The One Year Bible TLB (241 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
Jehovah said to my Lord the Messiah,
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“Rule as my regent—I will subdue your enemies and make them bow low before you.”
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Jehovah has established your throne
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in Jerusalem to rule over your enemies.
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In that day of your power your people shall come to you willingly, dressed in holy altar robes.
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And your strength shall be renewed day by day like morning dew.
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Jehovah has taken oath and will not rescind his vow that you are a priest forever like
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Melchizedek.
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God stands beside you to protect you. He will strike down many kings in the day of his anger.
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He will punish the nations and fill them with their dead. He will crush many heads.
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But he himself shall be refreshed from springs along the way.
If you shout a pleasant greeting to a friend too early in the morning, he will count it as a curse!
November 13Then this message came to me from the Lord. He said:
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“Son of dust, sing this sad dirge for Tyre:
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“‘O mighty seaport city, merchant center of the world, the Lord God speaks. You say, “I am the most beautiful city in all the world.”
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You have extended your boundaries out into the sea; your architects have made you glorious.
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You are like a ship built of finest fir from Senir. They took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
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They made your oars from oaks of Bashan. The walls of your cabin are of cypress from the southern coast of Cyprus.
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Your sails are made of Egypt’s finest linens; you stand beneath awnings bright with purple and scarlet dyes from eastern Cyprus.
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“‘Your sailors come from Sidon and Arvad; your helmsmen are skilled men from Zemer.
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Wise old craftsmen from Gebal do the calking. Ships come from every land with all their goods to barter for your trade.
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“‘Your army includes men from far-off Paras, Lud, and Put.
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They serve you—it is a feather in your cap to have their shields hang upon your walls; it is the ultimate of honor.
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Men from Arvad and from Helech
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are the sentinels upon your walls; your towers are manned by men from Gamad. Their shields hang row on row upon the walls, perfecting your glory.
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“‘From Tarshish come all kinds of riches to your markets—silver, iron, tin, and lead.
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Merchants from Javan, Tubal, and Meshech
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bring slaves and bronze dishes,
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while from Togarmah come chariot horses, steeds, and mules.
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“‘Merchants come to you from Rhodes, and many coastlands are your captive markets, giving payment in ebony and ivory.
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Edom sends her traders to buy your many wares. They bring emeralds, purple dyes, embroidery, fine linen, and jewelry of coral and agate.
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Judah and the cities in what was once the kingdom of Israel send merchants with wheat from Minnith and Pannag,
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and with honey, oil, and balm.
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Damascus comes. She brings wines from Helbon and white Syrian wool to trade for all the rich variety of goods you make.
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Vedan and Javan bring Arabian yarn,
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wrought iron, cassia, and calamus,
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while Dedan brings expensive saddlecloths for riding.
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“‘The Arabians and Kedar’s wealthy merchant princes bring you lambs and rams and goats.
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The merchants of Sheba and Raamah come with all kinds of spices, jewels, and gold.
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Haran, Canneh, Eden, Asshur, and Chilmad all send their wares.
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They bring choice fabrics to trade—blue cloth, embroidery, and many-colored carpets bound with cords and made secure.
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The ships of Tarshish are your ocean caravans; your island warehouse is filled to the brim!
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“‘But now your statesmen bring your ship of state into a hurricane! Your mighty vessel flounders in the heavy eastern gale,
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and you are wrecked in the heart of the seas!
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Everything is lost. Your riches and wares, your sailors and pilots, your shipwrights, merchants, and soldiers; and all the people sink into the sea on the day of your vast ruin.
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“‘The surrounding cities quake at the sound as your pilots scream with fright.
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All your sailors out at sea come to land and watch upon the mainland shore,
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weeping bitterly and casting dust upon their heads and wallowing in ashes.
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They shave their heads in grief, put on sackcloth, and weep for you with bitterness of heart and deep mourning.
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“‘And this is the song of their sorrow: “Where in all the world was there ever such a wondrous city as Tyre, destroyed in the midst of the sea?
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Your merchandise satisfied the desires of many nations. Kings at the ends of the earth rejoiced in the riches you sent them.
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Now you lie broken beneath the sea; all your merchandise and all your crew have perished with you.
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All who live along the coastlands watch, incredulous. Their kings are horribly afraid and look on with twisted faces.
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The merchants of the nations shake their heads, for your fate is dreadful; you have forever perished.”’”
28:
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Here is another message given to me from the Lord:
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“Son of dust, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘The Lord God says: You are so proud you think you are God, sitting on the throne of a god on your island home in the midst of the seas. But you are only a man and not a god, though you boast yourself to be like God. You are wiser than Daniel, for no secret is hidden from you.
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You have used your wisdom and understanding to get great wealth—gold and silver and many treasures.
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Yes, your wisdom has made you very rich and very proud.’”
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Therefore the Lord God says: “Because you claim that you are as wise as God,
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an enemy army, the terror of the nations, shall suddenly draw their swords against your marvelous wisdom and defile your splendor!
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They will bring you to the pit of hell, and you shall die as those pierced with many wounds, there on your island in the heart of the seas.
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Then will you boast as a god? At least to these invaders you will be no god, but merely man!
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You will die like an outcast at the hands of foreigners. For I have spoken it,” the Lord God says.
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Then this further message came to me from the Lord:
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“Son of dust, weep for the king of Tyre.
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Tell him, ‘The Lord God says: You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty.
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You were in Eden, the garden of God; your clothing was bejeweled with every precious stone—ruby, topaz, diamond, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald—all in beautiful settings of finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created.
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I appointed you to be the anointed Guardian Angel. You had access to the holy mountain of God. You walked among the stones of fire.
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“‘You were perfect in all you did from the day you were created until that time when wrong was found in you.
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Your great wealth filled you with internal turmoil, and you sinned. Therefore, I cast you out of the mountain of God like a common sinner. I destroyed you, O Guardian Angel, from the midst of the stones of fire.
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Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. Therefore, I have cast you down to the ground and exposed you helpless before the curious gaze of kings.
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You defiled your holiness with lust for gain;
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therefore, I brought forth fire from your own actions and let it burn you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all those watching you.
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All who know you are appalled at your fate; you are an example of horror; you are destroyed forever.’”
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Then another message came to me from the Lord:
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“Son of dust, look toward the city of Sidon and prophesy against it. Say to it,
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‘The Lord God says: I am your enemy, O Sidon, and I will reveal my power over you. When I destroy you and show forth my holiness upon you, then all who see shall know I am the Lord.
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I will send an epidemic of disease and an army to destroy; the wounded shall be slain in your streets by troops on every side. Then you will know I am the Lord.
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No longer shall you and Israel’s other neighbor nations prick and tear at Israel like thorns and briars, though they formerly despised her and treated her with great contempt.
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“‘The people of Israel will once more live in their own land, the land I gave their father Jacob. For I will gather them back again from distant lands where I have scattered them, and I will show the nations of the world my holiness among my people.
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They will live safely in Israel and build their homes and plant their vineyards. When I punish all the bordering nations that treated them with such contempt, then they shall know I am the Lord their God.’”
While God was testing him, Abraham still trusted in God and his promises, and so he offered up his son Isaac and was ready to slay him on the altar of sacrifice;
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yes, to slay even Isaac, through whom God had promised to give Abraham a whole nation of descendants!
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He believed that if Isaac died God would bring him back to life again; and that is just about what happened, for as far as Abraham was concerned, Isaac was doomed to death, but he came back again alive!
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It was by faith that Isaac knew God would give future blessings to his two sons, Jacob and Esau.
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By faith Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s two sons as he stood and prayed, leaning on the top of his cane.
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And it was by faith that Joseph, as he neared the end of his life, confidently spoke of God bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt; and he was so sure of it that he made them promise to carry his bones with them when they left!
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Moses’ parents had faith too. When they saw that God had given them an unusual child, they trusted that God would save him from the death the king commanded, and they hid him for three months and were not afraid.
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It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be treated as the grandson of the king, but chose to share ill-treatment with God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.
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He thought that it was better to suffer for the promised Christ than to own all the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking forward to the great reward that God would give him.
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And it was because he trusted God that he left the land of Egypt and wasn’t afraid of the king’s anger. Moses kept right on going; it seemed as though he could see God right there with him.
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And it was because he believed God would save his people that he commanded them to kill a lamb as God had told them to and sprinkle the blood on the doorposts of their homes so that God’s terrible Angel of Death could not touch the oldest child in those homes as he did among the Egyptians.
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The people of Israel trusted God and went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians chasing them tried it, they all were drowned.
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It was faith that brought the walls of Jericho tumbling down after the people of Israel had walked around them seven days as God had commanded them.
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By faith—because she believed in God and his power—Rahab the harlot did not die with all the others in her city when they refused to obey God, for she gave a friendly welcome to the spies.
Hallelujah! I want to express publicly before his people my heartfelt thanks to God for his mighty miracles. All who are thankful should ponder them with me.
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For his miracles demonstrate his honor, majesty, and eternal goodness.
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Who can forget the wonders he performs—deeds of mercy and of grace?
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He gives food to those who trust him; he never forgets his promises.
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He has shown his great power to his people by giving them the land of Israel, though it was the home of many nations living there.
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All he does is just and good, and all his laws are right,
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for they are formed from truth and goodness and stand firm forever.
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He has paid a full ransom for his people; now they are always free to come to Jehovah (what a holy, awe-inspiring name that is).
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How can men be wise? The only way to begin is by reverence for God. For growth in wisdom comes from obeying his laws. Praise his name forever.
A constant dripping on a rainy day and a cranky woman are much alike!
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You can no more stop her complaints than you can stop the wind or hold onto anything with greasy hands.