The Daily Audio Bible
Living God or human handiwork
10 Listen to the word that the Lord has spoken to you, people of Israel!
2 The Lord proclaims:
Don’t follow the ways of the nations
or be troubled by signs in the sky,
even though the nations are troubled by them.
3 The rituals of the nations are hollow:
a tree from the forest is chopped down
and shaped by the craftsman’s tools.
4 It’s overlaid with silver and gold,
and fastened securely with hammer and nails
so it won’t fall over.
5 They are no different than a scarecrow
in a cucumber patch:
they can’t speak;
they must be carried
because they can’t walk.
Don’t be afraid of them,
because they can’t do harm or good.
6 Lord, no one is like you!
You are great,
and great is your mighty name.
7 Who wouldn’t fear you,
king of the nations?
That is your due;
among all the wise of the nations
and in all their countries,
there is no one like you!
8 But they are both foolish and silly;
they offer nothing
because they are mere wood.
9 Covered with silver from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz,
they are the work of a craftsman
and the hands of a goldsmith.
Clothed in blue and purple,
all of them nothing more than the work of artisans.
10 But the Lord is the true God!
He’s the living God and the everlasting king!
When he’s angry, the earth quakes;
the nations can’t endure his rage.
11 Tell them this: The gods who didn’t make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.[a]
12 But God made the earth by his might;
he shaped the world by his wisdom,
crafted the skies by his knowledge.
13 At the sound of his voice,
the heavenly waters roar.
He raises the clouds from the ends of the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain,
the wind from his treasuries.
14 Everyone is too foolish to understand;
every goldsmith is dishonored by his idols,
for their images are shams;
they aren’t alive.
15 They are a delusion, a charade;
at the appointed time they will vanish!
16 Jacob’s portion is utterly different
because God has formed all things,
including Israel, his very own people—
the Lord of heavenly forces is his name!
Get ready for exile!
17 Pack your bags and get ready to leave,
you who live under siege.[b]
18 The Lord proclaims:
I’m going to eject those who live in the land at this time;
I will badger them until they leave.[c]
19 How terrible for me, due to my injury;
my wound is terrible.
Yet I said to myself:
This is my sickness,
and I must bear it.
20 But now my tent is destroyed;
all its ropes are cut,
and my children are gone for good.
There’s no one left to set up my tent frame
and to attach the fabric.
21 The shepherd kings have lost their senses
and don’t seek answers from the Lord.
That is why they have failed
and their flock is scattered.
22 Listen! The sound is getting louder,
a mighty uproar from the land of the north;
it will reduce the towns of Judah to ruins,
a den for wild dogs.
23 I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own,
that we’re not able to direct our paths.
24 So correct me, Lord, but with justice,
not in your anger,
or else you will reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that ignore you
and on the people
who don’t call on you,
since they have devoured Jacob;
they have devoured him completely
and ruined his country.
Judah’s broken covenant with God
11 Jeremiah received the Lord’s word: 2 Listen to the terms of this covenant and proclaim them to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem. 3 Say to them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Cursed are those who don’t heed the terms of this covenant 4 that I commanded your ancestors when I bought them out of the land of Egypt, that iron crucible, saying, Obey me and observe all that I instruct you. Then you will be my people and I, even I, will be your God. 5 I will fulfill my solemn pledge that I made to your ancestors to give them a land full of milk and honey, as is the case today.
And I replied, “As you say, Lord!”
6 The Lord said to me: Announce all these words in the towns of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the terms of this covenant and perform them. 7 I repeatedly and tirelessly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt to this very day, saying, Obey me. 8 But they didn’t listen or pay attention; they followed their own willful ambitions. So I brought upon them all the punishments I prescribed for violating this covenant—for refusing to obey.
9 The Lord said to me: A conspiracy is taking place among the people of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors who refused to obey my words. They too are following other gods and serving them. The people of Israel and the people of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their ancestors.
11 Therefore, the Lord proclaims: I will bring upon them a disaster from which they won’t be able to escape. They will cry out to me, but I won’t listen to them. 12 Then the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem will call upon the gods they worship,[d] but they won’t save them when disaster strikes. 13 You have as many gods as you have towns, Judah, and you have as many shameful altars for worshipping Baal as you have streets in Jerusalem.
14 As for you, don’t pray for these people, don’t cry out or plead for them, for I won’t listen when they cry out to me on account of their distress.
15 What are my loved ones doing in my temple
while working out their many evil schemes?
Can sacred offerings cancel your sin
so that you revel in your evil deeds?[e]
16 The Lord named you,
“A blossoming olive tree, fair and fruitful”;
but with the blast of a powerful storm
he will set it ablaze,
until its branches are completely consumed.[f]
17 The Lord of heavenly forces who planted you has announced disaster for you, because the people of Israel and Judah have done evil and made me angry by worshipping Baal.
Jeremiah’s lament
18 The Lord informed me and I knew.
Then he helped me see what they were up to.
19 I was like a young lamb led to the slaughter;
I didn’t realize that they were planning
their schemes against me:
“Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit;
let’s cut him off from the land of the living
so that even any knowledge of him will be wiped out.”
20 Lord of heavenly forces, righteous judge,
who tests the heart and mind,
let me see your revenge upon them,
because I have committed my case to you.
21 This is what the Lord says concerning the men from Anathoth who seek your life and say, “Don’t prophesy in the Lord’s name or else you will die at our hands.” 22 Therefore, the Lord of heavenly forces proclaims, I’m going to punish them. Their young men will die in war, and their sons and daughters will die by famine. 23 No one will be left because I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth when their time comes.
18 Wives, submit to your husbands in a way that is appropriate in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and don’t be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, because this pleases the Lord. 21 Parents, don’t provoke your children in a way that ends up discouraging them.
22 Slaves, obey your masters on earth in everything. Don’t just obey like people pleasers when they are watching. Instead, obey with the single motivation of fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do it from the heart for the Lord and not for people. 24 You know that you will receive an inheritance as a reward. You serve the Lord Christ. 25 But evildoers will receive their reward for their evil actions. There is no discrimination.
4 Masters, be just and fair to your slaves, knowing that you yourselves have a master in heaven.
2 Keep on praying and guard your prayers with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray for us also. Pray that God would open a door for the word so we can preach the secret plan[a] of Christ—which is why I’m in chains. 4 Pray that I might be able to make it as clear as I ought to when I preach. 5 Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6 Your speech should always be gracious and sprinkled with insight so that you may know how to respond to every person.
Final greeting
7 Tychicus, our dearly loved brother, faithful minister, and fellow slave in the Lord, will inform you about everything that has happened to me. 8 This is why I sent him to you, so that you’ll know all about us and so he can encourage your hearts. 9 I sent him with Onesimus, our faithful and dearly loved brother, who is one of you. They will let you know about everything here.
10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, says hello to you. So does Mark, Barnabas’ cousin (you received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him). 11 Jesus, called Justus, also says hello. These are my only fellow workers for God’s kingdom who are Jewish converts. They have been an encouragement to me. 12 Epaphras, who is one of you, says hello. He’s a slave of Christ Jesus who always wrestles for you in prayers so that you will stand firm and be fully mature and complete in the entire will of God. 13 I can vouch for him that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14 Luke, the dearly loved physician, and Demas say hello.
15 Say hello to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea, along with Nympha and the church that meets in her house. 16 After this letter has been read to you publicly, make sure that the church in Laodicea reads it and that you read the one from Laodicea. 17 And tell Archippus, “See to it that you complete the ministry that you received in the Lord.”
18 I, Paul, am writing this greeting personally. Remember that I’m in prison. Grace be with you.
56 But they tested and defied the Most High God;
they didn’t pay attention to his warnings.
57 They turned away, became faithless just like their ancestors;
they twisted away like a defective bow.
58 They angered God with their many shrines;
they angered him with their idols.
59 God heard and became enraged;
he rejected Israel utterly.
60 God abandoned the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where he had lived with humans.
61 God let his power be held captive,
let his glory go to the enemy’s hand.
62 God delivered his people up to the sword;
he was enraged at his own possession.
63 Fire devoured his young men,
and his young women had no wedding songs.
64 God’s priests were killed by the sword,
and his widows couldn’t even cry.
65 But then my Lord woke up—
as if he’d been sleeping!
Like a warrior shaking off wine,
66 God beat back his foes;
he made them an everlasting disgrace.
67 God rejected the tent of Joseph
and didn’t choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 Instead, he chose the tribe of Judah,
the mountain of Zion, which he loves.
69 God built his sanctuary like the highest heaven
and like the earth, which he established forever.
70 And God chose David, his servant,
taking him from the sheepfolds.
71 God brought him from shepherding nursing ewes
to shepherd his people Jacob,
to shepherd his inheritance, Israel.
72 David shepherded them with a heart of integrity;
he led them with the skill of his hands.
28 Don’t be a witness against your neighbor without reason;
don’t deceive with your lips.
29 Don’t say, “I’ll do to them what they did to me.
I’ll pay them back for their actions.”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible