Jeremiah 27-28

New Life Version

Judah Will Serve Nebuchadnezzar

27 In the beginning of the rule of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. ²The Lord said to me, “Make ropes and a cross-bar for carrying a load, and put them on your neck. ³Then send word to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the sons of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon. Send them with the men who bring news to Jerusalem to King Zedekiah of Judah. ⁴Tell them to go to their leaders, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, and this is what you should say to your leaders: ⁵“I have made the earth, and the men and the animals that are on it by My great power and by My long arm. And I will give it to the one who is right in My eyes. ⁶Now I have given all these lands to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant. And I have given him the wild animals of the field to serve him. ⁷All the nations will serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time for his land comes. Then many nations and great kings will make him their servant. ⁸But if any nation will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and will not put its neck under the load of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, hunger, and disease,” says the Lord, “until I have destroyed it by his hand. ⁹So do not listen to your men who tell of their special dreams, your men who tell what is going to happen in the future, or your wonder workers who use their secret ways. They say to you, ‘You must not serve the king of Babylon.’ ¹⁰But they are lying to you, and will cause you to be taken far from your land. I will drive you out, and you will die. ¹¹But the nation that brings its neck under the cross-bar of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will let stay on its own land,” says the Lord. “And its people will take care of the fields and live there.”’”

¹²I spoke to King Zedekiah of Judah in the same way, saying, “Bring your necks under the cross-bar of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and live! ¹³Why will you and your people die by the sword, hunger, and disease, as the Lord has said would happen to that nation which will not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴Do not listen to the men who tell of their dreams and say to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ For they are telling you a lie. ¹⁵I have not sent them,” says the Lord. “They speak false words in My name, so that I may drive you out, and that you may die, both you and the men who tell these things to you.”

¹⁶Then I said to the religious leaders and to all these people, “The Lord says: Do not listen to the men who speak in God’s name saying, ‘See, the objects of the Lord’s house will soon be returned from Babylon,’ for they are telling you a lie. ¹⁷Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city be destroyed? ¹⁸But if they are true men of God, and if the Word of the Lord is with them, let them now pray to the Lord of All. Let them ask that the objects which are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon. ¹⁹For this is what the Lord of All says about the pillars, the brass pool, the stands, and the rest of the objects that are left in this city. ²⁰Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take these things from Jerusalem to Babylon when he took Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. ²¹So this is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says about the objects that are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem. He says, ²²‘They will be carried to Babylon, and they will be there until the day I visit them,’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back to this place.’”

Jeremiah and the False Preacher Hananiah

28 In that same year, in the beginning of the rule of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, Hananiah the son of Azzur, the man from Gibeon who told what would happen in the future, spoke to me in the house of the Lord. He said to me in front of the religious leaders and all the people, ²“This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the crossbar across the shoulders of the king of Babylon. ³Within two years I will bring back to this place all the objects of the Lord’s house, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from here and carried to Babylon. ⁴I will also bring back to this place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the people of Judah who were taken to Babylon,’ says the Lord. ‘For I will break the cross-bar of the king of Babylon.’”

⁵Then Jeremiah, the man of God, spoke to Hananiah, the man who told what would happen, in front of the religious leaders and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. ⁶And Jeremiah, the man who spoke for God, said, “Let it be so! May the Lord do so. May the Lord make the words you have spoken come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the objects of the Lord’s house and all the people of Judah. ⁷Yet listen now to what I am about to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. ⁸The men who spoke for God before us from long ago spoke of war and trouble and disease coming to many lands and great nations. ⁹As for the man who told that peace would come, when his word comes to pass, then that man will be known as the one that the Lord has sent.” ¹⁰Then Hananiah, the man who told what would happen, took the cross-bar from the neck of Jeremiah the man of God and broke it. ¹¹And Hananiah said in front of all the people, “The Lord says, ‘In this way I will break the cross-bar of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.’” Then Jeremiah the man of God went his way.

¹²Some time after Hananiah had broken the cross-bar from off the neck of Jeremiah, the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ¹³“Go and tell Hananiah, ‘The Lord says, “You have broken the cross-bars of wood, but you have made bars of iron in their place.” ¹⁴For the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, “I have put the cross-bar of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And they will serve him. I have given him the animals of the field also.”’” ¹⁵Then Jeremiah who spoke for God said to Hananiah who told what would happen, “Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you. And you have made these people trust in a lie. ¹⁶So the Lord says, ‘See, I am about to take you from the earth. This year you are going to die, because you have spoken against the right and power of the Lord.’” ¹⁷So Hananiah, who had said these things in God’s name, died in the seventh month of the same year.

2 Timothy 4

New Life Version

Paul’s Work Is Finished—Timothy Must Carry On

4 These words are from my heart to you. I say this before God and Jesus Christ. Some day He will judge those who are living and those who are dead. It will be when Christ comes to bring His holy nation. ²Preach the Word of God. Preach it when it is easy and people want to listen and when it is hard and people do not want to listen. Preach it all the time. Use the Word of God to show people they are wrong. Use the Word of God to help them do right. You must be willing to wait for people to understand what you teach as you teach them.

³The time will come when people will not listen to the truth. They will look for teachers who will tell them only what they want to hear. ⁴They will not listen to the truth. Instead, they will listen to stories made up by men. ⁵You must watch for all these things. Do not be afraid to suffer for our Lord. Preach the Good News from place to place. Do all the work you are to do.

⁶It will soon be time for me to leave this life. ⁷I have fought a good fight. I have finished the work I was to do. I have kept the faith. ⁸There is a crown which comes from being right with God. The Lord, the One Who will judge, will give it to me on that great day when He comes again. I will not be the only one to receive a crown. All those who love to think of His coming and are looking for Him will receive one also.

Paul Sends Word to Timothy About Some Friends

⁹Come to me here as soon as you can. ¹⁰Demas left me. He loved the things of this world and has gone to the city of Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to the city of Galatia. Titus has gone to the city of Dalmatia. ¹¹Luke is the only one with me here. Bring Mark when you come. He is a help to me in this work. ¹²I sent Tychicus to the city of Ephesus. ¹³When you come, bring the coat I left with Carpus in the city of Troas. Bring the books and for sure do not forget the writings written on sheepskin. ¹⁴Alexander, the man who makes things out of copper, has worked hard against me. The Lord will give him the pay that is coming to him. ¹⁵Watch him! He fought against every word we preached.

¹⁶At my first trial no one helped me. Everyone left me. I hope this will not be held against them. ¹⁷But the Lord was with me. He gave me power to preach the Good News so all the people who do not know God might hear. I was taken from the mouth of the lion. ¹⁸The Lord will look after me and will keep me from every sinful plan they have. He will bring me safe into His holy nation of heaven. May He have all the shining-greatness forever. Let it be so.

¹⁹Greet Priscilla and Aquila for me and to all the family of Onesiphorus. ²⁰Erastus stayed in the city of Corinth. I left Trophimus sick in the city of Miletus. ²¹Try to come before winter. Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the Christian brothers greet you. ²²May the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. May you have God’s loving-favor.

New Life Version (NLV)