JEREMIAH 49:23-50:46
TITUS 1:1-16
PSALM 97:1-98:9
PROVERBS 26:13-16
JEREMIAH 49:23-50:46
This message was given concerning Damascus. This is what the LORD says: " The towns of Hamath and Arpad are struck with fear, for they have heard the news of their destruction. Their hearts are troubled like a wild sea in a raging storm. 24 Damascus has become feeble, and all her people turn to flee. Fear, anguish, and pain have gripped her as they do a woman giving birth. 25 That famous city, a city of joy, will be forsaken! 26 Her young men will fall in the streets and die. Her warriors will all be killed," says the LORD Almighty. 27 " And I will start a fire at the edge of Damascus that will burn up the palaces of Ben-hadad." 28 This message was given concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which were attacked by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.This is what the LORD says: " Advance against Kedar! Blot out the warriors from the East! 29 Their flocks and tents will be captured, and their household goods and camels will be taken away. Everywhere shouts of panic will be heard: ` We are terrorized at every turn!' 30 Flee for your lives," says the LORD. " Hide yourselves in deep caves, you people of Hazor, for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has plotted against you and is preparing to destroy you. 31 " Go up and attack those self-sufficient nomadic tribes," says the LORD. " They live alone in the desert without walls or gates. 32 Their camels and cattle will all be yours. I will scatter to the winds these people who live in distant places. I will bring calamity upon them from every direction," says the LORD. 33 " Hazor will be inhabited by jackals, and it will be desolate forever. No one will live there anymore." 34 This message concerning Elam came to the prophet Jeremiah from the LORD at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. 35 This is what the LORD Almighty says: " I will destroy the archers of Elam--the best of their marksmen. 36 I will bring enemies from all directions, and I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds. They will be exiled to countries around the world. 37 I myself will go with Elam's enemies to shatter it. My fierce anger will bring great disaster upon the people of Elam," says the LORD. " Their enemies will chase them with the sword until I have destroyed them completely. 38 I will set my throne in Elam," says the LORD, " and I will destroy its king and princes. 39 But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Elam," says the LORD.50:1 THE LORD gave Jeremiah the prophet this message concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians. 2 This is what the LORD says: " Tell the whole world, and keep nothing back! Raise a signal flag so everyone will know that Babylon will fall! Her images and idols will be shattered. Her gods Bel and Marduk will be utterly disgraced. 3 For a nation will attack her from the north and bring such destruction that no one will live in her again. Everything will be gone; both people and animals will flee. 4 " Then the people of Israel and Judah will join together," says the LORD, " weeping and seeking the LORD their God. 5 They will ask the way to Jerusalem and will start back home again. They will bind themselves to the LORD with an eternal covenant that will never again be broken. 6 " My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray and turned them loose in the mountains. They have lost their way and cannot remember how to get back to the fold. 7 All who found them devoured them. Their enemies said, ` We are allowed to attack them freely, for they have sinned against the LORD, their place of rest, the hope of their ancestors.' 8 " But now, flee from Babylon! Leave the land of the Babylonians. Lead my people home again. 9 For look, I am raising up an army of great nations from the north. I will bring them against Babylon to attack her, and she will be captured. The enemies' arrows will go straight to the mark; they will not miss! 10 Babylonia will be plundered until the attackers are glutted with plunder," says the LORD. 11 " You rejoice and are glad, you plunderers of my chosen people. You frisk about like a calf in a meadow and neigh like a stallion. 12 But your homeland will be overwhelmed with shame and disgrace. You will become the least of nations--a wilderness, a dry and desolate land. 13 Because of the LORD's anger, Babylon will become a deserted wasteland. All who pass by will be horrified and will gasp at the destruction they see there. 14 " Yes, prepare to attack Babylon, all you nations round about. Let your archers shoot at her. Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the LORD. 15 Shout against her from every side. Look! She surrenders! Her walls have fallen. The LORD has taken vengeance, so do not spare her. Do to her as she has done to others! 16 Lead from Babylon all those who plant crops; send all the harvesters away. Let the captives escape the sword of the enemy and rush back to their own lands.17 " The Israelites are like sheep that have been scattered by lions. First the king of Assyria ate them up. Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon cracked their bones." 18 Therefore, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: " Now I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria. 19 And I will bring Israel home again to her own land, to feed in the fields of Carmel and Bashan, and to be satisfied once more on the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead. 20 In those days," says the LORD, " no sin will be found in Israel or in Judah, for I will forgive the remnant I preserve. 21 " Go up, my warriors, against the land of Merathaim and against the people of Pekod. Yes, march against Babylon, the land of rebels, a land that I will judge! Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them, as I have commanded you," says the LORD. 22 " Let the battle cry be heard in the land, a shout of great destruction. 23 Babylon, the mightiest hammer in all the earth, lies broken and shattered. Babylon is desolate among the nations! 24 Listen, Babylon, for I have set a trap for you. You are caught, for you have fought against the LORD. 25 " The LORD has opened his armory and brought out weapons to vent his fury against his enemies. The terror that falls upon the Babylonians will be the work of the Sovereign LORD Almighty. 26 Yes, come against her from distant lands. Break open her granaries. Crush her walls and houses into heaps of rubble. Destroy her completely, and leave nothing! 27 Even destroy her cattle--it will be terrible for them, too! Slaughter them all! For the time has come for Babylon to be devastated. 28 Listen to the people who have escaped from Babylon, as they declare in Jerusalem how the LORD our God has taken vengeance against those who destroyed his Temple. 29 " Send out a call for archers to come to Babylon. Surround the city so none can escape. Do to her as she has done to others, for she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. 30 Her young men will fall in the streets and die. Her warriors will all be killed," says the LORD. 31 " See, I am your enemy, O proud people," says the Lord, the LORD Almighty. " Your day of reckoning has arrived. 32 O land of pride, you will stumble and fall, and no one will raise you up. For I will light a fire in the cities of Babylon that will burn everything around them." 33 And now the LORD Almighty says this: " The people of Israel and Judah have been wronged. Their captors hold them and refuse to let them go. 34 But the one who redeems them is strong. His name is the LORD Almighty. He will defend them and give them rest again in Israel. But the people of Babylon--there will be no rest for them! 35 " The sword of destruction will strike the Babylonians," says the LORD. " It will strike the people of Babylon--her princes and wise men, too. 36 And when it strikes her wise counselors, they will become fools! When it strikes her mightiest warriors, panic will seize them! 37 When it strikes her horses and chariots, her allies from other lands will become as weak as women. When it strikes her treasures, they all will be plundered. 38 It will even strike her water supply, causing it to dry up. And why? Because the whole land is filled with idols, and the people are madly in love with them. 39 " Soon this city of Babylon will be inhabited by ostriches and jackals. It will be a home for the wild animals of the desert. Never again will people live there; it will lie desolate forever. 40 I will destroy it just as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns," says the LORD. " No one will live there anymore. 41 " Look! A great army is marching from the north! A great nation and many kings are rising against you from far-off lands. 42 They are fully armed for slaughter. They are cruel and show no mercy. As they ride forward, the noise of their army is like a roaring sea. They are marching in battle formation to destroy you, Babylon. 43 The king of Babylon has received reports about the enemy, and he is weak with fright. Fear and pain have gripped him, like that of a woman about to give birth. 44 " I will come like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan, leaping on the sheep in the pasture. I will chase Babylon from its land, and I will appoint the leader of my choice. For who is like me, and who can challenge me? What ruler can oppose my will?"45 Listen to the LORD's plans against Babylon and the land of the Babylonians. Even little children will be dragged off, and their homes will be empty. 46 The earth will shake with the noise of Babylon's fall, and her cry of despair will be heard around the world.
TITUS 1:1-16
This letter is from Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to bring faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives. 2 This truth gives them the confidence of eternal life, which God promised them before the world began--and he cannot lie. 3 And now at the right time he has revealed this Good News, and we announce it to everyone. It is by the command of God our Savior that I have been trusted to do this work for him. 4 This letter is written to Titus, my true child in the faith that we share. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you grace and peace.5 I left you on the island of Crete so you could complete our work there and appoint elders in each town as I instructed you. 6 An elder must be well thought of for his good life. He must be faithful to his wife, and his children must be believers who are not wild or rebellious. 7 An elder must live a blameless life because he is God's minister. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered; he must not be a heavy drinker, violent, or greedy for money. 8 He must enjoy having guests in his home and must love all that is good. He must live wisely and be fair. He must live a devout and disciplined life. 9 He must have a strong and steadfast belief in the trustworthy message he was taught; then he will be able to encourage others with right teaching and show those who oppose it where they are wrong. 10 For there are many who rebel against right teaching; they engage in useless talk and deceive people. This is especially true of those who insist on circumcision for salvation. 11 They must be silenced. By their wrong teaching, they have already turned whole families away from the truth. Such teachers only want your money. 12 One of their own men, a prophet from Crete, has said about them, " The people of Crete are all liars; they are cruel animals and lazy gluttons." 13 This is true. So rebuke them as sternly as necessary to make them strong in the faith. 14 They must stop listening to Jewish myths and the commands of people who have turned their backs on the truth. 15 Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are defiled. 16 Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are despicable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.
PSALM 97:1-98:9
The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice!
Let the farthest islands be glad.
2 Clouds and darkness surround him.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes forth before him
and burns up all his foes.
4 His lightning flashes out across the world.
The earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness;
every nation sees his glory.
7 Those who worship idols are disgraced--
all who brag about their worthless gods--
for every god must bow to him.
8 Jerusalem has heard and rejoiced,
and all the cities of Judah are glad
because of your justice, LORD!
9 For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.
10 You who love the LORD, hate evil!
He protects the lives of his godly people
and rescues them from the power of the wicked.
11 Light shines on the godly,
and joy on those who do right.
12 May all who are godly be happy in the LORD
and praise his holy name!
98:1 SING a new song to the LORD,
for he has done wonderful deeds.
He has won a mighty victory
by his power and holiness.
2 The LORD has announced his victory
and has revealed his righteousness to every nation!
3 He has remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel.
The whole earth has seen the salvation of our God.
4 Shout to the LORD, all the earth;
break out in praise and sing for joy!
5 Sing your praise to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song,
6 with trumpets and the sound of the ram's horn.
Make a joyful symphony before the LORD, the King!
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!
Let the earth and all living things join in.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands in glee!
Let the hills sing out their songs of joy 9 before the LORD.
For the LORD is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice,
and the nations with fairness.
PROVERBS 26:13-16
The lazy person is full of excuses, saying, " I can't go outside because there might be a lion on the road! Yes, I'm sure there's a lion out there!" As a door turns back and forth on its hinges, so the lazy person turns over in bed. Some people are so lazy that they won't lift a finger to feed themselves. Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.
