The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Sunday October 20, 2019 (NIV)

The Obedience of the Rechabites

35 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of ^(A)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: ² “Go to the house of the ^(B)Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of ^(C)the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” ³ So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. ⁴ I brought them to the house of the Lord into ^(D)the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, ^(E)the man of God, which was near ^(F)the chamber of the officials, above ^(G)the chamber of ^(H)Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ^(I)keeper of the threshold. ⁵ Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” ⁶ But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for ^(J)Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. ⁷ You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, ^(K)that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ ⁸ We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹ and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, ¹⁰ but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But ^(L)when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of ^(M)the army of the Chaldeans and ^(N)the army of the Syrians.’ ^(O)So we are living in Jerusalem.”

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^(P)Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. ¹⁴ The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. I have spoken to you ^(Q)persistently, but you have not listened to me. ¹⁵ I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them ^(R)persistently, saying, ^(S)‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and ^(T)do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ ^(U)But you did not incline your ear or listen to me. ¹⁶ The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. ¹⁷ Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, ^(V)because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, ^(W)I have called to them and they have not answered.”

¹⁸ But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, ¹⁹ therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man ^(X)to stand before me.”

Jehoiakim Burns Jeremiah's Scroll

36 In the ^(Y)fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Take ^(Z)a scroll and ^(AA)write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and ^(AB)Judah ^(AC)and all the nations, ^(AD)from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. ^3 (AE)It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, ^(AF)so that every one may turn from his evil way, and ^(AG)that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

⁴ Then Jeremiah called ^(AH)Baruch the son of Neriah, and ^(AI)Baruch wrote on ^(AJ)a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him. ⁵ And Jeremiah ordered ^(AK)Baruch, saying, ^(AL)“I am banned from going to the house of the Lord, ⁶ so you are to go, and ^(AM)on a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the Lord's house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities. ^7 (AN)It may be that their plea for mercy will come before the Lord, ^(AO)and that every one will turn from his evil way, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.” ⁸ And Baruch the son of Neriah did all that Jeremiah the prophet ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord's house.

^9 (AP)In the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, ^(AQ)in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem ^(AR)proclaimed a fast before the Lord. ¹⁰ Then, in the hearing of all the people, Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll, in the house of the Lord, in ^(AS)the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the secretary, which was in the upper court, at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord's house.

¹¹ When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, son of ^(AT)Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, ¹² he went down to the king's house, into the secretary's chamber, and ^(AU)all the officials were sitting there: ^(AV)Elishama the secretary, ^(AW)Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, ^(AX)Elnathan ^(AY)the son of Achbor, ^(AZ)Gemariah the son of ^(BA)Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials. ¹³ And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. ¹⁴ Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, son of ^(BB)Shelemiah, son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Take in your hand the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. ¹⁵ And they said to him, “Sit down and read it.” So Baruch read it to them. ¹⁶ When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear. And they said to Baruch, ^(BC)“We must report all these words to the king.” ¹⁷ Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” ¹⁸ Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, ^(BD)while I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” ¹⁹ Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”

²⁰ So they went into the court to the king, having put the scroll in ^(BE)the chamber of Elishama the secretary, and they reported all the words to the king. ²¹ Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it from the chamber of Elishama the secretary. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the officials who stood beside the king. ²² It was ^(BF)the ninth month, and the king was sitting in ^(BG)the winter house, and there was a fire burning in the fire pot before him. ²³ As Jehudi read three or four columns, the king would cut them off with a knife and throw them into the fire in the fire pot, until the entire scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the fire pot. ²⁴ Yet ^(BH)neither the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words was afraid, ^(BI)nor did they tear their garments. ²⁵ Even when ^(BJ)Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah ^(BK)urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. ²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel the ^(BL)king's son and Seraiah the son of Azriel and ^(BM)Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize ^(BN)Baruch the secretary and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

²⁷ Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah's dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁸ “Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. ²⁹ And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, You have burned this scroll, saying, ^(BO)“Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it man and beast?” ³⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: ^(BP)He shall have none ^(BQ)to sit on the throne of David, ^(BR)and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. ^31 (BS)And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity. I will bring upon them and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem and upon the people of Judah all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, but they would not hear.’”

³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to ^(BT)Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who ^(BU)wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.

Instructions for the Church

5 ^(A)Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, ^(B)younger men as brothers, ² older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

³ Honor widows ^(C)who are truly widows. ⁴ But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn ^(D)to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for ^(E)this is pleasing in the sight of God. ⁵ She ^(F)who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and ^(G)continues in supplications and prayers night and day, ⁶ but ^(H)she who is self-indulgent is ^(I)dead even while she lives. ^7 (J)Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. ⁸ But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for ^(K)members of his household, he has ^(L)denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹ Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been ^(M)the wife of one husband,^{[a] 10} and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has ^(N)shown hospitality, ^(O)has washed the feet of the saints, has ^(P)cared for the afflicted, and has ^(Q)devoted herself to every good work. ¹¹ But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when ^(R)their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry ¹² and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. ¹³ Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also ^(S)gossips and ^(T)busybodies, saying what they should not. ¹⁴ So I would have ^(U)younger widows marry, bear children, ^(V)manage their households, and ^(W)give the adversary no occasion for slander. ^15 (X)For some have already strayed after Satan. ¹⁶ If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those ^(Y)who are truly widows.

¹⁷ Let the elders ^(Z)who rule well be considered worthy of ^(AA)double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. ¹⁸ For the Scripture says, ^(AB)“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, ^(AC)“The laborer deserves his wages.” ¹⁹ Do not admit a charge against an elder except ^(AD)on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁰ As for those who persist in sin, ^(AE)rebuke them in the presence of all, ^(AF)so that the rest may stand in fear. ²¹ In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels ^(AG)I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, ^(AH)doing nothing from partiality. ^22 (AI)Do not be hasty in the ^(AJ)laying on of hands, nor ^(AK)take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. ²³ (No longer drink only water, but ^(AL)use a little wine ^(AM)for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.) ²⁴ The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. ²⁵ So also good works are conspicuous, and ^(AN)even those that are not cannot remain hidden.