The Daily Audio Bible

42 Then all the captains of the warriors, and Johanan the son of Caree, and Jezonias the son of Osaias, and the rest of the people from the least to the greatest came near:

² And they said to Jeremias the prophet: Let our supplication fall before thee: and pray thou for us to the Lord thy God for all this remnant, for we are left but a few of many, as thy eyes do behold us.

³ And let the Lord thy God shew us the way by which we may walk, and the thing that we must do.

⁴ And Jeremias the prophet said to them: I have heard you: behold I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words: and whatsoever thing he shall answer me, I will declare it to you: and I will hide nothing from you.

⁵ And they said to Jeremias: The Lord be witness between us of truth and faithfulness, if we do not according to every thing for which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us.

⁶ Whether it be good or evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom me send thee: that it may be well with us when we shall hearken to the voice of the Lord our God.

⁷ Now after ten days, the word of the Lord came to Jeremias.

⁸ And he called Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the fighting men that were with him, and all the people from the least to the greatest.

⁹ And he said to them: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, to whom you sent me, to present your supplications before him:

¹⁰ If you will be quiet and remain in this land, I will build you up, and not pull you down: I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for now I am appeased for the evil that I have done to you.

¹¹ Fear not because of the king of Babylon, of whom you are greatly afraid: fear him not, saith the Lord: for I am with you, to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

¹² And I will shew mercies to you, and will take pity on you, and will cause you to dwell in your own land.

¹³ But if you say: We will not dwell in this land, neither will we hearken to the voice of the Lord our God,

¹⁴ Saying: No, but we will go into the land of Egypt: where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor suffer hunger: and there we will dwell.

¹⁵ For this now hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Juda: Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: If you set your faces to go into Egypt, and enter in to dwell there:

¹⁶ The sword which you fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt: and the famine, whereof you are afraid, shall cleave to you in Egypt, and there you shall die.

¹⁷ And all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt, to dwell there, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: none of them shall remain, nor escape from the face of the evil that I will bring upon them.

¹⁸ For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my indignation hath been kindled against the inhabitants of Jerusalem: so shall my indignation be kindled against you, when you shall enter into Egypt, and you shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach: and you shall see this place no more.

¹⁹ This is the word of the Lord concerning you, O ye remnant of Juda: Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have adjured you this day.

²⁰ For you have deceived your own souls: for you sent me to the Lord our God, saying: Pray for us to the Lord our God, and according to all that the Lord our God shall say to thee, so declare unto us, and we will do it.

²¹ And now I have declared it to you this day, and you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, with regard to all the things for which he hath sent me to you.

²² Now therefore know certainly that you shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence in the place to which you desire to go to dwell there.

43 And it came to pass, that when Jeremias had made an end of speaking to the people all the words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him to them, all these words:

² Azarias the son of Osaias, and Johanan the son of Caree, and all the proud men, made answer, saying to Jeremias: Thou tellest a lie: the Lord our God hath not sent thee, saying: Go not into Egypt, to dwell there.

³ But Baruch the son of Nerias setteth thee on against us, to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to kill us, and to cause us to be carried away captives to Babylon.

⁴ So Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the soldiers, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Juda.

⁵ But Johanan the son of Caree, and all the captains of the soldiers took all the remnant of Juda, that were returned out of all nations, to which they had before been scattered, to dwell in the land of Juda:

⁶ Men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every soul, which Nabuzardan the general had left with Godolias the son of Ahicam the son of Saphan, and Jeremias the prophet, and Baruch the son of Nerias.

⁷ And they went Into the land of Egypt, for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord: and they came as far as Taphnis.

⁸ And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias in Taphnis, saying:

⁹ Take great stones in thy hand, and thou shalt hide them in the vault that is under the brick wall at the gate of Pharao's house in Taphnis: in the sight of the men of Juda.

¹⁰ And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Behold I will send, and take Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon my servant: and I will set his throne over these stones which I have hid, and he shall set his throne over them.

¹¹ And he shall come and strike the land of Egypt: such as are for death, to death: and such as are for captivity, to captivity: and such as are for the sword, to the sword.

¹² And he shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them, and he shall carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment: and he shall go forth from thence in peace.

¹³ And he shall break the statues of the house of the sun, that are in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.

44 The word that came to Jeremias, concerning all the Jews that dwelt in the land of Egypt, dwelling in Magdal, and in Taphnis, and in Memphis, and in the land of Phatures, saying:

² Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: You have seen all this evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Juda: and behold they are desolate this day, and there is not an inhabitant in them:

³ Because of the wickedness which they have committed, to provoke me to wrath, and to go and offer sacrifice, and worship other gods, which neither they, nor you, nor your fathers knew.

⁴ And I sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising early, and sending, and saying: Do not commit this abominable thing, which I hate.

⁵ But they heard not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their evil ways, and not to sacrifice to strange gods.

⁶ Wherefore my indignation and my fury was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem: and they are turned to desolation and waste, as at this day.

⁷ And now thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil against your own souls, that there should die of you man and woman, child and suckling out of the midst of Juda, and no remnant should be left you:

⁸ In that you provoke me to wrath with the works of your hands, by sacrificing to other gods in the land of Egypt, into which you are come to dwell there: and that you should perish, and be a curse, and a reproach to all the nations of the earth?

⁹ Have you forgotten the evils of your fathers, and the evils of the kings of Juda, and the evils of their wives, and your evils, and the evils of your wives, that they have done in the land of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

¹⁰ They are not cleansed even to this day: neither have they feared, nor walked in the law of the Lord, nor in my commandments, which I set before you and your fathers.

¹¹ Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Behold I will set my face upon you for evil: and I will destroy all Juda.

¹² And I will take the remnant of Juda that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt, and to dwell there: and they shall be all consumed in the land of Egypt: they shall fall by the sword, and by the famine: and they shall be consumed from the least even to the greatest, by the sword, and by the famine shall they die: and they shall be for an execration, and for a wonder, and for a curse, and for a reproach.

¹³ And I will visit them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have visited Jerusalem by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence.

¹⁴ And there shall be none that shall escape, and remain of the remnant of the Jews that are gone to sojourn in the land of Egypt: and that shall return into the land of Juda, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there: there shall none return but they that shall flee.

¹⁵ Then all the men that knew that their wives sacrificed to other gods: and all the women of whom there stood by a great multitude, and all the people of them that dwelt in the land of Egypt in Phatures, answered Jeremias, saying:

¹⁶ As for the word which thou hast spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not hearken to thee:

¹⁷ But we will certainly do every word that shall proceed out of our own mouth, to sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, as we and our fathers have done, our kings, and our princes in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem: and we were filled with bread, and it was well with us, and we saw no evil.

¹⁸ But since we left off to offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings to her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword, and by famine.

¹⁹ And if we offer sacrifice to the queen of heaven, and pour out drink offerings to her: did we make cakes to worship her, to pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?

²⁰ And Jeremias spoke to all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying:

²¹ Was it not the sacrifice that you offered in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and Sour fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, which the Lord hath remembered, and hath it not entered into his heart?

²² So that the Lord could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed: therefore your land is become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.

²³ Because you have sacrificed to idols, and have sinned against the Lord: and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have not walked in his law, and in his commandments, and in his testimonies: therefore are these evils come upon you, as at this day.

2 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus:

² And the things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same commend to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also.

³ Labour as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

⁴ No man, being a soldier to God, entangleth himself with secular businesses; that he may please him to whom he hath engaged himself.

⁵ For he also that striveth for the mastery, is not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

⁶ The husbandman, that laboureth, must first partake of the fruits.

⁷ Understand what I say: for the Lord will give thee in all things understanding.

⁸ Be mindful that the Lord Jesus Christ is risen again from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my gospel.

⁹ Wherein I labour even unto bands, as an evildoer; but the word of God is not bound.

¹⁰ Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with heavenly glory.

¹¹ A faithful saying: for if we be dead with him, we shall live also with him.

¹² If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us.

¹³ If we believe not, he continueth faithful, he can not deny himself.

¹⁴ Of these things put them in mind, charging them before the Lord. Contend not in words, for it is to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.

¹⁵ Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

¹⁶ But shun profane and vain babblings: for they grow much towards ungodliness.

¹⁷ And their speech spreadeth like a canker: of whom are Hymeneus and Philetus:

¹⁸ Who have erred from the truth, saying, that the resurrection is past already, and have subverted the faith of some.

¹⁹ But the sure foundation of God standeth firm, having this seal: the Lord knoweth who are his; and let every one depart from iniquity who nameth the name of the Lord.

²⁰ But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earth: and some indeed unto honour, but some unto dishonour.

²¹ If any man therefore shall cleanse himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and profitable to the Lord, prepared unto every good work.

92 The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded himself. For he hath established the world which shall not be moved.

² Thy throne is prepared from of old: thou art from everlasting.

³ The floods have lifted up, O Lord: the floods have lifted up their voice. The floods have lifted up their waves,

⁴ With the noise of many waters. Wonderful are the surges of the sea: wonderful is the Lord on high.

⁵ Thy testimonies are become exceedingly credible: holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, unto length of days.

93 The Lord is the God to whom revenge belongeth: the God of revenge hath acted freely.

² Lift up thyself, thou that judgest the earth: render a reward to the proud.

³ How long shall sinners, O Lord: how long shall sinners glory?

⁴ Shall they utter, and speak iniquity: shall all speak who work injustice?

⁵ Thy people, O Lord, they have brought low: and they have afflicted thy inheritance.

⁶ They have slain the widow and the stranger: and they have murdered the fatherless.

⁷ And they have said: The Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob understand.

⁸ Understand, ye senseless among the people: and, you fools, be wise at last.

⁹ He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he that formed the eye, doth he not consider?

¹⁰ He that chastiseth nations, shall he not rebuke: he that teacheth man knowledge?

¹¹ The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, that they are vain.

¹² Blessed is the man whom thou shalt instruct, O Lord: and shalt teach him out of thy law.

¹³ That thou mayst give him rest from the evil days: till a pit be dug for the wicked.

¹⁴ For the Lord will not cast off his people: neither will he forsake his own inheritance.

¹⁵ Until justice be turned into judgment: and they that are near it are all the upright in heart.

¹⁶ Who shall rise up for me against the evildoers? or who shall stand with me against the workers of iniquity?

¹⁷ Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell.

¹⁸ If I said: My foot is moved: thy mercy, O Lord, assisted me.

¹⁹ According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy comforts have given joy to my soul.

²⁰ Doth the seat of iniquity stick to thee, who framest labour in commandment?

²¹ They will hunt after the soul of the just, and will condemn innocent blood.

²² But the Lord is my refuge: and my God the help of my hope.

²³ And he will render them their iniquity: and in their malice he will destroy them: the Lord our God will destroy them.

³ A whip for a horse, and a snaffle for an ass, and a rod for the back of fools.

⁴ Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou be made like him.

⁵ Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he imagine himself to be wise.