The Daily Audio Bible

The Broken Jar

19 The Lord says, “Go and buy a pot-maker’s clay jar, and take some of the leaders of the people and some of the older religious leaders. ² Then go out to the valley of BenHinnom, by the Potsherd Gate, and there say the words that I will tell you. ³ Say, ‘Hear the Word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. The Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, “See, I am about to bring much trouble to this place. The ears of everyone that hears of it will hurt. ⁴ The people have left Me and have made this a strange place. They have burned special perfume in it to other gods that they and their fathers and the kings of Judah had never known. They have filled this place with the blood of those who were not guilty. ⁵ They have built the high places of the false god Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt gifts to Baal. This is a thing which I never told them to do or spoke of. It did not even come to My mind. ⁶ So see, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of BenHinnom. Instead it will be called the Valley of Killing. ⁷ I will make the plans of Judah and Jerusalem come to nothing in this place. I will cause them to fall by the sword in front of those who hate them and by the hand of those who want to kill them. And I will feed their dead bodies to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth. ⁸ I will make this city a waste place, and people will make sounds of hate. Everyone who passes by it will be surprised and make strange noises because of all its troubles. ⁹ I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters. And they will eat each other’s flesh when the armies shut them in, and when those who want to kill them bring much trouble to them.”’

¹⁰ “Then you are to break the jar in front of the men who go with you. ¹¹ And say to them, ‘The Lord of All says, “In this way I will break these people and this city, even as one breaks a pot-maker’s jar, which cannot be put back together. Men will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no place left to bury. ¹² This is what I will do to this place and its people,” says the Lord. “I will make this city like Topheth. ¹³ The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be made unclean like Topheth. This will be because of all the houses on whose roofs they burned special perfume to all the false gods of the heavens and poured out drink gifts to other gods.”’”

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to tell what would happen. And he stood in the open space of the Lord’s house and said to all the people, ¹⁵ “The Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, ‘See, I am about to bring to this city and to all its towns all the trouble that I have spoken about, because they have made their necks hard and would not listen to My Words.’”

Jeremiah and the Religious Leader Pashhur

20 Now Pashhur the religious leader, the son of Immer, was the head leader in the house of the Lord. When he heard Jeremiah saying these things, ² Pashhur had Jeremiah the man of God beaten. Then he put him in chains at the upper Benjamin Gate by the house of the Lord. ³ On the next day, when Pashhur set Jeremiah free from the chains, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call you Pashhur, but Fear Everywhere. ⁴ For the Lord says, ‘See, I am going to make you a fear to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of those who hate them while you look on. I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. And he will carry them away in chains to Babylon and will kill them with the sword. ⁵ I will give over all the riches of this city, all that its people have worked for, and all its things of much worth. Even all the riches of the kings of Judah I will give to those who hate them. They will take their things, and take hold of them, and carry them to Babylon. ⁶ And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will be taken away in chains. You will go to Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have told lies.’”

Jeremiah’s Complaint to the Lord

⁷ O Lord, You have lied to me and I was fooled. You are stronger than I, and have had power over me. I have been laughed at all day. Everyone makes fun of me. ⁸ For whenever I speak, I cry out. I tell of fighters and destroyers. For the Word of the Lord has become a shame and a cause of laughing at me all day long. ⁹ But if I say, “I will not remember Him or speak any more in His name,” then in my heart it is like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I am tired of holding it in, and I cannot do that. ¹⁰ For I have heard many speaking in secret, saying, “Fear and trouble is on every side! Speak against him! Yes, let us speak against him!” All my trusted friends, watching for my fall, say, “It may be that he will be fooled. Then we can get power over him and punish him.” ¹¹ But the Lord is with me like a powerful one who causes fear. So those who make it hard for me will fall and not have power over me. They will be put to much shame, because their plans have not gone well. Their shame will last forever and will not be forgotten. ¹² O Lord of All, You test those who are right and good. You see the mind and the heart. Let me see You punish them, for I have given my cause to You. ¹³ Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For He has taken the soul of the one in need from the hand of the sinful.

¹⁴ Cursed is the day when I was born! Let the day not be honored when my mother gave birth to me! ¹⁵ Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, saying, “A baby boy has been born to you!” and made him very happy. ¹⁶ Let that man be like the cities which the Lord destroyed without pity. Let him hear a cry in the morning and a call of danger at noon. ¹⁷ For he did not kill me before I was born, so that my mother’s body would have been my grave. ¹⁸ Why was I ever born to see trouble and sorrow, and spend my days in shame?

Jerusalem to Be Taken

21 This is the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the religious leader, the son of Maaseiah, saying, ² “Will you speak to the Lord about us? For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is making war against us. It may be that the Lord will do something for us like He did in times past, and make him leave us.”

³ Then Jeremiah said to them, “Say this to Zedekiah: ⁴ ‘The Lord God of Israel says, “See, I will turn against you the objects of war you are using to fight with against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are gathered outside the wall to shut you in. And I will bring them into the center of this city. ⁵ I Myself will fight against you with My hand out and with a strong arm, in much anger. ⁶ I will kill both man and animal in this city. They will die of a bad disease. ⁷ After this,” says the Lord, “I will give over Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people who were not killed in this city by the disease, the sword, and hunger. I will give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of those who hate them, and into the hand of those who want to kill them. And he will kill them with the sword. He will not let them live or have pity for them.”’

⁸ “Also tell the people, ‘The Lord says, “See, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹ He who lives in this city will die by the sword and by hunger and by disease. But he who goes out and gives himself up to the Babylonians whose armies shut you in will live, he will at least have his life. ¹⁰ For I have set My face against this city for trouble and not for good,” says the Lord. “It will be given to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.”’

Words against Judah

¹¹ “Then say to those of the house of the king of Judah, ‘Hear the Word of the Lord, ¹² O house of David, the Lord says, “Do what is right every morning. Take the person who has been robbed away from the one who has made it hard for him. So My anger will not go out like fire and burn with no one to put it out, because of the sinful things you have done.

¹³ “See, I am against you, O you who live in the valley, O rock of the plain,” says the Lord, “you who say, ‘Who will come down against us? Or who will come into our houses?’ ¹⁴ I will punish you for what has come of what you have done,” says the Lord. “I will start a fire among your trees, and it will destroy all that is around it.”’”

⁴ But you are not in darkness, Christian brothers. That day will not surprise you as a robber would. ⁵ For you are children of the light and of the day. We are not of darkness or of night. ⁶ Keep awake! Do not sleep like others. Watch and keep your minds awake to what is happening. ⁷ People sleep at night. Those who get drunk do it at night. ⁸ Because we are men of the day, let us keep our minds awake. Let us cover our chests with faith and love. Let us cover our heads with the hope of being saved. ⁹ God planned to save us from the punishment of sin through our Lord Jesus Christ. He did not plan for us to suffer from His anger. ¹⁰ He died for us so that, dead or alive, we will be with Him. ¹¹ So comfort each other and make each other strong as you are already doing.

Christian Living

¹² We ask you, Christian brothers, to respect those who work among you. The Lord has placed them over you and they are your teachers. ¹³ You must think much of them and love them because of their work. Live in peace with each other.

¹⁴ We ask you, Christian brothers, speak to those who do not want to work. Comfort those who feel they cannot keep going on. Help the weak. Understand and be willing to wait for all men. ¹⁵ Do not let anyone pay back for the bad he received. But look for ways to do good to each other and to all people.

¹⁶ Be full of joy all the time. ¹⁷ Never stop praying. ¹⁸ In everything give thanks. This is what God wants you to do because of Christ Jesus. ¹⁹ Do not try to stop the work of the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Do not laugh at those who speak for God. ²¹ Test everything and do not let good things get away from you. ²² Keep away from everything that even looks like sin.

²³ May the God of peace set you apart for Himself. May every part of you be set apart for God. May your spirit and your soul and your body be kept complete. May you be without blame when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. ²⁴ The One Who called you is faithful and will do what He promised. ²⁵ Christian brothers, pray for us. ²⁶ Greet all the Christians with a kiss of holy love. ²⁷ I tell you to have this letter read to all the Christians. ²⁸ May you have loving-favor from our Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s Rule

82 God takes His stand in the great meeting of His people. He judges among the rulers. ² How long will you rulers be wrong in how you judge? How long will you show favor to the sinful? ³ Do the right thing for the weak and those without a father. Stand up for the rights of those who are suffering and in need. ⁴ Save the weak and those in need. Set them free from the hand of the sinful.

⁵ They know nothing; they understand nothing. They walk around in the dark. All that the earth is built upon is shaking. ⁶ I said, “You are gods. You are all sons of the Most High. ⁷ But you will die like men, and fall like one of the princes.”

⁸ Rise up, O God! Say who is guilty or not guilty upon the earth! For all the nations belong to You.

⁹ Argue your side of the problem with your neighbor, but do not tell the secret of another. ¹⁰ Or he who hears you may put you to shame, and bad things will be said about you forever.