The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday October 15, 2017 (NIV)

Jeremiah Is Arrested

26 The Lord spoke his word when Judah’s King Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, began to rule. He said, ² “This is what the Lord says: Stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple, and speak to all the people who come from the cities of Judah to worship in the Lord’s temple. Tell them everything that I command you to tell them. Don’t leave out a single word. ³ Maybe they’ll listen, and they’ll turn from their evil ways. Then I’ll change my plan about the disaster I intend to bring on them because of the evil they have done.”

⁴ The Lord added, “Also say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: Suppose you don’t listen to me and don’t follow my teachings that I set in front of you. ⁵ Suppose you don’t listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent to you again and again, even though you didn’t listen. ⁶ Then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh. I will turn this city into something that will be cursed by all the nations on earth.’”

⁷ The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these things in the Lord’s temple. ⁸ But as soon as Jeremiah finished saying everything that the Lord had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets, and all the people grabbed him and said, “You must die! ⁹ Why do you prophesy in the Lord’s name that this temple will be like Shiloh and this city will become a pile of rubble with no one living here?” Then all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the Lord’s temple.

¹⁰ When the officials of Judah heard about these things, they went from the king’s palace to the Lord’s temple. They sat at the entrance of New Gate to the Lord’s temple. ¹¹ Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and all the people, “This man is condemned to die because he prophesied against this city as you yourselves have heard.”

¹² Then Jeremiah said to all the officials and all the people, “The Lord sent me to prophesy everything that you have heard me say against this temple and against this city. ¹³ Now, change your ways and what you are doing, and listen to the Lord your God. Then the Lord will change his plan about the disaster that he intends to bring on you.

¹⁴ “My life is in your hands. Do with me whatever you think is good and right. ¹⁵ But know for certain that if you put me to death, you, this city, and the people living in it will be guilty of killing an innocent person. The Lord has certainly sent me to speak all these things to you.”

¹⁶ Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and prophets, “This man should not be condemned to die. He has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.”

¹⁷ Then some of the leaders in the land got up and said to the entire crowd, ¹⁸ “Micah from Moresheth prophesied at the time of Judah’s King Hezekiah and said to all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says:

¹⁹ Did Judah’s King Hezekiah and all the people of Judah put Micah to death? No! Hezekiah feared the Lord and sought the Lord’s favor. So the Lord changed his plan about the disaster he intended to bring on them. But we are about to bring a bigger disaster on ourselves.”

²⁰ There was another man prophesying in the name of the Lord. His name was Uriah, son of Shemaiah, from Kiriath Jearim. He prophesied against this city and this land as Jeremiah did. ²¹ When King Jehoiakim and all his personal troops and officials heard what Uriah said, the king wanted to put him to death. But Uriah heard about it and fled in fear to Egypt. ²² King Jehoiakim sent soldiers to Egypt: Elnathan (son of Achbor) and other soldiers along with him. ²³ They brought Uriah from Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim. The king executed Uriah and threw his body into the burial ground for the common people. ²⁴ Ahikam, son of Shaphan, supported Jeremiah. So Jeremiah was not handed over to the people to be put to death.

The Yoke of Babylon Will Be on Judah

27 When Zedekiah, son of King Josiah of Judah, began to rule, the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah.

² This is what the Lord said to me: Make leather straps and a wooden yoke,^[a] and strap the yoke on your neck. ³ Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon, with messengers who have come to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem. ⁴ Give them an order for their masters: “This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Say this to your masters, ⁵ ‘I used my great strength and my powerful arm to make the earth along with the people and the animals on it. I give it to anyone I please. ⁶ Now I have handed all these countries over to my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I have even made wild animals serve him. ⁷ All nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until Babylon is defeated. Then many nations and great kings will make him their slave.

⁸ “‘Suppose nations or kingdoms won’t serve or surrender to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will punish those nations by wars, famines, and plagues, until I have put an end to them by Nebuchadnezzar’s power, declares the Lord. ⁹ Don’t listen to prophets, mediums, interpreters of dreams, fortunetellers, or sorcerers who tell you that you’ll never serve the king of Babylon. ¹⁰ They are prophesying lies to you. They will cause you to be taken far from your lands. I’ll scatter you, and you will die. ¹¹ But suppose a nation surrenders to the king of Babylon and serves him. I will let it stay in its own land. People will farm the land and live on it,’” declares the Lord.

¹² I spoke the same message to King Zedekiah of Judah, “Surrender to the king of Babylon, serve him and his people, and you will stay alive. ¹³ Why should you and your people die in wars, famines, and plagues? The Lord has threatened the nations that don’t serve the king of Babylon. ¹⁴ Don’t listen to the prophets who tell you that you’ll never serve the king of Babylon. They are prophesying lies to you. ¹⁵ I didn’t send them, declares the Lord. They prophesy lies in my name. So I will scatter you, and you and the prophets will die.”

¹⁶ I also spoke this message to the priests and all the people. “This is what the Lord said to me: Don’t listen to the prophets who tell you that the utensils of the Lord’s temple will be brought back from Babylon soon. They are prophesying lies to you. ¹⁷ Don’t listen to them. Instead, serve the king of Babylon, and live. Why should this city be turned into rubble? ¹⁸ If they are prophets and the Lord is speaking to them, they should beg the Lord of Armies not to allow the utensils that are left in the Lord’s temple, in the royal palace of Judah, and in Jerusalem to be taken away to Babylon.

^19–20 “Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiakin,^[b] son of King Jehoiakim of Judah, into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. But he didn’t take the pillars, the bronze pool, the stands, and the rest of the utensils that are left in this city. ²¹ This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says about the utensils that are left in the Lord’s temple, in the royal palace of Judah, and in Jerusalem: ²² They will be taken to Babylon and stay there until I come for them, declares the Lord. I will take them from there and bring them back to this place.”

Paul’s Final Instructions for the Thessalonians

3 Finally, brothers and sisters, pray that we spread the Lord’s word rapidly and that it will be honored the way it was among you. ² Also pray that we may be rescued from worthless and evil people, since not everyone shares our faith. ³ But the Lord is faithful and will strengthen you and protect you against the evil one.

⁴ The Lord gives us confidence that you are doing and will continue to do what we ordered you to do. ⁵ May the Lord direct your lives as you show God’s love and Christ’s endurance.

⁶ Brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we order you not to associate with any believer who doesn’t live a disciplined life and doesn’t follow the tradition you received from us. ⁷ You know what you must do to imitate us. We lived a disciplined life among you. ⁸ We didn’t eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, we worked hard and struggled night and day in order not to be a burden to any of you. ⁹ It’s not as though we didn’t have a right to receive support. Rather, we wanted to set an example for you to follow. ¹⁰ While we were with you, we gave you the order: “Whoever doesn’t want to work shouldn’t be allowed to eat.”

¹¹ We hear that some of you are not living disciplined lives. You’re not working, so you go around interfering in other people’s lives. ¹² We order and encourage such people by the Lord Jesus Christ to pay attention to their own work so they can support themselves. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, we can’t allow ourselves to get tired of doing what is right.

¹⁴ It may be that some people will not listen to what we say in this letter. Take note of them and don’t associate with them so that they will feel ashamed. ¹⁵ Yet, don’t treat them like enemies, but instruct them like brothers and sisters.

Farewell

¹⁶ May the Lord of peace give you his peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

¹⁷ I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. In every letter that I send, this is proof that I wrote it.

¹⁸ The good will^[a] of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.

Psalm 85

For the choir director; a psalm by Korah’s descendants.

Psalm 86

A prayer by David.