The One Year Bible TLB (209 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
October 1O Jerusalem, I have set intercessors
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on your walls who shall cry to God all day and all night for the fulfillment of his promises. Take no rest, all you who pray, and give God no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes her respected and admired throughout the earth.
8
The Lord has sworn to Jerusalem with all his integrity: “I will never again give you to your enemies; never again shall foreign soldiers come and take away your grain and wine.
9
You raised it; you shall keep it, praising God. Within the Temple courts you yourselves shall drink the wine you pressed.”
10
Go out! Go out! Prepare the roadway for my people to return! Build the roads, pull out the boulders, raise the flag of Israel.
11
See, the Lord has sent his messengers to every land and said, “Tell my people, I, the Lord your God, am coming to save you and will bring you many gifts.”
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And they shall be called “The Holy People” and “The Lord’s Redeemed,” and Jerusalem shall be called “The Land of Desire” and “The City God Has Blessed.”
63:
1
Who is this who comes from Edom, from the city of Bozrah, with his magnificent garments of crimson? Who is this in royal robes, marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, the Lord, announcing your salvation; I, the Lord, the one who is mighty to save!”
2
“Why are your clothes so red, as from treading out the grapes?”
3
“I have trodden the winepress alone. No one was there to help me. In my wrath I have trodden my enemies like grapes. In my fury I trampled my foes. It is their blood you see upon my clothes.
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For the time has come for me to avenge my people, to redeem them from the hands of their oppressors.
5
I looked but no one came to help them; I was amazed and appalled. So I executed vengeance alone; unaided, I meted out judgment.
6
I crushed the heathen nations in my anger and made them stagger and fall to the ground.”
7
I will tell of the loving-kindnesses of God. I will praise him for all he has done; I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, which he has granted in accordance with his mercy and love.
8
He said, “They are my very own; surely they will not be false again.” And he became their Savior.
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In all their affliction he was afflicted, and he personally saved them.
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In his love and pity he redeemed them and lifted them up and carried them through all the years.
10
But they rebelled against him and grieved his Holy Spirit. That is why he became their enemy and personally fought against them.
11
Then they remembered those days of old when Moses, God’s servant, led his people out of Egypt, and they cried out, “Where is the One who brought Israel through the sea, with Moses as their shepherd? Where is the God who sent his Holy Spirit to be among his people?
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Where is he whose mighty power divided the sea before them when Moses lifted up his hand, and established his reputation forever?
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Who led them through the bottom of the sea? Like fine stallions racing through the desert, they never stumbled.
14
Like cattle grazing in the valleys, so the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. Thus he gave himself a magnificent reputation.”
15
O Lord, look down from heaven and see us from your holy, glorious home; where is the love for us you used to show—your power, your mercy, and your compassion? Where are they now?
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Surely you are still our Father! Even if Abraham and Jacob would disown us, still you would be our Father, our Redeemer from ages past.
17
O Lord, why have you hardened our hearts and made us sin and turn against you? Return and help us, for we who belong to you need you so.
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18
How briefly we possessed Jerusalem! And now our enemies have destroyed her.
19
O God, why do you treat us as though we weren’t your people, as though we were a heathen nation that never called you “Lord”?
64:
1
Oh, that you would burst forth from the skies and come down! How the mountains would quake in your presence!
2
The consuming fire of your glory would burn down the forests and boil the oceans dry. The nations would tremble before you; then your enemies would learn the reason for your fame!
3
So it was before when you came down, for you did awesome things beyond our highest expectations, and how the mountains quaked!
4
For since the world began no one has seen or heard of such a God as ours, who works for those who wait for him!
5
You welcome those who cheerfully do good, who follow godly ways.
But we are not godly; we are constant sinners and have been all our lives. Therefore your wrath is heavy on us. How can such as we be saved?
6
We are all infected and impure with sin. When we put on our prized robes of righteousness, we find they are but filthy rags.
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Like autumn leaves we fade, wither, and fall. And our sins, like the wind, sweep us away.
7
Yet no one calls upon your name or pleads with you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away from us and turned us over to our sins.
8
And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay and you are the Potter. We are all formed by your hand.
9
Oh, be not so angry with us, Lord, nor forever remember our sins. Oh, look and see that we are all your people.
10
Your holy cities are destroyed; Jerusalem is a desolate wilderness.
11
Our holy, beautiful Temple where our fathers praised you is burned down, and all the things of beauty are destroyed.
12
After all of this, must you still refuse to help us, Lord? Will you stand silent and still punish us?
65:
1
The Lord says, People
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who never before inquired about me are now seeking me out. Nations who never before searched for me are finding me.
2
But my own people—though I have been spreading out my arms to welcome them all day long—have rebelled; they follow their own evil paths and thoughts.
3
All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in many gardens and burning incense on the rooftops of their homes.
4
At night they go out among the graves and caves to worship evil spirits, and they eat pork and other forbidden foods.
5
Yet they say to one another, “Don’t come too close, you’ll defile me! For I am holier than you!” They stifle me. Day in and day out they infuriate me.
6
See, here is my decree all written out before me:
I will not stand silent; I will repay. Yes, I will repay them—
7
not only for their own sins but for those of their fathers too, says the Lord, for they also burned incense on the mountains and insulted me upon the hills. I will pay them back in full.
8
But I will not destroy them all, says the Lord; for just as good grapes are found among a cluster of bad ones (and someone will say, “Don’t throw them all away—there are some good grapes there!”) so I will not destroy all Israel, for I have true servants there.
9
I will preserve a remnant of my people to possess the land of Israel; those I select will inherit it and serve me there.
10
As for my people who have sought me, the plains of Sharon shall again be filled with flocks, and the valley of Achor shall be a place to pasture herds.
11
But because the rest of you have forsaken the Lord and his Temple and worship gods of “Fate” and “Destiny,”
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therefore I will “destine” you to the sword, and your “fate” shall be a dark one; for when I called, you didn’t answer; when I spoke, you wouldn’t listen. You deliberately sinned before my very eyes, choosing to do what you know I despise.
13
Therefore, the Lord God says: You shall starve, but my servants shall eat; you shall be thirsty while they drink; you shall be sad and ashamed, but they shall rejoice.
14
You shall cry in sorrow and vexation and despair, while they sing for joy.
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Your name shall be a curse word among my people, for the Lord God will slay you and call his true servants by another name.
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16
And yet, the days will come
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when all who invoke a blessing or take an oath shall swear by the God of Truth; for I will put aside my anger and forget the evil that you did.
17
For see, I am creating new heavens and a new earth—so wonderful that no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
18
Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation. Look! I will re-create Jerusalem as a place of happiness, and her people shall be a joy!
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And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and in my people; and the voice of weeping and crying shall not be heard there anymore.
20
No longer will babies die when only a few days old; no longer will men be considered old at 100! Only sinners will die that young!
21-22
In those days, when a man builds a house, he will keep on living in it—it will not be destroyed by invading armies as in the past. My people will plant vineyards and eat the fruit themselves—their enemies will not confiscate it. For my people will live as long as trees and will long enjoy their hard-won gains.
23
Their harvests will not be eaten by their enemies; their children will not be born to be cannon fodder. For they are the children of those the Lord has blessed; and their children, too, shall be blessed.
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I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking to me about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
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The wolf and lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw as the ox does, and poisonous snakes shall strike no more!
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In those days nothing and no one shall be hurt or destroyed in all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
If the Lord is willing, I will send Timothy to see you soon. Then when he comes back, he can cheer me up by telling me all about you and how you are getting along.
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There is no one like Timothy for having a real interest in you;
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everyone else seems to be worrying about his own plans and not those of Jesus Christ.
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But you know Timothy. He has been just like a son to me in helping me preach the Good News.
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I hope to send him to you just as soon as I find out what is going to happen to me here.
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And I am trusting the Lord that soon I myself may come to see you.
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Meanwhile, I thought I ought to send Epaphroditus back to you. You sent him to help me in my need; well, he and I have been real brothers, working and battling side by side.
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Now I am sending him home again, for he has been homesick for all of you and upset because you heard that he was ill.
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And he surely was; in fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him and on me, too, not allowing me to have this sorrow on top of everything else.
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So I am all the more anxious to get him back to you again, for I know how thankful you will be to see him, and that will make me happy and lighten all my cares.
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Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and show your appreciation,
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for he risked his life for the work of Christ and was at the point of death while trying to do for me the things you couldn’t do because you were far away.
3:
1
Whatever happens, dear friends, be glad in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you this, and it is good for you to hear it again and again.
How good God is to Israel—to those whose hearts are pure.
2
But as for me, I came
so
close to the edge of the cliff! My feet were slipping and I was almost gone.
3
For I was envious of the prosperity of the proud and wicked.
4
Yes, all through life their road is smooth!
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They grow sleek and fat.
5
They aren’t always in trouble and plagued with problems like everyone else,
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so their pride sparkles like a jeweled necklace, and their clothing is woven of cruelty!
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These fat cats have everything their hearts could ever wish for!
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They scoff at God and threaten his people. How proudly they speak!
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They boast against the very heavens, and their words strut through the earth.
10
And so God’s people are dismayed and confused and drink it all in.
11
“Does God realize what is going on?” they ask.
12
“Look at these men of arrogance; they never have to lift a finger—theirs is a life of ease; and all the time their riches multiply.”
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Have I been wasting my time? Why take the trouble to be pure?
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All I get out of it is trouble and woe—every day and all day long!
15
If I had really said that, I would have been a traitor to your people.
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Yet it is so hard to explain it—this prosperity of those who hate the Lord.
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Then one day I went into God’s sanctuary to meditate and thought about the future of these evil men.
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What a slippery path they are on—suddenly God will send them sliding over the edge of the cliff and down to their destruction:
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an instant end to all their happiness, an eternity of terror.
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Their present life is only a dream! They will awaken to the truth as one awakens from a dream of things that never really were!
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When I saw this, what turmoil filled my heart!
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I saw myself so stupid and so ignorant; I must seem like an animal to you, O God.
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But even so, you love me! You are holding my right hand!
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You will keep on guiding me all my life with your wisdom and counsel, and afterwards receive me into the glories of heaven!
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Whom have I in heaven but you? And I desire no one on earth as much as you!
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My health fails; my spirits droop, yet God remains! He is the strength of my heart; he is mine forever!
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But those refusing to worship God will perish, for he destroys those serving other gods.
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But as for me, I get as close to him as I can! I have chosen him, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful ways he rescues me.