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Jeremiah 22-23:20 (Contemporary English Version)
Jeremiah 22
The LORD Will Punish the King of Judah
1-3The LORD sent me to the palace of the king of Judah to speak to the king, his officials, and everyone else who was there. The LORD told me to say:
I am the LORD, so pay attention! You have been allowing people to cheat, rob, and take advantage of widows, orphans, and foreigners who live here. Innocent people have become victims of violence, and some of them have even been killed. But now I command you to do what is right and see that justice is done. Rescue everyone who has suffered from injustice.
4If you obey me, the kings from David's family will continue to rule Judah from this palace. They and their officials will ride in and out on their horses or in their chariots. 5But if you ignore me, I promise in my own name that this palace will lie in ruins. 6Listen to what I think about it:
The palace of Judah's king
is as glorious as Gilead
or Lebanon's highest peaks.
But it will be as empty
as a ghost-town
when I'm through with it.
7I'll send troops to tear it apart,
and its beautiful cedar beams
will be used for firewood.
8People from different nations will pass by and ask, "Why did the LORD do this to such a great city as Jerusalem?" 9Others will answer, "It's because the people worshiped foreign gods and broke the agreement that the LORD their God had made with them."
King Jehoahaz
The LORD said:
10King Josiah is dead,
so don't cry for him. [a] Instead, cry for his son
King Jehoahaz, [b] dragged off to another country,
never to return.
11-12Jehoahaz [c] became king of Judah after his father King Josiah died. But Jehoahaz was taken as a prisoner to a foreign country. Now I, the LORD, promise that he will die there without ever seeing his own land again.
King Jehoiakim
The LORD told me to say:
13King Jehoiakim, [d]
you are doomed! You built a palace
with large rooms upstairs.
14You put in big windows
and used cedar paneling
and red paint.
But you were unfair
and forced the builders to work
without pay.
15More cedar in your palace
doesn't make you a better king
than your father Josiah.
He always did right--
he gave justice to the poor
and was honest.
16That's what it means
to truly know me.
So he lived a comfortable life
and always had enough
to eat and drink.
17But all you think about
is how to cheat
or abuse or murder
some innocent victim.
18Jehoiakim, no one will cry
at your funeral.
They won't turn to each other
and ask,
"Why did our great king
have to die?"
19You will be given a burial
fit for a donkey;
your body will be dragged
outside the city gates
and tossed in the dirt.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
King Jehoiachin and the People of Jerusalem
The LORD told me to say:
20People of Jerusalem,
the nations [e] you trusted have been crushed.
Go to Lebanon and weep;
cry in the land of Bashan
and in Moab.
21When times were good,
I warned you.
But you ignored me,
just as you have done
since Israel was young.
22Now you will be disgraced
because of your sins.
Your leaders will be swept away
by the wind,
and the nations you trusted
will be captured
and dragged
to a foreign country.
23Those who live in the palace
paneled with cedar [f] will groan with pain
like women giving birth.
24King Jehoiachin, [g] son of Jehoiakim, [h] even if you were the ring I wear as the sign of my royal power, I would still pull you from my finger. 25I would hand you over to the enemy you fear, to King Nebuchadnezzar [i] and his army, who want to kill you. 26You and your mother [j] were born in Judah, but I will throw both of you into a foreign country, where you will die, 27longing to return home. 28Jehoiachin, you are unwanted
like a broken clay pot.
So you and your children
will be thrown
into a country
you know nothing about.
29Land of Judah, I am the LORD.
Now listen to what I say!
30Erase the names
of Jehoiachin's children
from the royal records.
He is a complete failure,
and so none of them
will ever be king.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
Jeremiah 23
A Message of Hope
The LORD said:
1You leaders of my people are like shepherds that kill and scatter the sheep. 2You were supposed to take care of my people, but instead you chased them away. So now I'll really take care of you, and believe me, you will pay for your crimes!
3I will bring the rest of my people home from the lands where I have scattered them, and they will grow into a mighty nation. 4I promise to choose leaders who will care for them like real shepherds. All of my people will be there, and they will never again be frightened.
5Someday I will appoint
an honest king
from the family of David,
a king who will be wise
and rule with justice.
6As long as he is king,
Israel will have peace,
and Judah will be safe.
The name of this king will be
"The LORD Gives Justice."
7A time will come when you will again worship me. But you will no longer call me the Living God who rescued Israel from Egypt. 8Instead, you will call me the Living God who rescued you from the land in the north and from all the other countries where I had forced you to go. And you will once again live in your own land.
Jeremiah Thinks about Unfaithful Prophets
9When I think of the prophets,
I am shocked, and I tremble [k]
like someone drunk,
because of the LORD
and his sacred words.
10Those unfaithful prophets
misuse their power
all over the country.
So God turned the pasturelands
into scorching deserts. [l]
The LORD Will Punish Unfaithful Prophets
11The LORD told me to say:
You prophets and priests
think so little of me, the LORD,
that you even sin
in my own temple!
12Now I will punish you
with disaster,
and you will slip and fall
in the darkness.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
13The prophets in Samaria
were disgusting to me,
because they preached
in the name of Baal
and led my people astray.
14And you prophets in Jerusalem
are even worse.
You're unfaithful in marriage [m]
and never tell the truth. [n]
You even lead others to sin
instead of helping them
turn back to me.
You and the people of Jerusalem
are evil
like Sodom
and Gomorrah. [o] 15You prophets in Jerusalem
have spread evil everywhere.
That's why I, the LORD, promise
to give you bitter poison
to eat and drink.
The LORD Gives a Warning
The LORD said:
16Don't listen to the lies
of these false prophets,
you people of Judah!
The message they preach
is something they imagined;
it did not come from me,
the LORD All-Powerful.
17These prophets go to people
who refuse to respect me
and who are stubborn
and do whatever they want.
The prophets tell them,
"The LORD has promised
everything will be fine."
18But I, the LORD, tell you
that these prophets
have never attended a meeting
of my council in heaven [p]
or heard me speak.
19They are evil! So in my anger
I will strike them
like a violent storm.
20I won't calm down,
until I have finished
what I have decided to do.
Someday you will understand
exactly what I mean.
Footnotes:
Jeremiah 22:10 King Josiah. . . him: The Hebrew text has "don't cry for the dead one," meaning King Josiah, who ruled 640-609 B.C.
Jeremiah 22:10 his son, King Jehoahaz. . . country: The Hebrew text has "the one who was dragged off to another country," meaning King Jehoahaz, who ruled for three months in 609 B.C.
Jeremiah 22:11 Jehoahaz: The Hebrew text has "Shallum," another name for Jehoahaz.
Jeremiah 22:13 Jehoiakim: See the note at 1.3.
Jeremiah 22:20 nations: Or "gods."
Jeremiah 22:23 who live in the palace paneled with cedar: The Hebrew text has "who live in Lebanon and who nest among the cedars," which probably means Forest Hall in the royal palace at Jerusalem, which was paneled with cedar and had cedar columns and a cedar ceiling, all from Lebanon (see 1 Kings 7.2,3).
Jeremiah 22:24 Jehoiachin: The Hebrew text has "Coniah," another form of Jehoiachin's name; he ruled for three months in 598 B.C.
Jeremiah 22:24 Jehoiakim: See the note at 1.3.
Jeremiah 22:25 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2.
Jeremiah 22:26 mother: See the note at 13.18.
Jeremiah 23:9 tremble: Or "become weak."
Jeremiah 23:10 deserts: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 10.
Jeremiah 23:14 in marriage: Or "to me."
Jeremiah 23:14 never tell the truth: Or "worship other gods."
Jeremiah 23:14 Sodom and Gomorrah: Two cities that the LORD destroyed because their people were so evil (see Genesis 18.16--19.29).
Jeremiah 23:18 a meeting of my council in heaven: Sometimes, prophets had visions of the LORD meeting with his angels (see 1 Kings 22.19-23).
2 Thessalonians 1:1-12 (Contemporary English Version)
2 Thessalonians 1
1From Paul, Silas, [a] and Timothy. To the church in Thessalonica, the people of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
When Christ Returns
3My dear friends, we always have good reason to thank God for you, because your faith in God and your love for each other keep growing all the time. 4That's why we brag about you to all of God's churches. We tell them how patient you are and how you keep on having faith, even though you are going through a lot of trouble and suffering.
5All of this shows that God judges fairly and that he is making you fit to share in his kingdom for which you are suffering. 6It is only right for God to punish everyone who is causing you trouble, 7but he will give you relief from your troubles. He will do the same for us, when the Lord Jesus comes from heaven with his powerful angels 8and with a flaming fire.
Our Lord Jesus will punish anyone who doesn't know God and won't obey his message. 9Their punishment will be eternal destruction, and they will be kept far from the presence of our Lord and his glorious strength. 10This will happen on that day when the Lord returns to be praised and honored by all who have faith in him and belong to him. This includes you, because you believed what we said.
11God chose you, and we keep praying that God will make you worthy of being his people. We pray for God's power to help you do all the good things that you hope to do and that your faith makes you want to do. 12Then, because God and our Lord Jesus Christ are so kind, you will bring honor to the name of our Lord Jesus, and he will bring honor to you.
Footnotes:
2 Thessalonians 1:1 Silas: The Greek text has "Silvanus," which is another form of the name Silas.
Psalm 83:1-18 (Contemporary English Version)
Psalm 83
(A song and a psalm by Asaph.)
God Rules All the Earth
1Our God, don't just sit there,
silently doing nothing!
2Your hateful enemies
are turning against you
and rebelling.
3They are sly, and they plot
against those you treasure.
4They say, "Let's wipe out
the nation of Israel
and make sure that no one
remembers its name!"
5All of them fully agree
in their plans against you,
and among them are
6Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab and the Hagrites;
7Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia and Phoenicia. [a]
8Even Assyria has joined forces
with Moab and Ammon. [b]
9Our Lord, punish all of them
as you punished Midian.
Destroy them, as you destroyed
Sisera and Jabin
at Kishon Creek 10near Endor,
and let their bodies rot.
11Treat their leaders as you did
Oreb and Zeeb,
Zebah and Zalmunna.
12All of them said, "We'll take
God's valuable land!"
13Our God, scatter them around
like dust in a whirlwind.
14Just as flames destroy forests
on the mountains,
15pursue and terrify them
with storms of your own.
16Make them blush with shame,
until they turn and worship
you, our LORD.
17Let them be forever ashamed
and confused.
Let them die in disgrace.
18Make them realize that you
are the LORD Most High,
the only ruler of earth!
Footnotes:
Psalm 83:7 Phoenicia: The Hebrew text has " Tyre," the main city in Phoenicia.
Psalm 83:8 Moab and Ammon: The Hebrew text has " the descendants of Lot," whose older daughter was the mother of the Moabites and whose younger daughter was the mother of the Ammonites (see Genesis 19.30-38).
Proverbs 25:11-14 (Contemporary English Version)
11The right word
at the right time
is like precious gold
set in silver.
12Listening to good advice
is worth much more
than jewelry made of gold.
13A messenger you can trust
is just as refreshing
as cool water in summer.
14Broken promises
are worse than rain clouds
that don't bring rain.
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