DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR SATURDAY AUGUST 20:
DAILY BIBLE READING
Jeremiah 28-30Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
The False Prophet Hananiah
28 In the fifth month of the fourth year that Zedekiah[a] was king of Judah,
the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur spoke to me. Hananiah was from the town of
Gibeon. Hananiah was in the Lord's Temple when he spoke to me. The priests
and all the people were there also. This is what Hananiah said: 2 "The Lord
All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says: 'I will break the yoke
that the king of Babylon has put on the people of Judah. 3 Before two years
are over, I will bring back all the things that King Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon took from the Lord's Temple. Nebuchadnezzar has carried those things
to Babylon. But I will bring them back here to Jerusalem. 4 I will also
bring the king of Judah, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, back to this place.
And I will bring back all the people of Judah that Nebuchadnezzar forced to
leave their homes and go to Babylon,' says the Lord. 'So I will break the
yoke that the king of Babylon put on the people of Judah.'"
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah answered the prophet Hananiah. They were
standing in the Temple of the Lord. The priests and all the people there
could hear Jeremiah's answer. 6 Jeremiah said to Hananiah, "Amen! May the
Lord do that. May the Lord make the message you say come true. May he bring
the things of the Lord's Temple back to this place from Babylon. And may he
bring all those who were forced to leave their homes back to this place.
7 "But listen to what I have to say to you and to all the people. 8 There
were prophets long before you and I became prophets, Hananiah. They spoke
against many countries and great kingdoms and always warned that war,
hunger, and disease would come to them. 9 So the prophet who says that we
will have peace must be tested. People can know that he really was sent by
the Lord only if his message comes true."
10 Jeremiah was wearing a yoke around his neck. The prophet Hananiah took
the yoke from Jeremiah's neck and broke it. 11 Then Hananiah spoke loudly so
that all the people could hear him. He said, "This is what the Lord says:
'In the same way, I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
He put that yoke on all the nations of the world, but I will break it before
two years are over.'"
After Hananiah said that, Jeremiah left the Temple.
12 Then the message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. This happened after
Hananiah had taken the yoke off Jeremiah's neck and had broken it. 13 The
Lord said to Jeremiah, "Go and tell Hananiah that this is what the Lord
says: 'You have broken a wooden yoke, but I will make a yoke of iron in the
place of the wooden yoke. 14 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, is
the one saying this. I will put a yoke of iron on the necks of all these
nations. I will do that to make them serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon,
and they will be slaves to him. I will even give Nebuchadnezzar control over
the wild animals.'"
15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, "Listen,
Hananiah! The Lord did not send you. But you have made the people of Judah
trust in lies. 16 So this is what the Lord says: 'Soon I will take you from
this world, Hananiah. You will die this year, because you taught the people
to turn against the Lord.'"
17 Hananiah died in the seventh month of that same year.
A Letter to the Captives in Babylon
29 Jeremiah sent a letter to the captives in Babylon. He sent it to the
elders, the priests, the prophets, and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar
had taken from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 (This letter was sent after King
Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the officials and the leaders of Judah and
Jerusalem, the carpenters, and the metalworkers had been taken from
Jerusalem.) 3 King Zedekiah of Judah sent Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah
son of Hilkiah to King Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah gave them the letter to take
to Babylon. This is what the letter said:
4 This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the people of Israel, says
to all the people he sent into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 "Build
houses and live in them. Settle in the land. Plant gardens and eat the food
you grow. 6 Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your
sons, and let your daughters be married. Do this so that they also may have
sons and daughters. Have many children and grow in number in Babylon. Don't
become fewer in number. 7 Also, do good things for the city I sent you to.
Pray to the Lord for the city you are living in, because if there is peace
in that city, you will have peace also." 8 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of
the people of Israel, says, "Don't let your prophets and those who practice
magic fool you. Don't listen to the dreams they have. 9 They are telling
lies, and they are saying that their message is from me. But I didn't send
it." This message is from the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says: "Babylon will be powerful for 70 years. After
that time, I will come to you people who are living in Babylon. I will keep
my good promise to bring you back to Jerusalem. 11 I say this because I know
the plans that I have for you." This message is from the Lord. "I have good
plans for you. I don't plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good
future. 12 Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me,
and I will listen to you. 13 You will search for me, and when you search for
me with all your heart, you will find me. 14 I will let you find me." This
message is from the Lord. "And I will bring you back from your captivity. I
forced you to leave this place. But I will gather you from all the nations
and places where I have sent you," says the Lord, "and I will bring you back
to this place."
15 You people might say, "But the Lord has given us prophets here in
Babylon." 16 But this is what the Lord says about your relatives who were
not carried away to Babylon. I am talking about the king who is sitting on
David's throne now and all the other people who are still in the city of
Jerusalem. 17 The Lord All-Powerful says, "I will soon bring war, hunger,
and disease against those who are still in Jerusalem. And I will make them
the same as bad figs that are too rotten to eat. 18 I will attack those who
are still in Jerusalem with war, hunger, and disease. And I will cause such
pain that all the kingdoms of the earth will be frightened at what has
happened to those people. They will be destroyed. People will whistle with
amazement when they hear what happened. And people will use them as an
example when they ask for bad things to happen to people. People will insult
them wherever I force them to go. 19 I will make all these things happen
because the people of Jerusalem have not listened to my message." This
message is from the Lord. "I sent my message to them again and again. I used
my servants, the prophets, to give my messages to them, but they didn't
listen." This message is from the Lord. 20 "You people are captives. I
forced you to leave Jerusalem and go to Babylon. So listen to the message
from the Lord."
21 This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says about Ahab
son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah: "These two men have been
telling you lies. They have said that their message is from me. I will give
these two prophets to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And he will kill them
in front of all you who are captives in Babylon. 22 They will be an example
of a terrible way to die. Yes, in the future, when the Jewish captives want
something bad to happen to someone, they will say this curse: 'May the Lord
treat you like Zedekiah and Ahab, those men the king of Babylon burned in
the fire!' 23 They did very bad things among the people of Israel. They
committed the sin of adultery with their neighbors' wives. They also spoke
lies and said those lies were a message from me. I did not tell them to do
that. I know what they have done. I am a witness." This message is from the
Lord.
God's Message to Shemaiah
24 Also give a message to Shemaiah from the Nehelam family. 25 This is what
the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: "Shemaiah, you sent letters
to all the people in Jerusalem and to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah.
You also sent letters to all the priests. You sent those letters in your own
name and not by my authority. 26 Shemaiah, this is what you said in your
letter to Zephaniah: 'Zephaniah, the Lord has made you priest in place of
Jehoiada. You are to be in charge of the Lord's Temple. You should arrest
anyone who acts like a crazy person[b] and acts like a prophet. You should
put that person's feet between large blocks of wood and put neck irons[c] on
him. 27 Now Jeremiah is acting like a prophet. So why didn't you arrest him?
28 Jeremiah has sent this message to us in Babylon: You people in Babylon
will be there for a long time, so build houses and settle down. Plant
gardens and eat what you grow.'"
29 Zephaniah the priest read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then
this message from the Lord came to Jeremiah: 31 "Jeremiah, send this message
to all the captives in Babylon: 'This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah,
the man from the Nehelam family: Shemaiah has spoken to you, but I didn't
send him. He has made you believe a lie. 32 Because Shemaiah has done that,
this is what the Lord says: I will soon punish Shemaiah, the man from the
Nehelam family. I will completely destroy his family, and he will not share
in the good things I will do for my people.'" This message is from the Lord.
"'I will punish Shemaiah because he has taught the people to turn against
the Lord.'"
Promises of Hope
30 This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the Lord. 2 The Lord, the
God of the people of Israel, said, "Jeremiah, write in a book the words I
have spoken to you. Write this book for yourself. 3 Do this because the days
will come"-this message is from the Lord-"when I will bring my people,
Israel and Judah, back from exile." This message is from the Lord. "I will
put the people back in the land that I gave to their ancestors. Then my
people will own that land again."
4 The Lord spoke this message about the people of Israel and Judah. 5 This
is what the Lord said:
"We hear people crying from fear.
There is fear, not peace.
6
"Ask this question and consider it:
Can a man have a baby? Of course not!
Then why do I see every strong man holding his stomach
like a woman having labor pains?
Why is everyone's face turning white
like a dead man?
7
"This is a very important time for Jacob.
This is a time of great trouble.
There will never be another time like this,
but Jacob will be saved.
8 "At that time," says the Lord All-Powerful, "I will break the yoke from
the necks of the people of Israel and Judah, and I will break the ropes
holding you. People from foreign countries will never again force my people
to be slaves. 9 The people of Israel and Judah will not serve foreign
countries. No, they will serve the Lord their God. I will send them David
their king,[d] and they will serve him.
10
"So Jacob, my servant, don't be afraid!"
This message is from the Lord.
"Israel, don't be afraid.
I will save you from that faraway place.
You are captives[e] in that faraway land,
but I will save your descendants.
I will bring them back from that land.
Jacob will have peace again.
People will not bother Jacob.
There will be no enemy to frighten my people.
11
People of Israel and Judah, I am with you."
This message is from the Lord.
"I will save you.
I sent you to those nations,
but I will completely destroy all of them.
It is true; I will destroy those nations,
but I will not destroy you.
You must be punished for the bad things you did,
but I will discipline you fairly."
12
This is what the Lord says:
"You people of Israel and Judah have a wound that cannot be cured.
You have an injury that will not heal.
13
There is no one to care for your sores,
so you will not be healed.
14
You became friends with many nations,
but those nations don't care about you.
Your 'friends' have forgotten you.
I hurt you like an enemy.
I punished you very hard.
I did this because of your great guilt.
I did this because of your many sins.
15
Israel and Judah, why are you still crying about your wound?
There is no cure for it.
I did this to you because of your great guilt.
I did this because of your many sins.
16
Those nations destroyed you,
but now they have been destroyed.
Israel and Judah, your enemies will become captives.
They stole things from you,
but others will steal from them.
They took things from you in war,
but others will take things from them in war.
17
And I will bring your health back
and heal your wounds," says the Lord,
"because other people said you were outcasts.[f]
They said, 'No one cares about Zion.'"
18
This is what the Lord says:
"Jacob's people are now in captivity,
but they will come back.
And I will have pity on Jacob's houses.
The city[g] is now only an empty hill covered with ruined buildings,
but the city will be rebuilt on its hill.
And the king's palace will be rebuilt where it should be.
19
People in those places will sing songs of praise,
and there will be the sound of laughter.
I will give them many children.
Israel and Judah will not be small.
I will bring honor to them.
No one will look down on them.
20
Jacob's family will be like the family of Israel long ago.
I will make Israel and Judah strong,
and I will punish those who hurt them."
21
The Lord says,
"One of their own people will lead them.
That ruler will come from my people.
People can come close to me only if I ask them to.
So I will ask that leader to come to me,
and he will be close to me.
22
You will be my people,
and I will be your God."
23
The Lord was very angry!
He punished the people.
The punishment came like a storm.
It came like a tornado against those wicked people.
24
The Lord will be angry until he is through punishing them.
He will be angry until he finishes the punishment he planned.
When that day comes,
you people of Judah will understand.
Footnotes:
a.Jeremiah 28:1 the fourth year . Zedekiah This was about 594-593 B.C.
b.Jeremiah 29:26 crazy person Here, Shemaiah is referring to Jeremiah. See
verses 27-28.
c.Jeremiah 29:26 neck irons A ring made from iron. People put the rings
around prisoners, necks. They often fastened a chain to the ring to control
the prisoners.
d.Jeremiah 30:9 David their king This means another king of Israel who will
be great like King David.
e.Jeremiah 30:10 captives People taken away as prisoners. Here, it means the
Jewish people who were taken to Babylon.
f.Jeremiah 30:17 outcasts People who are thrown out of a group by others who
don't like or respect them.
g.Jeremiah 30:18 city This probably refers to Jerusalem. But it might also
mean all the cities of Israel and Judah.
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright C 2006 by Bible League International
