The Daily Audio Bible
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God punishes his people[a]
4 Look! The gold has stopped shining!
Look how the best gold has changed!
The valuable stones from the Holy Place lie at the end of every street!
2 Jerusalem's men were valuable, like the best gold.[b]
Now they lie in the streets, because God has broken them.
They are like common pots that a potter makes.[c]
3 Even the jackals feed their babies at their breasts.
But Jerusalem's young women have become cruel.
They are like ostriches that leave their eggs in the desert.[d]
4 The mouths of the babies in Jerusalem are completely dry, because they are so thirsty.
And the young children ask for food, but nobody gives them anything to eat.
5 There are people here who had been very rich.
They ate the best foods, but now they are hungry.
Now they lie in the streets with nothing to eat.
They wore the best clothes, but now they sit in the ashes.
6 God has punished my people.
He punished us more than he punished Sodom's people.
God destroyed that city in a moment, and nobody was there to help them.[e]
7 In past times, the leaders of Jerusalem were more pure than very white snow.
They were strong and healthy.
Their bodies seemed to shine like valuable stones.
8 Now their faces are dirty and black.
People see them in the streets, but they do not recognize them.
Their skin hangs on their bones.
Their skin is as dry as wood for a fire.[f]
9 Our enemies have killed many people with long knives.
It is better for those dead people
than for the people who have no food.
They are very hungry.
And they die slowly because they have nothing to eat.[g]
10 Women who once were very kind
have boiled their own children.
Their children became their food,
when the enemies were destroying the city.[h]
11 The Lord was very angry.
So he sent fire to burn Zion.
It destroyed the whole city, even the strongest houses.
12 The kings in the other cities on earth could not believe it.[i]
None of the people on earth could believe it.
They thought that no enemy could go through Jerusalem's gates.
13 God punished Jerusalem and its people because their leaders sinned.
God did not like the things that their prophets and priests did.
They had caused good people to die.
14 Those leaders walked in the streets like men who cannot see.
There was blood on their clothes and everybody was afraid to touch them.
15 ‘Go away!’ people shouted at them.
‘Do not touch us!
You are too dirty to be among God's people!’
So they went away to other countries, but the people there did not want them.
‘They cannot stay here with us!’ those people said.
16 The Lord himself has sent them away.
He will not take care of them any longer.
Nobody respects the priests.
Nobody is kind to the leaders.[j]
17 Our eyes became red as we watched.
We were looking for help, but it did not come.
The people from other countries could not save us.
18 Enemies ran after us, so that we could not go into the streets any longer.
We knew that we would die soon.
We could not live like this any longer.
19 The enemy was quicker than big birds that fly in the air.
They followed us so that they could catch us out on the mountains.
They hid and they waited for us in the desert.
20 The Lord had chosen a man to be our king.
We thought that he would save us.
‘Under his shadow we will live among the other countries,’ we had always said.
But the enemy caught him.[k]
21 You, Edom's people, live in the country called Uz. And you are happy now.
But at a future time, God will hurt you too.
The enemy will take away everything that you have.
So you will become like drunks.
22 God has finished punishing Zion's people.
He will let them return to their homes soon.
But you, Edom's people, God will certainly punish you.[l]
He will discover everything that you have done wrong.
A prayer[m]
5 Lord, please remember the trouble that has happened to us.
Look at us, because we are ashamed.
2 Strangers have taken the land that our ancestors gave to us.
Foreign people live in our homes.
3 We are children whose fathers have died.
Our mothers no longer have husbands.
4 We must pay money for the water that we drink.
We must buy wood for our fires.
5 Our enemies cause us to work like animals.
But the work is too difficult
and they will not let us rest.
6 We gave ourselves to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians,
so that we could get food to eat.
7 Our ancestors sinned, but they are dead.
Now we have the troubles that you caused because of them.
You punished us because of their sin.[n]
8 Slaves now rule us.
And there is nobody to save us from their power.
9 We meet danger when we work in the fields.[o]
Enemies are everywhere and they want to kill us.
10 Our skin feels as if we are burning.
We are so hungry that we are ill.
11 Enemies do what they want with the women in Zion.
They are cruel to the young women in Judah's cities.
12 They hang our leaders by their hands.
And they are cruel to our old men too.
13 They took the young men to make flour for them, like slaves.
Our boys have to carry heavy bags of wood.
14 Our enemies no longer let our old men decide things.[p]
The old men cannot say what is right or fair for us.
And the young men have stopped their music.
15 We are not happy any longer.
Instead, we are very sad,
so we do not dance any longer.
16 And we have no king in Jerusalem any longer.
We have sinned, so it will be very bad for us.
17 So our bodies feel ill and we feel ill deep inside us.
Our eyes are very tired and we cannot hope for good things any longer.
18 We are so sad because they destroyed Zion's walls and buildings.
Wild animals walk on them now.
19 But you, Lord, will be king for ever.
You will always rule us.
20 Tell us why you have forgotten us.
Tell us why you have left us alone for so long.
21 Help us to come back to you, Lord.
Let us be great again, like we were long ago.
22 Please do that, unless you have turned away from us completely.
Do not continue to be angry with us more than we can take.[q]
Do not turn away from God's message
2 So we must be very careful. We must continue to remember the message that we have heard about God's Son. Then we will not go in the wrong direction, and turn away from God. 2 The message that God spoke by angels was certainly powerful.[a] God punished people when they did not obey the Law that he gave to Moses. In a completely right way he punished people who did anything wrong.
3 As for us, God has shown us the way that he will save us from our sins. So we must not forget God's message about his great way to save us. If we do, he will certainly punish us. The Lord Jesus himself first spoke that message about how God would save people. Then the people who heard Jesus told the message to us.[b] That is how we know that it is true. 4 God himself also showed clearly that what these people said is true. He did many miracles and powerful things which showed that he was with them. He also helped them with gifts from the Holy Spirit, in the way that he wanted.
Jesus became human like us, to save us
5 We are speaking about the new world that will come. God did not choose angels to rule over that world. 6 No! Instead, someone wrote this somewhere in the Bible:
‘Lord God, why do you even think about people?
You take care of men and women,
even though they seem to be so small.
7 For a short time, you made them less important than the angels
But then you made them great and powerful, like kings.
8 You caused them to rule over everything.’[c]
It says that God has caused people to rule over everything. That means that there is nothing that people do not have authority over. But at this time, we do not yet see that people rule over everything. 9 But we do see Jesus![d] God made him less important than the angels for a short time. And now God has made him the great and powerful king. God did this because Jesus died as a sacrifice on behalf of all people. His death showed that God is very kind.
10 It was right that God should bring Jesus back to heaven as king. All things belong to God, and he causes all things to continue. God wanted many people to become his children. He wanted them to live with him in heaven. Jesus made this possible because he died with much pain as a sacrifice. 11 Jesus is the one who makes people clean in front of God. Jesus himself and all the people that he makes clean have the same Father. So Jesus is not ashamed to call all those people his brothers and sisters. 12 He says this to God:
‘I will tell my brothers and sisters that you are great.
When your people meet together,
I will stand with them,
and I will praise you with songs.’[e]
13 He also says this:
‘I will trust God completely.’
He says this too:
‘I stand here with the children that God has given me.’[f]
14 So, those people who become God's children are human. They have human bodies. Because of that, Jesus himself became human like us. In that way, when he died he was able to destroy the Devil. It is the Devil who has power over death. 15 Before, we were like slaves all our lives because we were afraid of death. But now, Jesus' death makes us free. 16 It is clear that Jesus did not come to help the angels. He came to help people who are from Abraham's family.[g]
17 Because of that, it was necessary for Jesus to become completely like us, his brothers and sisters. He had to become God's servant on our behalf, like God's most important priest. In that way, he could serve God well and be kind to us. He died as a sacrifice so that God could forgive us for our sins. 18 While Jesus lived on earth, the Devil tried to make him do wrong things. This caused Jesus to have much pain and trouble. But because of that, he can now help us not to do wrong things.
This is a song that David wrote.
The love of God[a]
103 I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
Everything that is in me, praise his holy name!
2 I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
Never forget all the good things that he has done for you!
3 He forgives all my sins.
He makes me well again when I am ill.
4 He saves me from the deep hole of death's power.
He always loves me and he is kind to me.
That is how he blesses me so much!
5 He gives me many good things for my life here.
So I become strong again, with the strength of a young eagle.
6 The Lord does what is right and fair.
He helps poor people who suffer.
7 He showed Moses how he works to help his people.
He showed the Israelites the great things that he could do.
8 The Lord is kind to people and he forgives them.
He is slow to get angry and his love always continues.
9 He will not always tell us that we are wrong.
He will not always continue to be angry.
10 We should receive much punishment for the bad things that we do.
But the Lord does not punish us so much.
11 For people who worship him, his faithful love is very great.
How far is the sky above the earth? His love is greater than that!
12 How far is the east from the west?
The Lord has taken our sins further away than that!
He no longer says that we are guilty.
13 As a father is kind to his children, the Lord is kind to us.
He is kind to people who worship him.
14 He knows that we are weak humans.
He remembers that he used dust to make us.
15 A person's life is like grass that quickly dies.
He is strong only for a short time, like wild flowers in a field.
16 A hot wind blows over flowers and they die!
Nobody even remembers where they were growing.
17 But the faithful love of the Lord
will always be with people who worship him.
He promises to be kind to their children's children for ever.
18 He continues to love people who obey his covenant.
Those are the people who obey his laws.
19 The Lord rules from his throne in heaven.
He rules as king over everything.
20 You who are the Lord's angels,
you strong angels who do what he tells you to do,
praise the Lord!
21 All of you who belong to his armies in heaven,
his servants who do what he wants,
praise the Lord!
22 Yes, everything that the Lord has made,
in all the places that he rules over,
praise the Lord!
I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
23 When a hypocrite says nice words,
that is like a cheap pot with silver paint.
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