Paul and the False Apostles

2 Corinthians 11 Please put up with a little of my foolishness. ²I am as concerned about you as God is. You were like a virgin bride I had chosen only for Christ. ³But now I fear that you will be tricked, just as Eve was tricked by that lying snake. I am afraid that you might stop thinking about Christ in an honest and sincere way. ⁴We told you about Jesus, and you received the Holy Spirit and accepted our message. But you let some people tell you about another Jesus. Now you are ready to receive another spirit and accept a different message. ⁵I think I am as good as any of those super apostles. ⁶I may not speak as well as they do, but I know as much. And this has already been made perfectly clear to you.
⁷Was it wrong for me to lower myself and honor you by preaching God's message free of charge? ⁸I robbed other churches by taking money from them to serve you. ⁹Even when I was in need, I still didn't bother you. In fact, some of the Lord's followers from Macedonia brought me what I needed. I have not been a burden to you in the past, and I will never be a burden. ¹⁰As surely as I speak the truth about Christ, no one in Achaia can stop me from bragging about this. ¹¹And it isn't because I don't love you. God himself knows how much I do love you.
¹²I plan to go on doing just what I have always done. Then those people won't be able to brag about doing the same things we are doing. ¹³Anyway, they are no more than false apostles and dishonest workers. They only pretend to be apostles of Christ. ¹⁴And it is no wonder. Even Satan tries to make himself look like an angel of light. ¹⁵So why does it seem strange for Satan's servants to pretend to do what is right? Someday they will get exactly what they deserve.

Paul's Sufferings for Christ

¹⁶I don't want any of you to think that I am a fool. But if you do, then let me be a fool and brag a little. ¹⁷When I do all this bragging, I do it as a fool and not for the Lord. ¹⁸Yet if others want to brag about what they have done, so will I. ¹⁹And since you are so smart, you will gladly put up with a fool. ²⁰In fact, you let people make slaves of you and cheat you and steal from you. Why, you even let them strut around and slap you in the face. ²¹I am ashamed to say that we are too weak to behave in such a way.
If they can brag, so can I, but it is a foolish thing to do. ²²Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Jews? So am I. Are they from the family of Abraham? Well, so am I. ²³Are they servants of Christ? I am a fool to talk this way, but I serve him better than they do. I have worked harder and have been put in jail more times. I have been beaten with whips more and have been in danger of death more often.
²⁴Five times my own people gave me thirty-nine lashes with a whip. ²⁵Three times the Romans beat me with a big stick, and once my enemies stoned me. I have been shipwrecked three times, and I even had to spend a night and a day in the sea. ²⁶During my many travels, I have been in danger from rivers, robbers, my own people, and foreigners. My life has been in danger in cities, in deserts, at sea, and with people who only pretended to be the Lord's followers.
²⁷I have worked and struggled and spent many sleepless nights. I have gone hungry and thirsty and often had nothing to eat. I have been cold from not having enough clothes to keep me warm. ²⁸Besides everything else, each day I am burdened down, worrying about all the churches. ²⁹When others are weak, I am weak too. When others are tricked into sin, I get angry.
³⁰If I have to brag, I will brag about how weak I am. ³¹God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, knows I am not lying. And God is to be praised forever! ³²The governor of Damascus at the time of King Aretas had the city gates guarded, so that he could capture me. ³³But I escaped by being let down in a basket through a window in the city wall.

Jerusalem Is Captured and Destroyed
(2 Chronicles 36.17-21; Jeremiah 52.3-30)

2 Kings 25 In Zedekiah's ninth year as king, on the tenth day of the tenth month, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia led his entire army to attack Jerusalem. The troops set up camp outside the city and built ramps up to the city walls.
^2-3After a year and a half, all the food in Jerusalem was gone. Then on the ninth day of the fourth month, ⁴the Babylonian troops broke through the city wall. That same night, Zedekiah and his soldiers tried to escape through the gate near the royal garden, even though they knew the enemy had the city surrounded. They headed toward the desert, ⁵but the Babylonian troops caught up with them near Jericho. They arrested Zedekiah, but his soldiers scattered in every direction.
⁶Zedekiah was taken to Riblah, where Nebuchadnezzar put him on trial and found him guilty. ⁷Zedekiah's sons were killed right in front of him. His eyes were then poked out, and he was put in chains and dragged off to Babylon.
⁸About a month later, in Nebuchadnezzar's nineteenth year as king, Nebuzaradan, who was his official in charge of the guards, arrived in Jerusalem. ⁹Nebuzaradan burned down the LORD's temple, the king's palace, and every important building in the city, as well as all the houses. ¹⁰Then he ordered the Babylonian soldiers to break down the walls around Jerusalem. ¹¹He led away as prisoners the people left in the city, including those who had become loyal to Nebuchadnezzar. ¹²Only some of the poorest people were left behind to work the vineyards and the fields.
¹³The Babylonian soldiers took the two bronze columns that stood in front of the temple, the ten movable bronze stands, and the large bronze bowl called the Sea. They broke them into pieces so they could take the bronze to Babylonia. ¹⁴They carried off the bronze things used for worship at the temple, including the pans for hot ashes, and the shovels, snuffers, and also the dishes for incense, ¹⁵as well as the fire pans and the sprinkling bowls. Nebuzaradan ordered his soldiers to take everything made of gold or silver.
¹⁶The pile of bronze from the columns, the stands, and the large bowl that Solomon had made for the temple was too large to be weighed. ¹⁷Each column had been twenty-seven feet tall with a bronze cap four and a half feet high. These caps were decorated with bronze designs--some of them like chains and others like pomegranates.
¹⁸Next, Nebuzaradan arrested Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah his assistant, and three temple officials. ¹⁹Then he arrested one of the army commanders, the king's five personal advisors, and the officer in charge of gathering the troops for battle. He also found sixty more soldiers who were still in Jerusalem. ²⁰Nebuzaradan led them all to Riblah ²¹near Hamath, where Nebuchadnezzar had them killed.
The people of Judah no longer lived in their own country.

Gedaliah Is Made Ruler of the People Left in Judah
(Jeremiah 40.7-9; 41.1-3)

²²King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam to rule the few people still living in Judah. ²³When the army officers and troops heard that Gedaliah was their ruler, the officers met with him at Mizpah. These men were Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth from Netophah, and Jaazaniah from Maacah.
²⁴Gedaliah said to them, "Everything will be fine, I promise. We don't need to be afraid of the Babylonian rulers, if we live here peacefully and do what Nebuchadnezzar says."
²⁵Ishmael was from the royal family. And about two months after Gedaliah began his rule, Ishmael and ten other men went to Mizpah. They killed Gedaliah and his officials, including those from Judah and those from Babylonia. ²⁶After that, the army officers and all the people in Mizpah, whether important or not, were afraid of what the Babylonians might do. So they left Judah and went to Egypt.

Jehoiachin Is Set Free
(Jeremiah 52.31-34)

²⁷Jehoiachin was a prisoner in Babylon for thirty-seven years. Then Evil-Merodach became king of Babylonia, and in the first year of his rule, on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, he let Jehoiachin out of prison. ²⁸Evil-Merodach was kind to Jehoiachin and honored him more than any of the other kings held prisoner there. ²⁹Jehoiachin was even allowed to wear regular clothes, and he ate at the king's table every day. ³⁰As long as Jehoiachin lived, he was paid a daily allowance to buy whatever he needed.

The LORD Answers Habakkuk Again

Habakkuk 2 While standing guard on the watchtower, I waited for the LORD's answer,
before explaining the reason for my complaint.
²Then the LORD told me:
"I will give you my message in the form of a vision.
Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance.
³At the time I have decided, my words will come true.
You can trust what I say about the future.
It may take a long time, but keep on waiting--
it will happen!

⁴"I, the LORD, refuse to accept anyone who is proud.
Only those who live by faith are acceptable to me."

Trouble for Evil People

⁵Wine is treacherous,
and arrogant people are never satisfied.
They are no less greedy than death itself--
they open their mouths as wide as the world of the dead
and swallow everyone.

⁶But they will be mocked with these words:
You're doomed!
You stored up stolen goods and cheated others
of what belonged to them.
⁷But without warning, those you owe will demand payment.
Then you will become a frightened victim.
⁸You robbed cities and nations everywhere on earth
and murdered their people.
Now those who survived will be as cruel to you.

⁹You're doomed! You made your family rich
at the expense of others.
You even said to yourself, "I'm above the law."
¹⁰But you will bring shame on your family
and ruin to yourself for what you did to others.
¹¹The very stones and wood in your home
will testify against you.

¹²You're doomed! You built a city on crime and violence.
¹³But the LORD All-Powerful sends up in flames
what nations and people work so hard to gain.

¹⁴Just as water fills the sea, the land will be filled
with people who know and honor the LORD.

¹⁵You're doomed! You get your friends drunk,
just to see them naked.
¹⁶Now you will be disgraced instead of praised.
The LORD will make you drunk,
and when others see you naked,
you will lose their respect.
¹⁷You destroyed trees and animals on Mount Lebanon;
you were ruthless to towns and people everywhere.
Now you will be terrorized.

Idolatry Is Foolish

¹⁸What is an idol worth? It's merely a false god.
Why trust a speechless image made from wood or metal
by human hands?
¹⁹What can you learn from idols covered with silver or gold?
They can't even breathe.
Pity anyone who says to an idol of wood or stone,
"Get up and do something!"
²⁰Let all the world be silent--
the LORD is present in his holy temple.