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Damascus has long been at odds with Israel and Judah, and she controls caravan routes in the region. But she must also submit to the sovereign power of the Eternal.
23 Here now is an oracle concerning Damascus.
Eternal One: The towns of Hamath and Arpad are put to shame,
for they have heard bad news: doom is coming!
They are distressed, troubled, and unsettled like the swirling sea.
24 Damascus is weak and helpless; she has turned and run away.
Panic grips her heart;
Torment and pain have grabbed her
like a woman giving birth.
Citizens of Damascus: 25 Why is this glorious city—this city that gives us so much joy—not already deserted?
26 Eternal One: Her young men will fall in the streets,
and her warriors will fall silent on that day.
So says the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies.
27 Eternal One: I will set fire to the walls of Damascus,
a fire that will spread and burn up the palaces of Ben-hadad.
28 Here is an oracle from the Eternal concerning Kedar and the nomadic tribes of Arabia known as the kingdoms of Hazor, all defeated by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.
Eternal One: Rise up and attack Kedar.
Destroy the tribes of the east.
29 They will take away their tents and their flocks,
their curtains, their camels, and all their possessions.
They will shout to one another,
“Terror is everywhere we turn!”
30 Run away quickly while there is time!
Hide deep in the earth, people of Hazor.
For Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has schemed against you.
He has a plan for your defeat.
31 So I tell you to rise up and attack this complacent nation,
which assumes it is secure—
A nation without walls or gates
that lives alone in the desert.
32 Their camels and livestock will be the spoils of war.
I will scatter to the wind these people who cut the corners of their hair
And surround them with disaster on every side,
so I, the Eternal, declare.
33 Hazor will become a haunt for jackals,
a place of desolation for all time.
Certainly no one will live there ever again.
No one will make it his home.
34 Here is an oracle concerning Elam. The word of the Eternal came to the prophet Jeremiah early in the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah. 35 This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies has to say:
Eternal One: I will break the bows of Elam’s archers—the very best of their military might. 36 I will bring the four winds from the four corners of heaven to blow against Elam. I will scatter them to the four winds, and there will not be a nation where her exiles will not go. 37 I will shatter Elam right in front of her enemies, before those who want her dead. I will bring disaster upon these people, for My violent anger burns against them. I will pursue them in war until they are no more. 38 I will destroy her wicked king and officials and set the king I want on the throne over Elam. 39 But even so, in the latter times, the day will come when I will restore the fortunes of Elam.
So says the Eternal.
50 This now is the word the Eternal spoke through His prophet Jeremiah concerning the mighty empire of Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans.
Babylon is a dominant world power in Jeremiah’s time that God uses to accomplish His purposes. The prophet says that even Babylon will answer to God. East of Chaldea, the Persian Empire will take over the region and conquer Babylon. This time the Persian King Cyrus will be used by God to alter the course of events.
Jeremiah now conveys his firm belief that it is the God of Israel—not kings and their armies—who shapes history. He delivers a strong message from God concerning Babylon (who oversteps her bounds in the treatment of Judah and the other nations). Intermixed is Jeremiah’s message of hope for those in exile. One day, the people of Judah will return home from Babylon. Those who make the journey will find that God never stops loving them, even as He disciplines them.
2 Eternal One: Tell the nations of the world; announce it to them all.
Raise a flag—get their attention—tell them! Hold nothing back; tell them,
“Babylon has fallen; Bel has been put to shame:
Marduk has been shattered. Her images are disgraced;
There’s nothing left of Babylon’s idols but broken pieces.”
3 Now it is Babylon’s turn to be attacked from the north; another nation will destroy her land. No one will live there; both man and beast will run away.
4 But in those days of judgment and when the time is right, I, the Eternal One, declare this: The people of Israel and those of Judah will come to Me together. With tears in their eyes, they will come and seek the Eternal their God. 5 They will ask about the way back to Zion and turn toward home. They will come together and bind themselves to the Eternal in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
6 My people have become like lost sheep, and their shepherds have led them astray. They wandered so far from My protection—on mountaintops and hills they lost their way, worshiping false gods, forgetting where I was and where they could find rest. 7 And whoever found My lost sheep devoured them. Their enemies said to themselves, “Why worry? We are not the guilty ones here. They are the ones who sinned against their God, the Eternal One, their place of safety, the Eternal One, the hope of their ancestors.”
8 Get out of Babylon while you can! Leave behind this land of the Chaldeans. Be like the goats at the head of the flock; lead the way home. 9 For I am stirring up trouble against Babylon; I am bringing together the armies of great nations to attack Babylon from the north. They will draw up their battle plans and march against her. The arrows of this army will be like those of a skilled marksman; they will not miss the target or come home empty-handed. 10 Chaldea will be plundered; all her conquerors shall have their fill of the land’s wealth.
This is what the Eternal declares.
11 Eternal One (to Babylon): Because of your treatment of My people,
because you rejoice and celebrate as you plunder My heritage,
Because you dance about like a heifer roaming the grassland
and neigh like a stallion as you plunder them,
12 Your homeland will be put to shame.
She who gave you life will be disgraced.
She will become the least of all nations,
nothing but a patch of wilderness, a dry and dusty patch of land, a barren desert.
13 Because of My anger, no one will live there.
She will be a desolate wasteland.
All who pass by Babylon and see what I, the Eternal, have done
will shudder and gasp at her many deep wounds.
14 (to Babylon’s enemies) Prepare for battle! Take your positions!
Surround Babylon on every side, all you archers.
Shoot at her! Show no mercy! Spare no arrows,
for she has sinned against the Eternal.
15 Shout your battle cries on every side!
She has already given up.
Her towers have fallen, and her walls have crumbled.
Since this is My vengeance, the justice of the Eternal,
Do not hold back—take vengeance on her.
Do to her what she has done to others.
16 Uproot from Babylon those who plant crops
and those who harvest with the sickle.
When they see the flash from the enemy’s sword,
everyone will run away; everyone will go back to his own land.
17 Israel is like a frightened flock scattered by the lions who hunt them. The first to attack and devour them was the king of Assyria, and the last to chew on their remains was Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. 18 For this reason, I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies and God of Israel, promise this: Just as I punished the king of Assyria for the way he treated you, so will I punish the king of Babylon and his land. 19 But you, Israel, I will bring back to your own pasture. Once again you will graze in the lush fields of Carmel and Bashan; your hunger will be no more; you will fill yourself on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead. 20 And in those days when the time is right, I, the Eternal One, promise this: If anyone searches for even a trace of Israel’s wrongdoings, they will find nothing. If they look for the sins of Judah, none will be found because I will have forgiven this remnant of My people.
21 (to Babylon’s enemies) Go up and attack the land of Merathaim
and those who live in Pekod.
Slay them all; completely destroy them.
Do everything I, the Eternal One, have commanded you.
22 The sounds of war can be heard in the land,
anguished cries of great destruction.
23 That hammer who pounded the nations of the earth
now lies broken and pounded into pieces herself!
Mighty Babylon—how you have become a horror
to the watching world!
24 I set a trap for you, O Babylon, and you fell for it.
Before you realized what had happened,
You were discovered and captured
because you dared to fight against the Eternal.
25 Yes, the Eternal has opened His armory—
unleashed the weapons of His wrath—
For the Eternal Lord, Commander of heavenly armies, is at work
in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 Come against her from far away and on every side.
Break open her storehouses;
Crush her cities, and leave her dead in piles like so much grain.
Destroy her completely; let nothing survive.
27 Let her young bulls die by the sword.
Let them all be slaughtered!
Woe to each of them, for their day of punishment has come.
28 Hear the clamor of refugees and fugitives, fresh from the land of Babylon. They arrive in Zion to announce how the Eternal our God has paid Babylon back for what she did to His people and His temple.
29 Call up the archers to attack Babylon; surround her on all sides so no one can escape. Repay her for her horrible deeds; do to her what she has done to others, because she has proudly defied the Eternal, the Holy One of Israel. 30 The Eternal declares that her young men will fall in the streets, and all her soldiers will fall silent on that day.
31 Eternal One: See I am against you, O prideful one.
I, the Eternal Lord, Commander of heavenly armies, declare
That your time has come:
I will now punish you for all you’ve done.
32 In your pride, you will stumble and fall,
and no one will help you up.
I will set fire to your cities and towns,
and it will devour everything around you.
33 This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, says about Israel:
Eternal One: The people of Israel are oppressed—
so, too, the people of Judah.
All those who took them captive continue to hold them
and refuse to let them go.
34 But their Redeemer is strong;
the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, is His name.
He will take their side and defend their cause;
He will give them rest in their own land.
But He will shake the earth beneath the citizens of Babylon.
35 Eternal One: I will send a sword against the Chaldeans—
against the citizens of Babylon herself—
against her leaders and wise men.
36 I will send a sword against her diviners;
they will be exposed as fools.
I will send a sword against her mighty warriors;
they will be paralyzed with terror.
37 I will send a sword against her war horses and chariots
and all the foreign troops fighting alongside her;
They will all become weak like women.
I will send a sword against her treasures;
They will all be plundered.
38 I will send a drought against her water supplies;
they will all dry up
Because this is a land filled with images,
and the people are madly devoted to their idols.
39 So the beasts of the desert will roam this land—jackals and ostriches will make it their homes. But never again will it be home to people; from generation to generation, no one will live there. 40 As God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and all of their neighbors,[a] so does the Eternal declare that no one will live in the land of Babylon. No one will make his home there.
41 Eternal One: Look in the distance and you will see an army
marching toward you out of the north.
A nation of many kings whose size and might you can’t imagine
is now awakening and coming from the remote parts of the earth.
42 They are armed with bows and spears;
their hearts are cruel and will show you no mercy.
The sound of their massive army, riding in on their horses,
is like the sound of an angry sea;
They are ready for battle, marching in formation,
coming to destroy you, O daughter of Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has received the news about them,
and his hands fall to his side, weak and helpless—
Distress has gripped him so,
like a woman in the agony of giving birth.
44 Like a lion that suddenly emerges from the dense undergrowth beside the Jordan to attack a flock feeding in the lush pasture, so in an instant I will arrive and chase Babylon from her land. Then I will put in place a leader of My choosing. For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?
45 That is why you must hear the plan that the Eternal has for Babylon, and what He intends to do to those who live in the land of the Chaldeans: The little ones will be dragged away from the flock. He will leave their pasture desolate. 46 The sound of Babylon falling will cause the earth to shake; her cry will echo among the nations.
1 Paul, servant of God and emissary[a] of Jesus, the Anointed One, on behalf of the faith that is accepted by God’s chosen people and the knowledge of the undeniable truth that leads to godliness.
Paul is ready to defend the truth. He knows it is pure and honorable. He knows that it comes from and leads back to God. In contrast, Paul perceives the constant threat of false teaching that produces chaos, overturns entire families, and is filled with myths and instructions taught by those outside the faith. This counter-truth is filled with lusts and passions that tear down others, and it results in petty debates over family trees with fights and disagreements over the law. The line is clearly drawn between them. Paul leaves no room to sit on the fence; there is no partial truth—the future of the church is at stake.
2 We rest in this hope we’ve been given—the hope that we will live forever with our God—the hope that He proclaimed ages and ages ago (even before time began). And our God is no liar; He is not even capable of uttering lies. 3 So we can be sure that it is in His exact right time that He released His word into the world—through the preaching that God our Savior has commanded into my care.
His word brings into the world the absolute clarity of God’s perspective and life-saving knowledge.
4 To you, Titus, my dear son birthed through our shared faith: may grace and peace rest upon you from God the Father and Jesus the Anointed, our Savior.
5 I left you on Crete so you could sort out the chaos and the unfinished business and appoint elders over communities in each and every city according to my earlier orders. 6 Here’s what you should look for in an elder: he should be above suspicion; if he is married, he should be the husband of one wife, raise children who believe, and be a person who can’t be accused of rough and raucous living. 7 It is necessary that any overseer you appoint be blameless, as he is entrusted with God’s mission. Look for someone who isn’t pompous or quick to anger, who is not a drunkard, violent, or chasing after seedy gain or worldly fame. 8 Find a person who lovingly opens his home to others; who honors goodness; who is thoughtful, fair, devout, self-controlled; and 9 who clings to the faithful word that was taught because he must be able, not only to encourage people with sound teaching, but also to challenge those who are against it.
10 You see antagonists everywhere; they are rebellious, loose-lipped, and deceitful (especially those who are from the circumcised lot). 11 Their talk must be quashed—their mouths sealed up because impure teaching is flying out of their lips and overturning entire families for the sake of their own squalid gain. 12 I’ll tell you, even their own prophet was heard saying, “Chronic liars, foul beasts, and lazy gluttons—that’s who you’ll meet in Crete.” 13 And he’s right! This is why we have to scold them, sometimes severely, so they will be sound in the faith 14 and be able to ignore Jewish myths as well as any commandments given by those who turn away from the truth.
15 Listen: to those who are pure, all things are pure. But to those who are tainted, stained, and unbelieving, nothing is pure because their minds and their consciences are polluted. 16 They claim, “I know God,” but their actions are a slap to His face. They are wretched, disobedient, and useless to any worthwhile cause.
Psalm 97
1 The Eternal reigns powerful over all;
let the earth sing with joy;
let the distant islands celebrate.
2 Clouds and deep darkness encircle Him;
righteousness and justice are the bedrock of His rule.
3 Fire precedes Him;
it burns away His opponents on all sides.
4 With His lightning flashing about, He illuminates the world;
the earth watches and trembles.
5 Like wax before the flame, mountains melt when the Eternal appears,
the Master of the whole earth.
6 The heavens display His order and perfect justice;
all peoples witness His magnificence.
7 Those who worship idols,
who boast in the impotent creations of human hands, will be shamed.
Worship Him, all you gods.
8 Zion heard and was glad,
and the daughters of Judah celebrated
because they saw Your justice, O Eternal One.
9 For You are the Eternal, the Most High, over the entire world;
You far exceed all gods.
10 Hate evil, you lovers of the Eternal.
He protects the souls of those who follow Him;
He rescues them from the devices of the wicked.
11 Light is sown in the just;
as it grows, it brings joy to the pure of heart.
12 Celebrate the Eternal God, all you who are faithful;
offer thanks to His holy name.
Psalm 98
A song.
1 Compose a new song, and sing it to the Eternal
because of the unbelievable things He has done;
He has won the victory
with the skill of His right hand and strength of His holy arm.
2 The Eternal has made it clear that He saves,
and He has shown the nations that He does what is right.
3 He has been true to His promises;
fresh in His mind is His unfailing love
for all of Israel.
Even the ends of the earth have witnessed how our God saves.
This hymn invites all the people on earth and creation itself to join in singing a new song of “beautiful noise” celebrating God’s justice and victories.
4 Raise your voices; make a beautiful noise to the Eternal, all the earth.
Let your joy explode into song and praise;
5 Make music to the Eternal with the harp;
sing a beautiful melody with the harp and chorus.
6 With trumpets and horns,
fill the air with joyful sounds to the King, the Eternal.
7 Let the sea rumble and roar, and all the creatures it holds shout praise;
let the whole world and all those who live in it join the celebration.
8 Let the rivers applaud
and the mountains join in joyful song
9 In the presence of the Eternal because He is coming
to judge the earth.
He is coming,
and His judgment will be what is right for the world
and just to all people.
13 A lazy person says, “There’s a lion in the road!
A lion in the streets!
Another good reason to stay in today.”
14 As a door swings on its hinges and goes nowhere,
so a slacker turns over in his bed.
15 Some people are so lazy that they reach for food on the plate
but lack the will to bring it up to their mouths.
16 The slacker sees himself as wiser by far
than seven men who can converse intelligently.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.