The Daily Audio Bible

The People Want to Go to Egypt

42 Then all the captains of the armies, Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people both small and great, came near ² and said to Jeremiah the man of God, “Hear what we ask of you. Pray to the Lord your God for us, for all these people who are left. As you see, only a few of us are left out of many. ³ Pray that the Lord your God may show us the way we should go and what we should do.” ⁴ Then Jeremiah the man of God said to them, “I have heard you. I will pray to the Lord your God as you ask. And I will tell you the whole answer that the Lord gives. I will not keep anything from you.” ⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be true and faithful to speak against us if we do not do all that the Lord your God tells you we must do. ⁶ If it is good or bad, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God to Whom we are sending you. It will go well with us if we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”

⁷ At the end of ten days the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the armies that were with him, and for all the people both small and great. ⁹ And he said to them, “This is what the Lord the God of Israel says, to Whom you sent me to bring Him what you asked for: ¹⁰ ‘If you will stay in this land, then I will build you up and not tear you down. I will plant you and not pull you up by the roots. For I will change My mind about the trouble that I have given you. ¹¹ Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, who now fills you with fear. Do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord. ‘For I am with you to save you and take you from his hands. ¹² I will show you loving-pity, so that he will have pity on you and let you stay in your own land. ¹³ But if you say, “We will not stay in this land,” and will not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, ¹⁴ and if you say, “No, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of a horn or be hungry for bread, and we will stay there,” ¹⁵ then listen to the Word of the Lord, O you who are left of Judah. This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says: “If you set your mind to go into Egypt, and go to live there, ¹⁶ then the sword which you are afraid of will come to you there in the land of Egypt. The hunger you are worried about will follow after you there in Egypt. And there you will die. ¹⁷ So all the men who set their mind to go and live in Egypt will die by the sword and hunger and disease. They will have no one left alive and no one who will get away from the trouble that I will bring to them.’”

¹⁸ “For the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, ‘As My anger has been poured out on the people of Jerusalem, so My anger will be poured out on you when you go into Egypt. You will become a curse, and object of hate. People will say bad things against you. You will be put to shame. And you will never see this place again.’ ¹⁹ O people who are left of Judah, the Lord has said to you, ‘Do not go into Egypt!’ Know for sure that I have told you of the danger today. ²⁰ You have fooled yourselves. You sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Whatever the Lord our God says, tell us and we will do it.’ ²¹ So I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the Lord your God in anything that He told me to tell you. ²² So now be sure and know that you will die by the sword and hunger and disease, in the place where you want to go to live.”

Jeremiah Is Taken to Egypt

43 Jeremiah, whom the Lord their God had sent, finished telling all the people all these words of the Lord their God. ² Then Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go into Egypt to live.’ ³ But Baruch the son of Neriah is leading you against us to give us over to the Babylonians, so they may kill us or take us away to Babylon.” ⁴ So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the armies, and all the people, did not obey the voice of the Lord to stay in the land of Judah. ⁵ Johanan the son of Kareah and all the captains of the armies took all the people left of Judah, who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been driven. ⁶ They took the men, women, children, the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the prison soldiers had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan. They also took Jeremiah the man of God and Baruch the son of Neriah. ⁷ And they went into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. They went in as far as Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ⁹ “Take some large stones in your hands. And hide them among the stone blocks by the door of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes. Let some of the Jews see you do this. ¹⁰ Tell them, ‘The Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, “See, I will send for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant. And I will set his throne over these stones that I have hidden. He will spread his covering over them. ¹¹ He will come and fight against the land of Egypt. Those who are meant to die will die. Those who are to be taken away will be taken away. And those who are to be killed by the sword will be killed by the sword. ¹² I will set fire to the houses of worship where the gods of Egypt are worshiped. He will burn them and take them away. So he will dress himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd puts on his coat. And he will go away from there in peace. ¹³ He will break to pieces the objects of worship in the house of the Sun god in Egypt. And he will burn the houses of the gods of Egypt with fire.”’”

The People Will Be Punished in Egypt

44 This word came to Jeremiah for the Jews living in the land of Egypt, at Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, saying, ² “This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have seen all the trouble I have brought to Jerusalem and to all the cities of Judah. See, today they are a waste. No one lives in them. ³ This is because of the sins they did that made Me angry. They kept burning special perfume and worshiping other gods whom they, you, and your fathers had not known. ⁴ Yet I sent you all My servants who spoke for Me again and again, saying, “O, do not do this very sinful thing which I hate!” ⁵ But they did not listen and would not turn from their sinful ways. They would not stop burning special perfume to other gods. ⁶ So My anger was poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. And they have been destroyed and laid waste, as they are today. ⁷ Now this is what the Lord God of All, the God of Israel, says: “Why are you hurting yourselves so much? Why are you cutting off from Judah man and woman, child and baby, and leaving yourselves without anyone? ⁸ You are making Me angry with the works of your hands. You burn special perfume to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to live. And so you will be cut off and become a curse and a shame among all the nations of the earth. ⁹ Have you forgotten the sins of your fathers, the sins of the kings of Judah, the sins of their wives, your own sins, and the sins of your wives? They sinned in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They have not been sorry for their sins even to this day. They have not feared Me or walked in My Laws which I have given you and your fathers.”’

¹¹ “So the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, ‘I will turn against you and destroy all Judah. ¹² I will take away those left of Judah who have set their mind on going into the land of Egypt to live. They will come to an end in the land of Egypt. They will fall by the sword or die from hunger. Both the small and the great will die by the sword or hunger. They will be a curse and a cause of fear. They will be spoken against and put to shame. ¹³ I will punish those who live in the land of Egypt as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword and hunger and disease. ¹⁴ So none of those left of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt will be able to leave and go to the land of Judah, where they want to return and live. None will return except a few who run for their lives.’”

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning special perfume to other gods, and all the many women who stood by, and all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, said to Jeremiah, ¹⁶ “We will not listen to what you have said to us in the name of the Lord! ¹⁷ But we will do everything that we have said we would do. We will burn special perfume to the queen of heaven and pour out drink gifts to her. We will do just as we ourselves, our fathers, our kings and our leaders did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had much food, and got along well, and had no trouble. ¹⁸ But since we stopped burning special perfume to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink gifts to her, we have been without everything. We have been destroyed by the sword and by hunger.” ¹⁹ And the women said, “When we baked cakes which looked like the queen of heaven, burned special perfume, and poured out our drink gifts, did not our husbands know about it?”

²⁰ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both the men and women, who had given him this answer, ²¹ “As for the special perfume that you and your fathers, your kings and your leaders, and the people of the land burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, did not the Lord remember it? Did it not come into His mind? ²² The Lord could no longer stand by while you did such sinful things. You have done very sinful acts. So your land has been laid waste. It has become a hated and cursed land, a place without people, as it is today. ²³ Because you have burned special perfume and have sinned against the Lord and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord or walked in His Laws or done what He said to do, this trouble has come upon you, as it has this day.”

Be a Good Soldier

2 So you, my son, be strong in the loving-favor of Christ Jesus. ² What you have heard me say in front of many people, you must teach to faithful men. Then they will be able to teach others also. ³ Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴ No soldier fighting in a war can take time to make a living. He must please the one who made him a soldier. ⁵ Anyone who runs in a race must follow the rules to get the crown. ⁶ A hard-working farmer should receive first some of what he gathers from the field. ⁷ Think about these things and the Lord will help you understand them.

⁸ Remember this! Jesus Christ, Who was born from the early family of David, was raised from the dead! This is the Good News I preach. ⁹ I suffer much and am in prison as one who has done something very bad. I am in chains, but the Word of God is not chained. ¹⁰ I suffer all things so the people that God has chosen can be saved from the punishment of their sin through Jesus Christ. Then they will have God’s shining-greatness that lasts forever. ¹¹ These things are true. If we die with Him, we will live with Him also. ¹² If we suffer and stay true to Him, then we will be a leader with Him. If we say we do not know Him, He will say He does not know us. ¹³ If we have no faith, He will still be faithful for He cannot go against what He is.

Foolish Talk

¹⁴ Tell your people about these things again. In the name of the Lord, tell them not to argue over words that are not important. It helps no one and it hurts the faith of those who are listening. ¹⁵ Do your best to know that God is pleased with you. Be as a workman who has nothing to be ashamed of. Teach the words of truth in the right way. ¹⁶ Do not listen to foolish talk about things that mean nothing. It only leads people farther away from God. ¹⁷ Such talk will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are like this. ¹⁸ They have turned from the truth. They say the dead have already been raised. The faith of some people has been made weak because of such foolish talk. ¹⁹ But the truth of God cannot be changed. It says, “The Lord knows those who are His.” And, “Everyone who says he is a Christian must turn away from sin!”

²⁰ In a big house there are not only things made of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some are of more use than others. Some are used every day. ²¹ If a man lives a clean life, he will be like a dish made of gold. He will be respected and set apart for good use by the owner of the house.

A Song of Praise

92 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and sing praises to Your name, O Most High. ² It is good to tell of Your loving-kindness in the morning, and of how faithful You are at night, ³ with harps, and with music of praise. ⁴ For You have made me glad by what You have done, O Lord. I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

⁵ How great are Your works, O Lord! How deep are Your thoughts! ⁶ A man who cannot reason does not have much learning. A fool does not understand this. ⁷ Even if the sinful grow up like grass and all goes well with wrong-doers, they will be destroyed forever. ⁸ But You, O Lord, rule from Your high place forever. ⁹ For, look, those who hate You will be lost from You forever, O Lord. All those who do wrong will be destroyed.

¹⁰ But You have lifted up my horn like that of a wild bull. New oil has been poured upon me. ¹¹ My eyes have seen those who wait to hurt me. My ears hear the bad men who rise up against me. ¹² The man who is right and good will grow like the palm tree. He will grow like a tall tree in Lebanon. ¹³ Planted in the house of the Lord, they will grow well in the home of our God. ¹⁴ They will still give fruit when they are old. They will be full of life and strength. ¹⁵ And they will show that the Lord is faithful. He is my rock. There is nothing in Him that is not right and good.

God Is King

93 The Lord rules. He is dressed with great power. The Lord has dressed Himself with strength. For sure, the world is built to last. It will not be moved. ² Your throne is set up from long ago. You have always been. ³ The floods have lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their beating waves. ⁴ The Lord on high is more powerful than the sound of many waters and the strong waves of the sea. ⁵ Your Word is very sure. O Lord, Your house is holy forever.

³ A whip is for the horse, leather ropes are for the donkey, and a stick is for the back of fools.

⁴ Do not answer a fool by his foolish ways, or you will be like him.

⁵ Answer a fool in the way he has earned by his foolish acts, so he will not be wise in his own eyes.