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Take a breath, find your place, and read deeply. Discover the joy of reading God’s word with the Immerse New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.
This daily Bible podcast will take you through the Bible in a year following the Immerse Bible Reading Experience. So grab your family and small group and go through the Bible in a year together with Immerse. Each of the 6 volumes is available online or at your favorite Christian bookstore.
Nancy: Welcome to immerse: the
daily bible reading experience.
day 200 and 61
immersed in Jeremiah.
The book of Jeremiah is the longest book
within the prophets containing oracles
and stories drawn from a period of more
than 30 years, but a single historical
situation looms over the whole book.
The Babylonian empire threatens
and then destroys Jerusalem
leading to the exile of its people.
This constitutes the single biggest crisis
that God's people had ever encountered.
God calls Jeremiah to be a
prophet when he is still young.
Jeremiah actually protests that he's
too young and God tells him to renew the
warning that earlier prophets had sounded.
The people of Judah confidently think they
will never be conquered because the Lord
has made his home in the Jerusalem temple.
But Jeremiah warns them.
Do you really think you can steal
murder, commit adultery, lie and burn
incense to bail and all those other new
gods of yours, and then come here and
stand before me in my temple and chant.
We are safe.
Only to go right back to
all those evils again.
But the more Jeremiah insists that
disaster is imminent, the more
the leaders and people resist him.
He is mocked and hated and even
accused of treason against the nation.
Finally, he is thrown in prison where
he nearly dies, but through it all,
even in the midst of deep depression,
Jeremiah faithfully fulfills his
calling for the Lord had told him.
Today, I appoint you to stand
up against nations and kingdoms.
Some you must uproot and tear
down, destroy and overthrow others.
You must build up and plant.
The material in the book of Jeremiah
is organized into four major parts.
Each marked off at the end by
a reference to Jeremiah's words
being written down and then read.
The first part is a collection of
his Oracles about Judah spoken at
different points in his career.
The second part of the book, Jeremiah
recounts stories and messages related
to events in Jerusalem during the reigns
of Je Jolla, Kim and Zakiah in the years
just before the final Babylonian invasion.
More stories like these make up the
third part of the book where they
concentrate on the final years of the
kingdom of Judah and the destruction of
Jerusalem, like many of the prophets.
Jeremiah also proclaimed
messages about other nations.
These oracles are collected in the
last section where a message predicting
babylon's eventual downfall has the
last word among Jeremiah's messages.
At some point, the introduction to
these oracles to the nations became
separated from the actual messages
and was left earlier in the book.
In this edition, we've reunited the
introduction with the Oracles themselves
after the end of Jeremiah's messages.
The book concludes with an
epilogue that describes in terrible
detail the fall of Jerusalem and
the destruction of the temple.
This epilogue closely matches
the devastating ending of
the book of Samuel Kings.
Even though the book closes with an
account of this tragic demise of the
Kingdom of Judah, a bright hope for
God's people still lives at its center.
A special oracle called the Book of
Comfort is placed in the middle of the
second section, which puts it right in the
center of Jeremiah's book as a whole Hear.
The Lord promises that because his
love for his people is everlasting.
He will bring them back from exile.
I will bring them from the north and
from the distant corners of the earth.
A great company will return tears of
joy, will stream down their faces, and
I will lead them home with great care.
God told Jeremiah that his words would
both tear down and build up and plant.
So it is fitting that in the center
of the book, God promises that
he will make a new covenant with
the people of Israel and Judah.
God is going to put his instructions
deep within them, transforming
them from the inside out.
The rebellion of Adam has been
living in the hearts of God's
people, but a new day is promised,
a day of forgiveness and renewal.
When all God's hopes and dreams
for Israel will be realized, this
is the great future that moves.
The Bible's great story forward.
The prophet Jeremiah,
these are the words of Jeremiah, son
of Hilah, one of the priests from the
town of Anth in the land of Benjamin.
The Lord first gave messages to Jeremiah
during the 13th year of the Reign of
Josiah, son of Amman, king of Judah.
The Lord's messages continued throughout
the reign of King Jo Jolla, Kim Josiah's
son, until the 11th year of the Reign of
Kings at Eiah, another of Josiah's sons.
In August of that 11th year, the people
of Jerusalem were taken away as captives.
The Lord gave me this message.
I knew you before I formed
you in your mother's womb.
Before you were born.
I set you apart and appointed
you as my prophet to the nations.
Oh, sovereign Lord.
I said, I can't speak for you.
I'm too young.
The Lord replied, don't
say I'm too young for you.
Must go wherever I send you
and say whatever I tell you.
And don't be afraid of the people.
For I will be with you
and will protect you.
I the Lord have spoken.
Then the Lord reached out and touched
my mouth and said, look, I have
put my words in your mouth today.
I appoint you to stand up
against nations and kingdoms.
Some you must uproot and tear
down, destroy and overthrow others.
You must build up and plant.
Then the Lord said to me, look,
Jeremiah, what do you see?
And I replied, I see a
branch from an almond tree.
The Lord said That's right, and it
means that I'm watching and I will
certainly carry out all my plans.
Then the Lord spoke to me again
and asked, what do you see now?
And I replied, I see a pot of boiling
water spilling from the north.
Yes, the Lord said, for terror
from the north will boil out
on the people of this land.
Listen, I'm calling the
armies of the kingdoms of the
north to come to Jerusalem.
I, the Lord have spoken.
They will set their thrones
at the gates of the city.
They will attack its walls and
all the other towns of Judah.
I will pronounce judgment on my people
for all their evil, for deserting me
and burning incense to other gods.
Yes, they worship idols
made with their own hands.
Get up and prepare for action.
Go out and tell them
everything I tell you to say.
Do not be afraid of them, or I will
make you look foolish in front of them.
Foresee today I have made you strong like
a fortified city that cannot be captured
like an iron pillar or a bronze wall.
You will stand against the whole
land, the kings, officials,
priests, and people of Judah.
They will fight you, but they
will fail for I am with you
and I will take care of you.
I, the Lord have spoken.
The Lord gave me another message.
He said, go and shout
this message to Jerusalem.
This is what the Lord says.
I remember how eager you were to
please me as a young bride long ago,
how you loved me and followed me
even through the barren wilderness.
In those days, Israel was holy to
the Lord, the first of his children.
All who harmed his people were declared
guilty and disaster fell on them.
I, the Lord have spoken.
Listen to the word of the Lord,
people of Jacob, all you families of
Israel, this is what the Lord says.
What did your ancestors find wrong with
me that led them to stray so far from me?
They worshiped worthless idols only
to become worthless themselves.
They did not ask, where is the
Lord who brought us safely out of
Egypt and led us through the barren
wilderness, A land of deserts and
pits, a land of drought and death.
Where no one lives or even travels.
And when I brought you into a fruitful
land to enjoy its bounty and goodness,
you defiled my land and corrupted
the possession I had promised you.
The priests did not
ask, where is the Lord?
Those who taught my word ignored me.
The rulers turned against me, and the
prophets spoke in the name of Baal,
wasting their time on worthless idols.
Therefore, I will bring my case
against you, says the Lord.
I will even bring charges against your
children's children in the years to come.
Go West and look in the land of Cyprus.
Go east and search
through the land of Keter.
Has anyone ever heard of
anything as strange as this?
Has any nation ever traded its
gods for new ones, even though
they're not Gods at all yet?
My people have exchanged their
glorious God for worthless idols.
The heavens are shocked at
such a thing and shrink back in
horror and dismay says the Lord.
For my people have done two evil things.
They have abandoned me, the fountain
of living water, and they have dug
for themselves cracked cisterns
that can hold no water at all.
Why has Israel become a slave?
Why has he been carried away as plunder?
Strong lions have roared against
him, and the land has been destroyed.
The towns are now in ruins and
no one lives in them anymore.
Egyptians marching from their cities
of Memphis and ese have destroyed
Israel's glory and power, and you
have brought this upon yourselves by
rebelling against the Lord your God, even
though he was leading you on the way.
What have you gained by your
alliances with Egypt and
your covenants with Assyria?
What good to you are the streams of the
Nile or the waters of the Euphrates River.
Your wickedness will
bring its own punishment.
Your turning from me will shame you.
You will see what an evil, bitter
thing it is to abandon the Lord
your God and not to fear him.
I the Lord.
The Lord of heaven's armies have spoken.
Long ago I broke the yoke that
oppressed you and tore away
the chains of your slavery.
But still, you said, I will not
serve you on every hill and under
every green tree you have prostituted
yourselves by bowing down to idols.
But I was the one who planted you choosing
a vine of the purest stock, the very best.
How did you grow into
this corrupt wild vine?
No amount of soap or
lie can make you clean.
I still see the stain of your guilt.
I the sovereign Lord, have spoken.
You say that's not true.
I haven't worshiped the images of
Baal, but how can you say that?
Go and look.
In any valley in the land, face
the awful sins you have done.
You are like a restless female camel,
desperately searching for a mate.
You are like a wild donkey
sniffing the wind at mating time.
Who can restrain her lust?
Those who desire her
don't need to search for.
She goes running to them.
When will you stop running?
When will you stop
panting after other gods?
But you say, save your breath.
I'm in love with these foreign
gods and I can't stop loving them.
Now.
Israel is like a thief who feels
shame only when he gets caught.
They're kings, officials, priests and
prophets all are alike in this to an
image carved from a piece of wood.
They say, you are my father to an
idol, chiseled from a block of stone.
They say, you are my mother.
They turn their backs on me, but in
times of trouble, they cry out to
me, come and save us, but why not
call on these gods you have made?
When trouble comes, let them save
you if they can, for you have as many
gods as there are towns in Judah.
Why do you accuse me of doing wrong?
You are the ones who have rebelled, says
the Lord, I have punished your children,
but they did not respond to my discipline.
You yourselves have killed your
prophets as a lion kills its prey.
Oh my people.
Listen to the words of the Lord.
Have I been like a desert to Israel?
Have I been to them?
A land of darkness?
Why then do my people say at
last, we are free from God?
We don't need him anymore.
Does a young woman forget her jewelry
or a bride, her wedding dress?
Yet for years on end, my
people have forgotten me.
How you plot and scheme
to win your lovers.
Even an experienced prostitute
could learn from you.
Your clothing is stained with
the blood of the innocent and the
poor, though you didn't catch them
breaking into your houses, and yet
you say, I have done nothing wrong.
Surely God isn't angry with me, but now
I will punish you severely because you
claim you have not sinned first here.
Then there you flit from one ally to
another asking for help, but your new
friends in Egypt will let you down.
Just as Assyria did before in
despair, you'll be led into exile
with your hands on your heads.
For the Lord has rejected the nations
you trust, they will not help you at all.
If a man divorces a woman and she
goes and marries someone else, he
will not take her back again for
that would surely corrupt the land.
But you have prostituted yourself
with many lovers, so why are
you trying to come back to me?
Says the Lord.
Look at the shrines on every hilltop.
Is there any place you have not been
defiled by your adultery with other gods?
You sit like a prostitute beside
the road waiting for a customer.
You sit alone like a nomad in the desert.
You have polluted the land with your
prostitution and your wickedness.
That's why even the spring rains
have failed for you are a brazen
prostitute and completely shameless.
Yet you say to me, father, you
have been my guide since my youth.
Surely you won't be angry forever.
Surely you can forget about it.
So you talk, but you keep on
doing all the evil you can
during the reign of King Josiah.
The Lord said to me, have you
seen what Fickle Israel has done?
Like a wife who commits adultery?
Israel has worshiped other gods on
every hill and under every green tree.
I thought after she has done all this, she
will return to me, but she did not return,
and her faithless, sister Judah saw this.
She saw that I divorced Faithless
Israel because of her adultery, but
that treacherous sister Judah had
no fear, and now she too has left me
and given herself to prostitution.
Israel treated it all so lightly.
She thought nothing of committing
adultery by worshiping idols
made of wood and stone.
So now the land has been polluted.
But despite all this, her faithless sister
Judah, has never sincerely returned to me.
She has only pretended to be sorry.
I, the Lord have spoken.
Then the Lord said to me,
even faithless, Israel is less
guilty than treacherous Judah.
Therefore go and give
this message to Israel.
This is what the Lord says,
oh Israel, my faithless.
People come home to me
again for I am merciful.
I will not be angry with you forever.
Only acknowledge your guilt.
Admit that you rebelled against
the Lord your God, and committed
adultery against him by worshiping
idols under every green tree.
Confess that you refused
to listen to my voice.
I, the Lord have spoken.
Return home, you wayward
children, says the Lord.
For I am your master, I will bring you
back to the land of Israel, one from
this town, and two from that family,
from wherever you are scattered.
And I will give you shepherds after
my own heart who will guide you
with knowledge and understanding.
And when your land is once more filled
with people says the Lord, you will no
longer wish for the good old days when you
possess the Ark of the Lord's covenant.
You will not miss those days or even
remember them, and there will be no
need to rebuild the ark in that day.
Jerusalem will be known
as the throne of the Lord.
All nations will come
there to honor the Lord.
They will no longer stubbornly
follow their own evil desires.
In those days, the people of
Judah and Israel will return
together from exile in the north.
They will return to the land.
I gave your ancestors as
an inheritance forever.
I thought to myself, I would love
to treat you as my own children.
I wanted nothing more than to
give you this beautiful land, the
finest possession in the world.
I looked forward to your calling
me father, and I wanted you
never to turn from me, but you
have been unfaithful to me.
I.
You people of Israel, you have been like
a faithless wife who leaves her husband.
I the Lord have spoken voices are
heard high on the wind swept mountains.
The weeping and pleading of Israel's
people for they have chosen crooked paths
and have forgotten the Lord their God.
My wayward children says the
Lord come back to me and I
will heal your wayward hearts.
Yes, we are coming.
The people reply for you
are the Lord our God.
Our worship of idols on the hills and our
religious orgies on the mountains are a
delusion only in the Lord our God will
Israel ever find salvation from childhood.
We have watched as everything our
ancestors worked for their flocks
and herds, their sons and daughters
was squandered on a delusion.
Let us now lie down in shame and
cover ourselves with dishonor.
For we and our ancestors
have sinned against the Lord
our God, from our childhood.
To this day, we have never obeyed him.
Oh, Israel says the Lord.
If you wanted to return to me, you could.
You could throw away your
detestable idols and stray away.
No more.
Then when you swear by my name saying,
as surely as the Lord lives, you
could do so with truth, justice, and
righteousness, then you would be a
blessing to the nations of the world and
all people would come and praise my name.
This is what the Lord says to the
people of Judah and Jerusalem.
Plow up the hard ground of your hearts.
Do not waste your good seed among thorns.
Oh, people of Judah and Jerusalem,
surrender your pride and power.
Change your hearts before the Lord or
my anger will burn like an unquenchable
fire because of all your sins.
Shout to Judah and broadcast to Jerusalem.
Tell them to sound the
alarm throughout the land.
Run for your lives.
Flee to the fortified cities.
Raise a signal.
Flag as a warning for Jerusalem.
Flee now.
Do not delay.
For I am bringing terrible
destruction upon you from the north.
A lion stalks from its den
a destroyer of nations.
It has left its layer
and is headed your way.
It's going to devastate your land.
Your towns will lie in ruins with
no one living in them anymore.
So put on clothes of mourning and
weep with broken hearts for the fierce
Anger of the Lord is still upon us.
In that day says the Lord the king and
the officials will tremble in fear.
The priests will be struck with horror
and the prophets will be appalled.
Then I said, oh, sovereign Lord,
the people have been deceived by
what you said, for you promised
peace for Jerusalem, but the
sword is held at their throats.
The time is coming when the Lord will
say to the people of Jerusalem, my dear
people, A burning wind is blowing in from
the desert and it's not a gentle breeze.
Useful for winnowing grain.
It is a roaring blast sent by me.
Now I will pronounce your destruction.
Our enemy rushes down
on us like storm clouds.
His chariots are like whirlwinds.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
How terrible it will be for we are doomed.
Jerusalem cleanse your
heart that you may be saved.
How long will you harbor
your evil thoughts?
Your destruction has been announced
from Dan and the Hill country of Raim.
Warn the surrounding nations
and announce this to Jerusalem.
The enemy is coming from a
distant land raising a battle
cry against the towns of Judah.
They surround Jerusalem like
Watchmen around a field.
For my people have rebelled
against me, says the Lord.
Your own actions have
brought this upon you.
This punishment is bitter,
piercing you to the heart.
My heart.
My heart.
I arrive in pain.
My heart pounds within me.
I cannot be still for I have heard
the blast of enemy trumpets and
the roar of their battle cries.
Waves of destruction roll over the land
until it lies in complete desolation.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed.
In a moment, my shelters are crushed.
How long must I see the battle
flags and hear the trumpets of war?
My people are foolish and do
not know me, says the Lord.
They are stupid children
who have no understanding.
They are clever enough at doing wrong.
They have no idea how to do right.
I looked at the earth and
it was empty and formless.
I looked at the heavens
and there was no light.
I looked at the mountains and
hills and they trembled and shook.
I looked and all the people were gone.
All the birds of the sky had flown away.
I looked and the fertile
fields had become a wilderness.
The towns lay in ruins crushed
by the Lord's fierce anger.
This is what the Lord says.
The whole land will be ruined, but
I will not destroy it completely.
The earth will mourn and the
heavens will be draped in black.
Because of my decree against
my people, I have made up my
mind and will not change it.
At the noise of chariot tears and
archers, the people flee in terror.
They hide in the bushes
and run for the mountains.
All the towns have been abandoned.
Not a person remains.
What are you doing?
You who have been plundered?
Why do you dress up in beautiful
clothing and put on gold jewelry?
Why do you brighten
your eyes with mascara?
Your primping will do you no good.
The allies who were your lovers
despise you and seek to kill you.
I hear a cry like that
of a woman in labor.
The groans of a woman giving
birth to her first child.
It is beautiful Jerusalem, gasping
for breath and crying out, help.
I'm being murdered.
Run up and down every street
in Jerusalem, says the Lord.
Look high and low.
Search throughout the city.
If you can find even one,
just an honest person.
I will not destroy the city.
But even when they are under oath
saying, as surely as the Lord lives,
they're still telling lies, Lord,
you are searching for honesty.
You struck your people,
but they paid no attention.
You crushed them, but they
refused to be corrected.
They are determined with
faces set like stone.
They have refused to repent.
Then I said, but what can
we expect from the poor?
They are ignorant.
They don't know the ways of the Lord.
They don't understand God's laws.
So I will go and speak to their leaders.
Surely they know the ways of the
Lord and understand God's laws.
But the leaders too, as one man had thrown
off God's yoke and broken his chains.
So now a lion from the
forest will attack them.
A wolf from the desert
will pounce on them.
A leopard will lurk near their
towns, tearing apart any who dare
to venture out for their rebellion
is great, and their sins are many.
How can I pardon you for even
Your children have turned from me.
They have sworn by gods
that are not Gods at all.
I fed my people until they were full,
but they thanked me by committing
adultery and lining up at the brothels.
They're well fed lusty stallions,
each naying for his neighbor's wife.
Should I not punish them for this?
Says the Lord.
Should I not avenge myself against
such a nation, go down the rows of the
vineyards and destroy the grapevines,
leaving a scattered few alive.
Strip the branches from the vines for
these people do not belong to the Lord.
The people of Israel and Judah are full
of treachery against me, says the Lord.
They have lied about the Lord
and said he won't bother us.
No disasters will come upon us.
There will be no war or famine.
God's prophets are all windbags
who don't really speak for him.
Let their predictions of
disaster fall on themselves.
This concludes today's
Immerse Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.