Bible Reading Plan – Day 235

₁“This is the end for Babylon's gods!

Bel and Nebo once were worshipped,

but now they are loaded on donkeys,

a burden for the backs of tired animals.

₂The idols cannot save themselves;

they are captured and carried away.

This is the end for Babylon's gods!

₃“Listen to me, descendants of Jacob,

all who are left of my people.

I have cared for you from the time you were born.

₄I am your God and will take care of you

until you are old and your hair is grey.

I made you and will care for you;

I will give you help and rescue you.

₅“With whom will you compare me?” says the LORD.

“Is there anyone else like me?

₆People open their purses and pour out gold;

they weigh out silver on the scales.

They hire a goldsmith to make a god;

then they bow down and worship it!

₇They lift it to their shoulders and carry it;

they put it in place, and there it stands,

unable to move from where it is.

If anyone prays to it, it cannot answer

or save him from disaster.

₈“Remember this, you sinners;

consider what I have done.

₉Remember what happened long ago;

acknowledge that I alone am God

and that there is no one else like me.

₁₀From the beginning I predicted the outcome;

long ago I foretold what would happen.

I said that my plans would never fail,

that I would do everything I intended to do.

₁₁I am calling a man to come from the east;

he will swoop down like a hawk

and accomplish what I have planned.

I have spoken, and it will be done.

₁₂“Listen to me, you stubborn people

who think that victory is far away.

₁₃I am bringing the day of victory near —

it is not far away at all.

My triumph will not be delayed.

I will save Jerusalem

and bring honour to Israel there.”

“Babylon, come down from your throne,

and sit in the dust on the ground.

You were once like a virgin, a city unconquered,

but you are soft and delicate no longer!

You are now a slave!

₂Turn the millstone! Grind the flour!

Off with your veil! Strip off your fine clothes!

Lift up your skirts to cross the streams!

₃People will see you naked;

they will see you humbled and shamed.

I will take vengeance, and no one will stop me.”

₄The holy God of Israel sets us free —

his name is the LORD Almighty.

“Sit in silence and darkness;

no more will they call you the queen of nations!

₆I was angry with my people;

I treated them as no longer mine:

I put them in your power,

and you showed them no mercy;

even the aged you treated harshly.

₇You thought you would always be a queen,

and did not take these things to heart

or think how it all would end.

₈“Listen to this, you lover of pleasure,

you that think you are safe and secure.

You claim you are as great as God —

that there is no one else like you.

You thought that you would never be a widow

or suffer the loss of your children.

₉But in a moment, in a single day,

both of these things will happen.

In spite of all the magic you use,

you will lose your husband and children.

₁₀“You felt sure of yourself in your evil;

you thought that no one could see you.

Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray,

and you said to yourself, ‘I am God —

there is no one else like me.’

₁₁Disaster will come upon you,

and none of your magic can stop it.

Ruin will come on you suddenly —

ruin you never dreamt of!

₁₂Keep all your magic spells and charms;

you have used them since you were young.

Perhaps they will be of some help to you;

perhaps you can frighten your enemies.

₁₃You are powerless in spite of the advice you get.

Let your astrologers come forward and save you —

those people who study the stars,

who map out the zones of the heavens

and tell you from month to month

what is going to happen to you.

₁₄“They will be like bits of straw,

and a fire will burn them up!

They will not even be able to save themselves —

the flames will be too hot for them,

not a cosy fire to warm themselves by.

₁₅That is all the good they will do you —

those astrologers you've consulted all your life.

They all will leave you and go their own way,

and none will be left to save you.”

₁Listen to this, people of Israel,

you that are descended from Judah:

You swear by the name of the LORD

and claim to worship the God of Israel —

but you don't mean a word you say.

₂And yet you are proud to say

that you are citizens of the holy city

and that you depend on Israel's God,

whose name is the LORD Almighty.

“Long ago I predicted what would take place;

then suddenly I made it happen.

₄I knew that you would prove to be stubborn,

as rigid as iron and unyielding as bronze.

₅And so I predicted your future long ago,

announcing events before they took place,

to prevent you from claiming

that your idols and images made them happen.

₆“All I foretold has now taken place;

you have to admit my predictions were right.

Now I will tell you of new things to come,

events that I did not reveal before.

₇Only now am I making them happen;

nothing like this took place in the past.

If it had, you would claim that you knew all about it.

₈I knew that you couldn't be trusted,

that you have always been known as a rebel.

That is why you never heard of this at all,

why no word of it ever came to your ears.

₉“In order that people will praise my name,

I am holding my anger in check;

I am keeping it back and will not destroy you.

₁₀I have tested you in the fire of suffering,

as silver is refined in a furnace.

But I have found that you are worthless.

₁₁What I do is done for my own sake —

I will not let my name be dishonoured

or let anyone else share the glory

that should be mine and mine alone.”

“Listen to me, Israel, the people I have called!

I am God, the first, the last, the only God!

₁₃My hands made the earth's foundations

and spread the heavens out.

When I summon earth and sky,

they come at once and present themselves.

₁₄“Assemble and listen, all of you!

None of the gods could predict

that the man I have chosen would attack Babylon;

he will do what I want him to do.

₁₅I am the one who spoke and called him;

I led him out and gave him success.

₁₆“Now come close to me and hear what I say.

From the beginning I have spoken openly,

and have always made my words come true.”

₁₇The holy God of Israel,

the LORD who saves you, says:

“I am the LORD your God,

the one who wants to teach you for your own good

and direct you in the way you should go.

₁₈“If only you had listened to my commands!

Then blessings would have flowed for you

like a stream that never goes dry!

Victory would have come to you

like the waves that roll on the shore.

₁₉Your descendants would be as numerous as grains of sand,

and I would have made sure they were never destroyed.”

₂₀Go out from Babylon, go free!

Shout the news gladly; make it known everywhere:

“The LORD has saved his servant Israel!”

₂₁When the LORD led his people through a hot, dry desert,

they did not suffer from thirst.

He made water come from a rock for them;

he split the rock open, and water flowed out.

₂₂“There is no safety for sinners,” says the LORD.

₁Listen to me, distant nations,

you people who live far away!

Before I was born, the LORD chose me

and appointed me to be his servant.

₂He made my words as sharp as a sword.

With his own hand he protected me.

He made me like an arrow,

sharp and ready for use.

₃He said to me, “Israel, you are my servant;

because of you, people will praise me.”

₄I said, “I have worked, but how hopeless it is!

I have used up my strength, but have accomplished nothing.”

Yet I can trust the LORD to defend my cause;

he will reward me for what I do.

₅Before I was born, the LORD appointed me;

he made me his servant to bring back his people,

to bring back the scattered people of Israel.

The LORD gives me honour;

he is the source of my strength.

“I have a greater task for you, my servant.

Not only will you restore to greatness

the people of Israel who have survived,

but I will also make you a light to the nations —

so that all the world may be saved.”

₇Israel's holy God and saviour says

to the one who is deeply despised,

who is hated by the nations

and is the servant of rulers:

“Kings will see you released

and will rise to show their respect;

princes also will see it,

and they will bow low to honour you.”

This will happen because the LORD has chosen his servant;

the holy God of Israel keeps his promises.