Daily Bible GNT November 05 Scroll

Paul's Second Letter to
TIMOTHY

2 Timothy 1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, sent to proclaim the promised life which we have in union with Christ Jesus--

²To Timothy, my dear son:

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.

Thanksgiving and Encouragement

³I give thanks to God, whom I serve with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did. I thank him as I remember you always in my prayers night and day. ⁴I remember your tears, and I want to see you very much, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵I remember the sincere faith you have, the kind of faith that your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice also had. I am sure that you have it also. ⁶For this reason I remind you to keep alive the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. ⁷For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid; instead, his Spirit fills us with power, love, and self-control.

⁸Do not be ashamed, then, of witnessing for our Lord; neither be ashamed of me, a prisoner for Christ's sake. Instead, take your part in suffering for the Good News, as God gives you the strength for it. ⁹He saved us and called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. He gave us this grace by means of Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰but now it has been revealed to us through the coming of our Savior, Christ Jesus. He has ended the power of death and through the gospel has revealed immortal life.

¹¹God has appointed me as an apostle and teacher to proclaim the Good News, ¹²and it is for this reason that I suffer these things. But I am still full of confidence, because I know whom I have trusted, and I am sure that he is able to keep safe until that Day what he has entrusted to me. ¹³Hold firmly to the true words that I taught you, as the example for you to follow, and remain in the faith and love that are ours in union with Christ Jesus. ¹⁴Through the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, keep the good things that have been entrusted to you.

¹⁵You know that everyone in the province of Asia, including Phygelus and Hermogenes, has deserted me. ¹⁶May the Lord show mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, because he cheered me up many times. He was not ashamed that I am in prison, ¹⁷but as soon as he arrived in Rome, he started looking for me until he found me. ¹⁸May the Lord grant him his mercy on that Day! And you know very well how much he did for me in Ephesus.

The Sin of Jerusalem

Jeremiah 5 People of Jerusalem, run through your streets!

Look around! See for yourselves!

Search the marketplaces!

Can you find one person

who does what is right

and tries to be faithful to God?

If you can, the LORD will forgive Jerusalem.

²Even though you claim to worship the LORD,

you do not mean what you say.

³Surely the LORD looks for faithfulness.

He struck you, but you paid no attention;

he crushed you, but you refused to learn.

You were stubborn and would not turn from your sins.

⁴Then I thought, "These are only the poor and ignorant.

They behave foolishly;

they don't know what their God requires,

what the LORD wants them to do.

⁵I will go to the people in power

and talk with them.

Surely they know what their God requires,

what the LORD wants them to do."

But all of them have rejected the LORD's authority

and refuse to obey him.

⁶That is why lions from the forest will kill them;

wolves from the desert will tear them to pieces,

and leopards will prowl through their towns.

If those people go out, they will be torn apart

because their sins are numerous

and time after time they have turned from God.

⁷The LORD asked, "Why should I forgive the sins of my people?

They have abandoned me

and have worshiped gods that are not real.

I fed my people until they were full,

but they committed adultery

and spent their time with prostitutes.

⁸They were like well-fed stallions wild with desire,

each lusting for his neighbor's wife.

⁹Shouldn't I punish them for these things

and take revenge on a nation such as this?

¹⁰I will send enemies to cut down my people's vineyards,

but not to destroy them completely.

I will tell them to strip away the branches,

because those branches are not mine.

¹¹The people of Israel and Judah

have betrayed me completely.

I, the LORD, have spoken."

The LORD Rejects Israel

¹²The LORD's people have denied him and have said, "He won't really do anything. We won't have hard times; we won't have war or famine." ^13-14They have said that the prophets are nothing but windbags and that they have no message from the LORD. The LORD God Almighty said to me, "Jeremiah, because these people have said such things, I will make my words like a fire in your mouth. The people will be like wood, and the fire will burn them up."

¹⁵People of Israel, the LORD is bringing a nation from far away to attack you. It is a strong and ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know. ¹⁶Their archers are mighty soldiers who kill without mercy. ¹⁷They will devour your crops and your food; they will kill your sons and your daughters. They will slaughter your flocks and your herds and destroy your vines and fig trees. The fortified cities in which you trust will be destroyed by their army.

¹⁸The LORD says, "Yet even in those days I will not completely destroy my people. ¹⁹When they ask why I did all these things, tell them, Jeremiah, that just as they turned away from me and served foreign gods in their own land, so they will serve strangers in a land that is not theirs."

God Warns His People

²⁰The LORD says, "Tell the descendants of Jacob, tell the people of Judah: ²¹Pay attention, you foolish and stupid people, who have eyes, but cannot see, and have ears, but cannot hear. ²²I am the LORD; why don't you fear me? Why don't you tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary of the sea, a permanent boundary that it cannot cross. The sea may toss, but it cannot go beyond it; the waves may roar, but they cannot break through. ²³But you people! You are stubborn and rebellious; you have turned aside and left me. ²⁴You never thought to honor me, even though I send the autumn rains and the spring rains and give you the harvest season each year. ²⁵Instead, your sins have kept these good things from you.

²⁶"Evildoers live among my people; they lie in wait like those who lay nets to catch birds, but they have set their traps to catch people. ²⁷Just as a hunter fills a cage with birds, they have filled their houses with loot. That is why they are powerful and rich, ²⁸why they are fat and well fed. There is no limit to their evil deeds. They do not give orphans their rights or show justice to the oppressed.

²⁹"But I, the LORD, will punish them for these things; I will take revenge on this nation. ³⁰A terrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: ³¹prophets speak nothing but lies; priests rule as the prophets command, and my people offer no objections. But what will they do when it all comes to an end?"

Jerusalem Is Surrounded by Enemies

Jeremiah 6 People of Benjamin, run for safety! Escape from Jerusalem! Sound the trumpet in Tekoa and build a signal fire in Beth Haccherem. Disaster and destruction are about to come from the north. ²The city of Zion is beautiful, but it will be destroyed; ³kings will camp there with their armies. They will pitch their tents around the city, and each of them will camp wherever they want. ⁴They will say, "Prepare to attack Jerusalem! Get ready! We'll attack at noon!" But then they will say, "It's too late, the day is almost over, and the evening shadows are growing long. ⁵We'll attack by night; we'll destroy the city's fortresses."

⁶The LORD Almighty has ordered these kings to cut down trees and build mounds in order to besiege Jerusalem. He has said, "I will punish this city because it is full of oppression. ⁷As a well keeps its water fresh, so Jerusalem keeps its evil fresh. I hear violence and destruction in the city; sickness and wounds are all I see. ⁸People of Jerusalem, let these troubles be a warning to you, or else I will abandon you; I will turn your city into a desert, a place where no one lives."

Rebellious Israel

⁹The LORD Almighty said to me, "Israel will be stripped clean like a vineyard from which every grape has been picked. So you must rescue everyone you can while there is still time."

¹⁰I answered, "Who would listen to me if I spoke to them and warned them? They are stubborn and refuse to listen to your message; they laugh at what you tell me to say. ¹¹Your anger against them burns in me too, LORD, and I can't hold it in any longer."

Then the LORD said to me, "Pour out my anger on the children in the streets and on the gatherings of the young people. Husbands and wives will be taken away, and even the very old will not be spared. ¹²Their houses will be given to others, and so will their fields and their wives. I am going to punish the people of this land. ¹³Everyone, great and small, tries to make money dishonestly; even prophets and priests cheat the people. ¹⁴They act as if my people's wounds were only scratches. 'All is well,' they say, when all is not well. ¹⁵Were they ashamed because they did these disgusting things? No, they were not at all ashamed; they don't even know how to blush. And so they will fall as others have fallen; when I punish them, that will be the end of them. I, the LORD, have spoken."

Israel Rejects God's Way

¹⁶The LORD said to his people, "Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths and where the best road is. Walk in it, and you will live in peace."

But they said, "No, we will not!" ¹⁷Then the LORD appointed sentries to listen for the trumpet's warning. But they said, "We will not listen."

¹⁸So the LORD said, "Listen, you nations, and learn what is going to happen to my people. ¹⁹Listen, earth! As punishment for all their schemes I am bringing ruin on these people, because they have rejected my teaching and have not obeyed my words. ²⁰What do I care about the incense they bring me from Sheba, or the spices from a distant land? I will not accept their offerings or be pleased with their sacrifices. ²¹And so I will make these people stumble and fall. Parents and children will die, and so will friends and neighbors."

Invasion from the North

²²The LORD says, "People are coming from a country in the north; a mighty nation far away is preparing for war. ²³They have taken up their bows and swords; they are cruel and merciless. They sound like the roaring sea, as they ride their horses. They are ready for battle against Jerusalem."

²⁴"We have heard the news," say the people of Jerusalem, "and our hands hang limp; we are seized by anguish and pain like a woman in labor. ²⁵We don't dare go to the countryside or walk on the roads, because our enemies are armed and terror is all around us."

²⁶The LORD says to his people, "Put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Mourn with bitter tears as you would for an only child, because the one who comes to destroy you will suddenly attack. ²⁷Jeremiah, test my people, as you would test metal, and find out what they are like. ²⁸They are all stubborn rebels, hard as bronze and iron. They are all corrupt, going around and spreading gossip. ²⁹The furnace burns fiercely, but the waste metals do not melt and run off. It is useless to go on refining my people, because those who are evil are not taken away. ³⁰They will be called worthless dross, because I, the LORD, have rejected them."

The LORD Our Protector

Psalm 121 I look to the mountains;

where will my help come from?

²My help will come from the LORD,

who made heaven and earth.

³He will not let you fall;

your protector is always awake.

⁴The protector of Israel

never dozes or sleeps.

⁵The LORD will guard you;

he is by your side to protect you.

⁶The sun will not hurt you during the day,

nor the moon during the night.

⁷The LORD will protect you from all danger;

he will keep you safe.

⁸He will protect you as you come and go

now and forever.

This reading is from The Holy Bible, Today's English Version, Second Edition copyright © American Bible Society, 1992;
Old Testament copyright © American Bible Society, 1976, 1992; New Testament © American Bible Society, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992.

These daily Bible readings from the Good News Translation (GNT), formerly the Today's English Version (TEV), are published by BibleNetUSA. The web site and BibleCard® designs are by iCreative. All BibleCard® images are copyrighted by iCreative. All rights reserved.