The One Year Bible TLB (198 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
I stand silently before the Lord, waiting for him to rescue me. For salvation comes from him alone.
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Yes, he alone is my Rock, my rescuer, defense and fortress. Why then should I be tense with fear when troubles come?
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But what is this? They pick on me at a time when my throne
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is tottering; they plot my death and use lies and deceit to try to force me from the throne. They are so friendly to my face while cursing in their hearts!
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But I stand silently before the Lord, waiting for him to rescue me. For salvation comes from him alone.
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Yes, he alone is my Rock, my rescuer, defense, and fortress—why then should I be tense with fear when troubles come?
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My protection and success
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come from God alone. He is my refuge, a Rock where no enemy can reach me.
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O my people, trust him all the time. Pour out your longings before him, for he can help!
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The greatest of men or the lowest—both alike are nothing in his sight. They weigh less than air on scales.
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Don’t become rich by extortion and robbery; if your riches increase, don’t be proud.
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God has said it many times, that power belongs to him (and also, O Lord, steadfast love belongs to you). He rewards each one of us according to what our works deserve.
O my son, be wise and stay in God’s paths; don’t carouse with drunkards and gluttons, for they are on their way to poverty. And remember that too much sleep clothes a man with rags.
September 19This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in frauds and lies and won’t repent,
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therefore calamity will come upon you suddenly, as upon a bulging wall that bursts and falls; in one moment it comes crashing down.
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God will smash you like a broken dish; he will not act sparingly. Not a piece will be left large enough to use for carrying coals from the hearth, or a little water from the well.
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For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says: Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved; in quietness and confidence is your strength; but you’ll have none of this.
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“No,” you say. “We will get our help from Egypt; they will give us swift horses for riding to battle.” But the only swiftness you are going to see is the swiftness of your enemies chasing you!
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One of them will chase a thousand of you! Five of them will scatter you until not two of you are left together. You will be like lonely trees on the distant mountaintops.
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Yet the Lord still waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love; he will conquer you to bless you, just as he said. For the Lord is faithful to his promises. Blessed are all those who wait for him to help them.
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O my people in Jerusalem, you shall weep no more, for he will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. He will answer you.
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Though he give you the bread of adversity and water of affliction, yet he will be with you to teach you—with your own eyes you will see your Teacher.
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And if you leave God’s paths and go astray, you will hear a voice behind you say, “No, this is the way; walk here.”
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And you will destroy all your silver idols and gold images and cast them out like filthy things you hate to touch. “Ugh!” you’ll say to them. “Be gone!”
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Then God will bless you with rain at planting time and with wonderful harvests and with ample pastures for your cows.
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The oxen and young donkeys that till the ground will eat grain, its chaff blown away by the wind.
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In that day when God steps in to destroy your enemies, he will give you streams of water flowing down each mountain and every hill.
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The moon will be as bright as the sun, and the sunlight brighter than seven days! So it will be when the Lord begins to heal his people and to cure the wounds he gave them.
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See, the Lord comes from afar, aflame with wrath, surrounded by thick rising smoke. His lips are filled with fury; his words consume like fire.
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His wrath pours out like floods upon them all, to sweep them all away. He will sift out the proud nations and bridle them and lead them off to their doom.
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But the people of God will sing a song of solemn joy, like songs in the night when holy feasts are held; his people will have gladness of heart, as when a flutist leads a pilgrim band to Jerusalem to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock of Israel.
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And the Lord shall cause his majestic voice to be heard and shall crush down his mighty arm upon his enemies with angry indignation and devouring flames, with tornados, terrible storms, and huge hailstones.
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The voice of the Lord shall punish the Assyrians, who had been his rod of punishment.
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And when the Lord smites them, his people will rejoice with music and song.
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The funeral pyre has long been ready, prepared for Molech, the Assyrian god; it is piled high with wood. The breath of the Lord, like fire from a volcano, will set it all on fire.
31:
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Woe to those who run to Egypt for help, trusting their mighty cavalry and chariots instead of looking to the Holy One of Israel and consulting him.
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In his wisdom, he will send great evil on his people and will not change his mind. He will rise against them for the evil they have done and crush their allies too.
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For these Egyptians are mere men, not God! Their horses are puny flesh, not mighty spirits! When the Lord clenches his fist against them, they will stumble and fall among those they are trying to help. All will fail together.
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But the Lord has told me this: When a lion, even a young one, kills a sheep, he pays no attention to the shepherd’s shouts and noise. He goes right on and eats. In such manner the Lord will come and fight upon Mount Zion. He will not be frightened away! He, the Lord Almighty, will hover over Jerusalem as birds hover round their nests, and he will defend the city and deliver it.
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Therefore, O my people, though you are such wicked rebels, come, return to God.
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I know the glorious day will come when every one of you will throw away his gold idols and silver images—which in your sinfulness you have made.
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The Assyrians will be destroyed, but not by swords of men. The “sword of God” will smite them. They will panic and flee, and the strong young Assyrians will be taken away as slaves.
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Even their generals will quake with terror and flee when they see the battle flags of Israel, says the Lord. For the flame of God burns brightly in Jerusalem.
32:
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Look, a righteous King is coming, with honest princes!
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He will shelter Israel from the storm and wind. He will refresh her as a river in the desert and as the cooling shadow of a mighty rock within a hot and weary land.
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Then at last the eyes of Israel will open wide to God; his people will listen to his voice.
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Even the hotheads among them will be full of sense and understanding, and those who stammer in uncertainty will speak out plainly.
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In those days the ungodly, the atheists, will not be heroes! Wealthy cheaters will not be spoken of as generous, outstanding men!
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Everyone will recognize an evil man when he sees him, and hypocrites will fool no one at all. Their lies about God and their cheating of the hungry will be plain for all to see.
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The smooth tricks of evil men will be exposed, as will all the lies they use to oppress the poor in the courts.
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But good men will be generous to others and will be blessed of God for all they do.
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Listen, you women who loll around in lazy ease; listen to me and I will tell you your reward:
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In a short time—in just a little more than a year—suddenly you’ll care, O careless ones. For the crops of fruit will fail; the harvest will not take place.
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Tremble, O women of ease; throw off your unconcern. Strip off your pretty clothes—wear sackcloth for your grief.
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Beat your breasts in sorrow for those bountiful farms of yours that will soon be gone, and for those fruitful vines of other years.
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For your lands will thrive with thorns and briars; your joyous homes and happy cities will be gone.
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Palaces and mansions will all be deserted, the crowded cities empty. Wild herds of donkeys and goats will graze upon the mountains where the watchtowers are,
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until at last the Spirit is poured down on us from heaven. Then once again enormous crops will come.
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Then justice will rule through all the land,
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and out of justice, peace. Quietness and confidence will reign forever more.
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My people will live in safety, quietly at home,
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but the Assyrians
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will be destroyed and their cities laid low.
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And God will greatly bless his people. Wherever they plant, bountiful crops will spring up, and their flocks and herds will graze in green pastures.
33:
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Woe to you, Assyrians,
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who have destroyed everything around you but have never felt destruction for yourselves. You expect others to respect their promises to you, while you betray them! Now you, too, will be betrayed and destroyed.
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But to us, O Lord, be merciful, for we have waited for you. Be our strength each day and our salvation in the time of trouble.
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The enemy runs at the sound of your voice. When you stand up, the nations flee.
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Just as locusts strip the fields and vines, so Jerusalem will strip the fallen army of Assyria!
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The Lord is very great and lives in heaven. He will make Jerusalem the home of justice and goodness and righteousness.
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An abundance of salvation is stored up for Judah in a safe place, along with wisdom and knowledge and reverence for God.
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But now your ambassadors weep in bitter disappointment, for Assyria has refused their cry for peace.
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Your roads lie in ruins; travelers detour on back roads. The Assyrians have broken their peace pact
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and care nothing for the promises they made in the presence of witnesses—they have no respect for anyone.
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All the land of Israel is in trouble; Lebanon has been destroyed; Sharon has become a wilderness; Bashan and Carmel are plundered.
So Christ has made us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get all tied up again in the chains of slavery to Jewish laws and ceremonies.
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Listen to me, for this is serious:
if you are counting on circumcision and keeping the Jewish laws to make you right with God, then Christ cannot save you.
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I’ll say it again. Anyone trying to find favor with God by being circumcised must always obey every other Jewish law or perish.
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Christ is useless to you if you are counting on clearing your debt to God by keeping those laws; you are lost from God’s grace.
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But we by the help of the Holy Spirit are counting on Christ’s death to clear away our sins and make us right with God.
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And we to whom Christ has given eternal life don’t need to worry about whether we have been circumcised or not, or whether we are obeying the Jewish ceremonies or not; for all we need is faith working through love.
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You were getting along so well. Who has interfered with you to hold you back from following the truth?
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It certainly isn’t God who has done it, for he is the one who has called you to freedom in Christ.
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But it takes only one wrong person among you to infect all the others.
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I am trusting the Lord to bring you back to believing as I do about these things. God will deal with that person, whoever he is, who has been troubling and confusing you.
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Some people even say that I myself am preaching that circumcision and Jewish laws are necessary to the plan of salvation. Well, if I preached that, I would be persecuted no more—for that message doesn’t offend anyone. The fact that I am still being persecuted proves that I am still preaching salvation through faith in the cross of Christ alone.
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I only wish these teachers who want you to cut yourselves by being circumcised would cut themselves off from you and leave you alone!
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A psalm of David when he was hiding in the wilderness of Judea.
O God, my God! How I search for you! How I thirst for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. How I long to find you!
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How I wish I could go into your sanctuary to see your strength and glory,
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for your love and kindness are better to me than life itself. How I praise you!
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I will bless you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
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At last I shall be fully satisfied; I will praise you with great joy.
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I lie awake at night thinking of you—
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of how much you have helped me—and how I rejoice through the night beneath the protecting shadow of your wings.
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I follow close behind you, protected by your strong right arm.
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But those plotting to destroy me shall go down to the depths of hell.
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They are doomed to die by the sword, to become the food of jackals.
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But I
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will rejoice in God. All who trust in him exult, while liars shall be silenced.