The Daily Audio Bible

Jeremiah Feels Pain for His People

¹⁹ My soul, my soul! I am in pain! O, my heart! My heart is beating so hard! It cannot be quiet, for I hear the sound of the horn, telling of the coming war. ²⁰ News of much trouble comes again and again, for the whole land is laid waste. All at once my tents and my curtains are destroyed. ²¹ How long must I see the flag and hear the sound of the horn? ²² “For My people are foolish. They do not know Me. They are children who do not think, and they have no understanding. They know a lot about how to do sinful things, but they do not know how to do good.”

Jeremiah Saw What the Future Would Be Like

²³ I looked on the earth and saw that it was an empty waste. I looked to the heavens, and they had no light. ²⁴ I looked on the mountains and saw they were shaking, and all the hills moved this way and that. ²⁵ I looked and saw that there were no people. And all the birds of the heavens had left. ²⁶ I looked and saw that the rich land was a desert. All its cities were laid waste before the Lord and His burning anger.

²⁷ For the Lord says, “The whole land will be laid waste, yet I will not destroy everything. ²⁸ For the earth will be filled with sorrow and the heavens above will be dark, because I have spoken. I have planned it, and will not change My mind or turn back.” ²⁹ Every city runs as they hear the sound of the horseman and the one who fights with arrows. They go among the trees and the rocks. Every city is left empty, and no one lives in them. ³⁰ And you, O destroyed one, what will you do? Even when you dress in red, and wear objects of gold, and color your eyes to make them look bigger, you make yourself beautiful for nothing. Your lovers hate you, and want to kill you. ³¹ I heard a cry as of a woman in pain, as if she were giving birth to her first child. It was the cry of the people of Zion, working hard to breathe, holding out hands, and saying, “O, it is bad for me! I am losing strength in front of those who want to kill me.”

Jerusalem’s Sin

5 “Go up and down through the streets of Jerusalem, and look and learn. Look in her open places to see if you can find just one man who does what is right and looks for the truth. Then I will forgive this city. ² Even if they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ for sure their promises are false.” ³ O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth? You have punished them, but they were not sorry. You have destroyed them, but they would not change. They have made their faces harder than rock. They would not be sorry for their sins and turn from them.

⁴ Then I said, “They are only the poor. They are foolish. For they do not know the way of the Lord or the Law of their God. ⁵ I will go to the great men and will speak to them, for they know the way of the Lord, and the Law of their God.” But they too have broken the load from their neck and have broken the chains. ⁶ So a lion from among the trees will kill them. A wolf of the deserts will destroy them. A leopard is watching their cities. Every one who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, because they have done many sins. They have turned away from the Lord in many ways.

⁷ “Why should I forgive you? Your sons have left Me and have sworn by those who are not gods. When I gave them everything they needed, they did sex sins and met at the house of the woman who sells the use of her body. ⁸ They were like well-fed horses full of sinful desire, each one wanting his neighbor’s wife. ⁹ Should I not punish these people?” says the Lord. “Should I not make a nation such as this pay for its sins?

¹⁰ “Go up through her grape-fields and destroy, but do not destroy all of them. Cut away her branches, for they are not the Lord’s. ¹¹ For the people of Israel and the people of Judah have not been faithful to Me,” says the Lord.

Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed

¹² “They have lied about the Lord and said, ‘He will do nothing. Nothing bad will happen to us, and we will not see sword or hunger. ¹³ The men who speak for God are only wind. The word is not in them. So let what they say be done to them!’”

¹⁴ So the Lord, the God of All, says, “Because you have said this, I am making My words in your mouth a fire and I am making these people wood so they will be burned up. ¹⁵ See, I am bringing a nation that is far away against you, O people of Israel,” says the Lord. “It is a strong nation and an old nation, a nation whose language you do not know. You cannot understand what they say. ¹⁶ Their arrow-holder is like an open grave. All of them are powerful men. ¹⁷ They will eat up your food that you gather from your fields. They will eat the food your sons and your daughters should eat. They will eat up your flocks and your cattle. They will destroy your grape-fields and your fig trees. They will destroy with the sword your strong cities in which you trust.

¹⁸ “Yet even in those days I will not make a complete end of you,” says the Lord. ¹⁹ “When your people say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ then you will say to them, ‘As you have left Me and served strange gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

²⁰ “Make this known in the family of Jacob and in Judah, saying, ²¹ ‘Hear this, O foolish people without understanding, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. ²² Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord. ‘Do you not shake in fear before Me? For I have placed the sand to be on one side of the sea, a lasting wall that it cannot cross. Even if there are waves, they cannot pass. Even if they make much noise, they cannot cross over it. ²³ But these people have a strong-will and a heart that has turned against Me. They have turned aside and gone away. ²⁴ They do not say in their heart, “Let us fear the Lord our God, Who gives rain in its time, both the fall rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us the weeks for gathering food.” ²⁵ Your wrong-doing has kept these good things away. Your sins have kept good from you. ²⁶ For sinful men are found among My people. They watch like men lying in wait watching for birds. They set a trap, and they catch men. ²⁷ Like a basket full of birds, their houses are full of lies and false ways. So they have become important and rich. ²⁸ They are fat and smooth, and have done many sinful acts. They do not do what is right for those whose parents have died so that they may do well. And they do not help fight for the rights of the poor. ²⁹ “Should I not punish these people?” says the Lord. “Should I not punish a nation such as this?”

³⁰ A very bad and surprising thing has happened in the land. ³¹ The men of God say things that are not true, and the religious leaders rule by their own thoughts. And My people love to have it this way! But what will you do in the end?

Armies around Jerusalem

6 “Run away to be safe, O sons of Benjamin! Run from Jerusalem! Blow the horn in Tekoa, and light a fire in Beth-haccerem. For a sinful power is coming down from the north, that will destroy much. ² I will cut off the beautiful and fine ones, the people of Zion. ³ Shepherds and their flocks will come to her. They will set up their tents around her and feed their flocks there, each in his place. ⁴ Make war against her. Rise up, let us go and fight her at noon. It is bad for us, for the day is passing! The shadows of the evening are longer! ⁵ Rise up, let us go and fight in the night and destroy her strong houses!” ⁶ For the Lord of All says, “Cut down her trees, and build a battle-wall against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished. There is nothing but a sinful power that makes hard times for others within her. ⁷ As a well keeps its water good for drinking, so Jerusalem keeps going on in her sin. The sounds of those who fight and those who destroy are heard in her. Sickness and sorrow are always before Me. ⁸ Listen about the danger, O Jerusalem, or I will become a stranger to you. I will make you a waste, a land with no people.”

Israel Will Not Listen

⁹ The Lord of All says, “They will gather all the people of Israel who are left like gathering from the vine. Pass your hand over the branches again like one who gathers grapes.” ¹⁰ Whom should I tell of the danger, that they may hear? See, their ears are closed and they cannot listen. They have become ashamed of the Word of the Lord. They have no joy in it. ¹¹ But I am full of the anger of the Lord. I am tired of holding it in. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband and wife will be taken, the old and those who have lived a very long time. ¹² Their houses, their fields and their wives will be given to others. I will put out My hand against the people of the land,” says the Lord. ¹³ “For from the least to the greatest of them, every one is always wanting something. And from the man of God to the religious leader, every one lies to get what he wants. ¹⁴ They have healed the hurt of My people only a little, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. ¹⁵ Were they ashamed because of the sinful things they had done? No, they were not ashamed at all. They did not even know how to turn red. So they will fall among those who fall. When I punish them, they will be brought down,” says the Lord.

¹⁸ Christ is the head of the church which is His body. He is the beginning of all things. He is the first to be raised from the dead. He is to have first place in everything. ¹⁹ God the Father was pleased to have everything made perfect by Christ, His Son. ²⁰ Everything in heaven and on earth can come to God because of Christ’s death on the cross. Christ’s blood has made peace. ²¹ At one time you were strangers to God and your minds were at war with Him. Your thoughts and actions were wrong. ²² But Christ has brought you back to God by His death on the cross. In this way, Christ can bring you to God, holy and pure and without blame. ²³ This is for you if you keep the faith. You must not change from what you believe now. You must not leave the hope of the Good News you received. The Good News was preached to you and to all the world. And I, Paul, am one of Christ’s missionaries.

Paul Is Sent by God to Preach

²⁴ Now I am full of joy to be suffering for you. In my own body I am doing my share of what has to be done to make Christ’s sufferings complete. This is for His body which is the Church. ²⁵ I became a preacher in His church for your good. In the plan of God I am to preach the Good News. ²⁶ This great secret was hidden to the people of times past, but it is now made known to those who belong to Christ. ²⁷ God wants these great riches of the hidden truth to be made known to the people who are not Jews. The secret is this: Christ in you brings hope of all the great things to come. ²⁸ We preach Christ. We tell every man how he must live. We use wisdom in teaching every man. We do this so every man will be complete in Christ. ²⁹ This is the reason I am working. God’s great power is working in me.

The Christian Is Complete in Christ

2 I want you to know how hard I have worked for you and for the Christians in the city of Laodicea and for those who have never seen me. ² May their hearts be given comfort. May they be brought close together in Christian love. May they be rich in understanding and know God’s secret. It is Christ Himself. ³ In Christ are hidden all the riches of wisdom and understanding. ⁴ I tell you this so no one will try to change your mind with big sounding talk. ⁵ Even if I am far away from you in body, I am with you in spirit. I am happy to learn how well you are getting along. It is good to hear that your faith is so strong in Christ. ⁶ As you have put your trust in Christ Jesus the Lord to save you from the punishment of sin, now let Him lead you in every step. ⁷ Have your roots planted deep in Christ. Grow in Him. Get your strength from Him. Let Him make you strong in the faith as you have been taught. Your life should be full of thanks to Him.

Comfort in Times of Trouble

77 My voice goes up to God, and I will cry out. My voice goes up to God and He will hear me. ² I looked to the Lord when I was in trouble. I put out my hand at night, and it did not get tired. My soul would not be comforted. ³ When I remember God, then I am troubled. When I am in deep thought, then my spirit becomes weak. ⁴ You keep my eyes from closing. I am so troubled that I cannot speak. ⁵ I have thought about the days of old, the years of long ago. ⁶ I remember my song in the night. I think with my heart. And my spirit asks questions.

⁷ Will the Lord turn away forever? Will He never show favor again? ⁸ Has His loving-kindness stopped forever? Has His promise come to an end for all time? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be loving and kind? Has He in anger taken away His loving-pity? ¹⁰ Then I said, “It is my sorrow that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

¹¹ I will remember the things the Lord has done. Yes, I will remember the powerful works of long ago. ¹² I will think of all Your work, and keep in mind all the great things You have done. ¹³ O God, Your way is holy. What god is great like our God? ¹⁴ You are the God Who does great works. You have shown Your power among the people. ¹⁵ You have set free Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, with Your strong arm.

¹⁶ The waters saw You, O God. The waters saw You and shook. The sea shook also. ¹⁷ The clouds poured down water. The sky sounded with thunder. Your arrows of lightning went this way and that. ¹⁸ The sound of Your thunder was in the turning wind. The lightning lit up the world. The earth shook. ¹⁹ Your way was through the sea. Your paths went through the powerful waters. And it cannot be known where You stepped. ²⁰ You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

²³ These also are sayings of the wise. It is not good to show favor in judging. ²⁴ He who says to the sinful, “You are right and good,” will be spoken against by people and hated by nations. ²⁵ But those who speak strong words to the sinful will find joy and good will come upon them.