The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday October 19, 2022 (NIV)

The Promise of Restoration

33 Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying: ² Thus says the Lord, the Maker of the earth, the Lord who formed it to establish it; the Lord is His name: ³ Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you do not know. ⁴ For thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword: ⁵ They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men whom I have slain in My anger and in My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city.

⁶ I will bring it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. ⁷ I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and will build them as at the first. ⁸ I will cleanse them from all their iniquity whereby they have sinned against Me. And I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have sinned and whereby they have transgressed against Me. ⁹ It will be to Me a name of joy, praise, and honor before all the nations of the earth which shall hear of all the good that I do to them; and they will fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure for it.

¹⁰ Thus says the Lord: Again there shall be heard in this place of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast,” even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant, and without beast, ¹¹ the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who shall say,

and of those who bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at the first, says the Lord.

¹² Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Again in this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all the cities, will be a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. ¹³ In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the Negev, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him who numbers them, says the Lord.

The Davidic Covenant

¹⁴ Surely, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will perform that good word which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:

THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

¹⁷ For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; ¹⁸ nor shall the Levitical priests lack a man before Me to offer burnt offerings, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.

¹⁹ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: ²⁰ Thus says the Lord: If you can break My covenant of the day and My covenant of the night so that there should not be day and night in their season, ²¹ then also My covenant may be broken with David My servant, that he should not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levitical priests, My ministers. ²² As the host of heaven cannot be numbered nor the sand of the sea measured, so I will multiply the seed of David My servant and the Levites that minister to Me.

²³ Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: ²⁴ Have you not considered what this people have spoken, saying, “The two families which the Lord has chosen, He has cast them off”? Thus they have despised My people, that they should be no more a nation before them. ²⁵ Thus says the Lord: If My covenant for day and night does not stand, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, ²⁶ then I would cast away the seed of Jacob and David My servant, so that I would not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet I will restore their fortunes and have mercy on them.

Zedekiah to Die in Exile

34 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion and all the people fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities, saying: ² Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him: Thus says the Lord: I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire. ³ And you will not escape out of his hand, but will surely be taken and delivered into his hand. And you will see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you face to face, and you will go to Babylon.

⁴ Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning you: You will not die by the sword. ⁵ But you will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they burn spices for you. And they will lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!” For I have pronounced the word, says the Lord.

⁶ Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem, ⁷ when the king of Babylon’s army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and Azekah, for these fortified cities remained of the cities of Judah.

Slaves to be Free

⁸ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty to them: ⁹ that every man should let his male slave and every man his female slave, being a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, go free so that no one should keep them, a Jew his brother, in bondage. ¹⁰ Now when all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant heard that everyone should let his male slave and everyone his female slave go free, so that no one should keep them any more in bondage, then they obeyed and let them go. ¹¹ But afterward they turned around and caused the male slaves and the female slaves whom they had set free to return, and brought them into subjection for male slaves and female slaves.

¹² Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: ¹³ Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying: ¹⁴ “At the end of seven years, each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has been sold to you; and when he has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you.” But your fathers did not obey Me nor incline their ear. ¹⁵ You recently turned and did what was right in My sight by proclaiming liberty, every man to his neighbor; and you made a covenant before Me in the house that is called by My name. ¹⁶ But then you turned around and profaned My name when every one of you took back his male and female slaves, whom you had set free, at their pleasure, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.

¹⁷ Therefore thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming liberty, everyone to his brother and every man to his neighbor. I proclaim a liberty to you, says the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸ I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts, ¹⁹ the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf, ²⁰ I will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be food to the fowl of heaven and to the beasts of the earth.

²¹ Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which has gone away from you. ²² I will command, says the Lord, and cause them to return to this city, and they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.

Prediction of Apostasy

4 Now the Spirit clearly says that in the last times some will depart from the faith and pay attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, ² speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their consciences seared with a hot iron, ³ forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For everything created by God is good, and not to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, ⁵ for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

A Good Minister of Christ Jesus

⁶ If you remind the brothers of these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished by the words of faith and of good doctrine, which you have followed closely. ⁷ But refuse profane and foolish myths. Instead, exercise in the ways of godliness. ⁸ For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable in all things, holding promise for the present life and also for the life to come. ⁹ This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. ¹⁰ For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

¹¹ Command and teach these things. ¹² Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity. ¹³ Until I come, give attention to reading, exhortation, and doctrine. ¹⁴ Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the elders.

¹⁵ Meditate on these things. Give yourself completely to them, that your progress may be known to everyone. ¹⁶ Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

Psalm 89

A Contemplative Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.