The Daily Audio Bible

The Lord's Judgment on Damascus

^23 (A)This is what the Lord said about Damascus: “The people in the cities of Hamath and Arpad are worried and troubled because they have heard bad news. Anxiety rolls over them like a sea, and they cannot rest. ²⁴ The people of Damascus are weak and have fled in terror. They are in pain and misery like a woman in labor. ²⁵ The famous city that used to be happy^[a] is completely deserted. ²⁶ On that day her young men will be killed in the city streets, and all her soldiers destroyed. ²⁷ I will set the walls of Damascus on fire and will burn down King Benhadad's palaces. I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken.”

Judgment on the Tribe of Kedar and the City of Hazor

²⁸ This is what the Lord said about the tribe of Kedar and the districts controlled by Hazor, which were conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia: “Attack the people of Kedar and destroy that tribe of eastern people! ²⁹ Seize their tents and their flocks, their tent curtains and everything in their tents. Take their camels and tell the people, ‘Terror is all around you!’

³⁰ “People of Hazor, I, the Lord, warn you to run far away and hide. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia has plotted against you, and this is what he says, ³¹ ‘Come on! We'll attack those people that feel safe and secure! Their city has no gates or locks and is completely unprotected.’

³² “Take their camels and all their livestock! I will scatter in every direction those people who cut their hair short, and I will bring disaster on them from every side. ³³ Hazor will be made a desert forever, a place where only jackals live. No one will ever live there again. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

The Lord's Judgment on Elam

³⁴ Soon after Zedekiah became king of Judah, the Lord Almighty spoke to me about the country of Elam. ³⁵ He said, “I will kill all the archers who have made Elam so powerful. ³⁶ I will make winds blow against Elam from all directions, and I will scatter her people everywhere, until there is no country where her refugees have not gone. ³⁷ I will make the people of Elam afraid of their enemies, who want to kill them. In my great anger I will destroy the people of Elam and send armies against them until I have wiped them out. ³⁸ I will destroy their kings and leaders, and set up my throne there. ³⁹ But later on I will make the people of Elam prosperous again. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Babylon's Capture

50 ^(B)This is the message that the Lord gave me about the city of Babylon and its people:

³ “A nation from the north has come to attack Babylonia and will make it a desert. People and animals will run away, and no one will live there.”

Israel's Return

⁴ The Lord says, “When that time comes, the people of both Israel and Judah will come weeping, looking for me, their God. ⁵ They will ask the way to Zion and then go in that direction. They will make an eternal covenant with me and never break it.

⁶ “My people are like sheep whose shepherds have let them get lost in the mountains. They have wandered like sheep from one mountain to another, and they have forgotten where their home is. ⁷ They are attacked by all who find them. Their enemies say, ‘They sinned against the Lord, and so what we have done is not wrong. Their ancestors trusted in the Lord, and they themselves should have remained faithful to him.’

^8 (C)“People of Israel, run away from Babylonia! Leave the country! Be the first to leave! ⁹ I am going to stir up a group of strong nations in the north and make them attack Babylonia. They will line up in battle against the country and conquer it. They are skillful hunters, shooting arrows that never miss the mark. ¹⁰ Babylonia will be looted, and those who loot it will take everything they want. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Babylon's Fall

¹¹ The Lord says, “People of Babylonia, you plundered my nation. You are happy and glad, going about like a cow threshing grain or like a neighing horse, ¹² but your own great city will be humiliated and disgraced. Babylonia will be the least important nation of all; it will become a dry and waterless desert. ¹³ Because of my anger no one will live in Babylon; it will be left in ruins, and all who pass by will be shocked and amazed.

¹⁴ “Archers, line up for battle against Babylon and surround it. Shoot all your arrows at Babylon, because it has sinned against me, the Lord. ¹⁵ Raise the war cry all around the city! Now Babylon has surrendered. Its walls have been broken through and torn down.^[b] I am taking my revenge on the Babylonians. So take your revenge on them, and treat them as they have treated others. ¹⁶ Do not let seeds be planted in that country nor let a harvest be gathered. Every foreigner living there will be afraid of the attacking army and will go back home.”

Israel's Return

¹⁷ The Lord says, “The people of Israel are like sheep, chased and scattered by lions. First, they were attacked by the emperor of Assyria, and then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia gnawed on their bones. ¹⁸ Because of this, I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, will punish King Nebuchadnezzar and his country, just as I punished the emperor of Assyria. ¹⁹ I will restore the people of Israel to their land. They will eat the food that grows on Mount Carmel and in the region of Bashan, and they will eat all they want of the crops that grow in the territories of Ephraim and Gilead. ²⁰ When that time comes, no sin will be found in Israel and no wickedness in Judah, because I will forgive those people whose lives I have spared. I, the Lord, have spoken.”

God's Judgment on Babylonia

²¹ The Lord says, “Attack the people of Merathaim and of Pekod. Kill and destroy them.^[c] Do everything I command you. I, the Lord, have spoken. ²² The noise of battle is heard in the land, and there is great destruction. ²³ Babylonia hammered the whole world to pieces, and now that hammer is shattered! All the nations are shocked at what has happened to that country. ²⁴ Babylonia, you fought against me, and you have been caught in the trap I set for you, even though you did not know it. ²⁵ I have opened the place where my weapons are stored, and in my anger I have taken them out, because I, the Sovereign Lord Almighty, have work to do in Babylonia. ²⁶ Attack it from every side and break open the places where its grain is stored! Pile up the loot like piles of grain! Destroy the country! Leave nothing at all! ²⁷ Kill all their soldiers! Slaughter them! The people of Babylonia are doomed! The time has come for them to be punished!”

(²⁸ Refugees escape from Babylonia and come to Jerusalem, and they tell how the Lord our God took revenge for what the Babylonians had done to his Temple.)

^29 (D)“Tell the archers to attack Babylon. Send out everyone who knows how to use the bow and arrow. Surround the city and don't let anyone escape. Pay it back for all it has done, and treat it as it has treated others, because it acted with pride against me, the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰ So its young men will be killed in the city streets, and all its soldiers will be destroyed on that day. I, the Lord, have spoken.

³¹ “Babylonia, you are filled with pride, so I, the Sovereign Lord Almighty, am against you! The time has come for me to punish you. ³² Your proud nation will stumble and fall, and no one will help you up. I will set your cities on fire, and everything around will be destroyed.”

³³ The Lord Almighty says, “The people of Israel and of Judah are oppressed. All who captured them are guarding them closely and will not let them go. ³⁴ But the one who will rescue them is strong—his name is the Lord Almighty. He himself will take up their cause and will bring peace to the earth, but trouble to the people of Babylonia.”

³⁵ The Lord says,

^39 (E)“And so Babylon will be haunted by demons and evil spirits,^[d] and by unclean birds. Never again will people live there, not for all time to come. ^40 (F)The same thing will happen to Babylon that happened to Sodom and Gomorrah, when I destroyed them and the nearby towns. No one will ever live there again. I, the Lord, have spoken.

⁴⁴ “Like a lion coming out of the thick woods along the Jordan up to the green pasture land, I, the Lord, will come and make the Babylonians run away suddenly from their city. Then the leader I choose will rule the nation. Who can be compared to me? Who would dare challenge me? What ruler could oppose me? ⁴⁵ So listen to the plan that I have made against the city of Babylon and to what I intend to do to its people. Even their children will be dragged off, and everyone will be horrified. ⁴⁶ When Babylon falls, there will be such a noise that the entire earth will shake, and the cries of alarm will be heard by the other nations.”

1 From Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.

I was chosen and sent to help the faith of God's chosen people and to lead them to the truth taught by our religion, ² which is based on the hope for eternal life. God, who does not lie, promised us this life before the beginning of time, ³ and at the right time he revealed it in his message. This was entrusted to me, and I proclaim it by order of God our Savior.

^4 (A)I write to Titus, my true son in the faith that we have in common.

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you grace and peace.

Titus' Work in Crete

⁵ I left you in Crete, so that you could put in order the things that still needed doing and appoint church elders in every town. Remember my instructions: ^6 (B)an elder must be without fault; he must have only one wife,^[a] and his children must be believers and not have the reputation of being wild or disobedient. ⁷ For since a church leader is in charge of God's work, he should be without fault. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered, or a drunkard or violent or greedy for money. ⁸ He must be hospitable and love what is good. He must be self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. ⁹ He must hold firmly to the message which can be trusted and which agrees with the doctrine. In this way he will be able to encourage others with the true teaching and also to show the error of those who are opposed to it.

¹⁰ For there are many, especially the converts from Judaism, who rebel and deceive others with their nonsense. ¹¹ It is necessary to stop their talk, because they are upsetting whole families by teaching what they should not, and all for the shameful purpose of making money. ^12-13 It was a Cretan himself, one of their own prophets, who spoke the truth when he said, “Cretans are always liars, wicked beasts, and lazy gluttons.” For this reason you must rebuke them sharply, so that they may have a healthy faith ¹⁴ and no longer hold on to Jewish legends and to human commandments which come from people who have rejected the truth. ¹⁵ Everything is pure to those who are themselves pure; but nothing is pure to those who are defiled and unbelieving, for their minds and consciences have been defiled. ¹⁶ They claim that they know God, but their actions deny it. They are hateful and disobedient, not fit to do anything good.

God the Supreme Ruler

God the Ruler of the World^[c]

¹³ Why don't lazy people ever get out of the house? What are they afraid of Lions?

¹⁴ Lazy people turn over in bed. They get no farther than a door swinging on its hinges.

¹⁵ Some people are too lazy to put food in their own mouths.

¹⁶ A lazy person will think he is smarter than seven men who can give good reasons for their opinions.