Daily Bible CEV November 05 Scroll

2 TIMOTHY

2 Timothy 1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus.

God himself chose me to be an apostle, and he gave me the promised life that Jesus Christ makes possible.

²Timothy, you are like a dear child to me. I pray that God our Father and our Lord Christ Jesus will be kind and merciful to you and will bless you with peace!

Do Not Be Ashamed of the Lord

³Night and day I mention you in my prayers. I am always grateful for you, as I pray to the God my ancestors and I have served with a clear conscience. ⁴I remember how you cried, and I want to see you, because that will make me truly happy. ⁵I also remember the genuine faith of your mother Eunice. Your grandmother Lois had the same sort of faith, and I am sure that you have it as well. ⁶So I ask you to make full use of the gift that God gave you when I placed my hands on you. Use it well. ⁷God's Spirit doesn't make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control.

⁸Don't be ashamed to speak for our Lord. And don't be ashamed of me, just because I am in jail for serving him. Use the power that comes from God and join with me in suffering for telling the good news.

⁹God saved us and chose us to be his holy people.

We did nothing to deserve this,

but God planned it because he is so kind.

Even before time began

God planned for Christ Jesus to show kindness to us.

¹⁰Now Christ Jesus has come to show us the kindness of God.

Christ our Savior defeated death

and brought us the good news.

It shines like a light and offers life that never ends.

¹¹My work is to be a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher. ¹²That's why I am suffering now. But I am not ashamed! I know the one I have faith in, and I am sure that he can guard until the last day what he has trusted me with. ¹³Now follow the example of the correct teaching I gave you, and let the faith and love of Christ Jesus be your model. ¹⁴You have been trusted with a wonderful treasure. Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit, who lives within you.

¹⁵You know that everyone in Asia has turned against me, especially Phygelus and Hermogenes.

¹⁶I pray that the Lord will be kind to the family of Onesiphorus. He often cheered me up and wasn't ashamed of me when I was put in jail. ¹⁷Then after he arrived in Rome, he searched everywhere until he found me. ¹⁸I pray that the Lord Jesus will ask God to show mercy to Onesiphorus on the day of judgment. You know how much he helped me in Ephesus.

Is Anyone Honest and Faithful?

The LORD said to me:
Jeremiah 5 "Search Jerusalem for honest people

who try to be faithful.

If you can find even one, I'll forgive the whole city.

Everyone breaks promises made in my name."

³I answered, "I know that you look for truth.

You punished your people for their lies,

but in spite of the pain,

they became more stubborn

and refused to turn back to you."

⁴Then I thought to myself,

"These common people act like fools,

and they have never learned

what the LORD their God demands of them.

⁵I'll go and talk to the leaders.

They know what God demands."

But even they had decided not to obey the LORD.

⁶The people have rebelled and rejected the LORD

too many times.

So enemies will attack like lions from the forest

or wolves from the desert.

Those enemies will watch the towns of Judah,

and like leopards they will tear to pieces

whoever goes outside.

Enemies Will Punish Judah

The LORD said:

⁷People of Judah, how can I forgive you?

I gave you everything, but you abandoned me

and worshiped idols.

You men go to prostitutes and are unfaithful to your wives.

⁸You are no better than animals, and you always want sex

with someone else's wife.

⁹Why shouldn't I punish the people of Judah?

¹⁰I will tell their enemies, "Go through my vineyard.

Don't destroy the vines, but cut off the branches,

because they are the people who don't belong to me."

¹¹In every way, Judah and Israel have been unfaithful to me.

^*12Their prophets lie and say, "The LORD won't punish us.

We will have peace and plenty of food."

¹³They tell these lies in my name,

so now they will be killed in war

or starve to death.

¹⁴I am the LORD God All-Powerful.

Jeremiah, I will tell you exactly what to say.

Your words will be a fire;

Israel and Judah will be the fuel.

¹⁵People of Israel, I have made my decision.

An army from a distant country will attack you.

I've chosen an ancient nation,

and you won't understand their language.

¹⁶All of them are warriors, and their arrows bring death.

¹⁷This nation will eat your crops and livestock;

they will leave no fruit on your vines or trees.

And although you feel safe behind thick walls,

your towns will be destroyed and your children killed.

Israel Refused To Worship the LORD

¹⁸The LORD said:

Jeremiah, the enemy army won't kill everyone in Judah. ¹⁹And the people who survive will ask, "Why did the LORD our God do such terrible things to us?" Then tell them:

I am the LORD, but you abandoned me

and worshiped other gods in your own land.

Now you will be slaves in a foreign country.

²⁰Tell these things to each other, you people of Judah,

you descendants of Jacob.

²¹You fools! Why don't you listen when I speak?

Why can't you understand ²²that you should worship me

with fear and trembling?

I'm the one who made the shore to hold back the ocean.

Waves may crash on the beach,

but they can come no farther.

²³You stubborn people have rebelled

and turned your backs on me.

²⁴You refuse to say, "Let's worship the LORD!

He's the one who sends rain in spring and autumn

and gives us a good harvest."

²⁵That's why I cannot bless you!

^*26A hunter traps birds and puts them in a cage,

but some of you trap humans

and make them your slaves.

²⁷You are evil, and you lie and cheat

to make yourselves rich.

You are powerful ²⁸and prosperous, but you refuse

to help the poor get the justice they deserve.

²⁹You need to be punished, and so I will take revenge.

³⁰Look at the terrible things going on in this country.

I am shocked!

³¹Prophets give their messages in the name of a false god,

my priests don't want to serve me,

and you--my own people-- like it this way!

But on the day of disaster, where will you turn for help?

A Warning for the People of Jerusalem

The LORD said:
Jeremiah 6 Run for your lives, people of Benjamin.

Get out of Jerusalem.

Sound a trumpet in Tekoa

and light a signal fire in Beth-Haccherem.

Soon you will be struck by disaster from the north.

^*2Jerusalem is a lovely pasture,

but shepherds will surround it and divide it up,

then let their flocks eat all the grass.

⁴Kings will tell their troops,

"If we reach Jerusalem in the morning,

we'll attack at noon.

But if we arrive later, ⁵we'll attack after dark

and destroy its fortresses."

⁶I am the LORD All-Powerful,

and I will command these armies to chop down trees

and build a ramp up to the walls of Jerusalem.

People of Jerusalem, I must punish you

for your injustice.

⁷Evil pours from your city like water from a spring.

Sounds of violent crimes echo within your walls;

victims are everywhere, wounded and dying.

⁸Listen to me, you people of Jerusalem and Judah.

I will abandon you,

and your land will become an empty desert.

⁹I will tell your enemies to leave your nation bare

like a vine stripped of grapes.

I, the LORD All-Powerful, have spoken.

Jeremiah's Anger

¹⁰I have told the people that you, LORD, will punish them,

but they just laugh and refuse to listen.

¹¹Your anger against Judah flames up inside me,

and I can't hold it in much longer.

The LORD's Anger Will Sweep Everyone Away

The LORD answered:

Don't hold back my anger! Let it sweep away everyone--

the children at play and all adults, young and old alike.

¹²I'll punish the people of Judah and give to others

their houses and fields, as well as their wives.

I, the LORD, have spoken.

¹³Everyone is greedy and dishonest, whether poor or rich.

Even the prophets and priests cannot be trusted.

¹⁴All they ever offer to my deeply wounded people

are empty hopes for peace.

¹⁵They should be ashamed of their disgusting sins,

but they don't even blush.

And so, when I punish Judah,

they will end up on the ground,

dead like everyone else.

I, the LORD, have spoken.

The People of Judah Rejected God's Way of Life

¹⁶The LORD said:

My people, when you stood at the crossroads,

I told you, "Follow the road your ancestors took,

and you will find peace."

But you refused.

¹⁷I also sent prophets to warn you of danger,

but when they sounded the alarm, you paid no attention.

^*18So I tell all nations on earth, "Watch what I will do!

¹⁹My people ignored me and rejected my laws.

They planned to do evil, and now the evil they planned

will happen to them."

²⁰People of Judah, you bring me incense from Sheba

and spices from distant lands.

You offer sacrifices of all kinds. But why bother?

I hate these gifts of yours!

²¹So I will put stumbling blocks in your path,

and everyone will die, including parents and children,

neighbors and friends.

An Army from the North

²²The LORD said,

"Look toward the north, where a powerful nation

has prepared for war.

²³Its well-armed troops are cruel and never show mercy.

Their galloping horses sound like ocean waves

pounding on the shore.

This army will attack you, lovely Jerusalem."

²⁴Then the people said, "Just hearing about them

makes us tremble with fear,

and we twist and turn in pain

like a woman giving birth."

²⁵The LORD said,

"Don't work in your fields or walk along the roads.

It's too dangerous.

The enemy is well armed ²⁶and attacks without warning.

So mourn, my people, as though your only child had died.

Wear clothes made of sackcloth and roll in the ash pile."

The LORD's People Must Be Tested

The LORD said:

²⁷Jeremiah, test my people as though they were metal.

²⁸And you'll find they are hard like bronze and iron.

They are stubborn rebels, always spreading lies.

^*29Silver can be purified in a fiery furnace,

³⁰but my people are too wicked to be made pure,

and so I have rejected them.

Psalm 121
[A song for worship.]
The LORD Will Protect His People

¹I look to the hills! Where will I find help?

²It will come from the LORD,

who created the heavens and the earth.

³The LORD is your protector,

and he won't go to sleep or let you stumble.

⁴The protector of Israel doesn't doze or ever get drowsy.

⁵The LORD is your protector, there at your right side

to shade you from the sun.

⁶You won't be harmed by the sun during the day

or by the moon at night.

⁷The LORD will protect you

and keep you safe from all dangers.

⁸The LORD will protect you

now and always wherever you go.

These daily Bible readings from the Contemporary English Version (CEV) are published by BibleNetUSA. The web site and BibleCard® designs are by iCreative. BibleCard® images copyright iCreative. All rights reserved.