The One Year Bible TLB (224 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
A man without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls.
October 22It was in January of the ninth year of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah that King Nebuchadnezzar and all his army came against Jerusalem again and besieged it.
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Two years later, in the month of July, they breached the wall, and the city fell,
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and all the officers of the Babylonian army came in and sat in triumph at the middle gate. Nergal-sharezer was there, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, Nergal-sharezer the king’s chief assistant, and many others.
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When King Zedekiah and his soldiers realized that the city was lost, they fled during the night, going out through the gate between the two walls back of the palace garden and across the fields toward the Jordan Valley.
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But the Babylonians chased the king and caught him on the plains of Jericho and brought him to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, who was at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment upon him.
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The king of Babylon made Zedekiah watch as they killed his children and all the nobles of Judah.
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Then he gouged out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him in chains to send him away to Babylon as a slave.
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Meanwhile the army burned Jerusalem, including the palace, and tore down the walls of the city.
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Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, and his men sent the remnant of the population and all those who had defected to him to Babylon.
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But throughout the land of Judah he left a few people, the very poor, and gave them fields and vineyards.
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Meanwhile King Nebuchadnezzar had told Nebuzaradan to find Jeremiah. “See that he isn’t hurt,” he said. “Look after him well and give him anything he wants.”
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So Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, and Nebushazban, the chief of the eunuchs, and Nergal-sharezer, the king’s advisor, and all the officials took steps to do as the king had commanded.
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They sent soldiers to bring Jeremiah out of the prison, and put him into the care of Gedaliah (son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan), to take him back to his home. And Jeremiah lived there among his people who were left in the land.
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The Lord gave the following message to Jeremiah before the Babylonians arrived, while he was still in prison:
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“Send this word to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian: The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will do to this city everything I threatened; I will destroy it before your eyes,
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but I will deliver you. You shall not be killed by those you fear so much.
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As a reward for trusting me, I will preserve your life and keep you safe.”
40:
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Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, took Jeremiah to Ramah along with all the exiled people of Jerusalem and Judah who were being sent to Babylon, but then released him.
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The captain called for Jeremiah and said, “The Lord your God has brought this disaster on this land, just as he said he would. For these people have sinned against the Lord. That is why it happened.
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Now I am going to take off your chains and let you go. If you want to come with me to Babylon, fine; I will see that you are well cared for. But if you don’t want to come, don’t. The world is before you—go where you like.
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If you decide to stay, then return to Gedaliah, who has been appointed as governor of Judah by the king of Babylon, and stay with the remnant he rules. But it’s up to you; go where you like.”
Then Nebuzaradan gave Jeremiah some food and money and let him go.
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So Jeremiah returned to Gedaliah and lived in Judah with the people left in the land.
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Now when the leaders of the Jewish guerrilla bands in the countryside heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah as governor over the poor of the land who were left behind, and had not exiled everyone to Babylon,
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they came to see Gedaliah at Mizpah, where his headquarters were. These are the names of the leaders who came: Ishmael (son of Nethaniah), Johanan and Jonathan (sons of Kareah), Seraiah (son of Tanhumeth), the sons of Ephai (the Netophathite), Jezaniah (son of a Maacathite), and their men.
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And Gedaliah assured them that it would be safe to surrender to the Babylonians.
“Stay here and serve the king of Babylon,” he said, “and all will go well for you.
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As for me, I will stay at Mizpah and intercede for you with the Babylonians who will come here to oversee my administration. Settle in any city you wish and live off the land. Harvest the grapes and summer fruits and olives and store them away.”
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When the Jews in Moab and among the Ammonites and in Edom and the other nearby countries heard that a few people were still left in Judah, and that the king of Babylon had not taken them all away, and that Gedaliah was the governor,
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they all began to return to Judah from the many places to which they had fled. They stopped at Mizpah to discuss their plans with Gedaliah and then went out to the deserted farms and gathered a great harvest of wine grapes and other crops.
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But soon afterwards Johanan (son of Kareah) and the other guerrilla leaders came to Mizpah to warn Gedaliah that Baalis, king of the Ammonites, had sent Ishmael (son of Nethaniah) to assassinate him. But Gedaliah wouldn’t believe them.
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Then Johanan had a private conference with Gedaliah. Johanan volunteered to kill Ishmael secretly.
“Why should we let him come and murder you?” Johanan asked. “What will happen then to the Jews who have returned? Why should this remnant be scattered and lost?”
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But Gedaliah said, “I forbid you to do any such thing, for you are lying about Ishmael.”
41:
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But in October, Ishmael (son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama), who was a member of the royal family and one of the king’s top officials, arrived in Mizpah, accompanied by ten men. Gedaliah invited them to dinner.
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While they were eating, Ishmael and the ten men in league with him suddenly jumped up, pulled out their swords, and killed Gedaliah.
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Then they went out and slaughtered all the Jewish officials and Babylonian soldiers who were in Mizpah with Gedaliah.
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The next day, before the outside world knew what had happened,
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eighty men approached Mizpah from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, to worship at the Temple of the Lord. They had shaved off their beards, torn their clothes, and cut themselves, and were bringing offerings and incense.
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Ishmael went out from the city to meet them, crying as he went. When he faced them he said, “Oh, come and see what has happened to Gedaliah!”
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Then, when they were all inside the city, Ishmael and his men killed all but ten of them and threw their bodies into a cistern.
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The ten had talked Ishmael into letting them go by promising to bring him their treasures of wheat, barley, oil, and honey they had hidden away.
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The cistern where Ishmael dumped the bodies of the men he murdered was the large one constructed by King Asa when he fortified Mizpah to protect himself against Baasha, king of Israel.
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Ishmael made captives of the king’s daughters and of the people who had been left under Gedaliah’s care in Mizpah by Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard. Soon after, he took them with him when he headed toward the country of the Ammonites.
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But when Johanan (son of Kareah) and the rest of the guerrilla leaders heard what Ishmael had done,
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they took all their men and set out to stop him. They caught up with him at the pool near Gibeon.
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The people with Ishmael shouted for joy when they saw Johanan and his men and ran to meet them.
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Meanwhile Ishmael escaped with eight of his men into the land of the Ammonites.
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Then Johanan and his men went to the village of Geruth Chimham, near Bethlehem, taking with them all those they had rescued—soldiers, women, children, and eunuchs, to prepare to leave for Egypt.
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For they were afraid of what the Babylonians would do when the news reached them that Ishmael had killed Gedaliah the governor, for he had been chosen and appointed by the Babylonian emperor.
From:
Paul, Jesus Christ’s missionary, sent out by God to tell men and women everywhere about the eternal life he has promised them through faith in Jesus Christ.
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To:
Timothy, my dear son. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord shower you with his kindness, mercy, and peace.
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How I thank God for you, Timothy. I pray for you every day, and many times during the long nights I beg my God to bless you richly. He is my fathers’ God and mine, and my only purpose in life is to please him.
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How I long to see you again. How happy I would be, for I remember your tears as we left each other.
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I know how much you trust the Lord, just as your mother Eunice and your grandmother Lois do; and I feel sure you are still trusting him as much as ever.
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This being so, I want to remind you to stir into flame the strength and boldness
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that is in you, that entered into you when I laid my hands upon your head and blessed you.
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For the Holy Spirit, God’s gift, does not want you to be afraid of people, but to be wise and strong, and to love them and enjoy being with them.
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If you will stir up this inner power, you will never be afraid to tell others about our Lord or to let them know that I am your friend even though I am here in jail for Christ’s sake. You will be ready to suffer with me for the Lord, for he will give you strength in suffering.
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It is he who saved us and chose us for his holy work not because we deserved it but because that was his plan long before the world began—to show his love and kindness to us through Christ.
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And now he has made all of this plain to us by the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, who broke the power of death and showed us the way of everlasting life through trusting him.
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And God has chosen me to be his missionary, to preach to the Gentiles and teach them.
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That is why I am suffering here in jail, and I am certainly not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to safely guard all that I have given him until the day of his return.
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Hold tightly to the pattern of truth I taught you, especially concerning the faith and love Christ Jesus offers you.
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Guard well the splendid, God-given ability you received as a gift from the Holy Spirit who lives within you.
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As you know, all the Christians who came here from Asia have deserted me; even Phygellus and Hermogenes are gone.
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May the Lord bless Onesiphorus and all his family because he visited me and encouraged me often. His visits revived me like a breath of fresh air, and he was never ashamed of my being in jail.
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In fact, when he came to Rome, he searched everywhere trying to find me, and finally did.
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May the Lord give him a special blessing at the day of Christ’s return. And you know better than I can tell you how much he helped me at Ephesus.
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!
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Before the mountains were created, before the earth was formed, you are God without beginning or end.
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You speak, and man turns back to dust.
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A thousand years are but as yesterday to you! They are like a single hour!
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5-6
We glide along the tides of time as swiftly as a racing river and vanish as quickly as a dream. We are like grass that is green in the morning but mowed down and withered before the evening shadows fall.
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We die beneath your anger; we are overwhelmed by your wrath.
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You spread out our sins before you—our secret sins—and see them all.
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No wonder the years are long and heavy here beneath your wrath. All our days are filled with sighing.
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Seventy years are given us! And some may even live to eighty. But even the best of these years are often empty and filled with pain; soon they disappear, and we are gone.
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Who can realize the terrors of your anger? Which of us can fear you as he should?
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Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.
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O Jehovah, come and bless us! How long will you delay? Turn away your anger from us.
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Satisfy us in our earliest
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youth with your loving-kindness, giving us constant joy to the end of our lives.
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Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good.
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Let us see your miracles again; let our children see glorious things, the kind you used to do,
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and let the Lord our God favor us and give us success. May he give permanence to all we do.
91:
1
We live within the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered by the God who is above all gods.
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This I declare, that he alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I am trusting him.
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For he rescues you from every trap and protects you from the fatal plague.
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He will shield you with his wings! They will shelter you. His faithful promises are your armor.
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Now you don’t need to be afraid of the dark anymore, nor fear the dangers of the day;
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nor dread the plagues of darkness, nor disasters in the morning.
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Though a thousand fall at my side, though ten thousand are dying around me, the evil will not touch me.
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I will see how the wicked are punished, but I will not share it.
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For Jehovah is my refuge! I choose the God above all gods to shelter me.
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How then can evil overtake me or any plague come near?
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For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go.
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They will steady you with their hands to keep you from stumbling against the rocks on the trail.
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You can safely meet a lion or step on poisonous snakes, yes, even trample them beneath your feet!
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For the Lord says, “Because he loves me, I will rescue him; I will make him great because he trusts in my name.
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When he calls on me, I will answer; I will be with him in trouble and rescue him and honor him.
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I will satisfy him with a full life
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and give him my salvation.”