The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Monday October 23, 2017 (NIV)

Jeremiah Warns the People of Judah Not to Go to Egypt

42 Then all the army commanders along with Kareah’s son Johanan and Hoshaiah’s son Jezaniah and all the people, from the least important to the most important, came to the prophet Jeremiah. ² They said to him, “Please listen to our request, and pray to Yahweh your Elohim for all of us who are left here. As you can see, there are only a few of us left. ³ Let Yahweh your Elohim tell us where we should go and what we should do.”

⁴ The prophet Jeremiah answered them, “I have listened to your request. I will pray to Yahweh your Elohim as you have requested, and I will tell you everything Yahweh says. I won’t keep anything from you.”

⁵ They said to Jeremiah, “May Yahweh be a true and faithful witness against us if we don’t do exactly what Yahweh your Elohim tells us to do. ⁶ We will obey Yahweh our Elohim to whom we are sending you, whether it’s good or bad. Yes, we will obey Yahweh our Elohim so that everything will go well for us.”

⁷ After ten days Yahweh spoke his word to Jeremiah. ⁸ So Jeremiah called Kareah’s son Johanan, all the army commanders who were with him, and all the people from the least important to the most important. ⁹ Jeremiah said to them, “You sent me to plead your case humbly to Yahweh. This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: ¹⁰ Suppose you stay in this land. Then I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not uproot you. I will change my plans about the disaster I’ve brought on you. ¹¹ Don’t be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Don’t be afraid of him, declares Yahweh. I’m with you. I will save you and rescue you from his power. ¹² I will have compassion on you. I will make him have compassion on you and return you to your land.

¹³ “But suppose you say, ‘We won’t stay in this land,’ and you disobey Yahweh your Elohim. ¹⁴ Then you say, ‘We’ll go to Egypt, where we won’t have to see war, hear the sound of a ram’s horn, or be hungry. We’ll stay there.’

¹⁵ “Now, listen to the word of Yahweh, you people who are left in Judah. This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: Suppose you’re determined to go to Egypt, and you go and live there. ¹⁶ Then the wars you fear will catch up with you in Egypt. The famines you dread will follow you to Egypt, and you will die there. ¹⁷ So all the people who decide to go and live in Egypt will die in wars, famines, and plagues. No one will survive or escape the disasters I will bring on them.

¹⁸ “This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: As my anger and my fury were poured out on those who live in Jerusalem, so my fury will be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become a curse word. You will become something ridiculed, cursed, and disgraced. You won’t see this place again.

¹⁹ “Yahweh has told you people who are left in Judah not to go to Egypt. You need to know that I am warning you today. ²⁰ You only deceived yourselves when you sent me to Yahweh your Elohim and said, ‘Pray to Yahweh our Elohim for us, and tell us everything that Yahweh our Elohim says, and we’ll do it.’ ²¹ I have told you today, but you won’t obey anything Yahweh your Elohim sent me to tell you. ²² But now, you need to know that you will die in wars, famines, or plagues in the place where you want to go and live.”

Jeremiah Is Forced to Go to Egypt

43 So Jeremiah finished telling all the people the message from Yahweh their Elohim. He told them everything Yahweh their Elohim sent him to tell them. ² Azariah (son of Hoshaiah), Johanan (son of Kareah), and all the arrogant people said to Jeremiah, “You’re lying! Yahweh our Elohim didn’t send you to tell us that we must not go to live in Egypt. ³ But Baruch, son of Neriah, has turned you against us in order to hand us over to the Babylonians. Then they will kill us or take us as captives to Babylon.”

⁴ So Johanan (son of Kareah), all the army commanders, and all the people didn’t obey Yahweh. They didn’t stay in Judah. ⁵ Johanan (son of Kareah) and all the army commanders took all the people who were left in Judah to Egypt. These were all the people who had come back to Judah from the places where they had been scattered. ⁶ They took men, women, children, and the king’s daughters. They took every person whom Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had left with Gedaliah, son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan, including the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch, son of Neriah. ⁷ They didn’t listen to Yahweh, so they went to Egypt. They went as far as Tahpanhes.

Jeremiah Prophesies That Egypt Will Be Invaded by Nebuchadnezzar

⁸ Then Yahweh spoke his word to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes. He said, ⁹ “Take some large stones, and bury them under the brick pavement at the entrance to the Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes. Do this while the people of Judah watch you. ¹⁰ Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: I’m going to send for my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will set his throne over these stones that I buried, and I will spread his royal canopy above them. ¹¹ He will defeat Egypt. He will bring death to those who are supposed to die. He will capture those who are supposed to be captured. He will kill in battle those who are supposed to be killed in battle. ¹² He^[a] will set fire to the temples of Egypt’s gods. He will burn down the temples and take their gods captive. Nebuchadnezzar will put on Egypt as his coat as a shepherd puts on his coat. He will leave Egypt peacefully. ¹³ At Beth Shemesh he will break the monuments in Egypt and burn down the temples of Egypt’s gods.’”

The Jews in Egypt Will Be Punished for Their Idolatry

44 Yahweh spoke his word to Jeremiah about all the Jews living in Egypt at Migdol, Tahpanhes, Noph, and Pathros. ² This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: You have seen all the disasters I brought on Jerusalem and on all the cities of Judah. Today they are deserted ruins. ³ It is because their people did evil, and they made me angry. They went to burn incense and serve other gods that neither you nor your ancestors heard of. ⁴ I have sent my servants the prophets to you again and again to tell you not to do these detestable things that I hate. ⁵ But you wouldn’t listen or pay attention. You wouldn’t turn from your wicked ways and wouldn’t stop burning incense as an offering to other gods. ⁶ That is why my fury and anger were poured out and continued to burn in the cities of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem. So they became the desolate ruin that they are today.

⁷ Now, this is what Yahweh Elohim Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: Why do you bring this terrible disaster on yourselves? Why do you keep destroying men, women, children, and babies from Judah until none are left? ⁸ Why do you make me angry by burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live. You will destroy yourselves and be cursed and ridiculed by all the nations on earth. ⁹ Have you forgotten the wicked things done by your ancestors, by the kings of Judah and their wives, and by you and your wives in Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰ You have not humbled yourselves even to this day. You haven’t feared me or lived your lives by my teachings or by my decrees that I gave your ancestors.

¹¹ This is what Yahweh Tsebaoth, the Elohim of Israel, says: I’m going to bring disaster on you and destroy all of Judah. ¹² I will take away from Judah those who are left, those who were determined to go to live in Egypt. They will die in Egypt. All of them, from the least important to the most important, will die in wars or be brought to an end by famines. They will become something cursed, ridiculed, and disgraced. ¹³ I will punish those living in Egypt as I punished Jerusalem with wars, famines, and plagues. ¹⁴ None of the people of Judah who went to live in Egypt will survive or return to Judah, where they long to return and live. Only a few refugees will return there.

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, all the women who were standing there, and all the people who lived at Pathros in Egypt answered Jeremiah. They said, ¹⁶ “We won’t listen to the message that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name. ¹⁷ We will do everything we said we would do. We will burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out wine offerings to her as our ancestors, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem. We had plenty to eat then, and we lived comfortably and saw no disaster. ¹⁸ But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out wine offerings to her, we have had nothing but wars and famines.”

¹⁹ The women added, “When we burned incense to the queen of heaven, poured out wine offerings to her, and made cakes for her with her image on them, do you think our husbands didn’t approve?”

²⁰ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, to everyone who answered him, ²¹ “Doesn’t Yahweh remember that you burned incense in the cities of Judah and on the streets of Jerusalem along with your ancestors, your kings and your officials, and the people in the land? ²² Yahweh could no longer bear the wicked and detestable things you did. That is why your land has become something ruined, destroyed, and cursed. No one lives in that land today. ²³ You burned incense as offerings to other gods, sinned against Yahweh, and wouldn’t obey him. You didn’t live by his teachings, decrees, or written instructions. That is why you have met with this disaster as it is today.”

Remain Focused on Jesus

2 My child, find your source of strength in the kindness^[a] of Christ Yeshua. ² You’ve heard my message, and it’s been confirmed by many witnesses. Entrust this message to faithful individuals who will be competent to teach others.

³ Join me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Yeshua. ⁴ Whoever serves in the military doesn’t get mixed up in non-military activities. This pleases his commanding officer. ⁵ Whoever enters an athletic competition wins the prize only when playing by the rules. ⁶ A hard-working farmer should have the first share of the crops. ⁷ Understand what I’m saying. The Lord will help you understand all these things.

⁸ Always think about Yeshua Christ. He was brought back to life and is a descendant of David. This is the Good News that I tell others. ⁹ I’m suffering disgrace for spreading this Good News. I have even been put into prison like a criminal. However, God’s word is not imprisoned. ¹⁰ For that reason, I endure everything for the sake of those who have been chosen so that they, too, may receive salvation from Christ Yeshua with glory that lasts forever. ¹¹ This is a statement that can be trusted:

¹⁴ Remind believers about these things, and warn them in the sight of God not to quarrel over words. Quarreling doesn’t do any good but only destroys those who are listening.

¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as a tried-and-true worker who isn’t ashamed to teach the word of truth correctly. ¹⁶ Avoid pointless discussions. People who pay attention to these pointless discussions will become more ungodly, ¹⁷ and what they say will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are like that. ¹⁸ They have abandoned the truth. They are destroying the faith of others by saying that people who have died have already come back to life.

¹⁹ In spite of all that, God’s people have a solid foundation. These words are engraved on it: “The Lord knows those who belong to him,” and “Whoever worships the Lord must give up doing wrong.”

²⁰ In a large house there are not only objects made of gold and silver, but also those made of wood and clay. Some objects are honored when they are used; others aren’t. ²¹ Those who stop associating with dishonorable people will be honored. They will be set apart for the master’s use, prepared to do good things.

²² Stay away from lusts which tempt young people. Pursue what has God’s approval. Pursue faith, love, and peace together with those who worship the Lord with a pure heart. ²³ Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments. You know they cause quarrels. ²⁴ A servant of the Lord must not quarrel. Instead, he must be kind to everyone. He must be a good teacher. He must be willing to suffer wrong. ²⁵ He must be gentle in correcting those who oppose the Good News. Maybe God will allow them to change the way they think and act and lead them to know the truth. ²⁶ Then they might come back to their senses and God will free them from the devil’s snare so that they can do his will.

Psalm 92

A psalm; a song; for the day of worship.

Psalm 93