The One Year Bible TLB (221 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
October 18The Lord says: The time will come when I will greatly increase the population and multiply the number of cattle here in Israel.
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In the past I painstakingly destroyed the nation, but now I will carefully build it up.
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The people shall no longer quote this proverb—“Children pay for their fathers’ sins.”
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For everyone shall die for his own sins—the person eating sour grapes is the one whose teeth are set on edge.
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The day will come, says the Lord, when I will make a new contract with the people of Israel and Judah.
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It won’t be like the one I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a contract they broke, forcing me to reject them,
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says the Lord.
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But this is the new contract I will make with them: I will inscribe my laws upon their hearts,
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so that they shall want to honor me; then they shall truly be my people and I will be their God.
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At that time it will no longer be necessary to admonish one another to know the Lord. For everyone, both great and small, shall really know me then, says the Lord, and I will forgive and forget their sins.
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The Lord who gives us sunlight in the daytime and the moon and stars to light the night, and who stirs the sea to make the roaring waves—his name is Lord Almighty—says this:
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I am as likely to reject my people Israel as I am to do away with these laws of nature!
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Not until the heavens can be measured and the foundations of the earth explored, will I consider casting them away forever for their sins!
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For the time is coming, says the Lord, when all Jerusalem shall be rebuilt for the Lord, from the tower of Hananel at the northeast corner,
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to the Corner Gate at the northwest; and from the hill of Gareb at the southwest, across to Goah on the southeast.
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And the entire city, including the graveyard and ash dump in the valley, and all the fields out to the brook of Kidron, and from there to the Horse Gate on the east side of the city, all shall be holy to the Lord; it shall never again be captured or destroyed.
32:
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The following message came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah (which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign).
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At this time Jeremiah was imprisoned in the dungeon beneath the palace,
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while the Babylonian army was besieging Jerusalem.
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King Zedekiah had put him there for continuing to prophesy that the city would be conquered by the king of Babylon,
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and that King Zedekiah would be caught and taken as a prisoner before the king of Babylon for trial and sentencing.
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“He shall take you to Babylon and imprison you there for many years until you die. Why fight the facts? You can’t win! Surrender now!” Jeremiah had told him again and again.
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Then this message from the Lord came to Jeremiah: Your cousin Hanamel (son of Shallum) will soon arrive to ask you to buy the farm he owns in Anathoth, for by law you have a chance to buy before it is offered to anyone else.
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So Hanamel came, as the Lord had said he would, and visited me in the prison. “Buy my field in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin,” he said, “for the law gives you the first right to purchase it.” Then I knew for sure that the message I had heard was really from the Lord.
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So I bought the field, paying Hanamel seventeen pieces of silver.
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I signed and sealed the deed of purchase before witnesses, weighed out the silver, and paid him.
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Then I took the sealed deed containing the terms and conditions and also the unsealed copy,
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and publicly, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who had signed the deed, and as the prison guards watched, I handed the papers to Baruch (son of Neriah, who was the son of Mahseiah).
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And I said to him as they all listened:
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“The Lord, God of Israel, says: Take both this sealed deed and the copy and put them into a pottery jar to preserve them for a long time.
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For the Lord, God of Israel, says: In the future these papers will be valuable.
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Someday people will again own property here in this country and will be buying and selling houses and vineyards and fields.”
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Then after I had given the papers to Baruch I prayed:
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“O Lord God! You have made the heavens and earth by your great power; nothing is too hard for you!
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You are loving and kind to thousands, yet children suffer for their fathers’ sins; you are the great and mighty God, the Lord Almighty.
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You have all wisdom and do great and mighty miracles; for your eyes are open to all the ways of men, and you reward everyone according to his life and deeds.
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You have done incredible things in the land of Egypt—things still remembered to this day. And you have continued to do great miracles in Israel and all around the world. You have made your name very great, as it is today.
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“You brought Israel out of Egypt with mighty miracles and great power and terror.
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You gave Israel this land that you promised their fathers long ago—a wonderful land that ‘flows with milk and honey.’
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Our fathers came and conquered it and lived in it, but they refused to obey you or to follow your laws; they have hardly done one thing you told them to. That is why you have sent all this terrible evil upon them.
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See how the siege mounds have been built against the city walls, and the Babylonians shall conquer the city by sword, famine, and disease. Everything has happened just as you said—as you determined it should!
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And yet you say to buy the field—paying good money for it before these witnesses—even though the city will belong to our enemies.”
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Then this message came to Jeremiah:
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I am the Lord, the God of all mankind; is there anything too hard for me?
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Yes, I will give this city to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; he shall conquer it.
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And the Babylonians outside the walls shall come in and set fire to the city and burn down all these houses, where the roofs have been used to offer incense to Baal and to pour out libations to other gods, causing my fury to rise!
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For Israel and Judah have done nothing but wrong since their earliest days; they have infuriated me with all their evil deeds.
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From the time this city was built until now, it has done nothing but anger me; so I am determined to be rid of it.
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The sins of Israel and Judah—the sins of the people, of their kings, officers, priests, and prophets—stir me up.
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They have turned their backs upon me and refused to return; day after day, year after year, I taught them right from wrong, but they would not listen or obey.
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They have even defiled my own Temple by worshiping their abominable idols there.
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And they have built high altars to Baal in the valley of Hinnom. There they have burnt their children as sacrifices to Molech—something I never commanded and cannot imagine suggesting. What an incredible evil, causing Judah to sin so greatly!
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Now therefore the Lord God of Israel says concerning this city that it will fall to the king of Babylon through warfare, famine, and disease,
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but I will bring my people back again from all the countries where in my fury I will scatter them. I will bring them back to this very city and make them live in peace and safety.
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And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
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And I will give them one heart and mind to worship me forever, for their own good and for the good of all their descendants.
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And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, promising never again to desert them but only to do them good. I will put a desire into their hearts to worship me, and they shall never leave me.
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I will rejoice to do them good and will replant them in this land with great joy.
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Just as I have sent all these terrors and evils upon them, so will I do all the good I have promised them.
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Fields will again be bought and sold in this land now ravaged by the Babylonians, where men and animals alike have disappeared.
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Yes, fields shall once again be bought and sold—deeds signed and sealed and witnessed—in the country of Benjamin and here in Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah and in the hill country, in the Philistine Plain and in the Negeb too, for some day I will restore prosperity to them.
It is a true saying that if a man wants to be a pastor
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he has a good ambition.
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For a pastor must be a good man whose life cannot be spoken against. He must have only one wife, and he must be hard working and thoughtful, orderly, and full of good deeds. He must enjoy having guests in his home and must be a good Bible teacher.
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He must not be a drinker or quarrelsome, but he must be gentle and kind and not be one who loves money.
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He must have a well-behaved family, with children who obey quickly and quietly.
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For if a man can’t make his own little family behave, how can he help the whole church?
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The pastor must not be a new Christian because he might be proud of being chosen so soon, and pride comes before a fall. (Satan’s downfall is an example.)
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Also, he must be well spoken of by people outside the church—those who aren’t Christians—so that Satan can’t trap him with many accusations and leave him without freedom to lead his flock.
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The deacons must be the same sort of good, steady men as the pastors. They must not be heavy drinkers and must not be greedy for money.
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They must be earnest, wholehearted followers of Christ, who is the hidden Source of their faith.
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Before they are asked to be deacons, they should be given other jobs in the church as a test of their character and ability, and if they do well, then they may be chosen as deacons.
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Their wives must be thoughtful, not heavy drinkers, not gossipers, but faithful in everything they do.
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Deacons should have only one wife, and they should have happy, obedient families.
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Those who do well as deacons will be well rewarded both by respect from others and also by developing their own confidence and bold trust in the Lord.
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I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon,
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so that if I don’t come for a while, you will know what kind of men you should choose as officers for the church of the living God, which contains and holds high the truth of God.
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It is quite true that the way to live a godly life is not an easy matter. But the answer lies in Christ, who came to earth as a man, was proved spotless and pure in his Spirit, was served by angels, was preached among the nations, was accepted by men everywhere, and was received up again to his glory in heaven.
O Jehovah, God of my salvation, I have wept before you day and night.
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Now hear my prayers; oh, listen to my cry,
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for my life is full of troubles, and death draws near.
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They say my life is ebbing out—a hopeless case.
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They have left me here to die, like those slain on battlefields from whom your mercies are removed.
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You have thrust me down to the darkest depths.
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Your wrath lies heavy on me; wave after wave engulfs me.
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You have made my friends to loathe me, and they have gone away. I am in a trap with no way out.
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My eyes grow dim with weeping. Each day I beg your help; O Lord, I reach my pleading hands to you for mercy.
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Soon it will be too late! Of what use are your miracles when I am in the grave? How can I praise you then?
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Can those in the grave declare your loving-kindness? Can they proclaim your faithfulness?
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Can the darkness speak of your miracles? Can anyone in the Land of Forgetfulness talk about your help?
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O Lord, I plead for my life and will keep on pleading day by day.
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O Jehovah, why have you thrown my life away? Why are you turning your face from me and looking the other way?
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From my youth I have been sickly and ready to die. I stand helpless before your terrors.
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Your fierce wrath has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have cut me off.
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They flow around me all day long.
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Lover, friend, acquaintance—all are gone. There is only darkness everywhere.