JEREMIAH 4:19- 6:15
COLOSSIANS 1:18- 2:7
PSALM 77:1- 20
PROVERBS 24:23- 25
My heart, my heart-- I [Jeremiah] writhe in pain! My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still. For I have heard the blast of enemy trumpets and the roar of their battle cries. 20 Waves of destruction roll over the land, until it lies in complete desolation. Suddenly, every tent is destroyed; in a moment, every shelter is crushed. 21 How long must this go on? How long must I be surrounded by war and death? 22 "My people are foolish and do not know me," says the LORD. "They are senseless children who have no understanding. They are clever enough at doing wrong, but they have no talent at all for doing right!" 23 I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless. I looked at the heavens, and there was no light. 24 I looked at the mountains and hills, and they trembled and shook. 25 I looked, and all the people were gone. All the birds of the sky had flown away. 26 I looked, and the fertile fields had become a wilderness. The cities lay in ruins, crushed by the LORD's fierce anger. 27 This is what the LORD says:"The whole land will be ruined, but I will not destroy it completely. 28 The earth will mourn, the heavens will be draped in black, because of my decree against my people. I have made up my mind and will not change it." 29 At the noise of marching armies, the people flee in terror from the cities. They hide in the bushes and run for the mountains. All the cities have been abandoned-- not a person remains! 30 What are you doing, you who have been plundered? Why do you dress up in your most beautiful clothing and jewelry? Why do you brighten your eyes with mascara? It will do you no good! Your allies despise you and will kill you. 31 I hear a great cry, like that of a woman giving birth to her first child. It is the cry of Jerusalem's people gasping for breath, pleading for help, prostrate before their murderers. 5:1 "RUN up and down every street in Jerusalem," says the LORD. "Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one person who is just and honest, I will not destroy the city. 2 Even when they are under oath, saying, `As surely as the LORD lives, 'they all tell lies!" 3 LORD, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to turn from sin. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent. 4 Then I said, "But what can we expect from the poor and ignorant? They don't know the ways of the LORD. They don't understand what God expects of them. 5 I will go and speak to their leaders. Surely they will know the LORD's ways and what God requires of them." But the leaders, too, had utterly rejected their God. 6 So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many. 7 "How can I pardon you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all! I fed my people until they were fully satisfied. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the city's brothels. 8 They are well- fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife. 9 Should I not punish them for this?" asks the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself against a nation such as this? 10" Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy them, but leave a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the vine, for they do not belong to the LORD. 11 The people of Israel and Judah are full of treachery against me, "says the LORD. 12" They have lied about the LORD and have said, `He won't bother us! No disasters will come upon us! There will be no war or famine! 13 God's prophets are windbags full of words with no divine authority. Their predictions of disaster will fall on themselves!' "14 Therefore, this is what the LORD God Almighty says:" Because the people are talking like this, I will give you messages that will burn them up as if they were kindling wood. 15 O Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you, "says the LORD." It is a mighty nation, an ancient nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you cannot understand. 16 Their weapons are deadly; their warriors are mighty. 17 They will eat your harvests and your children's bread, your flocks of sheep and your herds of cattle. Yes, they will eat your grapes and figs. And they will destroy your fortified cities, which you think are so safe. 18 "Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely," says the LORD. 19 "And when your people ask, `Why is the LORD our God doing this to us? 'you must reply, `You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.' 20" Make this announcement to Israel and to Judah:21 Listen, you foolish and senseless people-- who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. 22 Do you have no respect for me? Why do you not tremble in my presence? I, the LORD, am the one who defines the ocean's sandy shoreline, an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the bounds I set. 23 "But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned against me and have chosen to practice idolatry. 24 They do not say from the heart, `Let us live in awe of the LORD our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of plentiful harvests. '25 Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things. 26" Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind. They are continually setting traps for other people. 27 Like a cage filled with birds, their homes are filled with evil plots. And the result? Now they are great and rich. 28 They are well fed and well groomed, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor. 29 Should I not punish them for this? "asks the LORD." Should I not avenge myself against a nation such as this? 30 "A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land-- 31 the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. And worse yet, my people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes? 6:1" RUN for your lives, you people of Benjamin! Flee from Jerusalem! Sound the alarm in Tekoa! Send up a signal at Beth- hakkerem! Warn everyone that a powerful army is coming from the north to destroy this nation. 2 O Jerusalem, you are my beautiful and delicate daughter-- but I will destroy you! 3 Enemy shepherds will surround you. They will set up camp around the city and divide your pastures for their flocks. 4 They shout, `Prepare for battle and attack at noon! But now the day is fading, and the evening shadows are falling. 5 So let us attack by night and destroy her palaces!' "6 This is what the LORD Almighty says:" Cut down the trees for battering rams. Build ramps against the walls of Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished, for she is wicked through and through. 7 She spouts evil like a fountain! Her streets echo with the sounds of violence and destruction. Her sickness and sores are ever before me. 8 This is your last warning, Jerusalem! If you do not listen, I will empty the land. "9 This is what the LORD Almighty says:" Disaster will fall upon you. Even the few who remain in Israel will be gleaned again, as when a harvester checks each vine a second time to pick the grapes that were missed. "10 To whom can I give warning? Who will listen when I speak? Their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. They scorn the word of the LORD. They don't want to listen at all. 11 So now I am filled with the LORD's fury. Yes, I am weary of holding it in!" I will pour out my fury over Jerusalem, even on children playing in the streets, on gatherings of young men, and on husbands and wives and grandparents. 12 Their homes will be turned over to their enemies, and so will their fields and their wives. For I will punish the people of this land, "says the LORD. 13" From the least to the greatest, they trick others to get what does not belong to them. Yes, even my prophets and priests are like that! 14 They offer superficial treatments for my people's mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when all is war. 15 Are they ashamed when they do these disgusting things? No, not at all-- they don't even blush! Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered. They will be humbled beneath my punishing anger, "says the LORD.
Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross. 21 This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, 22 yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. 23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. Don't drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed by God to proclaim it. 24 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am completing what remains of Christ's sufferings for his body, the church. 25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his message in all its fullness to you Gentiles. 26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to his own holy people. 27 For it has pleased God to tell his people that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. For this is the secret:Christ lives in you, and this is your assurance that you will share in his glory. 28 So everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ. We warn them and teach them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. 29 I work very hard at this, as I depend on Christ's mighty power that works within me. 2:1 I WANT you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other friends who have never known me personally. 2 My goal is that they will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have full confidence because they have complete understanding of God's secret plan, which is Christ himself. 3 In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I am telling you this so that no one will be able to deceive you with persuasive arguments. 5 For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I am very happy because you are living as you should and because of your strong faith in Christ. 6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.
For Jeduthun, the choir director:A psalm of Asaph.
1 I cry out to God without holding back.
Oh, that God would listen to me!
2 When I was in deep trouble,
I searched for the Lord.
All night long I pray, with hands lifted toward heaven, pleading.
There can be no joy for me until he acts.
3 I think of God, and I moan,
overwhelmed with longing for his help.
Interlude4 You don't let me sleep.
I am too distressed even to pray!
5 I think of the good old days, long since ended,
6 when my nights were filled with joyful songs.
I search my soul and think about the difference now.
7 Has the Lord rejected me forever?
Will he never again show me favor?
8 Is his unfailing love gone forever?
Have his promises permanently failed?
9 Has God forgotten to be kind?
Has he slammed the door on his compassion?
Interlude10 And I said," This is my fate,
that the blessings of the Most High have changed to hatred. "
11 I recall all you have done, O LORD;
I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
12 They are constantly in my thoughts.
I cannot stop thinking about them.
13 O God, your ways are holy.
Is there any god as mighty as you?
14 You are the God of miracles and wonders!
You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
15 You have redeemed your people by your strength,
the descendants of Jacob and of Joseph by your might.
Interlude16 When the Red Sea saw you, O God,
its waters looked and trembled!
The sea quaked to its very depths.
17 The clouds poured down their rain;
the thunder rolled and crackled in the sky.
Your arrows of lightning flashed.
18 Your thunder roared from the whirlwind;
the lightning lit up the world!
The earth trembled and shook.
19 Your road led through the sea,
your pathway through the mighty waters--
a pathway no one knew was there!
20 You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep,
with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.
Here are some further sayings of the wise:It is wrong to show favoritism when passing judgment. A judge who says to the wicked," You are innocent, "will be cursed by many people and denounced by the nations. But blessings are showered on those who convict the guilty
COLOSSIANS 1:18- 2:7
PSALM 77:1- 20
PROVERBS 24:23- 25
My heart, my heart-- I [Jeremiah] writhe in pain! My heart pounds within me! I cannot be still. For I have heard the blast of enemy trumpets and the roar of their battle cries. 20 Waves of destruction roll over the land, until it lies in complete desolation. Suddenly, every tent is destroyed; in a moment, every shelter is crushed. 21 How long must this go on? How long must I be surrounded by war and death? 22 "My people are foolish and do not know me," says the LORD. "They are senseless children who have no understanding. They are clever enough at doing wrong, but they have no talent at all for doing right!" 23 I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless. I looked at the heavens, and there was no light. 24 I looked at the mountains and hills, and they trembled and shook. 25 I looked, and all the people were gone. All the birds of the sky had flown away. 26 I looked, and the fertile fields had become a wilderness. The cities lay in ruins, crushed by the LORD's fierce anger. 27 This is what the LORD says:"The whole land will be ruined, but I will not destroy it completely. 28 The earth will mourn, the heavens will be draped in black, because of my decree against my people. I have made up my mind and will not change it." 29 At the noise of marching armies, the people flee in terror from the cities. They hide in the bushes and run for the mountains. All the cities have been abandoned-- not a person remains! 30 What are you doing, you who have been plundered? Why do you dress up in your most beautiful clothing and jewelry? Why do you brighten your eyes with mascara? It will do you no good! Your allies despise you and will kill you. 31 I hear a great cry, like that of a woman giving birth to her first child. It is the cry of Jerusalem's people gasping for breath, pleading for help, prostrate before their murderers. 5:1 "RUN up and down every street in Jerusalem," says the LORD. "Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one person who is just and honest, I will not destroy the city. 2 Even when they are under oath, saying, `As surely as the LORD lives, 'they all tell lies!" 3 LORD, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to turn from sin. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent. 4 Then I said, "But what can we expect from the poor and ignorant? They don't know the ways of the LORD. They don't understand what God expects of them. 5 I will go and speak to their leaders. Surely they will know the LORD's ways and what God requires of them." But the leaders, too, had utterly rejected their God. 6 So now a lion from the forest will attack them; a wolf from the desert will pounce on them. A leopard will lurk near their towns, tearing apart any who dare to venture out. For their rebellion is great, and their sins are many. 7 "How can I pardon you? For even your children have turned from me. They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all! I fed my people until they were fully satisfied. But they thanked me by committing adultery and lining up at the city's brothels. 8 They are well- fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for his neighbor's wife. 9 Should I not punish them for this?" asks the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself against a nation such as this? 10" Go down the rows of the vineyards and destroy them, but leave a scattered few alive. Strip the branches from the vine, for they do not belong to the LORD. 11 The people of Israel and Judah are full of treachery against me, "says the LORD. 12" They have lied about the LORD and have said, `He won't bother us! No disasters will come upon us! There will be no war or famine! 13 God's prophets are windbags full of words with no divine authority. Their predictions of disaster will fall on themselves!' "14 Therefore, this is what the LORD God Almighty says:" Because the people are talking like this, I will give you messages that will burn them up as if they were kindling wood. 15 O Israel, I will bring a distant nation against you, "says the LORD." It is a mighty nation, an ancient nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you cannot understand. 16 Their weapons are deadly; their warriors are mighty. 17 They will eat your harvests and your children's bread, your flocks of sheep and your herds of cattle. Yes, they will eat your grapes and figs. And they will destroy your fortified cities, which you think are so safe. 18 "Yet even in those days I will not blot you out completely," says the LORD. 19 "And when your people ask, `Why is the LORD our God doing this to us? 'you must reply, `You rejected him and gave yourselves to foreign gods in your own land. Now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.' 20" Make this announcement to Israel and to Judah:21 Listen, you foolish and senseless people-- who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. 22 Do you have no respect for me? Why do you not tremble in my presence? I, the LORD, am the one who defines the ocean's sandy shoreline, an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never pass the bounds I set. 23 "But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned against me and have chosen to practice idolatry. 24 They do not say from the heart, `Let us live in awe of the LORD our God, for he gives us rain each spring and fall, assuring us of plentiful harvests. '25 Your wickedness has deprived you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things. 26" Among my people are wicked men who lie in wait for victims like a hunter hiding in a blind. They are continually setting traps for other people. 27 Like a cage filled with birds, their homes are filled with evil plots. And the result? Now they are great and rich. 28 They are well fed and well groomed, and there is no limit to their wicked deeds. They refuse justice to orphans and deny the rights of the poor. 29 Should I not punish them for this? "asks the LORD." Should I not avenge myself against a nation such as this? 30 "A horrible and shocking thing has happened in this land-- 31 the prophets give false prophecies, and the priests rule with an iron hand. And worse yet, my people like it that way! But what will you do when the end comes? 6:1" RUN for your lives, you people of Benjamin! Flee from Jerusalem! Sound the alarm in Tekoa! Send up a signal at Beth- hakkerem! Warn everyone that a powerful army is coming from the north to destroy this nation. 2 O Jerusalem, you are my beautiful and delicate daughter-- but I will destroy you! 3 Enemy shepherds will surround you. They will set up camp around the city and divide your pastures for their flocks. 4 They shout, `Prepare for battle and attack at noon! But now the day is fading, and the evening shadows are falling. 5 So let us attack by night and destroy her palaces!' "6 This is what the LORD Almighty says:" Cut down the trees for battering rams. Build ramps against the walls of Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished, for she is wicked through and through. 7 She spouts evil like a fountain! Her streets echo with the sounds of violence and destruction. Her sickness and sores are ever before me. 8 This is your last warning, Jerusalem! If you do not listen, I will empty the land. "9 This is what the LORD Almighty says:" Disaster will fall upon you. Even the few who remain in Israel will be gleaned again, as when a harvester checks each vine a second time to pick the grapes that were missed. "10 To whom can I give warning? Who will listen when I speak? Their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. They scorn the word of the LORD. They don't want to listen at all. 11 So now I am filled with the LORD's fury. Yes, I am weary of holding it in!" I will pour out my fury over Jerusalem, even on children playing in the streets, on gatherings of young men, and on husbands and wives and grandparents. 12 Their homes will be turned over to their enemies, and so will their fields and their wives. For I will punish the people of this land, "says the LORD. 13" From the least to the greatest, they trick others to get what does not belong to them. Yes, even my prophets and priests are like that! 14 They offer superficial treatments for my people's mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when all is war. 15 Are they ashamed when they do these disgusting things? No, not at all-- they don't even blush! Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered. They will be humbled beneath my punishing anger, "says the LORD.
Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross. 21 This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, 22 yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. 23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. Don't drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed by God to proclaim it. 24 I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am completing what remains of Christ's sufferings for his body, the church. 25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his message in all its fullness to you Gentiles. 26 This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to his own holy people. 27 For it has pleased God to tell his people that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. For this is the secret:Christ lives in you, and this is your assurance that you will share in his glory. 28 So everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ. We warn them and teach them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. 29 I work very hard at this, as I depend on Christ's mighty power that works within me. 2:1 I WANT you to know how much I have agonized for you and for the church at Laodicea, and for many other friends who have never known me personally. 2 My goal is that they will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have full confidence because they have complete understanding of God's secret plan, which is Christ himself. 3 In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I am telling you this so that no one will be able to deceive you with persuasive arguments. 5 For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I am very happy because you are living as you should and because of your strong faith in Christ. 6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.
For Jeduthun, the choir director:A psalm of Asaph.
1 I cry out to God without holding back.
Oh, that God would listen to me!
2 When I was in deep trouble,
I searched for the Lord.
All night long I pray, with hands lifted toward heaven, pleading.
There can be no joy for me until he acts.
3 I think of God, and I moan,
overwhelmed with longing for his help.
Interlude4 You don't let me sleep.
I am too distressed even to pray!
5 I think of the good old days, long since ended,
6 when my nights were filled with joyful songs.
I search my soul and think about the difference now.
7 Has the Lord rejected me forever?
Will he never again show me favor?
8 Is his unfailing love gone forever?
Have his promises permanently failed?
9 Has God forgotten to be kind?
Has he slammed the door on his compassion?
Interlude10 And I said," This is my fate,
that the blessings of the Most High have changed to hatred. "
11 I recall all you have done, O LORD;
I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
12 They are constantly in my thoughts.
I cannot stop thinking about them.
13 O God, your ways are holy.
Is there any god as mighty as you?
14 You are the God of miracles and wonders!
You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.
15 You have redeemed your people by your strength,
the descendants of Jacob and of Joseph by your might.
Interlude16 When the Red Sea saw you, O God,
its waters looked and trembled!
The sea quaked to its very depths.
17 The clouds poured down their rain;
the thunder rolled and crackled in the sky.
Your arrows of lightning flashed.
18 Your thunder roared from the whirlwind;
the lightning lit up the world!
The earth trembled and shook.
19 Your road led through the sea,
your pathway through the mighty waters--
a pathway no one knew was there!
20 You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep,
with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.
Here are some further sayings of the wise:It is wrong to show favoritism when passing judgment. A judge who says to the wicked," You are innocent, "will be cursed by many people and denounced by the nations. But blessings are showered on those who convict the guilty
