Daily Bible CEV November 24 Scroll

False Prophets and Teachers

2 Peter 2 Sometimes false prophets spoke to the people of Israel. False teachers will also sneak in and speak harmful lies to you. But these teachers don't really belong to the Master who paid a great price for them, and they will quickly destroy themselves. ²Many people will follow their evil ways and cause others to tell lies about the true way. ³They will be greedy and cheat you with smooth talk. But long ago God decided to punish them, and God doesn't sleep.

⁴God did not have pity on the angels that sinned. He had them tied up and thrown into the dark pits of hell until the time of judgment. ⁵And during Noah's time, God did not have pity on the ungodly people of the world. He destroyed them with a flood, though he did save eight people, including Noah, who preached the truth.

⁶God punished the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and this is a warning to anyone else who wants to sin.

^7-8Lot lived right and was greatly troubled by the terrible way those wicked people were living. He was a good man, and day after day he suffered because of the evil things he saw and heard. So the Lord rescued him. ⁹This shows that the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their sufferings and to punish evil people while they wait for the day of judgment.

¹⁰The Lord is especially hard on people who disobey him and don't think of anything except their own filthy desires. They are reckless and proud and are not afraid of cursing the glorious beings in heaven. ¹¹Although angels are more powerful than these evil beings, even the angels don't dare to accuse them to the Lord.

¹²These people are no better than senseless animals that live by their feelings and are born to be caught and killed. They speak evil of things they don't know anything about. But their own corrupt deeds will destroy them. ¹³They have done evil, and they will be rewarded with evil.

They think it is fun to have wild parties during the day. They are immoral, and the meals they eat with you are spoiled by the shameful and selfish way they carry on. ¹⁴All they think about is having sex with someone else's husband or wife. There is no end to their wicked deeds. They trick people who are easily fooled, and their minds are filled with greedy thoughts. But they are headed for trouble!

¹⁵They have left the true road and have gone down the wrong path by following the example of the prophet Balaam. He was the son of Beor and loved what he got from being a crook. ¹⁶But a donkey corrected him for this evil deed. It spoke to him with a human voice and made him stop his foolishness.

¹⁷These people are like dried up water holes and clouds blown by a windstorm. The darkest part of hell is waiting for them. ¹⁸They brag out loud about their stupid nonsense. And by being vulgar and crude, they trap people who have barely escaped from living the wrong kind of life. ¹⁹They promise freedom to everyone. But they are merely slaves of filthy living, because people are slaves of whatever controls them.

²⁰When they learned about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they escaped from the filthy things of this world. But they are again caught up and controlled by these filthy things, and now they are in worse shape than they were at first. ²¹They would have been better off if they had never known about the right way. Even after they knew what was right, they turned their backs on the holy commandments that they were given. ²²What happened to them is just like the true saying,

"A dog will come back to lick up its own vomit.

A pig that has been washed will roll in the mud."

The People Go to Egypt

Jeremiah 43 I told the people everything the LORD had told me. ²But Azariah, Johanan and some other arrogant men said to me, "You're lying! The LORD didn't tell you to say that we shouldn't go to Egypt. ³Baruch son of Neriah must have told you to say that. He wants the Babylonians to capture us, so they can take us away to Babylonia or even kill us."

⁴Johanan, the other army officers, and everyone else refused to stay in Judah in spite of the LORD's command. ⁵So Johanan and the officers led us away toward Egypt. The group that left Judah included those who had been scattered in other countries and who had then come back to live in Judah. ⁶Baruch and I and others in the group had been staying with Gedaliah, because Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian officer in charge of the guard, had ordered him to take care of the king's daughters and quite a few men, women, and children.

⁷The people disobeyed the LORD and went to Egypt. The group had settled in Tahpanhes, ⁸when the LORD told me:

⁹Jeremiah, carry some large stones to the entrance of the government building in Tahpanhes. Bury the stones underneath the brick pavement and be sure the Jews are watching.

¹⁰Then tell them that I, the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, have sent for my servant, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. I will bring him here and have him set up his throne and his royal tent over these stones that I told you to bury. ¹¹He will attack Egypt and kill many of its people; others will die of disease or be dragged away as prisoners. ^12-13I will have him set Egypt's temples on fire, and he will either burn or carry off their idols. He will destroy the sacred monuments at the temple of the sun-god. Then Nebuchadnezzar will pick the land clean, just like a shepherd picking the lice off his clothes. And he will return safely home.

The LORD Will Destroy the People of Judah

Jeremiah 44 The LORD told me to speak with the Jews who were living in the towns of Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis in northern Egypt, and also to those living in southern Egypt. He told me to tell them:

²I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel. You saw how I destroyed Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. They lie empty and in ruins today, ³because the people of Judah made me angry by worshiping gods that had never helped them or their ancestors.

⁴Time after time I sent my servants the prophets to tell the people of Judah how much I hated their disgusting sins. The prophets warned them to stop sinning, ⁵but they refused to listen and would not stop worshiping other gods. ⁶Finally, my anger struck like a raging flood, and today Jerusalem and the towns of Judah are nothing but empty ruins.

⁷Why do you now insist on heading for another disaster? A disaster that will destroy not only you, but also your children and babies. ⁸You have made me angry by worshiping idols and burning incense to other gods after you came here to Egypt. You will die such a disgusting death, that other nations will use the name of Judah as a curse word. ⁹When you were living in Jerusalem and Judah, you followed the example of your ancestors in doing evil things, just like your kings and queens. ¹⁰Even now, your pride keeps you from respecting me and obeying the laws and teachings I gave you and your ancestors.

¹¹I, the LORD All-Powerful, have decided to wipe you out with disasters. ¹²There were only a few of you left in Judah, and you decided to go to Egypt. But you will die such horrible deaths in war or from starvation, that people of other countries will use the name of Judah as a curse word. ¹³I punished Jerusalem with war, hunger, and disease, and that's how I will punish you. ¹⁴None of you will survive. You may hope to return to Judah someday, but only a very few of you will escape death and be able to go back.

The People Refuse To Worship the LORD

¹⁵A large number of Jews from both northern and southern Egypt listened to me as I told them what the LORD had said. Most of the men in the crowd knew that their wives often burned incense to other gods. So they and their wives shouted:

¹⁶Jeremiah, what do we care if you speak in the LORD's name? We refuse to listen! ¹⁷We have promised to worship the goddess Astarte, the Queen of Heaven, and that is exactly what we are going to do. We will burn incense and offer sacrifices of wine to her, just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our leaders did when we lived in Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah. We had plenty of food back then. We were well off, and nothing bad ever happened to us. ¹⁸But since the time we stopped burning incense and offering wine sacrifices to her, we have been dying from war and hunger.

¹⁹Then the women said, "When we lived in Judah, we worshiped the Queen of Heaven and offered sacrifices of wine and special loaves of bread shaped like her. Our husbands knew what we were doing, and they approved of it."

²⁰Then I told the crowd:

²¹Don't you think the LORD knew that you and your ancestors, your leaders and kings, and the rest of the people were burning incense to other gods in Jerusalem and everywhere else in Judah? ²²And when he could no longer put up with your disgusting sins, he placed a curse on your land and turned it into a desert, as it is today. ²³This disaster happened because you worshiped other gods and rebelled against the LORD by refusing to obey him or follow his laws and teachings.

^24-25Then I told the men and their wives, that the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said:

Here in Egypt you still keep your promises to burn incense and offer sacrifices of wine to the so-called Queen of Heaven. ²⁶Keep these promises! But let me tell you what will happen. As surely as I am the LORD God, I swear that I will never again accept any promises you make in my name. ²⁷Instead of watching over you, I will watch for chances to harm you. Some of you will die in war, and others will starve to death. ²⁸Only a few will escape and return to Judah. Then everyone who went to live in Egypt will know that when I say something will happen, it will--no matter what you say.

²⁹And here is how you will know that I will keep my threats to punish you in Egypt. ³⁰I will hand over King Hophra of Egypt to those who want to kill him, just as I handed Zedekiah over to Nebuchadnezzar, who wanted to kill him.

Psalm 140
[A psalm by David for the music leader.]
A Prayer for the LORD's Help

¹Rescue me from cruel and violent enemies, LORD!

They think up evil plans and always cause trouble.

³Their words bite deep

like the poisonous fangs of a snake.

⁴Protect me, LORD, from cruel and brutal enemies,

who want to destroy me.

⁵Those proud people have hidden traps and nets

to catch me as I walk.

⁶You, LORD, are my God! Please listen to my prayer.

⁷You have the power to save me,

and you keep me safe in every battle.

⁸Don't let the wicked succeed in doing what they want,

or else they might never stop planning evil.

⁹They have me surrounded,

but make them the victims of their own vicious lies.

¹⁰Dump flaming coals on them and throw them into pits

where they can't climb out.

¹¹Chase those cruel liars away!

Let trouble hunt them down.

¹²Our LORD, I know that you defend the homeless

and see that the poor are given justice.

¹³Your people will praise you and will live with you

because they do right.

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.