Through the Bible – Day 296

_1-3The LORD told me to stand by the gate of the temple and to tell the people who were going in that the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said:

Pay attention, people of Judah! Change your ways and start living right, then I will let you keep on living in your own country. ₄Don't fool yourselves! My temple is here in Jerusalem, but that doesn't mean I will protect you. ₅I will keep you safe only if you change your ways. Be fair and honest with each other. ₆Stop taking advantage of foreigners, orphans, and widows. Don't kill innocent people. And stop worshipping other gods. ₇Then I will let you enjoy a long life in this land I gave your ancestors.

₈But just look at what is happening! You put your trust in worthless lies. ₉You steal and murder; you lie in court and are unfaithful in marriage. You worship idols and offer incense to Baal, when these gods have never done anything for you. ₁₀And then you come into my temple and worship me! Do you think I will protect you so that you can go on sinning? ₁₁You are thieves, and you have made my temple your hideout. But I've seen everything you have done.

₁₂Go to Shiloh, where my sacred tent once stood. Take a look at what I did there. My people Israel sinned, and so I destroyed Shiloh!

₁₃While you have been sinning, I have been trying to talk to you, but you refuse to listen. ₁₄Don't think this temple will protect you. Long ago I told your ancestors to build it and worship me here, but now I have decided to tear it down, just as I destroyed Shiloh. ₁₅And as for you, people of Judah, I'm going to send you away from my land, just as I sent away the people of Ephraim and the other northern tribes.

₁₆Jeremiah, don't pray for these people! I, the LORD, would refuse to listen. ₁₇Do you see what the people of Judah are doing in their towns and in the streets of Jerusalem? ₁₈Children gather firewood, their fathers build fires, and their mothers mix dough to bake bread for the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven. They even offer wine sacrifices to other gods, just to insult me. ₁₉But they are not only insulting me; they are also insulting themselves by doing these shameful things.

₂₀And now, I, the LORD All-Powerful, will flood Judah with my fiery anger until nothing is left—no people or animals, no trees or crops.

₂₁The LORD told me to say to the people of Judah:

I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, but I won't accept sacrifices from you. So don't even bother bringing them to me. You might as well just cook the meat for yourselves.

₂₂At the time I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I didn't command them to offer sacrifices to me. ₂₃Instead, I told them, “If you listen to me and do what I tell you, I will be your God, you will be my people, and all will go well for you.” ₂₄But your ancestors refused to listen. They were stubborn, and whenever I wanted them to go one-way, they always went the other. ₂₅Ever since your ancestors left Egypt, I have been sending my servants the prophets to speak for me. ₂₆But you have ignored me and become even more stubborn and sinful than your ancestors ever were!

₂₇Jeremiah, no matter what you do, the people won't listen. ₂₈So you must say to them:

People of Judah, I am the LORD your God, but you have refused to obey me, and you didn't change when I punished you. And now, you no longer even pretend to be faithful to me.

₃₀You have disobeyed me by putting your disgusting idols in my temple, and now the temple itself is disgusting to me. ₃₁At Topheth in Hinnom Valley you have built altars where you kill your children and burn them as sacrifices to other gods. I would never think of telling you to do this. ₃₂So watch out! Some day that place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. It will be called Slaughter Valley, because you will bury your dead there until you run out of room, ₃₃and then bodies will lie scattered on the ground. Birds and wild animals will come and eat, and no one will be around to scare them off. ₃₄When I have finished with your land, there will be deathly silence in the empty ruins of Jerusalem and the towns of Judah—no happy voices, no sounds of parties or wedding celebrations.

₁Then the bones of the dead kings of Judah and their officials will be dug up, along with the bones of the priests, the prophets, and everyone else in Jerusalem ₂who loved and worshipped the sun, moon, and stars. These bones will be scattered and left lying on the ground like rubbish, where the sun and moon and stars can shine on them.

₃Some of you people of Judah will be left alive, but I will force you to go to foreign countries, and you will wish you were dead. I, the LORD God All-Powerful, have spoken.

₄The LORD said:

₁Timothy, my child, Christ Jesus is kind, and you must let him make you strong. ₂You have often heard me teach. Now I want you to tell these same things to followers who can be trusted to tell others.

₃As a good soldier of Christ Jesus you must endure your share of suffering. ₄Soldiers on duty don't work at outside jobs. They try only to please their commanding officer. ₅No one wins an athletic contest without obeying the rules. ₆And farmers who work hard are the first to eat what grows in their field. ₇If you keep in mind what I have told you, the Lord will help you understand completely.

₈Keep your mind on Jesus Christ! He was from the family of David and was raised from death, just as my good news says. ₉And because of this message, I am locked up in jail and treated like a criminal. But God's good news isn't locked in jail, ₁₀and so I am willing to put up with anything. Then God's special people will be saved. They will be given eternal glory because they belong to Christ Jesus. ₁₁Here is a true message:

₁₄Don't let anyone forget these things. And with God as your witness, you must warn them not to argue about words. These arguments don't help anyone. In fact, they ruin everyone who listens to them. ₁₅Do your best to win God's approval as a worker who doesn't need to be ashamed and who teaches only the true message.

₁₆Keep away from worthless and useless talk. It only leads people further away from God. ₁₇That sort of talk is like a sore that won't heal. And Hymenaeus and Philetus have been talking this way ₁₈by teaching that the dead have already been raised to life. This is far from the truth, and it is destroying the faith of some people.

₁₉But the foundation that God has laid is solid. On it is written, “The Lord knows who his people are. So everyone who worships the Lord must turn away from evil.”

₂₀In a large house some dishes are made of gold or silver, while others are made of wood or clay. Some of these are special, and others are not. ₂₁That's also how it is with people. The ones who stop doing evil and make themselves pure will become special. Their lives will be holy and pleasing to their Master, and they will be able to do all kinds of good deeds.

₂₂Run from temptations that capture young people. Always do the right thing. Be faithful, loving, and easy to get along with. Worship with people whose hearts are pure. ₂₃Stay away from stupid and senseless arguments. These only lead to trouble, ₂₄and God's servants must not be troublemakers. They must be kind to everyone, and they must be good teachers and very patient.

₂₅Be humble when you correct people who oppose you. Perhaps God will lead them to turn to him and learn the truth. ₂₆They have been trapped by the devil, and he makes them obey him, but God may help them escape.