The Daily Audio Bible

²⁴ Then Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the Word of the Lord, all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. ²⁵ This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says: ‘You and your wives have said with your mouths and have done it with your hands, saying, “For sure we will keep our promises to burn special perfume to the queen of heaven and pour out drink gifts to her.” Then keep your promises! Do what you have promised!’ ²⁶ But hear the Word of the Lord, all you of Judah who are living in the land of Egypt: ‘I have sworn by My great name,’ says the Lord, ‘that My name will no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “The Lord God lives.” ²⁷ For I am watching over them for trouble and not for good. All the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be destroyed by the sword and hunger until there is an end of them. ²⁸ And those who get away from the sword and return from Egypt to the land of Judah will be few. Then all those left of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to live will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs. ²⁹ This will be the special thing for you to see,’ says the Lord. ‘I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that My words will be sure to stand against you for your hurt.’ ³⁰ The Lord says, ‘I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to those who hate him and want to kill him. It will be just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who hated him and wanted to kill him.’”

God Speaks through Jeremiah to Baruch

45 This is the word which Jeremiah the man of God said to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he had written down in a book what Jeremiah told him. This was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah. ² “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to you, O Baruch: ³ ‘You said, “O, it is bad for me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. I am tired from crying inside myself, and have found no rest.”’” ⁴ “So you are to tell him, ‘The Lord says, “I am breaking down what I have built. And I am pulling up by the roots what I have planted, that is, the whole land.” ⁵ Are you looking for great things for yourself? Do not look for them. For I am bringing trouble to all flesh,’ says the Lord. ‘But I will give you life in all the places you go.’”

God Speaks through Jeremiah about Egypt

46 This is the Word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the man of God about the nations. ² This is what He said about Egypt, and about the army of Pharaoh Necho king of Egypt, which was by the Euphrates River at Carchemish. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had won the battle against Pharaoh’s army in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah. ³ “Get your coverings ready and go out to the battle! ⁴ Get the horses ready and get on them! Take your places with your head-coverings on! Make your spears shine, and put on your heavy battle-clothes! ⁵ What do I see? They are filled with fear and are turning back. Their strong men are beaten and are running away without looking back. Much fear is on every side,” says the Lord. ⁶ Do not let the fast man run away. Do not let the strong man get away. In the north by the River Euphrates they have lost their step and fallen. ⁷ Who is this that rises like the Nile, like rivers of rising waters? ⁸ Egypt rises like the Nile, like the rivers of rising waters. He has said, “I will rise and cover that land. I will destroy the city and its people.” ⁹ Go up, you horses! Drive hard, you war-wagons! Let the men of war go up, Ethiopia and Put who use the battle-covering, and the Lydians who are able men with the bow. ¹⁰ That day is the day of the Lord God of All, a day of punishment, when He will punish those who hate Him. The sword will destroy until it is filled. It will drink its fill of their blood. For there will be many killed for the Lord, the God of All, in the land of the north by the River Euphrates. ¹¹ Go up to Gilead and get healing oil, O young daughter of Egypt! You have used many medicines for nothing. There is no healing for you. ¹² The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry. For one soldier has fallen over another. They have both fallen together.

Nebuchadnezzar and Egypt

¹³ This is the word which the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the man of God about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to punish the land of Egypt: ¹⁴ “Make it known in Egypt. Make it known in Migdol, in Memphis, and in Tahpanhes. Say, ‘Take your places and get ready, for the sword has destroyed those around you.’ ¹⁵ Why have your strong ones gone away? They did not stand because the Lord has thrown them down. ¹⁶ The Lord made many fall. They have fallen on each other. And they said, ‘Get up! Let us return to our own people and our own land, away from the sword of the one who makes it hard for us.’ ¹⁷ There they cried, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise. He has passed by the time he was to have!’ ¹⁸ “As I live,” says the King, Whose name is the Lord of All, “one will come who is like Tabor among the mountains, or like Carmel by the sea. ¹⁹ Get your things ready for when you are taken away, you who are living in Egypt. For Memphis will become a waste. It will be burned down and will have no people. ²⁰ Egypt is like a beautiful young cow. But a horsefly has come upon her from the north. ²¹ Her hired soldiers among her are like calves, ready to eat. For they also have turned back and have run away together. They did not stay in their places. For the day of their trouble has come upon them, the time of their punishment. ²² Egypt will sound like a snake moving away. For an army will come against her with axes, like those who cut down trees. ²³ They will cut down all her trees,” says the Lord, “even though there are so many. There are more trees than locusts, too many to number. ²⁴ The people of Egypt will be put to shame. She will be given over to the people of the north.” ²⁵ The Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, “I am going to punish Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh, and Egypt and her gods and her kings. I will punish Pharaoh and those who trust in him. ²⁶ I will give them over to those who want to kill them, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his captains. After that, Egypt will be filled with people as it was long ago,” says the Lord.

God Will Save Israel

²⁷ “But do not be afraid, O Jacob My servant. Do not be troubled, O Israel. For I am going to save you from far away. I will bring your children back from the land where they are held. Jacob will return and have quiet and rest. And no one will make him afraid. ²⁸ O Jacob My servant, do not be afraid,” says the Lord, “for I am with you. I will make a complete end of all the nations where I have driven you. But I will not make a complete end of you. I will punish you so you will go the right way. I will not leave you without punishment.”

God Speaks through Jeremiah about the Philistines

47 This is the Word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the man of God about the Philistines, before Pharaoh won the war against Gaza. ² The Lord says, “Waters are going to rise from the north and become a flood. They will flow over the land and everything in it, the cities and all who live in them. The men will cry out. Every person living in the land will cry in a loud voice. ³ Because of the noise of the feet of horses running, the noise of war-wagons and the sound of wheels, fathers have not turned back for their children. Their hands have become too weak, ⁴ because of the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines. And all those who helped Tyre and Sidon will be destroyed. For the Lord is going to destroy the Philistines, those who are left of the land of Caphtor by the sea. ⁵ All the hair is gone from the head of Gaza. Ashkelon has been destroyed. O you who are left of their valley, how long will you cut yourselves? ⁶ O, sword of the Lord, how long will it be before you are quiet? Return to your holder. Be at rest and do not move. ⁷ How can it be quiet, when the Lord has given it work to do? He has sent it against Ashkelon and against the land by the sea.”

²² Turn away from the sinful things young people want to do. Go after what is right. Have a desire for faith and love and peace. Do this with those who pray to God from a clean heart. ²³ Let me say it again. Have nothing to do with foolish talk and those who want to argue. It can only lead to trouble. ²⁴ A servant owned by God must not make trouble. He must be kind to everyone. He must be able to teach. He must be willing to suffer when hurt for doing good. ²⁵ Be gentle when you try to teach those who are against what you say. God may change their hearts so they will turn to the truth. ²⁶ Then they will know they had been held in a trap by the devil to do what he wanted them to do. But now they are able to get out of it.

Things That Will Happen in the Last Days

3 You must understand that in the last days there will come times of much trouble. ² People will love themselves and money. They will have pride and tell of all the things they have done. They will speak against God. Children and young people will not obey their parents. People will not be thankful and they will not be holy. ³ They will not love each other. No one can get along with them. They will tell lies about others. They will not be able to keep from doing things they know they should not do. They will be wild and want to beat and hurt those who are good. ⁴ They will not stay true to their friends. They will act without thinking. They will think too much of themselves. They will love fun instead of loving God. ⁵ They will do things to make it look as if they are Christians. But they will not receive the power that is for a Christian. Keep away from such people.

⁶ These are the kind of people who go from house to house. They talk to foolish women who are loaded down with sins and all kinds of sinful desires. ⁷ Such women are always listening to new teaching. But they are never able to understand the truth. ⁸ Jannes and Jambres fought against Moses. So do these teachers fight against the truth today. Their minds think only of sinful things. They have turned against the Christian teaching. ⁹ They will not get very far. Their foolish teaching will be seen by everyone. That was the way it was with the two who worked against Moses.

Teach the Truth

¹⁰ But you know what I teach and how I live. You know what I want to do. You know about my faith and my love. You know how long I am willing to wait for something. You know how I keep on working for God even when it is hard for me. ¹¹ You know about all the troubles and hard times I have had. You have seen how I suffered in the cities of Antioch and Iconium and Lystra. Yet the Lord brought me out of all those troubles. ¹² Yes! All who want to live a God-like life who belong to Christ Jesus will suffer from others. ¹³ Sinful men and false teachers will go from bad to worse. They will lead others the wrong way and will be led the wrong way themselves.

¹⁴ But as for you, hold on to what you have learned and know to be true. Remember where you learned them. ¹⁵ You have known the Holy Writings since you were a child. They are able to give you wisdom that leads to being saved from the punishment of sin by putting your trust in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All the Holy Writings are God-given and are made alive by Him. Man is helped when he is taught God’s Word. It shows what is wrong. It changes the way of a man’s life. It shows him how to be right with God. ¹⁷ It gives the man who belongs to God everything he needs to work well for Him.

God Judges

94 O Lord, the God Who punishes, God Who punishes, let Your light shine! ² Rise up, You Judge of the earth. Pay what is owed to the proud. ³ How long will the sinful, O Lord, how long will the sinful be full of joy? ⁴ They pour out proud words. All those who do wrong, talk about themselves as if they are great people. ⁵ They crush Your people, O Lord. They bring trouble upon Your chosen nation. ⁶ They kill the woman whose husband has died and the stranger. They kill the children who have no parents. ⁷ And they say, “The Lord does not see. The God of Jacob does not care.”

⁸ Listen, you foolish ones among the people. You fools, when will you understand? ⁹ He Who made the ear, does He not hear? He Who made the eye, does He not see? ¹⁰ He Who punishes nations so they might give up sin, will He not speak strong words to them? Is He not the One Who teaches man all he knows? ¹¹ The Lord knows the thoughts of man. He knows that they are empty.

¹² Happy is the man who is punished until he gives up sin, O Lord, and whom You teach from Your Law. ¹³ You give him rest from days of trouble, until a hole is dug for the sinful. ¹⁴ For the Lord will not turn away from His people. He will not leave His chosen nation. ¹⁵ For what is decided will be right and good. And all those whose hearts are right will follow it. ¹⁶ Who will rise up for me against the sinful? Who will take a stand for me against those who do wrong?

¹⁷ If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have been among the dead. ¹⁸ When I said, “My foot is going out from under me,” Your loving-kindness held me up, O Lord. ¹⁹ When my worry is great within me, Your comfort brings joy to my soul. ²⁰ Can a sinful throne that brings trouble by its laws be a friend to You? ²¹ They join together against the life of those who are right and good. They send those who are not guilty to their death. ²² But the Lord has been my strong place, my God, and the rock where I am safe. ²³ He has brought back their own sin upon them and will destroy them for their wrong-doing. The Lord our God will destroy them.

⁶ He who sends a letter by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and brings trouble upon himself.

⁷ A wise saying in the mouth of fools is like the legs on a man who cannot walk.

⁸ He who gives honor to a fool is like one who ties a stone in a sling.