’s name, I order you to read this letter to all the brothers and sisters.
28 The good will[a] of our Lord Yeshua Christ be with you.
Psalm 82
A psalm by Asaph.
1 Elohim takes his place in his own assembly.
He pronounces judgment among the gods:
2 “How long are you going to judge unfairly?
How long are you going to side with wicked people?” Selah
3 Defend weak people and orphans.
Protect the rights of the oppressed and the poor.
4 Rescue weak and needy people.
Help them escape the power of wicked people.
5 Wicked people do not know or understand anything.
As they walk around in the dark,
all the foundations of the earth shake.
6 I said, “You are gods.
You are all sons of Elyon.
7 You will certainly die like humans
and fall like any prince.”
8 Arise, O Elohim!
Judge the earth, because all the nations belong to you.
9 Present your argument to your neighbor,
but do not reveal another person’s secret.
10 Otherwise, when he hears about it, he will humiliate you,
and his evil report about you will never disappear.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.