The Daily Audio Bible
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24-25 I told all the people, especially the women, what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, was saying to the people of Judah living in Egypt: “Both you and your wives have made solemn promises to the Queen of Heaven. You promised that you would offer sacrifices to her and pour out wine offerings to her, and you have kept your promises. Very well, then! Keep your promises! Carry out your vows! 26 But now listen to the vow that I, the Lord, have made in my mighty name to all you Israelites in Egypt: Never again will I let any of you use my name to make a vow by saying, ‘I swear by the living Sovereign Lord!’ 27 I will see to it that you will not prosper, but will be destroyed. All of you will die, either in war or of disease, until not one of you is left. 28 But a few of you will escape death and return from Egypt to Judah. Then the survivors will know whose words have come true, mine or theirs. 29 I, the Lord, will give you proof that I will punish you in this place and that my promise to bring destruction on you will come true. 30 (A)I will hand over King Hophra of Egypt to his enemies who want to kill him, just as I handed over King Zedekiah of Judah to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, who was his enemy and wanted to kill him.”
God's Promise to Baruch
45 (B)In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, Baruch wrote down what I had dictated to him. Then I told him 2 that the Lord, the God of Israel, had said, “Baruch, 3 you are saying, ‘I give up! The Lord has added sorrow to my troubles. I am worn out from groaning, and I can't find any rest!’
4 “But I, the Lord, am tearing down what I have built and pulling up what I have planted. I will do this to the entire earth. 5 Are you looking for special treatment for yourself Don't do it. I am bringing disaster on all people, but you will at least escape with your life, wherever you go. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
Egypt's Defeat at Carchemish
46 The Lord spoke to me about the nations, 2 (C)beginning with Egypt. This is what he said about the army of King Neco of Egypt, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia defeated at Carchemish near the Euphrates River in the fourth year that Jehoiakim was king of Judah:
3 “The Egyptian officers shout,
‘Get your shields ready
and march into battle!
4 Harness your horses and mount them!
Fall in line and put on your helmets!
Sharpen your spears!
Put on your armor!’
5 “But what do I see?” asks the Lord.
“They are turning back in terror.
Their soldiers are beaten back;
overcome with fear, they run as fast as they can
and do not look back.
6 Those who run fast cannot get away;
the soldiers cannot escape.
In the north, by the Euphrates,
they stumble and fall.
7 Who is this that rises like the Nile,
like a river flooding its banks?
8 It is Egypt, rising like the Nile,
like a river flooding its banks.
Egypt said, ‘I will rise and cover the world;
I will destroy cities and the people who live there.
9 Command the horses to go
and the chariots to roll!
Send out the soldiers:
men from Ethiopia[a] and Libya, carrying shields,
and skilled archers from Lydia.’”
10 This is the day of the Sovereign Lord Almighty:
today he will take revenge;
today he will punish his enemies.
His sword will eat them until it is full,
and drink their blood until it is satisfied.
Today the Almighty sacrifices his victims
in the north, by the Euphrates.
11 People of Egypt, go to Gilead[b]
and look for medicine!
All your medicine has proved useless;
nothing can heal you.
12 Nations have heard of your shame;
everyone has heard you cry.
One soldier trips over another,
and both of them fall to the ground.
The Coming of Nebuchadnezzar
13 (D)When King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia came to attack Egypt, the Lord spoke to me. He said,
14 “Proclaim it in the towns of Egypt,
in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes:
‘Get ready to defend yourselves;
all you have will be destroyed in war!
15 Why has your mighty god Apis fallen?
The Lord has struck him down!’
16 Your soldiers have stumbled and fallen;[c]
each one says to the other,
‘Hurry! Let's go home to our people
and escape the enemy's sword!’
17 “Give the king of Egypt a new name—
‘Noisy Braggart Who Missed His Chance.’
18 I, the Lord Almighty, am king.
I am the living God.
As Mount Tabor towers above the mountains
and Mount Carmel stands high above the sea,
so will be the strength of the one who attacks you.
19 Get ready to be taken prisoner,
you people of Egypt!
Memphis will be made a desert,
a ruin where no one lives.
20 Egypt is like a splendid cow,
attacked by a stinging fly from the north.
21 Even her hired soldiers
are helpless as calves.
They did not stand and fight;
all of them turned and ran.
The day of their doom had arrived,
the time of their destruction.
22 Egypt runs away, hissing like a snake,
as the enemy's army approaches.
They attack her with axes,
like people cutting down trees
23 and destroying a thick forest.
Their soldiers are too many to count;
they outnumber the locusts.
24 The people of Egypt are put to shame;
they are conquered by the people of the north.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
25 The Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says, “I am going to punish Amon, the god of Thebes, together with Egypt and its gods and kings. I am going to take the king of Egypt and all who put their trust in him, 26 and hand them over to those who want to kill them, to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army. But later on, people will live in Egypt again, as they did in times past. I, the Lord, have spoken.
The Lord Will Save His People
27 (E)“My people, do not be afraid,
people of Israel, do not be terrified.
I will rescue you from that faraway land,
from the land where you are prisoners.
You will come back home and live in peace;
you will be secure, and no one will make you afraid.
28 I will come to you and save you.
I will destroy all the nations
where I have scattered you,
but I will not destroy you.
I will not let you go unpunished;
but when I punish you, I will be fair.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
The Lord's Message about Philistia
47 (F)Before the king of Egypt attacked Gaza, the Lord spoke to me about Philistia. 2 He said:
“Look! Waters are rising in the north
and will rush like a river in flood.
They will cover the land and everything on it,
cities and the people who live there.
People will call out for help;
everyone on earth will cry bitterly.
3 They will hear the hoofbeats of horses,
the clatter of chariots,
the rumble of wheels.
Parents will not turn back for their children;
their hands will hang limp at their sides.
4 The time has come to destroy Philistia,
to cut off from Tyre and Sidon
all the help that remains.
I, the Lord, will destroy the Philistines,
all who came from the shores of Crete.
5 Great sorrow has come to the people of Gaza,
and Ashkelon's people are silent.
How long will the rest of Philistia mourn?
6 You cry out, ‘Sword of the Lord!
How long will you go on slashing?
Go back to your scabbard,
stay there and rest!’
7 But how can it rest,
when I have given it work to do?
I have commanded it to attack Ashkelon
and the people who live on the coast.”
22 Avoid the passions of youth, and strive for righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who with a pure heart call out to the Lord for help. 23 But keep away from foolish and ignorant arguments; you know that they end up in quarrels. 24 As the Lord's servant, you must not quarrel. You must be kind toward all, a good and patient teacher, 25 who is gentle as you correct your opponents, for it may be that God will give them the opportunity to repent and come to know the truth. 26 And then they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the Devil, who had caught them and made them obey his will.
The Last Days
3 Remember that there will be difficult times in the last days. 2 People will be selfish, greedy, boastful, and conceited; they will be insulting, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and irreligious; 3 they will be unkind, merciless, slanderers, violent, and fierce; they will hate the good; 4 they will be treacherous, reckless, and swollen with pride; they will love pleasure rather than God; 5 they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power. Keep away from such people. 6 Some of them go into people's houses and gain control over weak women who are burdened by the guilt of their sins and driven by all kinds of desires, 7 women who are always trying to learn but who can never come to know the truth. 8 (A)As Jannes and Jambres were opposed to Moses, so also these people are opposed to the truth—people whose minds do not function and who are failures in the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, because everyone will see how stupid they are. That is just what happened to Jannes and Jambres.
Last Instructions
10 But you have followed my teaching, my conduct, and my purpose in life; you have observed my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, 11 (B)my persecutions, and my sufferings. You know all that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the terrible persecutions I endured! But the Lord rescued me from them all. 12 Everyone who wants to live a godly life in union with Christ Jesus will be persecuted; 13 and evil persons and impostors will keep on going from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves. 14 But as for you, continue in the truths that you were taught and firmly believe. You know who your teachers were, 15 and you remember that ever since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful[a] for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, 17 so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.
God the Judge of All
94 Lord, you are a God who punishes;
reveal your anger!
2 You are the judge of us all;
rise and give the proud what they deserve!
3 How much longer will the wicked be glad?
How much longer, Lord?
4 How much longer will criminals be proud
and boast about their crimes?
5 They crush your people, Lord;
they oppress those who belong to you.
6 They kill widows and orphans,
and murder the strangers who live in our land.
7 They say, “The Lord does not see us;
the God of Israel does not notice.”
8 My people, how can you be such stupid fools?
When will you ever learn?
9 God made our ears—can't he hear?
He made our eyes—can't he see?
10 He scolds the nations—won't he punish them?[a]
He is the teacher of us all—hasn't he any knowledge?
11 (A)The Lord knows what we think;
he knows how senseless our reasoning is.
12 Lord, how happy are those you instruct,
the ones to whom you teach your law!
13 You give them rest from days of trouble
until a pit is dug to trap the wicked.
14 The Lord will not abandon his people;
he will not desert those who belong to him.
15 Justice will again be found in the courts,
and all righteous people will support it.
16 Who stood up for me against the wicked?
Who took my side against the evildoers?
17 If the Lord had not helped me,
I would have gone quickly to the land of silence.[b]
18 I said, “I am falling”;
but your constant love, O Lord, held me up.
19 Whenever I am anxious and worried,
you comfort me and make me glad.
20 You have nothing to do with corrupt judges,
who make injustice legal,
21 who plot against good people
and sentence the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord defends me;
my God protects me.
23 He will punish them for their wickedness
and destroy them for their sins;
the Lord our God will destroy them.
6 If you let a fool deliver a message, you might as well cut off your own feet; you are asking for trouble.
7 A fool can use a proverb about as well as crippled people can use their legs.
8 Praising someone who is stupid makes as much sense as tying a stone in a sling.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.