JEREMIAH 23:21- 25:38
2 THESSALONIANS 2:1- 17
PSALM 84:1- 12
PROVERBS 25:15
"I [the LORD] 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.'" 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. "25:1 THIS message for all the people of Judah came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign over Judah. This was the year when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon began his reign. 2 Jeremiah the prophet said to the people in Judah and Jerusalem, 3" For the past twenty- three years-- from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, until now-- the LORD has been giving me his messages. I have faithfully passed them on to you, but you have not listened. 4 "Again and again, the LORD has sent you his prophets, but you have not listened or even tried to hear. 5 Each time the message was this:`Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the LORD gave to you and your ancestors forever. 6 Do not make me angry by worshiping the idols you have made. Then I will not harm you. '7" But you would not listen to me, "says the LORD." You made me furious by worshiping your idols, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer. 8 And now the LORD Almighty says:Because you have not listened to me, 9 I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the other nations near you. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever. 10 I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your businesses will fail, and all your homes will stand silent and dark. 11 This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. 12 "Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins, says the LORD. I will make the country of the Babylonians an everlasting wasteland. 13 I will bring upon them all the terrors I have promised in this book-- all the penalties announced by Jeremiah against the nations. 14 Many nations and great kings will enslave the Babylonians, just as they enslaved my people. I will punish them in proportion to the suffering they cause my people." 15 Then the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me, "Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it. 16 When they drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against them." 17 So I took the cup of anger from the LORD and made all the nations drink from it-- every nation the LORD sent me to. 18 I went to Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah, and their kings and officials drank from the cup. From that day until this, they have been a desolate ruin, an object of horror, contempt, and cursing. 19 I went to Egypt and spoke to Pharaoh, his officials, his princes, and his people. They, too, drank from that terrible cup, 20 along with all the foreigners living in that land. So did all the kings of the land of Uz and the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod. 21 Then I went to the nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon, 22 and the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings of the regions across the sea. 23 I went to Dedan, Tema, and Buz, and to the people who live in distant places. 24 I went to the kings of Arabia, the kings of the nomadic tribes of the desert, 25 and to the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media. 26 And I went to the kings of the northern countries, far and near, one after the other-- all the kingdoms of the world. And finally, the king of Babylon himself drank from the cup of the LORD's anger. 27 Then the LORD said to me, "Now tell them, `The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:Drink from this cup of my anger. Get drunk and vomit, and you will fall to rise no more, for I am sending terrible wars against you.' 28 And if they refuse to accept the cup, tell them, `The LORD Almighty says:You must drink from it. You cannot escape! 29 I have begun to punish Jerusalem, the city where my own name is honored. Now should I let you go unpunished? No, you will not escape disaster. I will call for war against all the nations of the earth. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken! '30" Now prophesy all these things, and say to them, `The LORD will roar loudly against his own land from his holy dwelling in heaven. He will shout against everyone on the earth, like the harvesters do as they crush juice from the grapes. 31 His cry of judgment will reach the ends of the earth, for the LORD will bring his case against all the nations. He will judge all the people of the earth, slaughtering the wicked with his sword. The LORD has spoken!' "32 This is what the LORD Almighty says:" Look! Disaster will fall upon nation after nation! A great whirlwind of fury is rising from the most distant corners of the earth! "33 In that day those the LORD has slaughtered will fill the earth from one end to the other. No one will mourn for them or gather up their bodies to bury them. They will be scattered like dung on the ground. 34 Weep and moan, you evil shepherds! Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock! The time of your slaughter has arrived; you will fall and shatter like fragile pottery. 35 You will find no place to hide; there will be no way to escape. 36 Listen to the frantic cries of the shepherds, to the leaders of the flock shouting in despair, for the LORD is spoiling their pastures. 37 Peaceful meadows will be turned into a wasteland by the LORD's fierce anger. 38 He has left his den like a lion seeking its prey, and their land will be made desolate by the sword of the enemy and the LORD's fierce anger.
And now, brothers and sisters, *let us [Paul and his coworkers] tell you about the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered together to meet him. 2 Please don't be so easily shaken and troubled by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Even if they claim to have had a vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us, don't believe them. 3 Don't be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed-- the one who brings destruction. 4 He will exalt himself and defy every god there is and tear down every object of adoration and worship. He will position himself in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. 5 Don't you remember that I told you this when I was with you? 6 And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. 7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them. 11 So God will send great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for not believing the truth and for enjoying the evil they do. 13 As for us, we always thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation, a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and by your belief in the truth. 14 He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on everything we taught you both in person and by letter. 16 May our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who loved us and in his special favor gave us everlasting comfort and good hope, 17 comfort your hearts and give you strength in every good thing you do and say.
For the choir director:A psalm of the descendants of Korah, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD Almighty.
2 I long, yes, I faint with longing
to enter the courts of the LORD.
With my whole being, body and soul,
I will shout joyfully to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home there,
and the swallow builds her nest
and raises her young--
at a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God!
4 How happy are those who can live in your house,
always singing your praises.
Interlude5 Happy are those who are strong in the LORD,
who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
6 When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,
it will become a place of refreshing springs,
where pools of blessing collect after the rains!
7 They will continue to grow stronger,
and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.
8 O LORD God Almighty, hear my prayer.
Listen, O God of Israel.
Interlude9 O God, look with favor upon the king, our protector!
Have mercy on the one you have anointed.
10 A single day in your courts
is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
11 For the LORD God is our light and protector.
He gives us grace and glory.
No good thing will the LORD withhold
from those who do what is right.
12 O LORD Almighty,
happy are those who trust in you.
Patience can persuade a prince, and soft speech can crush strong opposition
2 THESSALONIANS 2:1- 17
PSALM 84:1- 12
PROVERBS 25:15
"I [the LORD] 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.'" 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. "25:1 THIS message for all the people of Judah came to Jeremiah from the LORD during the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign over Judah. This was the year when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon began his reign. 2 Jeremiah the prophet said to the people in Judah and Jerusalem, 3" For the past twenty- three years-- from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, until now-- the LORD has been giving me his messages. I have faithfully passed them on to you, but you have not listened. 4 "Again and again, the LORD has sent you his prophets, but you have not listened or even tried to hear. 5 Each time the message was this:`Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the LORD gave to you and your ancestors forever. 6 Do not make me angry by worshiping the idols you have made. Then I will not harm you. '7" But you would not listen to me, "says the LORD." You made me furious by worshiping your idols, bringing on yourselves all the disasters you now suffer. 8 And now the LORD Almighty says:Because you have not listened to me, 9 I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the other nations near you. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever. 10 I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your businesses will fail, and all your homes will stand silent and dark. 11 This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. 12 "Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins, says the LORD. I will make the country of the Babylonians an everlasting wasteland. 13 I will bring upon them all the terrors I have promised in this book-- all the penalties announced by Jeremiah against the nations. 14 Many nations and great kings will enslave the Babylonians, just as they enslaved my people. I will punish them in proportion to the suffering they cause my people." 15 Then the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me, "Take from my hand this cup filled to the brim with my anger, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it. 16 When they drink from it, they will stagger, crazed by the warfare I will send against them." 17 So I took the cup of anger from the LORD and made all the nations drink from it-- every nation the LORD sent me to. 18 I went to Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah, and their kings and officials drank from the cup. From that day until this, they have been a desolate ruin, an object of horror, contempt, and cursing. 19 I went to Egypt and spoke to Pharaoh, his officials, his princes, and his people. They, too, drank from that terrible cup, 20 along with all the foreigners living in that land. So did all the kings of the land of Uz and the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod. 21 Then I went to the nations of Edom, Moab, and Ammon, 22 and the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and the kings of the regions across the sea. 23 I went to Dedan, Tema, and Buz, and to the people who live in distant places. 24 I went to the kings of Arabia, the kings of the nomadic tribes of the desert, 25 and to the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media. 26 And I went to the kings of the northern countries, far and near, one after the other-- all the kingdoms of the world. And finally, the king of Babylon himself drank from the cup of the LORD's anger. 27 Then the LORD said to me, "Now tell them, `The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:Drink from this cup of my anger. Get drunk and vomit, and you will fall to rise no more, for I am sending terrible wars against you.' 28 And if they refuse to accept the cup, tell them, `The LORD Almighty says:You must drink from it. You cannot escape! 29 I have begun to punish Jerusalem, the city where my own name is honored. Now should I let you go unpunished? No, you will not escape disaster. I will call for war against all the nations of the earth. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken! '30" Now prophesy all these things, and say to them, `The LORD will roar loudly against his own land from his holy dwelling in heaven. He will shout against everyone on the earth, like the harvesters do as they crush juice from the grapes. 31 His cry of judgment will reach the ends of the earth, for the LORD will bring his case against all the nations. He will judge all the people of the earth, slaughtering the wicked with his sword. The LORD has spoken!' "32 This is what the LORD Almighty says:" Look! Disaster will fall upon nation after nation! A great whirlwind of fury is rising from the most distant corners of the earth! "33 In that day those the LORD has slaughtered will fill the earth from one end to the other. No one will mourn for them or gather up their bodies to bury them. They will be scattered like dung on the ground. 34 Weep and moan, you evil shepherds! Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock! The time of your slaughter has arrived; you will fall and shatter like fragile pottery. 35 You will find no place to hide; there will be no way to escape. 36 Listen to the frantic cries of the shepherds, to the leaders of the flock shouting in despair, for the LORD is spoiling their pastures. 37 Peaceful meadows will be turned into a wasteland by the LORD's fierce anger. 38 He has left his den like a lion seeking its prey, and their land will be made desolate by the sword of the enemy and the LORD's fierce anger.
And now, brothers and sisters, *let us [Paul and his coworkers] tell you about the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered together to meet him. 2 Please don't be so easily shaken and troubled by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Even if they claim to have had a vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us, don't believe them. 3 Don't be fooled by what they say. For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed-- the one who brings destruction. 4 He will exalt himself and defy every god there is and tear down every object of adoration and worship. He will position himself in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God. 5 Don't you remember that I told you this when I was with you? 6 And you know what is holding him back, for he can be revealed only when his time comes. 7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly, and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way. 8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 This evil man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them. 11 So God will send great deception upon them, and they will believe all these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for not believing the truth and for enjoying the evil they do. 13 As for us, we always thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation, a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and by your belief in the truth. 14 He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers and sisters, stand firm and keep a strong grip on everything we taught you both in person and by letter. 16 May our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father, who loved us and in his special favor gave us everlasting comfort and good hope, 17 comfort your hearts and give you strength in every good thing you do and say.
For the choir director:A psalm of the descendants of Korah, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD Almighty.
2 I long, yes, I faint with longing
to enter the courts of the LORD.
With my whole being, body and soul,
I will shout joyfully to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home there,
and the swallow builds her nest
and raises her young--
at a place near your altar,
O LORD Almighty, my King and my God!
4 How happy are those who can live in your house,
always singing your praises.
Interlude5 Happy are those who are strong in the LORD,
who set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
6 When they walk through the Valley of Weeping,
it will become a place of refreshing springs,
where pools of blessing collect after the rains!
7 They will continue to grow stronger,
and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.
8 O LORD God Almighty, hear my prayer.
Listen, O God of Israel.
Interlude9 O God, look with favor upon the king, our protector!
Have mercy on the one you have anointed.
10 A single day in your courts
is better than a thousand anywhere else!
I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God
than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.
11 For the LORD God is our light and protector.
He gives us grace and glory.
No good thing will the LORD withhold
from those who do what is right.
12 O LORD Almighty,
happy are those who trust in you.
Patience can persuade a prince, and soft speech can crush strong opposition
