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Prophecy against Damascus
23 Concerning Damascus:
Hamath and Arpad lose heart
when they hear the bad news.
They are trembling with fear,
like the raging sea,
which can’t become quiet.
24 Damascus staggers about;
she tries to flee,
but panic overwhelms her.
She’s gripped by anguish and pain,
like a woman in labor.
25 Forsaken[a] is the renowned city,
city of my delight.
26 Yes, her young men will fall in the streets,
and her soldiers will be silent on that day,
declares the Lord of heavenly forces.
27 I will set fire to the walls of Damascus;
it will burn up the fortresses of Ben-hadad.
Prophecy against Kedar and Hazor
28 Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar defeated, the Lord proclaims:
Get ready to attack Kedar;
destroy the people from the east!
29 Seize[b] their tents and their flocks,
their belongings and all their goods.
Take off with their camels
and shout as you go:
“Panic Lurks Everywhere!”
30 Run away; take cover,
you people of Hazor,
declares the Lord.
Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar
has taken counsel and devised a plan against you.
31 Get ready to attack a nation
that feels safe and secure,
declares the Lord,
one without barred gates
that lives by itself.
32 Their camels will become plunder;
their many cattle will be pillaged.
I will scatter to the winds those who are clean-shaven,[c]
and I will bring disaster on them from every side,
declares the Lord.
33 Hazor will become a den for wild dogs,
a wilderness forever.
No one will live there;
no human will dwell in it.
Prophecy against Elam
34 This is what the Lord told the prophet Jeremiah concerning Elam at the beginning of the rule of Judah’s King Zedekiah. 35 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
I’m going to break the bow of Elam,
the backbone of its military might.
36 I will bring against Elam four winds
from the four corners of heaven,
and I will scatter them to the winds.
Those banished from Elam will migrate to every nation.
37 I will terrify Elam before their enemies,
before those who seek to kill them.
I will bring disaster upon them,
my fierce anger,
declares the Lord.
I will send the sword to attack them
until I have destroyed them all.
38 I will establish my rule in Elam
and dispose of its king and officials,
declares the Lord.
39 But in the days to come
I will bring back the captives of Elam,
declares the Lord.
Prophecy against Babylon
50 This is what the Lord said concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians through the prophet Jeremiah:
2 Tell the nations;
proclaim it far and wide!
Set up a flag;
proclaim it far and wide!
Hold nothing back;
just shout it:
“Babylon is captured;
Bel is shamed;
Marduk is panic-stricken.
Her images are shamed;
her idols are panic-stricken.”
3 A nation from the north
has risen up against her.
It will decimate her land,
and no one will live in it.
Every living thing will flee.
4 In those days and at that time,
declares the Lord,
the people of Israel and Judah
will come out of Babylon[d] together;
with weeping they will leave
as they seek the Lord their God.
5 They will search for Zion,
turning their faces toward it.
They will come[e] and
unite with the Lord,
in an everlasting covenant
that will never be forgotten.
6 My people were lost sheep;
their shepherds led them astray;
they deserted them on the mountains,
where they wandered off among the hills,
forgetting their resting place.
7 All who found them devoured them;
and their attackers said,
“It’s not our fault,
because they have sinned against the Lord,
the true pasture,[f]
the hope of their ancestors—the Lord.”
8 Now wander far from Babylon.
Get out of that country.
Like rams of the flock,
lead the way home.
9 I’m stirring up against Babylon
a coalition of mighty nations.
It will mobilize in the north,
and from there she will be captured.
Their arrows are like those of an expert archer
who does not return empty-handed.
10 Babylon will be defeated;
its attackers will carry off all that they want,
declares the Lord.
11 Sure, you gloat and rejoice,
you plunderers of my possession.
Sure, you dance around like a calf
and neigh like a stallion.
12 But Mother Babylon[g] will be humiliated;
the one who bore you will be disgraced.
She will become the least of the nations:
a wilderness, a desert, and parched land.
13 Because of the Lord’s anger,
no one will live there;
she will be reduced to total ruin.
All who pass by Babylon will be shocked;
they will gasp at all her injuries.
14 Take up your positions around Babylon,
all you archers;
now shoot at her;
save none of your arrows,
because she’s sinned against the Lord.
15 Raise a victory shout against her on every side!
She’s surrendered;
her towers have collapsed;
her walls are destroyed.
This is the Lord’s retribution;
now pay her back:
do to her what she’s done to others!
16 Cut Babylon off from those who plant
and those who harvest the crops,
because of its ruthless sword.[h]
Now return, all of you, to your people;
flee to your homeland!
17 Israelites are scattered sheep,
driven away by lions.
First the king of Assyria devoured them,
and now Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar has ravaged them.[i]
18 Therefore, the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims:
I’m going to punish the king of Babylon and his land,
just as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 But I will restore Israel to their pasture;
they will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
they will eat their fill
in the highlands of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days and at that time,
declares the Lord,
if one searches for the sin of Israel,
they will find nothing;
if one seeks out the wrongdoing of Judah,
they will look in vain.
I will forgive those I have spared.
21 Attack the land of Merathaim;[j]
crush those living in Pekod.
Ruin and destroy them,
declares the Lord;
do all I have commanded you.
22 There’s the sound of war in the land
and enormous devastation.
23 How the hammer of the whole earth
has been broken and shattered into pieces!
How Babylon has become a wasteland
among the nations!
24 You set a trap for others, Babylon,[k]
but you yourself were caught in it unaware;
you have been found and captured
because you have defied the Lord.
25 The Lord has opened his arsenal
and brought out his brutal weapons.
The Lord God of heavenly forces
has a job to do in the land of the Babylonians.
26 Come against her from every side;
throw open her granaries;
pile her up like stalks of grain;
totally destroy her;
leave nothing intact.
27 Destroy all her bulls;
prepare them for slaughter.
How terrible for them!
Their time has come,
the day of reckoning.
28 A voice of fugitives and refugees,
from the land of Babylon,
declaring in Zion
the retribution of the Lord our God
because of what has been done to his temple.
29 Send the archers against Babylon,
all who draw the bow!
Surround her
and let no one escape.
Pay her back for her deeds;
do to her what she’s done to others.
She has acted arrogantly toward the Lord,
the holy one of Israel!
30 Therefore, her soldiers will fall in the streets;
all her warriors will be silenced on that day,
declares the Lord.
31 I’m against you, you arrogant one!
declares the Lord God of heavenly forces.
Your day has come,
your time of reckoning.
32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall,
and no one will help her up.
I’ll set your cities on fire,
and it will consume all that’s around her.
33 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims:
The people of Israel were oppressed,
together with the people of Judah.
Their captors held them
and refused to let them go.
34 Yet their redeemer is strong;
the Lord of heavenly forces is his name.
He will surely defend their cause
and give them rest in the land.
But he will unsettle the people of Babylon.
35 A sword against Babylon and its people,
declares the Lord,
along with its officials and sages.
36 A sword against its diviners
so that they become fools.
A sword against its warriors
so that they are terrified.
37 A sword against its horses and chariots,
and the mercenaries[l] in its midst
so that they lose courage.[m]
A sword against its treasures
so that they are looted.
38 A sword[n] against the water supplies
so that they dry up.
It is truly the land of idols,
idols about which they have gone utterly mad!
39 Therefore, Babylon will become a ghost town,
a place for desert animals,
hyenas, and ravenous birds.[o]
No one will live there again;
no one will make it their home.
40 Just as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighbors,
declares the Lord,
so no one will live in Babylon
or settle there again.
41 Look! An army is on the move
from the northern regions.
A powerful nation and many kings are coming
from the ends of the earth.
42 Equipped with bow and spear,
they are cruel and show no mercy.
Their horsemen sound like the roaring sea,
arrayed in battle formation against you,
Daughter Babylon.
43 The king of Babylon has heard reports of them
and is panic-stricken;
distress overwhelms him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
44 Like a lion coming up from
the jungle of the Jordan
to a well-watered meadow,[p]
so I will suddenly chase down Babylon
and single out its choicest of rams.
Who is like me?
Who can direct me?
What shepherd can withstand me?
45 Therefore, listen to the counsel
that the Lord has for Babylon
and the plans he’s devised
against the land of Babylon:
The little ones of the flock
will be dragged off,
as their pasture watches
in utter disbelief.[q]
46 The earth quakes
at the sound of Babylon’s capture;
its screams echo throughout the world.
Greeting
1 From Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I’m sent to bring about the faith of God’s chosen people and a knowledge of the truth that agrees with godliness.
2 Their faith and this knowledge are based on the hope of eternal life that God, who doesn’t lie, promised before time began. 3 God revealed his message at the appropriate time through preaching, and I was trusted with preaching this message by the command of God our savior.
4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith.
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.
Appointing elders
5 The reason I left you behind in Crete was to organize whatever needs to be done and to appoint elders in each city, as I told you. 6 Elders should be without fault. They should be faithful to their spouse,[a] and have faithful children who can’t be accused of self-indulgence or rebelliousness. 7 This is because supervisors[b] should be without fault as God’s managers: they shouldn’t be stubborn, irritable, addicted to alcohol, a bully, or greedy. 8 Instead, they should show hospitality, love what is good, and be reasonable, ethical, godly, and self-controlled. 9 They must pay attention to the reliable message as it has been taught to them so that they can encourage people with healthy instruction and refute those who speak against it.
Correcting rebellious people
10 In fact, there are many who are rebellious people, loudmouths, and deceivers, especially some of those who are Jewish believers.[c] 11 They must be silenced because they upset entire households. They teach what they shouldn’t to make money dishonestly. 12 Someone who is one of their own prophets said, “People from Crete are always liars, wild animals, and lazy gluttons.” 13 This statement is true. Because of this, correct them firmly, so that they can be healthy in their faith. 14 They shouldn’t pay attention to Jewish myths and commands from people who reject the truth. 15 Everything is clean to those who are clean, but nothing is clean to those who are corrupt and without faith. Instead, their mind and conscience are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but they deny God by the things that they do. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified to do anything good.
Psalm 97
97 The Lord rules! Let the earth rejoice!
Let all the islands celebrate!
2 Clouds and thick darkness surround God.
His throne is built on righteousness and justice.
3 Fire proceeds before him,
burning up his enemies on every side.
4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees it and trembles!
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of the whole world!
6 Heaven has proclaimed God’s righteousness,
and all nations have seen his glory.
7 All those who worship images,
those who are proud of idols,
are put to shame.
All gods bow down to the Lord!
8 Zion has heard and celebrates,
the towns[a] of Judah rejoice,
because of your acts of justice, Lord,
9 because you, Lord, are the Most High
over all the earth,
because you are so superior to all other gods.
10 Those of you who love the Lord, hate evil!
God guards the lives of his faithful ones,
delivering them from the power of the wicked.
11 Light is planted like seed for the righteous person;
joy too for those whose heart is right.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, righteous ones!
Give thanks to his holy name!
Psalm 98
A psalm.
98 Sing to the Lord a new song
because he has done wonderful things!
His own strong hand and his own holy arm
have won the victory!
2 The Lord has made his salvation widely known;
he has revealed his righteousness
in the eyes of all the nations.
3 God has remembered his loyal love
and faithfulness to the house of Israel;
every corner of the earth has seen our God’s salvation.
4 Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth!
Be happy!
Rejoice out loud!
Sing your praises!
5 Sing your praises to the Lord with the lyre—
with the lyre and the sound of music.
6 With trumpets and a horn blast,
shout triumphantly before the Lord, the king!
7 Let the sea and everything in it roar;
the world and all its inhabitants too.
8 Let all the rivers clap their hands;
let the mountains rejoice out loud altogether 9 before the Lord
because he is coming to establish justice on the earth!
He will establish justice in the world rightly;
he will establish justice among all people fairly.
13 A lazy person says, “There’s a lion in the path!
A lion in the plazas!”
14 As a door turns on its hinge,
so do lazy people in their beds.
15 Lazy people bury their hand into the bowl,
too tired to return it to their mouth.
16 Lazy people think they are wiser
than seven people who answer sensibly.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible