Jeremiah 22

• 1. Then the LORD said to me, "Go over and speak directly to the king of Judah. Say to him,
• 2. `Listen to this message from the LORD, you king of Judah, sitting on David's throne. Let your officials and your people listen, too.
• 3. This is what the LORD says: Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent!
• 4. If you obey me, there will always be a descendant of David sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem. The king will ride through the palace gates in chariots and on horses, with his parade of officials and subjects.
• 5. But if you refuse to pay attention to this warning, I swear by my own name, says the LORD, that this palace will become a pile of rubble.'"
• 6. Now this is what the LORD says concerning the royal palace: "You are as beloved to me as fruitful Gilead and the green forests of Lebanon. But I will destroy you and leave you deserted, with no one living within your walls.
• 7. I will call for wreckers, who will bring out their tools to dismantle you. They will tear out all your fine cedar beams and throw them on the fire.
• 8. People from many nations will pass by the ruins of this city and say to one another, `Why did the LORD destroy such a great city?'
• 9. And the answer will be, `Because they violated their covenant with the LORD their God by worshiping other gods.'"
• 10. Do not weep for the dead king or mourn his loss. Instead, weep for the captive king being led away! For he will never return to see his native land again.
• 11. For this is what the LORD says about Jehoahaz, who succeeded his father, King Josiah, and was taken away as a captive: "He will never return.
• 12. He will die in a distant land and never again see his own country."
• 13. And the LORD says, "Destruction is certain for Jehoiakim, who builds his palace with forced labor. By not paying wages, he builds injustice into its walls and oppression into its doorframes and ceilings.
• 14. He says, `I will build a magnificent palace with huge rooms and many windows, paneled throughout with fragrant cedar and painted a lovely red.'
• 15. "But a beautiful palace does not make a great king! Why did your father, Josiah, reign so long? Because he was just and right in all his dealings. That is why God blessed him.
• 16. He made sure that justice and help were given to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn't that what it means to know me?" asks the LORD.
• 17. "But you! You are full of selfish greed and dishonesty! You murder the innocent, oppress the poor, and reign ruthlessly."
• 18. Therefore, this is the LORD's decree of punishment against King Jehoiakim, who succeeded his father, Josiah, on the throne: "His family will not weep for him when he dies. His subjects will not even care that he is dead.
• 19. He will be buried like a dead donkey--dragged out of Jerusalem and dumped outside the gate!
• 20. Weep, for your allies are all gone. Search for them in Lebanon. Shout for them at Bashan. Search for them in the regions east of the river. See, they are all destroyed. Not one is left to help you.
• 21. "When you were prosperous, I warned you, but you replied, `Don't bother me.' Since childhood you have been that way--you simply will not listen!
• 22. And now your allies have all disappeared with a puff of wind. All your friends have been taken away as captives. Surely at last you will see your wickedness and be ashamed.
• 23. It may be nice to live in a beautiful palace lined with lumber from the cedars of Lebanon, but soon you will cry and groan in anguish--anguish like that of a woman about to give birth.
• 24. "And as surely as I live," says the LORD, "I will abandon you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. Even if you were the signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off.
• 25. I will hand you over to those who seek to kill you, of whom you are so desperately afraid--to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the mighty Babylonian army.
• 26. I will expel you and your mother from this land, and you will die in a foreign country.
• 27. You will never again return to the land of your desire.
• 28. "Why is this man Jehoiachin like a discarded, broken dish? Why are he and his children to be exiled to distant lands?
• 29. O earth, earth, earth! Listen to this message from the LORD!
• 30. This is what the LORD says: Let the record show that this man Jehoiachin was childless, for none of his children will ever sit on the throne of David to rule in Judah. His life will amount to nothing."

Jeremiah 23

• 1. "I will send disaster upon the leaders of my people--the shepherds of my sheep--for they have destroyed and scattered the very ones they were expected to care for," says the LORD.
• 2. This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to these shepherds: "Instead of leading my flock to safety, you have deserted them and driven them to destruction. Now I will pour out judgment on you for the evil you have done to them.
• 3. But I will gather together the remnant of my flock from wherever I have driven them. I will bring them back into their own fold, and they will be fruitful and increase in number.
• 4. Then I will appoint responsible shepherds to care for them, and they will never be afraid again. Not a single one of them will be lost or missing," says the LORD.
• 5. "For the time is coming," says the LORD, "when I will place a righteous Branch on King David's throne. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land.
• 6. And this is his name: `The LORD Is Our Righteousness.' In that day Judah will be saved, and Israel will live in safety.
• 7. "In that day," says the LORD, "when people are taking an oath, they will no longer say, `As surely as the LORD lives, who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.'
• 8. Instead, they will say, `As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north and from all the countries to which he had exiled them.' Then they will live in their own land."
• 9. My heart is broken because of the false prophets, and I tremble uncontrollably. I stagger like a drunkard, like someone overcome by wine, because of the holy words the LORD has spoken against them.
• 10. For the land is full of adultery, and it lies under a curse. The land itself is in mourning--its pastures are dried up. For the prophets do evil and abuse their power.
• 11. "The priests are like the prophets, all ungodly, wicked men. I have seen their despicable acts right here in my own Temple," says the LORD.
• 12. "Therefore, their paths will be dark and slippery. They will be chased down dark and treacherous trails, where they will fall. For I will bring disaster upon them when their time of punishment comes. I, the LORD, have spoken!
• 13. "I saw that the prophets of Samaria were terribly evil, for they prophesied by Baal and led my people of Israel into sin.
• 14. But now I see that the prophets of Jerusalem are even worse! They commit adultery, and they love dishonesty. They encourage those who are doing evil instead of turning them away from their sins. These prophets are as wicked as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah once were."
• 15. Therefore, this is what the LORD Almighty says concerning the prophets: "I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink. For it is because of Jerusalem's prophets that wickedness fills this land.
• 16. This is my warning to my people," says the LORD Almighty. "Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say. They do not speak for the LORD!
• 17. They keep saying to these rebels who despise my word, `Don't worry! The LORD says you will have peace!' And to those who stubbornly follow their own evil desires, they say, `No harm will come your way!'
• 18. "But can you name even one of these prophets who knows the LORD well enough to hear what he is saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen?
• 19. Look! The LORD's anger bursts out like a storm, a whirlwind that swirls down on the heads of the wicked.
• 20. The anger of the LORD will not diminish until it has finished all his plans. In the days to come, you will understand all this very clearly.
• 21. "I have not sent these prophets, yet they claim to speak for me. I have given them no message, yet they prophesy.
• 22. If they had listened to me, they would have spoken my words and turned my people from their evil ways.
• 23. Am I a God who is only in one place?" asks the LORD. "Do they think I cannot see what they are doing?
• 24. Can anyone hide from me? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?" asks the LORD.
• 25. "I have heard these prophets say, `Listen to the dream I had from God last night.' And then they proceed to tell lies in my name.
• 26. How long will this go on? If they are prophets, they are prophets of deceit, inventing everything they say.
• 27. By telling these false dreams, they are trying to get my people to forget me, just as their ancestors did by worshiping the idols of Baal.
• 28. Let these false prophets tell their dreams, but let my true messengers faithfully proclaim my every word. There is a difference between chaff and wheat!
• 29. Does not my word burn like fire?" asks the LORD. "Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes rock to pieces?
• 30. "Therefore," says the LORD, "I stand against these prophets who get their messages from each other--
• 31. these smooth-tongued prophets who say, `This prophecy is from the LORD!'
• 32. Their imaginary dreams are flagrant lies that lead my people into sin. I did not send or appoint them, and they have no message at all for my people," says the LORD.
• 33. "Suppose one of the people or one of the prophets or priests asks you, `What prophecy has the LORD burdened you with now?' You must reply, `You are the burden! The LORD says he will abandon you!'
• 34. If any prophet, priest, or anyone else says, `I have a prophecy from the LORD,' I will punish that person along with his entire family.
• 35. You should keep asking each other, `What is the LORD's answer?' or `What is the LORD saying?'
• 36. But stop using this phrase, `prophecy from the LORD.' For people are using it to give authority to their own ideas, turning upside down the words of our God, the living God, the LORD Almighty.
• 37. "This is what you should say to the prophets: `What is the LORD's answer?' or `What is the LORD saying?'
• 38. But suppose they respond, `This is a prophecy from the LORD!' Then you should say, `This is what the LORD says: Because you have used this phrase, "prophecy from the LORD," even though I warned you not to use it,
• 39. I will forget you completely. I will expel you from my presence, along with this city that I gave to you and your ancestors.
• 40. And I will make you an object of ridicule, and your name will be infamous throughout the ages.'"

Jeremiah 24

• 1. After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon exiled Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon along with the princes of Judah and all the skilled craftsmen, the LORD gave me this vision. I saw two baskets of figs placed in front of the LORD's Temple in Jerusalem.
• 2. One basket was filled with fresh, ripe figs, while the other was filled with figs that were spoiled and could not be eaten.
• 3. Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I replied, "Figs, some very good and some very bad."
• 4. Then the LORD gave me this message:
• 5. "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent the exiles I sent from Judah to the land of the Babylonians.
• 6. I have sent them into captivity for their own good. I will see that they are well treated, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them.
• 7. I will give them hearts that will recognize me as the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.
• 8. "But the rotten figs," the LORD said, "represent King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, all the people left in Jerusalem, and those who live in Egypt. I will treat them like spoiled figs, too rotten to eat.
• 9. I will make them an object of horror and evil to every nation on earth. They will be disgraced and mocked, taunted and cursed, wherever I send them.
• 10. I will send war, famine, and disease until they have vanished from the land of Israel, which I gave to them and their ancestors."

New Living Translation: 266 of 324 days.