JEREMIAH 51:54-52:34
TITUS 3:1-15
PSALM 100:1-5
PROVERBS 26:18-19
JEREMIAH 51:54-52:34
Listen! Hear the cry of Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians. 55 For the LORD is destroying Babylon. He will silence her. Waves of enemies pound against her; the noise of battle rings through the city. 56 Destroying armies come against Babylon. Her mighty men are captured, and their weapons break in their hands. For the LORD is a God who gives just punishment, and he is giving Babylon all she deserves. 57 " I will make drunk her officials, wise men, rulers, captains, and warriors," says the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty. " They will fall asleep and never wake up again!"58 This is what the LORD Almighty says: " The wide walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground, and her high gates will be burned. The builders from many lands have worked in vain, for their work will be destroyed by fire!" 59 The prophet Jeremiah gave this message to Zedekiah's staff officer, Seraiah son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah. This was during the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign. 60 Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the terrible disasters that would soon come upon Babylon. 61 He said to Seraiah, " When you get to Babylon, read aloud everything on this scroll. 62 Then say, ` LORD, you have said that you will destroy Babylon so that neither people nor animals will remain here. She will lie empty and abandoned forever.' 63 Then, when you have finished reading the scroll, tie it to a stone, and throw it into the Euphrates River. 64 Then say, ` In this same way Babylon and her people will sink, never again to rise, because of the disasters I will bring upon her.' " This is the end of Jeremiah's messages.52:1 ZEDEKIAH was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. His mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah. 2 But Zedekiah did what was evil in the LORD's sight, just as Jehoiakim had done. 3 So the LORD, in his anger, finally banished the people of Jerusalem and Judah from his presence and sent them into exile. Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 So on January 15, during the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon led his entire army against Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and built siege ramps against its walls. 5 Jerusalem was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah's reign. 6 By July 18 of Zedekiah's eleventh year, the famine in the city had become very severe, with the last of the food entirely gone. 7 Then a section of the city wall was broken down, and all the soldiers made plans to escape from the city. But since the city was surrounded by the Babylonians, they waited for nightfall and fled through the gate between the two walls behind the king's gardens. They made a dash across the fields, in the direction of the Jordan Valley. 8 But the Babylonians chased after them and caught King Zedekiah on the plains of Jericho, for by then his men had all abandoned him. 9 They brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, in the land of Hamath, where sentence was passed against him. 10 There at Riblah, the king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as all his sons were killed; they also killed all the other leaders of Judah. 11 Then they gouged out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon. Zedekiah remained there in prison for the rest of his life.12 On August 17 of that year, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, an official of the Babylonian king, arrived in Jerusalem. 13 He burned down the Temple of the LORD, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings in the city. 14 Then the captain of the guard supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore down the walls of Jerusalem. 15 Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, then took as exiles some of the poorest of the people and those who remained in the city, along with the rest of the craftsmen and the troops who had declared their allegiance to the king of Babylon. 16 But Nebuzaradan allowed some of the poorest people to stay behind in Judah to care for the vineyards and fields. 17 The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars, the bronze water carts, and the bronze Sea that were at the LORD's Temple, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon. 18 They also took all the pots, shovels, lamp snuffers, basins, dishes, and all the other bronze utensils used for making sacrifices at the Temple. 19 Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, also took the small bowls, firepans, basins, pots, lampstands, dishes, bowls used for drink offerings, and all the other utensils made of pure gold or silver.20 The bronze from the two pillars, the water carts, and the Sea with the twelve bulls beneath it was too great to be measured. These things had been made for the LORD's Temple in the days of King Solomon. 21 Each of the pillars was 27 feet tall and 18 feet in circumference. They were hollow, with walls 3 inches thick. 22 The bronze capital on top of each pillar was 7 feet high and was decorated with a network of bronze pomegranates all the way around. 23 There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, and a total of one hundred on the network around the top. 24 The captain of the guard took with him as prisoners Seraiah the chief priest, his assistant Zephaniah, and the three chief gatekeepers. 25 And of the people still hiding in the city, he took an officer of the Judean army, seven of the king's personal advisers, the army commander's chief secretary, who was in charge of recruitment, and sixty other citizens. 26 Nebuzaradan the commander took them all to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 And there at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon had them all put to death. So the people of Judah were sent into exile from their land. 28 The number of captives taken to Babylon in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign was 3,023. 29 Then in Nebuchadnezzar's eighteenth year he took 832 more. 30 In his twenty-third year he sent Nebuzaradan, his captain of the guard, who took 745 more--a total of 4,600 captives in all. 31 In the thirty-seventh year of King Jehoiachin's exile in Babylon, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind to Jehoiachin and released him from prison on March 31 of that year. 32 He spoke pleasantly to Jehoiachin and gave him preferential treatment over all the other exiled kings in Babylon. 33 He supplied Jehoiachin with new clothes to replace his prison garb and allowed him to dine at the king's table for the rest of his life. 34 The Babylonian king also gave him a regular allowance to cover his living expenses until the day of his death.
TITUS 3:1-15
Remind your [Titus's] people to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. 2 They must not speak evil of anyone, and they must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone. 3 Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled by others and became slaves to many wicked desires and evil pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy. We hated others, and they hated us. 4 But then God our Savior showed us his kindness and love. 5 He saved us, not because of the good things we did, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins and gave us a new life through the Holy Spirit. 6 He generously poured out the Spirit upon us because of what Jesus Christ our Savior did. 7 He declared us not guilty because of his great kindness. And now we know that we will inherit eternal life. 8 These things I have told you are all true. I want you to insist on them so that everyone who trusts in God will be careful to do good deeds all the time. These things are good and beneficial for everyone.9 Do not get involved in foolish discussions about spiritual pedigrees or in quarrels and fights about obedience to Jewish laws. These kinds of things are useless and a waste of time. 10 If anyone is causing divisions among you, give a first and second warning. After that, have nothing more to do with that person. 11 For people like that have turned away from the truth. They are sinning, and they condemn themselves. 12 I am planning to send either Artemas or Tychicus to you. As soon as one of them arrives, do your best to meet me at Nicopolis as quickly as you can, for I have decided to stay there for the winter. 13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos with their trip. See that they are given everything they need. 14 For our people should not have unproductive lives. They must learn to do good by helping others who have urgent needs. 15 Everybody here sends greetings. Please give my greetings to all of the believers who love us. May God's grace be with you all.
PSALM 100:1-5
A psalm of thanksgiving.
1 Shout with joy to the LORD, O earth!
2 Worship the LORD with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
3 Acknowledge that the LORD is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
PROVERBS 26:18-19
Just as damaging as a mad man shooting a lethal weapon is someone who lies to a friend and then says, " I was only joking."
