Day 253: Lamentations of Jeremiah (2026)

Fr. Mike Schmitz (0:04)

Hi, my name is Fr. Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to The Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using The Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 253 We're reading today from Jeremiah 45 and 46 Chapter 45 is a little word of comfort to Baruch. Remember, Baruch is the scribe, the one who's writing down the words of Jeremiah, and he's been discouraged. He is disheartened. And we also, this is a flashback, in case you're wondering. Remember, the Book of Jeremiah is not incredibly chronological. So this is going back to before even the complete destruction of Jerusalem and before he and Baruch and Jeremiah were carted off to Egypt. Also, Chapter 46 begins this section of God's words of condemnation, God's words of judgment, essentially, on the nations surrounding Judah. So that goes from 46 to 51 So that's going to be what's happening today in the next couple of days, as well as Lamentations Chapter 1 So Lamentations Chapter 1, if you remember the context, is when the Babylonians were besieging the city of Jerusalem, it was horrible, and there was so much death and destruction and hunger. There was cannibalism. There was just horrible, horrible, horrible. So this is the look of Lamentations of Jeremiah as he walks around the city in the middle of the siege. And it's just heartbreaking for the next four days for us, because it was heartbreaking, life-breaking for the Jewish people there in Jerusalem. So we're reading Jeremiah 45 and 46, Lamentations 1, Proverbs 17 verses 21 to 28, just some context. As always, the Bible translation that I'm using is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using The Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com/bible in a Year. And also you can subscribe to this podcast to receive daily episodes and updates. And we are on day 253, reading Jeremiah chapter 45 and 46, Lamentations 1, Proverbs chapter 17 verses 21 through 28

The Book of Jeremiah chapter 45, a word of comfort to Baruch. The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch, the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah. Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch, you said, woe is me, for the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning and I find no rest. Thus shall you say to him, thus says the Lord, behold, what I have built, I am breaking down, and what I have planted, I am plucking up, that is, the whole land. And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing evil upon all flesh, says the Lord. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.

Chapter 46, Judgment Against Egypt.

The word of the Lord, which came to Jeremiah, the prophet concerning the nations.

About Egypt, concerning the army of Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish, and which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah. Prepare buckler and shield, and advance for battle. Harness the horses, mount, o horsemen. Take your stations with your helmets, polish your spears, put on your coats of mail. Why have I seen it? They are dismayed, and have turned backward. Their warriors are beaten down, and have fled in haste. They look not back, terror on every side, says the Lord. The swift cannot flee away, nor the warrior escape. In the north by the river Euphrates, they have stumbled and fallen. Who is this rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge? Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge. He said, I will rise, I will cover the earth, I will destroy cities and their inhabitants. Advance, O horses, and rage, O chariots. Let the warriors go forth. Men of Ethiopia and Put, who handle the shield, men of Lod, skilled in handling the bow. That day is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance to avenge himself on his foes. The sword shall devour and be sated, and drink its fill of their blood. For the Lord God of hosts holds a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. Go up to Gilead and take Balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt. In vain you have used many medicines, there is no healing for you.