'Time' in the Bible

The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north [its mouth about to pour out on the south, on Judea].”

Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’For they have turned their backs to Me,And not their faces;But in the time of their trouble they will say,‘Arise [O Lord] and save us.’

“But where are your godsWhich you made for yourself?Let them get up, if they can save youIn the time of your trouble!For [as many as] the number of your citiesAre your gods, O Judah. [Why do not your many man-made idols run to help you?]

“Then [in the final time] I will give you [spiritual] shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and [true] understanding.

At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the Lord,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name (renown) of the Lord; and they will not walk anymore after the stubbornness of their [own] evil heart.

In that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the wilderness [comes at My command] against the daughter of My people—not [a wind] to winnow and not to cleanse [from chaff, as when threshing, but]

I looked at the earth [in my vision], and behold, it was [as at the time of creation] formless and void;And to the heavens, and they had no light.

“Were they ashamed because they had committed disgusting and vile things?No, they were not at all ashamed;They did not even know how to blush [at their idolatry].Therefore they will fall among those who fall;At the time that I punish themThey will be overthrown,” says the Lord.

“At that time,” says the Lord, “they [the Babylonian army] will bring out from their graves the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its princes, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

“Even the stork in the skyKnows her seasons [of migration],And the turtledove, the swallow and the craneObserve the time of their return.But My people do not knowThe law of the Lord.

“Were they ashamed because of the extremely disgusting and shamefully vile things they had done?They were not at all ashamed,And they did not know how to blush.Therefore, they shall fall among those who fall;At the time of their punishment they shall be overthrown,”Says the Lord.

We waited for peace and salvation, but no good came,And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

They are worthless and devoid of promise, a work of delusion and mockery;In their time of [trial and] punishment they will perish [without hope].

For thus says the Lord;“Behold, I am slinging out at this time the people of this land,And will cause them [great] distress,That they may find it [to be as I have said].”

which I commanded your fathers at the time that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice and do according to all that I command you. So you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’

For I solemnly warned your fathers at the time that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning them persistently, saying, “Obey My voice.”

Then the cities of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry to the [man-made] gods to whom they burn incense, but they cannot save them in the time of their disaster.

“Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, for I shall not listen when they cry to Me in the time of their disaster.

Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying,

“I have seen your vile and detestable acts,Even your adulteries and your lustful neighings [after idols],And the lewdness of your prostitutionOn the hills in the fields.Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Jerusalem!How long will you remain unclean [by ignoring My precepts]?”

“O Hope of Israel,Her Savior in time of distress and trouble,Why should You be like a sojourner (temporary resident) in the landOr like a traveler who turns aside and spreads his tent to linger [only] for a night?

Have You [O Lord] completely rejected Judah?Do You loathe Zion?Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us?We looked for peace and completeness, but nothing good came;And [we hoped] for a time of healing, but behold, terror!

The Lord said, “Surely [it will go well for Judah’s obedient remnant for] I will set you free for good purposes;Surely [Jeremiah] I will [intercede for you with the enemy and I will] cause the enemy to plead with you [for help]In a time of disaster and a time of distress.

At one moment I might [suddenly] speak concerning a nation or kingdom, that I will uproot and break down and destroy;

Or at another time I might [suddenly] speak about a nation or kingdom that I will build up or establish;

Yet You, O Lord, knowAll their deadly plotting against me;Do not forgive their wickednessOr blot out their sin from Your sight.But let them be overthrown before You;Deal with them in the time of Your anger.

All nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the [appointed] time [of punishment] for his own land comes; then many nations and great kings shall make him their servant.

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah [some time] after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

‘Alas! for that day is great,There is none like it;It is the time of Jacob’s [unequaled] trouble,But he will be saved from it.

“At that time,” says the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”

‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this unsealed deed, and put them in an earthen jar, that they may last a long time.”

“From the day that they built it [during the reign of Solomon], even to this day, this city has been such a provocation of My anger and My wrath, that I must remove it from My sight,

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying,

In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He (the Messiah) shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth.

And after Jehudi had read three or four columns [of the scroll], King Jehoiakim would cut off that portion with a scribe’s knife and throw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until the [entire] scroll was consumed by the fire.

But Nebuzaradan the [Babylonian] captain of the bodyguard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at that time.

“They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is destroyed and is merely a loud noise;He has let the appointed time [of opportunity] pass by!’

“Also her mercenaries in her armyAre like fattened calves,For they too have turned back and have fled together;They did not stand [their ground],Because the day of their disaster has come upon them,The time of their punishment.

See, one will come like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan against the enduring habitation [of Edom] and its watered pastures; for in an instant I will make him (Edom) run from his land. I will appoint over him the one whom I choose. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me [into court] and prosecute Me [for this]? Who is the [earthly] shepherd who can stand [defiantly] before Me?”

“In those days and at that time,” says the Lord, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will come up weeping [in repentance] as they come and seek the Lord their God [inquiring for and of Him].

“Cut off the sower from BabylonAnd the one who handles the sickle at the time of harvest.For fear of the sword of the oppressorEveryone will return to his own peopleAnd everyone will flee to his own land.

In those days and at that time,’ says the Lord, ‘a search will be made for the wickedness of Israel, but there will be none and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.’

Kill all her young bulls [her strength—her young men];Let them go down to the slaughter!Woe (judgment is coming) to the Chaldeans, for their day has come,The time of their punishment.

“Behold, I am against you, [O Babylon, you] arrogant one, [you who are pride and presumption personified],”Says the Lord God of hosts,“For your day has come,The time when I will punish you.

Flee out of Babylon,Let every one of you save his life!Do not be destroyed in her punishment,For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance;He is going to pay her what she has earned.

They are worthless (empty, false, futile), a work of delusion and worthy of derision;In the time of their inspection and punishment they will perish.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:“The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floorAt the time it is being trampled and prepared;Yet in a little while the time of harvest will come for her.”

Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took away into exile some of the poorest of the people, those who were left in the city [at the time it was captured], along with those who deserted to join the king of Babylon [during the siege] and the rest of the artisans.