Immerse: Bible Reading Experience - NLT Daily Bible In A Year

Day 258: The Divine Restoration and Ultimate Glory of Jerusalem

In today's episode of 'Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience,' we journey through the prophetic visions of Israel's restoration and ultimate glory as depicted in the Bible. The Lord calls upon Jerusalem to shine bright, foretelling a future where darkness blankets the earth but God's glory rises above Israel. Nations and kings are drawn to this divine light, bringing wealth and reverence. The Lord promises to rebuild and restore, turning desolation into beauty, sorrow into joy, and providing eternal peace for His people. Foreigners will serve and honor Jerusalem, acknowledging the Lord's saving grace and merciful nature. Despite past anger and destruction, divine favor and a double portion of honor are assured. This message of hope is coupled with a stern warning to the rebellious, underscoring the importance of righteousness. The creation of a new heaven and earth is foreseen, where eternal joy, prosperity, and divine justice will reign. The narrative calls for praise and worship of the Lord, highlighting the transformation from suffering to blessing and the fulfillment of divine promises. This episode captures the essence of divine redemption, restoration, and justice, reflecting God's unwavering commitment to His people.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:06 The Glory of Jerusalem
00:21 Nations and Kings Acknowledge Jerusalem
01:12 The Return of the Exiles
03:29 God's Everlasting Light
04:16 Proclamation of Good News
05:01 Restoration and Rebuilding
05:43 God's Justice and Mercy
18:12 A New Creation
23:10 Final Judgement and Worship
25:27 Conclusion and Farewell

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Volume 4 
Immerse: Prophets is the fourth of six volumes of the Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience program. Prophets presents the First Testament prophets in groupings that represent four historical periods, beginning with the prophets who spoke before the fall of Israel’s northern kingdom (Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah), then before the fall of the southern kingdom (Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk), around the time of Jerusalem’s destruction (Jeremiah, Obadiah, Ezekiel), and after the return from exile (Haggai, Zechariah, Joel, Malachi).

4 Questions to get your conversations started:
1. What stood out to you this week?
2. Was there anything confusing or troubling?
3. Did anything make you think differently about God?
4. How might this change the way we live?

QUICK START GUIDE
3 ways to get the most out of your experience
  1. Use Immerse: Beginnings instead of your regular chapter and verse Bible. This special reader’s edition restores the Bible to its natural simplicity and beauty by removing chapter and verse numbers and other historical additions. Letters look like letters, songs look like songs, and the original literary structures are visible in each book.
  2. Commit to making this a community experience. Immerse is designed for groups to encounter large portions of the Bible together
    for 8 weeks–more like a book club, less like a Bible study. By meeting every week in small groups and discussing what you read in open,
    honest conversations, you and your community can come together to be transformed through an authentic experience with the Scriptures.
  3. Aim to understand the big story. Read through “The Stories and the Story” (p. 483) to see how the books of the Bible work together to tell God’s story of his creation’s restoration. As you read through Immerse: Beginnings, rather than ask, “How do I fit God into my busy life?” begin asking, “How can I join in God’s great plan by living out my part in his story?”

What is Immerse: Bible Reading Experience - NLT Daily Bible In A Year?

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 58

a rise Jerusalem.

Let your light shine for all to see.

For the glory of the Lord
rises to shine on you.

Darkness as black as night covers
all the nations of the earth.

But the glory of the Lord
rises and appears over you.

All nations will come to your light.

Mighty kings will come
to see your radiance.

Look and see for everyone is coming home.

Your sons are coming from distant lands.

Your little daughters
will be carried home.

Your eyes will shine and your heart
will thrill with joy for merchants

from around the world will come to you.

They will bring you the
wealth of many lands.

Vast caravans of camels
will converge on you.

The camels of Midian and efa.

The people of Sheba will bring
gold and frankincense and

will come worshiping the Lord.

The flocks of Kitter will be
given to you, and the rams of NABE

will be brought for my altars.

I will accept their offerings and
I will make my temple glorious.

And what do I see?

Flying like clouds to Israel,
like doves to their nests.

They are ships from the ends of the
earth, from lands that trust in me.

Led by the great ships of Tarshish,
they are bringing the people

of Israel home from far away,
carrying their silver and gold.

They will honor the Lord your God,
the holy one of Israel, for he has

filled you with splendor, foreigners
will come to rebuild your towns

and their kings will serve you.

For Though I have destroyed you
in my anger, I will now have

mercy on you through my grace.

Your gates will stay open day and night
to receive the wealth of many lands.

The kings of the world will be led
as captives in a victory procession.

For the nations that refuse to
serve you will be destroyed.

The glory of Lebanon will be yours.

The forests of Cyprus, fur and
pine to beautify my sanctuary.

My temple will be glorious.

The descendants of your tormentors
will come and bow before you.

Those who despised you
will kiss your feet.

They will call you the city of the Lord
and Zion of the holy one of Israel.

Though you were once despised and hated
with no one traveling through you,

I will make you beautiful forever.

A joy to all generations.

Powerful kings and mighty nations
will satisfy your every need.

As though you were a child nursing at
the breast of a queen, you will know at

last that I, the Lord am your savior and
your redeemer, the mighty one of Israel.

I will exchange your bronze for gold,
your iron for silver, your wood for

bronze, and your stones for iron.

I will make peace, your
leader and righteousness.

Your ruler violence will
disappear from your land.

The desolation and
destruction of war will end.

Salvation will surround you like
city walls and praise will be on

the lips of all who enter there.

No longer will you need the sun to
shine by day nor the moon to give

its light by night for the Lord.

Your God will be your everlasting
light and your God will be your glory.

Your son will never set,
your moon will not go down.

For the Lord will be
your everlasting light.

Your days of mourning will come to an end.

All your people will be righteous.

They will possess their land forever.

For I will plant them there with my own
hands in order to bring myself glory.

The smallest family will become a thousand
people and the tiniest group will become

a mighty nation at the right time.

I, the Lord will make it happen.

The spirit of the sovereign Lord is
upon me, for the Lord has anointed

me to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to comfort the
broken hearted, and to proclaim

that captives will be released
and prisoners will be freed.

He has sent me to tell those who
mourn, that the time of the Lord's

favor has come, and with it the day
of God's anger against their enemies.

To all who mourn in Israel,
he will give a crown of beauty

for ashes, a joyous blessing.

Instead of mourning festive praise
instead of despair in their righteousness,

they will be like great oaks that the
Lord has planted for his own glory.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins,
repairing cities destroyed long ago.

They will revive them though they have
been deserted for many generations.

Foreigners will be your servants.

They will feed your flocks and plow
your fields and tend your vineyards.

You will be called priests of
the Lord, ministers of our God.

You will feed on the treasures
of the nations and boast in their

riches instead of shame and dishonor.

You will enjoy a double share of honor.

You'll possess a double portion
of prosperity in your land and

everlasting joy will be yours.

For I the Lord, love, justice.

I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

I will faithfully reward my people
for their suffering and make an

everlasting covenant with them.

Their descendants will be recognized
and honored among the nations.

Everyone will realize
that they are a people.

The Lord has blessed.

I am overwhelmed with joy in the
Lord, my God, for he has dressed me

with the clothing of salvation and
draped me in a robe of righteousness.

I am like a bride groom, dressed for
his wedding or a bride with her jewels.

The sovereign Lord will show his
justice to the nations of the world.

Everyone will praise him.

His righteousness will be like
a garden in early spring with

plants springing up everywhere.

Because I love Zion, I will not keep still
because my heart yearns for Jerusalem.

I cannot remain silent.

I will not stop praying for her until her
righteousness shines like the dawn and

her salvation blazes like a burning torch.

The nations will see your righteousness.

World leaders will be blinded by
your glory and you will be given a

new name by the Lord's own mouth.

The Lord will hold you in his
hand for all to see a splendid

crown in the hand of God.

Never again will you be called the
forsaken city or the desolate land.

Your new name will be the city of
God's delight and the bride of God.

For the Lord delights in you
and will claim you as his bride.

Your children will commit
themselves to you o Jerusalem.

Just as a young man commits himself
to his bride, then God will rejoice

over you as a bride groom rejoices
over his bride O Jerusalem.

I have posted watchmen on your walls.

They will pray day and night,
continually take no rest.

All you who pray to the Lord.

Give the Lord no rest until he
completes his work, until he makes

Jerusalem the pride of the earth.

The Lord has sworn to
Jerusalem by his own strength.

I will never again hand
you over to your enemies.

Never again will foreign warriors come
and take away your grain and new wine.

You raised the grain and you will eat it.

Praising the Lord.

Within the courtyards of the
temple, you yourselves will

drink the wine you have pressed.

Go out through the gates, prepare the
highway for my people to return, smooth

out the road, pull out the boulders.

Raise a flag for all the nations to see.

The Lord has sent this
message to every land.

Tell the people of Israel look.

Your savior is coming.

See, he brings his reward
with him as he comes.

They will be called the holy people and
the people redeemed by the Lord, and

Jerusalem will be known as the desirable
place, and the city no longer forsaken.

Who is this?

Who comes from Eden, from the city of
Basra with his clothing stained red?

Who is this in Royal robes
marching in his great strength.

It is I the Lord
announcing your salvation.

It is I the Lord who
has the power to save.

Why are your clothes so red as if
you have been treading out grapes?

I have been treading the wine press alone.

No one was there to help me in my anger.

I have trampled my enemies
as if they were grapes.

In my fury, I have trampled my foes.

Their blood has stained my clothes for the
time has come for me to avenge my people,

to ransom them from their oppressors.

I was amazed to see that no one
intervened to help the oppressed.

So I myself stepped in to save them with
my strong arm and my wrath sustained me.

I crushed the nations in my anger and
made them stagger and fall to the ground,

spilling their blood upon the earth.

I will tell of the Lord's
unfailing love, I will praise

the Lord for all he has done.

I will rejoice in his great goodness
to Israel, which he has granted

according to his mercy and love.

He said, they are my very own people.

Surely they will not betray me again.

He became their savior
in all their suffering.

He also suffered and he personally
rescued them in his love and mercy.

He redeemed them.

He lifted them up and carried them
through all the years, but they

rebelled against him and grieved
his Holy Spirit, so he became their

enemy and fought against them.

Then they remembered those days of old
when Moses led his people out of Egypt.

They cried out where is the one
who brought Israel through the sea?

With Moses as their shepherd,
where is the one who sent his Holy

Spirit to be among his people?

Where is the one whose power was
displayed when Moses lifted up his

hand, the one who divided the sea before
them making himself famous forever.

Where is the one who led them
through the bottom of the sea?

They were like fine stallions racing
through the desert, never stumbling.

As with cattle going down into
a peaceful valley, the spirit

of the Lord gave them rest.

You led your people Lord, and
gained a magnificent reputation.

Lord, look down from heaven.

Look from your holy,
glorious home and see us.

Where is the passion and the might
you used to show on our behalf?

Where are your mercy and compassion?

Now, surely you are still our father.

Even if Abraham and Jacob would disown
us, Lord, you would still be our father.

You are our redeemer from ages past.

Lord, why have you allowed
us to turn from your path?

Why have you given us stubborn
hearts so we no longer fear you?

Return and help us for we are
your servants, the tribes that

are your special possession.

How briefly your holy people
possessed your holy place and now

our enemies have destroyed it.

Sometimes it seems as though we
never belonged to you as though we

had never been known as your people.

Oh, that you would burst from
the heavens and calm down how the

mountains would quake in your presence.

As fire causes wood to burn
and water to boil, your coming

would make the nations tremble.

Then your enemies would learn
the reason for your fame.

When you came down long ago,
you did awesome deeds beyond

our highest expectations and
oh, how the mountains quaked.

For since the world began.

No ear has heard and no eye has seen a
God like you who works for those who wait

for him, you welcome those who gladly
do good, who follow godly ways, but

you have been very angry with us for we
are not godly, we are constant sinners.

How can people like us be saved?

We are all infected and impure with sin.

When we display our righteous deeds,
they are nothing but filthy rags.

Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall
and our sins sweep us away like the wind.

Yet, no one calls on your name
or pleads with you for mercy.

Therefore, you have turned away from
us and turned us over to our sins.

And yet, oh Lord, you are our father.

We are the clay and you are the potter.

We are all formed by your hand.

Don't be so angry with us.

Lord, please don't
remember our sins forever.

Look at us, we pray and see
that we are all your people.

Your holy cities are destroyed.

Zion is a wilderness.

Yes, Jerusalem is a desolate ruin.

The holy and beautiful temple
where our ancestors praised you

has been burned down and all the
things of beauty are destroyed.

After all this, Lord must you
still refuse to help us, will you

continue to be silent and punish us?

The Lord says I was ready to
respond, but no one asked for help.

I was ready to be found, but
no one was looking for me.

I said, here I am.

Here I am to a nation that
did not call on my name.

All day long.

I opened my arms to a rebellious people,
but they follow their own evil paths and

their own crooked schemes all day long.

They insult me to my face by worshiping
idols in their sacred gardens.

They burn incense on
pagan altars at night.

They go out among the
graves worshiping the dead.

They eat the flesh of pigs and make
stews with other forbidden foods.

Yet, they say to each other, don't
come too close, or you will defile me.

I am holier than you.

These people are a stench in my nostrils.

An accurate smell that never goes away.

Look, my decree is written
out in front of me.

I will not stand silent.

I will repay them in full.

Yes, I will repay them both for their own
sins and for those of their ancestors.

Says the Lord.

For, they also burned incense on the
mountains and insulted me on the hills.

I will pay them back in full, but I will
not destroy them all, says the Lord.

For just as good grapes are found
among a cluster of bad ones and someone

will say, don't throw them all away.

Some of those grapes are good, so
I will not destroy all Israel for

I still have true servants there.

I will preserve a remnant of the people
of Israel and of Judah to possess my land.

Those I choose will inherit it
and my servants will live there.

The plane of Sharon will again be filled
with flocks for my people who have

searched for me, and the Valley of AOR
will be a place to pastor herds, but

because the rest of you have forsaken
the Lord and have forgotten his temple.

Because you have prepared feasts to
honor the God of fate and have offered

mixed wine to the god of destiny.

Now I will destin you for the sword.

All of you will bow down before
the executioner for when I called

you, did not answer when I spoke.

You did not listen.

You deliberately sinned before
my very eyes and chose to

do what you know I despise.

Therefore, this is what
the sovereign Lord says.

My servants will eat, but you will starve.

My servants will drink,
but you will be thirsty.

My servants will rejoice, but
you will be sad and ashamed.

My servants will sing for joy, but
you will cry in sorrow and despair.

Your name will be a curse
word among my people.

For the sovereign Lord will
destroy you and will call his

true servants by another name.

All who invoke a blessing or take an
oath will do so by the God of truth.

For I will put aside my anger and
forget the evil of earlier days.

Look, I am creating new heavens and
a new earth and no one will even

think about the old ones anymore.

Be glad, rejoice forever in my creation.

And look, I will create Jerusalem
as a place of happiness.

Her people will be a source of joy.

I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and delight in my people.

And the sound of weeping and
crying will be heard in it.

No more, no longer will babies die.

When only a few days old, no
longer will adults die before

they have lived a full life.

No longer will people be considered old at
100 only the cursed will die that young.

In those days, people will live
in the houses they build and eat

the fruit of their own vineyards.

Unlike the past, invaders
will not take their houses and

confiscate their vineyards.

For my people will live as long as
trees and my chosen ones will have

time to enjoy their hard won gains.

They will not work in vain and their
children will not be doomed to misfortune

for they are people blessed by the Lord,
and their children too will be blessed.

I will answer them before
they even call to me.

While they are still talking
about their needs, I will go

ahead and answer their prayers.

The wolf and the lamb will feed together.

The lion will eat hay like a cow,
but the snakes will eat dust.

In those days, no one
will be hurt or destroyed.

On my holy mountain, I
the Lord have spoken.

This is what the Lord says, heaven is
my throne and the earth is my footstool.

Could you build me a
temple as good as that?

Could you build me such a resting place?

My hands have made both heaven and earth.

They and everything in them are mine.

I the Lord have spoken.

I will bless those who have humble and
contrite hearts who tremble at my word,

but those who choose their own ways
delighting in their detestable sins

will not have their offerings accepted.

When such people sacrifice bull, it is no
more acceptable than a human sacrifice.

When they sacrifice a lamb, it's as
though they had sacrificed a dog.

When they bring an offering of grain,
They might as well offer the blood

of a pig when they burn frankincense.

It's as if they had blessed an idol.

I will send them great trouble.

All the things they feared for when I
called, they did not answer when I spoke.

They did not listen.

They deliberately sinned before my very
eyes and chose to do what they know.

I despise hear this message from the Lord.

All you who tremble at his words,
your own people hate you and throw

you out for being loyal to my name.

Let the Lord be honored.

They scoff, be joyful in him,
but they will be put to shame.

What is all the commotion in the city?

What is that terrible
noise from the temple?

It is the voice of the Lord taking
vengeance against his enemies.

Before the birth pains even begin,
Jerusalem gives birth to a son Who has

ever seen anything as strange as this?

Whoever heard of such a thing.

Has a nation ever been
born in a single day?

Has a country ever come forth in a mere
moment, but by the time Jerusalem's, birth

pains begin, her children will be born.

Would I ever bring this nation to the
point of birth and then not deliver it?

Asks the Lord?

No.

I would never keep this nation
from being born says your God.

Rejoice with Jerusalem.

Be glad with her all you who love her,
and all you who mourn for her, drink

deeply of her glory, even as an infant
drinks at its mother's comforting breasts.

This is what the Lord says.

I will give Jerusalem a river
of peace and prosperity.

The wealth of the
nations will flow to her.

Her children will be nursed
at her breasts, carried in

her arms, and held on her lap.

I will comfort you there in Jerusalem
as a mother comforts her child.

When you see these things,
your heart will rejoice.

You will flourish like the grass.

Everyone will see the Lord's hand
of blessing on his servants and

his anger against his enemies.

See, the Lord is coming with fire and
his swift chariots roar like a whirlwind.

He will bring punishment with
the fury of his anger and the

flaming fire of his hot rebuke.

The Lord will punish the world
by fire and by his sword.

He will judge the earth and
many will be killed by him.

Those who consecrate and purify themselves
in a sacred garden with its idol in

the center, feasting on pork and rats
and other detestable meats will come

to a terrible end, says the Lord.

I can see what they are doing and
I know what they are thinking.

So I will gather all nations and peoples
together and they will see my glory.

I will perform a sign among them.

I will send those who survive to be
messengers to the nations, to Tarshish,

to the Libyans and liens who are famous
as archers to tubal and Greece and to all

the lands beyond the sea that have not
heard of my fame or seen my glory There,

they will declare my glory to the nations.

They will bring the remnant of
your people back from every nation.

They will bring them to my Holy Mountain
in Jerusalem as an offering to the Lord.

They will ride on horses in
chariots and wagons and on

mules and camels says the Lord.

And I will appoint some
of them to be my priests.

And Levites I, the Lord have
spoken as surely as my new

heavens and earth will remain.

So will you always be my people.

A name that will never
disappear, says the Lord.

All humanity will come to worship me from
week to week and from month to month.

And as they go out, they will
see the dead bodies of those

who have rebelled against me.

For the worms that devour them
will never die, and the fire that

burns them will never go out.

All who pass by will view
them with utter horror.

This concludes today's
immerse reading experience.

Thank you for joining us.