The One Year Bible TLB (244 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
Glorify your name, not ours, O Lord! Cause everyone to praise your loving-kindness and your truth.
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Why let the nations say, “Their God is dead!”
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For he is in the heavens and does as he wishes.
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Their gods are merely man-made things of silver and of gold.
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They can’t talk or see, despite their eyes and mouths!
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Nor can they hear, nor smell,
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nor use their hands or feet, nor speak!
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And those who make and worship them are just as foolish as their idols are.
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O Israel, trust the Lord! He is your helper. He is your shield.
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O priests of Aaron, trust the Lord! He is your helper; he is your shield.
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All of you, his people, trust in him. He is your helper; he is your shield.
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Jehovah is constantly thinking about us, and he will surely bless us. He will bless the people of Israel and the priests of Aaron,
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and all, both great and small, who reverence him.
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May the Lord richly bless both you and your children.
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Yes, Jehovah who made heaven and earth will personally bless you!
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The heavens belong to the Lord, but he has given the earth to all mankind.
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The dead cannot sing praises to Jehovah here on earth,
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but we can! We praise him forever! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
The purity of silver and gold can be tested in a crucible, but a man is tested by his reaction to men’s praise.
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You can’t separate a rebel from his foolishness though you crush him to powder.
November 17Again a message came from the Lord. He said:
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“Son of dust, face toward Mount Seir and prophesy against the people saying,
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‘The Lord God says: I am against you, and I will smash you with my fist and utterly destroy you.
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Because you hate my people Israel, I will demolish your cities and make you desolate, and then you shall know I am the Lord. You butchered my people when they were helpless, when I had punished them for all their sins.
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As I live, the Lord God says, since you enjoy blood so much, I will give you a blood bath—your turn has come!
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I will utterly wipe out the people of Mount Seir, killing off all those who try to escape and all those who return.
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I will fill your mountains with the dead—your hills, your valleys, and your rivers will be filled with those the sword has killed.
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Never again will you revive. You will be abandoned forever; your cities will never be rebuilt. Then you shall know I am the Lord.
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“‘For you said, “Both Israel and Judah shall be mine. We will take possession of them. What do we care that God is there!”
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Therefore as I live, the Lord God says, I will pay back your angry deeds with mine—I will punish you for all your acts of envy and of hate. And I will honor my name in Israel by what I do to you.
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And you shall know that I have heard each evil word you spoke against the Lord, saying, “His people are helpless; they are food for us to eat!”
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Saying that, you boasted great words against the Lord. And I have heard them all!
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“‘The whole world will rejoice when I make you desolate.
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You rejoiced at Israel’s fearful fate. Now I will rejoice at yours! You will be wiped out, O people of Mount Seir and all who live in Edom! And then you will know I am the Lord!’
36:
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“Son of dust, prophesy to Israel’s mountains. Tell them: ‘Listen to this message from the Lord.
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“‘Your enemies have sneered at you and claimed your ancient heights as theirs;
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they have destroyed you on every side and sent you away as slaves to many lands. You are mocked and slandered.
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Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. He says to the hills and mountains, dales and valleys, and to the ruined farms and the long-deserted cities, destroyed and mocked by heathen nations all around:
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My anger is afire against these nations, especially Edom, for grabbing my land with relish, in utter contempt for me, to take it for themselves.’
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“Therefore prophesy and say to the hills and mountains, dales and valleys of Israel: ‘This is what the Lord God says! I am full of fury because you suffered shame before the surrounding nations.
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Therefore, I have sworn with hand held high that those nations are going to have their turn of being covered with shame,
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but for Israel good times will return. There will be heavy crops of fruit to prepare for my people’s return—and they will be coming home again soon!
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See, I am for you, and I will come and help you as you prepare the ground and sow your crops.
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I will greatly increase your population throughout all Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people.
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Not only the people, but your flocks and herds will also greatly multiply. O mountains of Israel, again you will be filled with homes. I will do even more for you than I did before. Then you shall know I am the Lord.
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My people will walk upon you once again, and you will belong to them again; and you will no longer be a place for burning their children on idol altars.’”
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The Lord God says: “Now the other nations taunt you, saying, ‘Israel is a land that devours her people!’
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But they will not say this anymore. Your birthrate will rise, and your infant mortality rate will drop off sharply,” says the Lord.
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“No longer will those heathen nations sneer, for you will no longer be a nation of sinners,” the Lord God says.
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Then this further word came to me from the Lord:
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“Son of dust, when the people of Israel were living in their own country, they defiled it by their evil deeds; to me their worship was as foul as filthy rags.
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They polluted the land with murder and with the worshiping of idols, so I poured out my fury upon them.
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And I exiled them to many lands; that is how I punished them for the evil way they lived.
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But when they were scattered out among the nations, then they were a blight upon my holy name because the nations said, ‘These are the people of God and he couldn’t protect them from harm!’
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I am concerned about my reputation that was ruined by my people throughout the world.
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“Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord God says: I am bringing you back again, but not because you deserve it; I am doing it to protect my holy name, which you tarnished among the nations.
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I will honor my great name, that you defiled, and the people of the world shall know I am the Lord. I will be honored before their eyes by delivering you from exile among them.
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For I will bring you back home again to the land of Israel.
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“‘Then it will be as though I had sprinkled clean water on you, for you will be clean—your filthiness will be washed away, your idol worship gone.
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And I will give you a new heart—I will give you new and right desires—and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love.
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And I will put my Spirit within you so that you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.
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“‘And you shall live in Israel, the land which I gave your fathers long ago. And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
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I will cleanse away your sins. I will abolish crop failures and famine.
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I will give you huge harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines.
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Then you will remember your past sins and loathe yourselves for all the evils you did.
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But always remember this: It is not for your own sakes that I will do this, but for mine. O my people Israel, be utterly ashamed of all that you have done!’”
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The Lord God says: “When I cleanse you from your sins, I will bring you home again to Israel, and rebuild the ruins.
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Acreage will be cultivated again that through the years of exile lay empty as a barren wilderness; all who passed by were shocked to see the extent of ruin in your land.
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But when I bring you back, they will say, ‘This God-forsaken land has become like Eden’s garden! The ruined cities are rebuilt and walled and filled with people!’
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Then the nations all around—all those still left—will know that I, the Lord, rebuilt the ruins and planted lush crops in the wilderness. For I, the Lord, have promised it, and I will do it.”
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The Lord God says: “I am ready to hear Israel’s prayers for these blessings and to grant them their requests. Let them but ask, and I will multiply them like the flocks that fill Jerusalem’s streets at the time of sacrifice. The ruined cities will be crowded once more, and everyone will know I am the Lord.”
From:
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To:
Jewish Christians scattered everywhere. Greetings!
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Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy,
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for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow.
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So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.
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If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; he will not resent it.
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But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind;
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and every decision you then make will be uncertain, as you turn first this way and then that. If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.
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A Christian who doesn’t amount to much in this world should be glad, for he is great in the Lord’s sight.
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But a rich man should be glad that his riches mean nothing to the Lord, for he will soon be gone, like a flower that has lost its beauty and fades away, withered—killed by the scorching summer sun. So it is with rich men. They will soon die and leave behind all their busy activities.
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Happy is the man who doesn’t give in and do wrong when he is tempted, for afterwards he will get as his reward the crown of life that God has promised those who love him.
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And remember, when someone wants to do wrong it is never God who is tempting him, for God never wants to do wrong and never tempts anyone else to do it.
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Temptation is the pull of man’s own evil thoughts and wishes.
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These evil thoughts lead to evil actions and afterwards to the death penalty from God.
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So don’t be misled, dear brothers.
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But whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God, the Creator of all light, and he shines forever without change or shadow.
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And it was a happy day for him when
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he gave us our new lives through the truth of his Word, and we became, as it were, the first children in his new family.
I love the Lord because he hears my prayers and answers them.
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Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe!
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Death stared me in the face—I was frightened and sad.
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Then I cried, “Lord, save me!”
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How kind he is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours!
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The Lord protects the simple and the childlike; I was facing death, and then he saved me.
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Now I can relax. For the Lord has done this wonderful miracle for me.
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He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
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I shall live! Yes, in his presence—here on earth!
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In my discouragement I thought, “They are lying when they say I will recover.”
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But now what can I offer Jehovah for all he has done for me?
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I will bring him an offering of wine
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and praise his name for saving me.
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I will publicly bring him the sacrifice I vowed I would.
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His loved ones are very precious to him, and he does not lightly let them die.
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O Lord, you have freed me from my bonds, and I will serve you forever.
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I will worship you and offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
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Here in the courts of the Temple in Jerusalem, before all the people, I will pay everything I vowed to the Lord. Praise the Lord.
Riches can disappear fast. And the king’s crown doesn’t stay in his family forever—so watch your business
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interests closely. Know the state of your flocks and your herds;
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then there will be lambs’ wool enough for clothing and goats’ milk enough for food for all your household after the hay is harvested, and the new crop appears, and the mountain grasses are gathered in.