The Daily Audio Bible
Today's audio is from the NRSVUE. Switch to the NRSVUE to read along with the audio.
54 The (A)sound of an outcry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For Yahweh is going to destroy Babylon,
And He will make her loud [a]noise [b]vanish from her.
And their (B)waves will roar like many waters;
The rumbling of their voices [c]sounds forth.
56 For the (C)destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
And her mighty men will be captured;
Their (D)bows are shattered;
For Yahweh is a God of (E)recompense,
He will fully repay.
57 “I will (F)make her princes and her wise men drunk,
Her governors, her prefects, and her mighty men,
That they may sleep a (G)perpetual sleep and not wake up,”
(H)Declares the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts.
58 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“The broad (I)wall of Babylon will be completely razed,
And her high (J)gates will be set on fire;
So the peoples will (K)toil for nothing,
And the nations become (L)weary only for fire.”
59 The [d]message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of (M)Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with (N)Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. (Now Seraiah was quartermaster.) 60 So Jeremiah (O)wrote in a single [e]scroll all the calamity which would come upon Babylon, that is, all these words which have been written concerning Babylon. 61 Then Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “As soon as you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words aloud, 62 and then you will say, ‘You, O Yahweh, have [f]promised concerning this place to (P)cut it off, so that there will be (Q)nothing inhabiting it, [g]whether man or beast, but it will be a perpetual desolation.’ 63 And as soon as you finish reading this [h]scroll, you will tie a stone to it and (R)throw it into the middle of the Euphrates, 64 and then you will say, ‘Just so shall Babylon sink down and (S)not rise again because of the calamity that I am going to bring upon her; and they will become (T)utterly weary.’” (U)Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
The Anger of Yahweh Towards Judah
52 (V)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was [i](W)Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of (X)Libnah. 2 And he did (Y)what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that (Z)Jehoiakim had done. 3 For through the (AA)anger of Yahweh this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah (AB)rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 (AC)Now it happened in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his military force, against Jerusalem, and they camped against it and built a (AD)siege wall all around [j]it. 5 (AE)So the city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6 On the ninth day of the (AF)fourth month, the (AG)famine was so strong in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then the city was (AH)breached, and all the (AI)men of war fled and went forth from the city at night by way of the gate between the two walls which was by the king’s garden, though the Chaldeans were [k](AJ)all around the city. And they went by way of the Arabah. 8 But the military force of the Chaldeans pursued the king and (AK)overtook Zedekiah in the [l]plains of Jericho, and all his military force was scattered from him. 9 Then they seized the king and (AL)brought him up to the king of Babylon at (AM)Riblah in the land of (AN)Hamath, and he [m]spoke his judgment on him. 10 Then the king of Babylon (AO)slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all the [n]princes of Judah in Riblah. 11 Then he (AP)blinded the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him with bronze fetters and brought him to Babylon and put him in prison until the day of his death.
12 (AQ)Now on the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the (AR)nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, (AS)Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who stood before the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 13 And he (AT)burned the house of Yahweh, the (AU)king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every large house he burned with fire. 14 So all the military force of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard (AV)tore down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard (AW)took away into exile some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the [o](AX)defectors who had defected to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the artisans. 16 But (AY)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had some of the poorest of the land remain to be vinedressers and [p]plowmen.
17 Now the bronze (AZ)pillars which belonged to the house of Yahweh and the (BA)stands and the bronze (BB)sea, which were in the house of Yahweh, the Chaldeans shattered and carried all their bronze to Babylon. 18 They also took away the (BC)pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the bowls, the [q]pans, and all the bronze vessels which were used to minister. 19 And the captain of the guard also took away the (BD)cups, the firepans, the bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the [r]pans, and the offering bowls, what was fine gold and what was fine silver. 20 The two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under [s]the sea, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of Yahweh—the bronze of all these vessels was (BE)beyond weight. 21 As for the pillars, the (BF)height of each pillar was [t]eighteen cubits, and [u]it was twelve cubits in (BG)circumference and four fingers in thickness, and hollow. 22 Now a (BH)capital of bronze was on it; and the height of each capital was five cubits, with network and (BI)pomegranates upon the capital all around, all of bronze. And the second pillar was like these, including pomegranates. 23 There were ninety-six [v]exposed pomegranates; all (BJ)the pomegranates numbered one hundred on the network all around.
24 Then the captain of the guard took (BK)Seraiah the chief priest and (BL)Zephaniah the second priest, with the three [w](BM)doorkeepers of the temple. 25 And from the city he took one official who was overseer of the men of war, and seven [x]of the (BN)king’s advisers who were found in the city, and the scribe of the commander of the army who mustered the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land who were found in the midst of the city. 26 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and (BO)led them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 27 Then the king of Babylon (BP)struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah (BQ)went into exile from its land.
28 These are the people whom (BR)Nebuchadnezzar took away into exile: in the [y]seventh year 3,023 Jews; 29 in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar 832 persons from Jerusalem; 30 in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, (BS)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took away into exile 745 Jewish people; there were 4,600 persons in all.
31 (BT)Now it happened in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, that [z]Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, (BU)lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison; 32 (BV)and he spoke to him good words, and he set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. 33 So [aa]Jehoiachin (BW)changed his prison clothes and [ab](BX)had his meals in [ac]the king’s presence continually all the days of his life. 34 For his allowance, a (BY)continual allowance was given him by the king of Babylon, a daily portion all the days of his life until the day of his death.
Be Ready for Every Good Work
3 (A)Remind them (B)to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be (C)ready for every good work, 2 to slander no one, (D)to be peaceable, (E)considerate, (F)demonstrating all gentleness to all men. 3 (G)For we ourselves also once were foolish, (H)disobedient, (I)deceived, (J)enslaved to (K)various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in (L)malice and (M)envy, despicable, hating one another. 4 But when the (N)kindness and affection of (O)God our Savior (P)appeared, 5 (Q)He saved us, (R)not by works which we did in righteousness, but (S)according to His mercy, through the (T)washing of regeneration and (U)renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 (V)whom He poured out upon us (W)richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that having been justified by His grace, we would become (X)heirs [a]according to the hope of eternal life. 8 (Y)This is a trustworthy saying. And concerning these things I (Z)want you to speak confidently, so that those who have (AA)believed God will be intent to (AB)lead in good works. These things are good and profitable for men. 9 But (AC)avoid (AD)foolish controversies and (AE)genealogies and strife and (AF)conflicts about the Law, for they are (AG)unprofitable and worthless. 10 (AH)Reject a (AI)factious man (AJ)after a first and second warning, 11 knowing that such a man is (AK)perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.
Personal Instructions and Greetings
12 When I send Artemas or (AL)Tychicus to you, (AM)be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to (AN)spend the winter there. 13 Diligently help send Zenas the (AO)lawyer and (AP)Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them. 14 (AQ)And our people must also learn to (AR)lead in good [b]works to meet (AS)pressing needs, so that they will not be (AT)unfruitful.
15 (AU)All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us (AV)in the faith.
(AW)Grace be with you all.
Serve Yahweh with Gladness
A Psalm of [a]Thanksgiving.
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.