October 4 Reading through the Bible

  

JEREMIAH 2:31-4:18

COLOSSIANS 1:1-17

PSALM 76:1-12

PROVERBS 24:21-22

JEREMIAH 2:31-4:18

" O my people, listen to the words of the LORD! Have I been like a desert to Israel? Have I been to them a land of darkness? Why then do my people say, ` At last we are free from God! We won't have anything to do with him anymore!' 32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry? Does a bride hide her wedding dress? No! Yet for years on end my people have forgotten me. 33 " How you plot and scheme to win your lovers. The most experienced prostitute could learn from you! 34 Your clothing is stained with the blood of the innocent and the poor. You killed them even though they didn't break into your houses! 35 And yet you say, ` I haven't done anything wrong. Surely he isn't angry with me!' Now I will punish you severely because you claim you have not sinned. 36 " First here, then there--you flit from one ally to another asking for help. But your new friends in Egypt will let you down, just as Assyria did before. 37 In despair, you will be led into exile with your hands on your heads, for the LORD has rejected the nations you trust. You will not succeed despite their help.3:1 " IF a man divorces a woman and she marries someone else, he is not to take her back again, for that would surely corrupt the land. But you have prostituted yourself with many lovers, says the LORD. Yet I am still calling you to come back to me. 2 " Look all around you. Is there anywhere in the entire land where you have not been defiled by your adulteries? You sit like a prostitute beside the road waiting for a client. You sit alone like a nomad in the desert. You have polluted the land with your prostitution and wickedness. 3 That is why even the spring rains have failed. For you are a prostitute and are completely unashamed. 4 Yet you say to me, ` Father, you have been my guide since the days of my youth. 5 Surely you won't be angry about such a little thing! Surely you can forget it!' So you talk, and keep right on doing all the evil you can." 6 During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, " Have you seen what fickle Israel does? Like a wife who commits adultery, Israel has worshiped other gods on every hill and under every green tree. 7 I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me. But she did not come back. And though her faithless sister Judah saw this, 8 she paid no attention. She saw that I had divorced faithless Israel and sent her away. But now Judah, too, has left me and given herself to prostitution. 9 Israel treated it all so lightly--she thought nothing of committing adultery by worshiping idols made of wood and stone. So now the land has been greatly defiled. 10 But in spite of all this, her faithless sister Judah has never sincerely returned to me. She has only pretended to be sorry," says the LORD. 11 Then the LORD said to me, " Even faithless Israel is less guilty than treacherous Judah! 12 Therefore, go and say these words to Israel, ` This is what the LORD says: O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever. 13 Only acknowledge your guilt. Admit that you rebelled against the LORD your God and committed adultery against him by worshiping idols under every green tree. Confess that you refused to follow me. I, the LORD, have spoken!' " 14 " Return home, you wayward children," says the LORD, " for I am your husband. I will bring you again to the land of Israel--one from here and two from there, from wherever you are scattered. 15 And I will give you leaders after my own heart, who will guide you with knowledge and understanding. 16 " And when your land is once more filled with people," says the LORD, " you will no longer wish for ` the good old days' when you possessed the Ark of the LORD's covenant. Those days will not be missed or even thought about, and there will be no need to rebuild the Ark. 17 In that day Jerusalem will be known as The Throne of the LORD. All nations will come there to honor the LORD. They will no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires. 18 In those days the people of Judah and Israel will return together from exile in the north. They will return to the land I gave their ancestors as an inheritance forever. 19 " I thought to myself, ` I would love to treat you as my own children!' I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land--the finest inheritance in the world. I looked forward to your calling me ` Father,' and I thought you would never turn away from me again. 20 But you have betrayed me, you people of Israel! You have been like a faithless wife who leaves her husband," says the LORD. 21 Voices are heard high on the windswept mountains, the weeping and pleading of Israel's people. For they have forgotten the LORD their God and wandered far from his ways. 22 " My wayward children," says the LORD, " come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts." " Yes, we will come," the people reply, " for you are the LORD our God. 23 Our worship of idols and our religious orgies on the hills and mountains are completely false. Only in the LORD our God will Israel ever find salvation. 24 From childhood we have watched as everything our ancestors worked for--their flocks and herds, their sons and daughters--was squandered on a delusion. 25 Let us now lie down in shame and dishonor, for we and our ancestors have always sinned against the LORD our God. We have never obeyed him."4:1 " O ISRAEL, come back to me," says the LORD. " If you will throw away your detestable idols and go astray no more, 2 and if you will swear by my name alone, and begin to live good, honest lives and uphold justice, then you will be a blessing to the nations of the world, and all people will come and praise my name." 3 This is what the LORD says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: " Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns. 4 Cleanse your minds and hearts before the LORD, or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins. 5 " Shout to Jerusalem and to all Judah! Tell them to sound the alarm throughout the land: ` Run for your lives! Flee to the fortified cities!' 6 Send a signal toward Jerusalem: ` Flee now! Do not delay!' For I am bringing terrible destruction upon you from the north." 7 A lion stalks from its den, a destroyer of nations. And it is headed for your land! Your towns will lie in ruins, empty of people. 8 So put on clothes of mourning and weep with broken hearts, for the fierce anger of the LORD is still upon us. 9 " In that day," says the LORD, " the king and the officials will tremble in fear. The priests and the prophets will be struck with horror." 10 Then I said, " O Sovereign LORD, the people have been deceived by what you said, for you promised peace for Jerusalem. Yet the sword is even now poised to strike them dead!" 11 The time is coming when the LORD will say to the people of Jerusalem, " A burning wind is blowing in from the desert. It is not a gentle breeze useful for winnowing grain. 12 It is a roaring blast sent by me! Now I will pronounce your destruction!" 13 Our enemy rushes down on us like a storm wind! His chariots are like whirlwinds; his horses are swifter than eagles. How terrible it will be! Our destruction is sure! 14 O Jerusalem, cleanse your hearts that you may be saved. How long will you harbor your evil thoughts? 15 From Dan and the hill country of Ephraim, your destruction has been announced.16 " Warn the surrounding nations and announce to Jerusalem: ` The enemy is coming from a distant land, raising a battle cry against the towns of Judah. 17 They surround Jerusalem like watchmen surrounding a field, for my people have rebelled against me,' " says the LORD. 18 " Your own actions have brought this upon you. This punishment is a bitter dose of your own medicine. It has pierced you to the heart!"

COLOSSIANS 1:1-17

This letter is from Paul, chosen by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy. 2 It is written to God's holy people in the city of Colosse, who are faithful brothers and sisters* in Christ. May God our Father give you grace and peace. 3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 for we have heard that you trust in Christ Jesus and that you love all of God's people. 5 You do this because you are looking forward to the joys of heaven--as you have been ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. 6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is changing lives everywhere, just as it changed yours that very first day you heard and understood the truth about God's great kindness to sinners. 7 Epaphras, our much loved co-worker, was the one who brought you the Good News. He is Christ's faithful servant, and he is helping us in your place. 8 He is the one who told us about the great love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you. 9 So we have continued praying for you ever since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and you will continually do good, kind things for others. All the while, you will learn to know God better and better. 11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father, who has enabled you to share the inheritance that belongs to God's holy people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and he has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. 14 God has purchased our freedom with his blood and has forgiven all our sins.15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation. 16 Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see--kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him. 17 He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together.

PSALM 76:1-12

For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be accompanied by stringed instruments. A song.

1 God is well known in Judah;

his name is great in Israel.

2 Jerusalem is where he lives;

Mount Zion is his home.

3 There he breaks the arrows of the enemy,

the shields and swords and weapons of his foes.

Interlude4 You are glorious and more majestic

than the everlasting mountains.

5 The mightiest of our enemies have been plundered.

They lie before us in the sleep of death.

No warrior could lift a hand against us.

6 When you rebuked them, O God of Jacob,

their horses and chariots stood still.

7 No wonder you are greatly feared!

Who can stand before you when your anger explodes?

8 From heaven you sentenced your enemies;

the earth trembled and stood silent before you.

9 You stand up to judge those who do evil, O God,

and to rescue the oppressed of the earth.

Interlude10 Human opposition only enhances your glory,

for you use it as a sword of judgment.

11 Make vows to the LORD your God, and fulfill them.

Let everyone bring tribute to the Awesome One.

12 For he breaks the spirit of princes

and is feared by the kings of the earth.

PROVERBS 24:21-22

My child, fear the LORD and the king, and don't associate with rebels. For you will go down with them to sudden disaster. Who knows where the punishment from the LORD and the king will end?

October 3 Reading through the Bible

  

JEREMIAH 1:1-2:30

PHILIPPIANS 4:1-23

PSALM 75:1-10

PROVERBS 24:17-20

JEREMIAH 1:1-2:30

These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests from Anathoth, a town in the land of Benjamin. 2 The LORD first gave messages to Jeremiah during the thirteenth year of King Josiah's reign in Judah. 3 He continued to give messages throughout the reign of Josiah's son, King Jehoiakim, until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah's reign in Judah. In August of that year, the people of Jerusalem were taken away as captives. 4 The LORD gave me a message. He said, 5 " I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world." 6 " O Sovereign LORD," I said, " I can't speak for you! I'm too young!" 7 " Don't say that," the LORD replied, " for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 8 And don't be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and take care of you. I, the LORD, have spoken!" 9 Then the LORD touched my mouth and said, " See, I have put my words in your mouth! 10 Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. You are to uproot some and tear them down, to destroy and overthrow them. You are to build others up and plant them." 11 Then the LORD said to me, " Look, Jeremiah! What do you see?" And I replied, " I see a branch from an almond tree." 12 And the LORD said, " That's right, and it means that I am watching, and I will surely carry out my threats of punishment." 13 Then the LORD spoke to me again and asked, " What do you see now?" And I replied, " I see a pot of boiling water, tipping from the north." 14 " Yes," the LORD said, " for terror from the north will boil out on the people of this land. 15 Listen! I am calling the armies of the kingdoms of the north to come to Jerusalem. They will set their thrones at the gates of the city. They will attack its walls and all the other towns of Judah. 16 I will pronounce judgment on my people for all their evil--for deserting me and worshiping other gods. Yes, they worship idols that they themselves have made! 17 " Get up and get dressed. Go out, and tell them whatever I tell you to say. Do not be afraid of them, or I will make you look foolish in front of them. 18 For see, today I have made you immune to their attacks. You are strong like a fortified city that cannot be captured, like an iron pillar or a bronze wall. None of the kings, officials, priests, or people of Judah will be able to stand against you. 19 They will try, but they will fail. For I am with you, and I will take care of you. I, the LORD, have spoken!"2:1 THE LORD gave me another message. He said, 2 " Go and shout in Jerusalem's streets: ` This is what the LORD says: I remember how eager you were to please me as a young bride long ago, how you loved me and followed me even through the barren wilderness. 3 In those days Israel was holy to the LORD, the first of my children. All who harmed my people were considered guilty, and disaster fell upon them. I, the LORD, have spoken!' " 4 Listen to the word of the LORD, people of Jacob--all you families of Israel! 5 This is what the LORD says: " What sin did your ancestors find in me that led them to stray so far? They worshiped foolish idols, only to become foolish themselves. 6 They did not ask, ` Where is the LORD who brought us safely out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness--a land of deserts and pits, of drought and death, where no one lives or even travels?' 7 " And when I brought you into a fruitful land to enjoy its bounty and goodness, you defiled my land and corrupted the inheritance I had promised you. 8 The priests did not ask, ` Where is the LORD?' The judges ignored me, the rulers turned against me, and the prophets spoke in the name of Baal, wasting their time on nonsense. 9 Therefore, I will bring my case against you and will keep on accusing you, even against your children's children in the years to come. I, the LORD, have spoken!10 " Go west to the land of Cyprus; go east to the land of Kedar. Think about what you see there. See if anyone has ever heard of anything as strange as this. 11 Has any nation ever exchanged its gods for another god, even though its gods are nothing? Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols! 12 The heavens are shocked at such a thing and shrink back in horror and dismay, says the LORD. 13 For my people have done two evil things: They have forsaken me--the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all! 14 " Why has Israel become a nation of slaves? Why has she been carried away as plunder? 15 Lions have roared against her. The land has been destroyed, and the cities are now in ruins. No one lives in them anymore. 16 Egyptians, marching from their cities of Memphis and Tahpanhes, have utterly destroyed Israel's glory and power. 17 And you have brought this on yourselves by rebelling against the LORD your God when he wanted to lead you and show you the way! 18 " What have you gained by your alliances with Egypt and Assyria? What good to you are the waters of the Nile and the Euphrates? 19 Your own wickedness will punish you. You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is to forsake the LORD your God, having no fear of him. I, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, have spoken! 20 Long ago I broke your yoke and tore away the chains of your slavery, but still you would not obey me. On every hill and under every green tree, you have prostituted yourselves by bowing down to idols. 21 " How could this happen? When I planted you, I chose a vine of the purest stock--the very best. How did you grow into this corrupt wild vine? 22 No amount of soap or lye can make you clean. You are stained with guilt that cannot be washed away. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken! 23 " You say, ` That's not true! We haven't worshiped the images of Baal!' But how can you say that? Go and look in any valley in the land! Face the awful sins you have done. You are like a restless female camel, desperate for a male! 24 You are like a wild donkey, sniffing the wind at mating time. Who can restrain your lust? Those who desire you do not even need to search, for you come running to them! 25 Why do you refuse to turn from all this running after other gods? But you say, ` Don't waste your breath. I have fallen in love with these foreign gods, and I can't stop loving them now!'26 " Like a thief, Israel feels shame only when she gets caught. Kings, officials, priests, and prophets--all are alike in this. 27 To an image carved from a piece of wood they say, ` You are my father.' To an idol chiseled out of stone they say, ` You are my mother.' They turn their backs on me, but in times of trouble they cry out for me to save them! 28 Why don't you call on these gods you have made? When danger comes, let them save you if they can! For you have as many gods as there are cities and towns in Judah. 29 Why do you accuse me of doing wrong? You are the ones who have rebelled, says the LORD. 30 I have punished your children, but it did them no good. They still refuse to obey. You yourselves have killed your prophets as a lion kills its prey."

PHILIPPIANS 4:1-23

Dear brothers and sisters,* I [Paul] love you and long to see you, for you are my joy and the reward for my work. So please stay true to the Lord, my dear friends. 2 And now I want to plead with those two women, Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. 3 And I ask you, my true teammate, to help these women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. And they worked with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again--rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. 6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you. 10 How grateful I am, and how I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but for a while you didn't have the chance to help me. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need. 14 But even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.15 As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. 16 Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. 17 I don't say this because I want a gift from you. What I want is for you to receive a well-earned reward because of your kindness. 18 At the moment I have all I need--more than I need! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable to God and pleases him. 19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. 20 Now glory be to God our Father forever and ever. Amen. 21 Give my greetings to all the Christians there. The brothers who are with me here send you their greetings. 22 And all the other Christians send their greetings, too, especially those who work in Caesar's palace. 23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

PSALM 75:1-10

For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be sung to the tune " Do Not Destroy!" A song.

1 We thank you, O God!

We give thanks because you are near.

People everywhere tell of your mighty miracles.

2 God says, " At the time I have planned,

I will bring justice against the wicked.

3 When the earth quakes and its people live in turmoil,

I am the one who keeps its foundations firm.

Interlude4 " I warned the proud, ` Stop your boasting!'

I told the wicked, ` Don't raise your fists!

5 Don't lift your fists in defiance at the heavens

or speak with rebellious arrogance.' "

6 For no one on earth--from east or west,

or even from the wilderness--

can raise another person up.

7 It is God alone who judges;

he decides who will rise and who will fall.

8 For the LORD holds a cup in his hand;

it is full of foaming wine mixed with spices.

He pours the wine out in judgment,

and all the wicked must drink it,

draining it to the dregs.

9 But as for me, I will always proclaim what God has done;

I will sing praises to the God of Israel.

10 For God says, " I will cut off the strength of the wicked,

but I will increase the power of the godly."

PROVERBS 24:17-20

Do not rejoice when your enemies fall into trouble. Don't be happy when they stumble. For the LORD will be displeased with you and will turn his anger away from them. Do not fret because of evildoers; don't envy the wicked. For the evil have no future; their light will be snuffed out.