Through the Bible – Day 314

Bible text(s)

Jeremiah 49

What the LORD says about Edom

7-8The LORD All-Powerful says about Edom:

Wisdom and common sense

have vanished from Teman.

I will send disaster to punish

you descendants of Esau,

so anyone from Dedan

had better turn round

and run back home.

9People who harvest grapes

leave some for the poor.

Thieves who break in at night

take only what they want.

10But I will take everything

that belongs to you,

people of Edom,

and I will uncover every place

where you try to hide.

Then you will die,

and so will your children,

relatives, and neighbours.

11But I can be trusted

to care for your orphans

and widows.

12Even those nations that don't deserve to be punished will have to drink from the cup of my anger. So how can you possibly hope to escape? 13I, the LORD, swear in my own name that your city of Bozrah and all your towns will suffer a horrible fate. They will lie in ruins for ever, and people will use the name “Bozrah” as a curse word.

14I have sent a messenger

to command the nations

to prepare for war

against you people of Edom.

15Your nation will be small,

yet hated by other nations.

16Pride tricks you into thinking

that other nations

look at you with fear.

You live along the cliffs

and high in the mountains

like the eagles,

but I am the LORD,

and I will bring you down.

17People passing by your country

will be shocked and horrified

to see a disaster

18as bad as the destruction

of Sodom and Gomorrah

and towns nearby.

The towns of Edom will be empty.

19I will attack you

like a lion from the forest,

attacking sheep in a meadow

along the Jordan.

In a moment the flock runs,

and the land is empty.

Who will I choose to attack you?

I will do it myself!

No one can force me to fight

or chase me away.

20Listen to my plans for you,

people of Edom.

Your children will be dragged off

and your country destroyed.

21The sounds of your destruction

will reach the Red Sea

and cause the earth to shake.

22An enemy will swoop down

to attack you,

like an eagle spreading its wings

and circling over Bozrah.

Your warriors will be gripped

by fear.

What the LORD says about Damascus

23The LORD says about Damascus:

The towns of Hamath and Arpad

have heard your bad news.

They have lost hope,

and worries roll over them

like ocean waves.

24You people of Damascus

have lost your courage,

and in panic you turn to run,

gripped by fear and pain.

25I once was pleased

with your famous city.

But now I warn you, “Escape

while you still can!”

26Soon, even your best soldiers

will lie dead in your streets.

I, the LORD All-Powerful,

have spoken.

27I will set fire to your city walls

and burn down the fortresses

King Benhadad built.

Nebuchadnezzar and the people of the desert

28Here is what the LORD says about the Kedar tribe and the desert villages that were conquered by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia:

Listen, you people of Kedar

and the other tribes

of the eastern desert.

I have told Nebuchadnezzar

to attack and destroy you.

29His fearsome army

will surround you,

taking your tents and possessions,

your sheep and camels.

30Run and hide,

you people of the desert

who live in villages!

Nebuchadnezzar has big plans

for you.

31You have no city walls

and no neighbours to help,

yet you think you're safe—

so I told him to attack.

32Then your camels

and large herds

will be yours no longer.

People of the Arabian Desert,

disaster will strike you

from every side,

and you will be scattered

everywhere on earth.

33Only jackals will live

where your villages once stood.

I, the LORD, have spoken.

What the LORD says about Elam

34-35Not long after Zedekiah became king of Judah, the LORD told me to say:

People of Elam,

I, the LORD All-Powerful,

will kill the archers

who make your army strong.

36Enemies will attack

from all directions,

and you will be led captive

to every nation on earth.

37Their armies will crush

and kill you,

and you will face the disaster

that my anger brings.

38Your king and his officials

will die, and I will rule

in their place.

I, the LORD, have spoken.

39But I promise that some day

I will bring your people

back to their land.

Jeremiah 50

Babylon will be captured

1-2The LORD told me to say:

Announce what will happen

and don't leave anything out.

Raise the signal flags;

shout so all nations can hear—

Babylon will be captured!

Marduk, Babylon's god,

will be ashamed and terrified,

and his idols broken.

3The attack on the Babylonians

will come from the north;

they and their animals will run,

leaving the land empty.

Israel and Judah will return to their land

4The LORD said:

People of Israel and Judah,

when these things happen

you will weep, and together

you will return to your land

and worship me,

the LORD your God.

5You will ask the way to Zion

and then come and join with me

in making an agreement

you won't break or forget.

6My people, you are lost sheep

abandoned by their shepherds

in the mountains.

You don't even remember

your resting place.

7I am your true pasture land,

the one who gave hope

to your ancestors.

But you abandoned me,

so when your enemies found you,

they felt no guilt

as they gobbled you up.

8Escape from Babylonia,

my people.

Get out of that country!

Don't wait for anyone else.

9In the north I am bringing

great nations together.

They will attack Babylon

and capture it.

The arrows they shoot

are like the best soldiers,

always finding their target.

10Babylonia will be conquered,

and its enemies will carry off

everything they want.

Babylon will be disgraced

The LORD said:

11People of Babylonia,

you were glad

to rob my people.

You had a good time,

making more noise

than horses

and jumping around

like calves threshing grain.

12The city of Babylon

was like a mother to you.

But it will be disgraced

and become nothing

but a barren desert.

13My anger will destroy Babylon,

and no one will live there.

Everyone who passes by

will be shocked to see

what has happened.

14Babylon has rebelled against me.

Archers, take your places.

Shoot all your arrows at Babylon.

15Attack from every side!

Babylon surrenders!

The enemy tears down

its walls and towers.

I am taking my revenge

by doing to Babylon what it did

to other cities.

16There is no one in Babylonia

to plant or harvest crops.

Even foreigners who lived there

have left for their homelands,

afraid of the enemy armies.

17Israel is a flock of sheep

scattered by hungry lions.

The king of Assyria

first gobbled Israel up.

Then Nebuchadnezzar,

king of Babylonia,

crunched on Israel's bones.

18I, the LORD All-Powerful,

the God of Israel,

punished the king of Assyria,

and I will also punish

the king of Babylonia.

19But I will bring Israel

back to its own land.

The people will be like sheep

eating their fill

on Mount Carmel

and in Bashan,

in the hill country of Ephraim

and in Gilead.

20I will rescue a few people

from Israel and Judah.

I will forgive them so completely

that their sin and guilt

will disappear,

never to be found.

Jeremiah 49:7-50:20CEVOpen in Bible reader

Hebrews 11

Some of God's people who had great faith

1Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see. 2It was their faith that made our ancestors pleasing to God.

3Because of our faith, we know that the world was made at God's command. We also know that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen.

4Because Abel had faith, he offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. God was pleased with him and his gift, and even though Abel is now dead, his faith still speaks for him.

5Enoch had faith and did not die. He pleased God, and God took him up to heaven. That's why his body was never found. 6But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that he rewards everyone who searches for him.

7Because Noah had faith, he was warned about something that had not yet happened. He obeyed and built a boat that saved him and his family. In this way the people of the world were judged, and Noah was given the blessings that come to everyone who pleases God.

8Abraham had faith and obeyed God. He was told to go to the land that God had said would be his, and he left for a country he had never seen. 9Because Abraham had faith, he lived as a stranger in the promised land. He lived there in a tent, and so did Isaac and Jacob, who were later given the same promise. 10Abraham did this, because he was waiting for the eternal city that God had planned and built.

11Even when Sarah was too old to have children, she had faith that God would do what he had promised, and she had a son. 12Her husband Abraham was almost dead, but he became the ancestor of many people. In fact, there are as many of them as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the beach.

13Every one of those people died. But they still had faith, even though they had not received what they had been promised. They were glad just to see these things from far away, and they agreed that they were only strangers and foreigners on this earth. 14When people talk this way, it is clear that they are looking for a place to call their own. 15If they had been talking about the land where they had once lived, they could have gone back at any time. 16But they were looking forward to a better home in heaven. That's why God wasn't ashamed for them to call him their God. He even built a city for them.

Hebrews 11:1-16CEVOpen in Bible reader
Canadian Bible Societyv.4.25.3
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