Reading through the Word....Day 282, October 9

JEREMIAH 16:16- 18:23
1 THESSALONIANS 4:1- 5:3
PSALM 81:1- 16
PROVERBS 25:6- 8


"But now I am sending for many fishermen who will catch them [the Israelites]," says the LORD. "I am sending for hunters who will search for them in the forests and caves. 17 I am watching them closely, and I see every sin. They cannot hope to hide from me. 18 I will punish them doubly for all their sins, because they have defiled my land with lifeless images of their detestable gods and filled my inheritance with their evil deeds." 19 LORD, you are my strength and fortress, my refuge in the day of trouble! Nations from around the world will come to you and say, "Our ancestors were foolish, for they worshiped worthless idols. 20 Can people make their own god? The gods they make are not real gods at all!" 21 "So now I will show them my power and might," says the LORD. "At last they will know that I am the LORD." 17:1 THE LORD says, "My people act as though their evil ways are laws to be obeyed, inscribed with a diamond point on their stony hearts, or with an iron chisel on the corners of their altars. 2 Even their children go to worship at their sacred altars and Asherah poles, beneath every green tree and on every high hill. 3 So I will give all your wealth and treasures-- together with your pagan shrines-- as plunder to your enemies, for sin runs rampant in your land. 4 The wonderful inheritance I have reserved for you will slip out of your hands, and I will send you away as captives to a foreign land. For you have kindled my anger into a roaring fire that will burn forever." 5 This is what the LORD says:"Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the LORD. 6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, on the salty flats where no one lives. 7" But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. 8 They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit. 9 "The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? 10 But I know! I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve." 11 Like a bird that hatches eggs she has not laid, so are those who get their wealth by unjust means. Sooner or later they will lose their riches and, at the end of their lives, will become poor old fools. 12 But we worship at your throne-- eternal, high, and glorious! 13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who turn away from you will be disgraced and shamed. They will be buried in a dry and dusty grave, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water. 14 O LORD, you alone can heal me; you alone can save. My praises are for you alone! 15 People scoff at me and say, "What is this `message from the LORD 'you keep talking about? Why don't your predictions come true?" 16 LORD, I have not abandoned my job as a shepherd for your people. I have not urged you to send disaster. It is your message I have given them, not my own. 17 LORD, do not desert me now! You alone are my hope in the day of disaster. 18 Bring shame and terror on all who persecute me, but give me peace. Yes, bring double destruction upon them! 19 Then the LORD said to me, "Go and stand in the gates of Jerusalem, first at the gate where the king goes out, and then at each of the other gates. 20 Say to all the people, `Listen to this message from the LORD, you kings of Judah and all you people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem. 21 This is what the LORD says:Listen to my warning and live! Stop carrying on your trade at Jerusalem's gates on the Sabbath day. 22 Do not do your work on the Sabbath, but make it a holy day. I gave this command to your ancestors, 23 but they did not listen or obey. They stubbornly refused to pay attention and would not respond to discipline. 24" `But if you obey me, says the LORD, and do not carry on your trade or work on the Sabbath day, and if you keep it holy, 25 then this nation will continue forever. There will always be a descendant of David sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem. Kings and their officials will always ride among the people of Judah in chariots and on horses, and this city will remain forever. 26 And from all around Jerusalem, from the towns of Judah and Benjamin, from the western foothills and the hill country and the Negev, the people will come with their burnt offerings and sacrifices. They will bring their grain offerings, incense, and thanksgiving offerings to the LORD's Temple. 27 "`But if you do not listen to me and refuse to keep the Sabbath holy, and if on the Sabbath day you bring loads of merchandise through the gates of Jerusalem just as on other days, then I will set fire to these gates. The fire will spread to the palaces, and no one will be able to put out the roaring flames.'" 18:1 THE LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2 "Go down to the shop where clay pots and jars are made. I will speak to you while you are there." 3 So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. 4 But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so the potter squashed the jar into a lump of clay and started again. 5 Then the LORD gave me this message:6 "O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand. 7 If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, 8 but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. 9 And if I announce that I will build up and plant a certain nation or kingdom, making it strong and great, 10 but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless that nation as I had said I would. 11" Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them, `This is what the LORD says:I am planning disaster against you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right. '"12 But they replied," Don't waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, following our own evil desires. "13 Then the LORD said," Has anyone ever heard of such a thing, even among the pagan nations? My virgin Israel has done something too terrible to understand! 14 Does the snow ever melt high up in the mountains of Lebanon? Do the cold, flowing streams from the crags of Mount Hermon ever run dry? 15 These can be counted on, but not my people! For they have deserted me and turned to worthless idols. They have stumbled off the ancient highways of good, and they walk the muddy paths of sin. 16 Therefore, their land will become desolate, a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be astonished and shake their heads in amazement at its utter desolation. 17 I will scatter my people before their enemies as the east wind scatters dust. And in all their trouble I will turn my back on them and refuse to notice their distress. "18 Then the people said," Come on, let's find a way to stop Jeremiah. We have our own priests and wise men and prophets. We don't need him to teach the law and give us advice and prophecies. Let's spread rumors about him and ignore what he says. "19 LORD, help me! Listen to what they are planning to do to me! 20 Should they repay evil for good? They have set a trap to kill me, though I pleaded for them and tried to protect them from your anger. 21 So let their children starve! Let the sword pour out their blood! Let their wives become widows without any children! Let their old men die in a plague, and let their young men be killed in battle! 22 Let screaming be heard from their homes as warriors come suddenly upon them. For they have dug a pit for me, and they have hidden traps along my path. 23 LORD, you know all about their murderous plots against me. Don't forgive their crimes and blot out their sins. Let them die before you. Deal with them in your anger.


Finally, dear brothers and sisters, *we [Paul and his coworkers] urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You are doing this already, and we encourage you to do so more and more. 2 For you remember what we taught you in the name of the Lord Jesus. 3 God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin. 4 Then each of you will control your body and live in holiness and honor-- 5 not in lustful passion as the pagans do, in their ignorance of God and his ways. 6 Never cheat a Christian brother in this matter by taking his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before. 7 God has called us to be holy, not to live impure lives. 8 Anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human rules but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. 9 But I don't need to write to you about the Christian love *that should be shown among God's people. For God himself has taught you to love one another. 10 Indeed, your love is already strong toward all the Christians in all of Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we beg you to love them more and more. 11 This should be your ambition:to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we commanded you before. 12 As a result, people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others to meet your financial needs. 13 And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died so you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus comes, God will bring back with Jesus all the Christians who have died. 15 I can tell you this directly from the Lord:We who are still living when the Lord returns will not rise to meet him ahead of those who are in their graves. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever. 18 So comfort and encourage each other with these words. 5:1 I REALLY don't need to write to you about how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters. *2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. 3 When people are saying," All is well; everything is peaceful and secure, "then disaster will fall upon them as suddenly as a woman's birth pains begin when her child is about to be born. And there will be no escape.


For the choir director:A psalm of Asaph, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.
1 Sing praises to God, our strength.
Sing to the God of Israel.
2 Sing! Beat the tambourine.
Play the sweet lyre and the harp.
3 Sound the trumpet for a sacred feast
when the moon is new,
when the moon is full.
4 For this is required by the laws of Israel;
it is a law of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree for Israel
when he attacked Egypt to set us free.
I heard an unknown voice that said,
6" Now I will relieve your shoulder of its burden;
I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.
7 You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;
I answered out of the thundercloud.
I tested your faith at Meribah,
when you complained that there was no water.
Interlude8 "Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.
O Israel, if you would only listen!
9 You must never have a foreign god;
you must not bow down before a false god.
10 For it was I, the LORD your God,
who rescued you from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.
11" But no, my people wouldn't listen.
Israel did not want me around.
12 So I let them follow their blind and stubborn way,
living according to their own desires.
13 But oh, that my people would listen to me!
Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!
14 How quickly I would then subdue their enemies!
How soon my hands would be upon their foes!
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him;
their desolation would last forever.
16 But I would feed you with the best of foods.
I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock. "


Don't demand an audience with the king or push for a place among the great. It is better to wait for an invitation than to be sent to the end of the line, publicly disgraced! Just because you see something, don't be in a hurry to go to court. You might go down before your neighbors in shameful defeat

Reading through the Word....Day 281, October 8

JEREMIAH 14:11- 16:15
1 THESSALONIANS 2:9- 3:13
PSALM 80:1- 19
PROVERBS 25:1- 5


Then the LORD said to me [Jeremiah], "Do not pray for these people anymore. 12 When they fast in my presence, I will pay no attention. When they present their burnt offerings and grain offerings to me, I will not accept them. In return, I will give them only war, famine, and disease." 13 Then I said, "O Sovereign LORD, their prophets are telling them, `All is well-- no war or famine will come. The LORD will surely send you peace. '" 14 Then the LORD said, "These prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or tell them to speak. I did not give them any messages. They prophesy of visions and revelations they have never seen or heard. They speak foolishness made up in their own lying hearts. 15 Therefore, says the LORD, I will punish these lying prophets, for they have spoken in my name even though I never sent them. They say that no war or famine will come, but they themselves will die by war and famine! 16 As for the people to whom they prophesy-- their bodies will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and war. There will be no one left to bury them. Husbands, wives, sons, and daughters-- all will be gone. For I will pour out their own wickedness on them. 17" Now, Jeremiah, say this to them:`Night and day my eyes overflow with tears. I cannot stop weeping, for my virgin daughter-- my precious people-- has been run through with a sword and lies mortally wounded on the ground. 18 If I go out into the fields, I see the bodies of people slaughtered by the enemy. If I walk the city streets, there I see people who have died of starvation. The prophets and priests continue with their work, but they do not know what they are doing.' "19 LORD, have you completely rejected Judah? Do you really hate Jerusalem? Why have you wounded us past all hope of healing? We hoped for peace, but no peace came. We hoped for a time of healing but found only terror. 20 LORD, we confess our wickedness and that of our ancestors, too. We all have sinned against you. 21 For the sake of your own name, LORD, do not abandon us. Do not disgrace yourself and the throne of your glory. Do not break your covenant with us. Please don't forget us! 22 Can any of the foreign gods send us rain? Does it fall from the sky by itself? No, it comes from you, the LORD our God! Only you can do such things. So we will wait for you to help us. 15:1 THEN the LORD said to me," Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I wouldn't help them. Away with them! Get them out of my sight! 2 And if they say to you, `But where can we go? 'tell them, `This is what the LORD says:Those who are destined for death, to death; those who are destined for war, to war; those who are destined for famine, to famine; those who are destined for captivity, to captivity.' 3 "I will send four kinds of destroyers against them," says the LORD. "I will send the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, the vultures to devour, and the wild animals to finish up what is left. 4 Because of the wicked things Manasseh son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem, I will make my people an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 5" Who will feel sorry for you, Jerusalem? Who will weep for you? Who will even bother to ask how you are? 6 You have forsaken me and turned your back on me, "says the LORD." Therefore, I will raise my clenched fists to destroy you. I am tired of always giving you another chance. 7 I will winnow you like grain at the gates of your cities and take away everything you hold dear. I will destroy my own people, because they refuse to turn back to me from all their evil ways. 8 "There will be more widows than the grains of sand along the seashore. At noontime I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of young men. I will cause anguish and terror to come upon them suddenly. 9 The mother of seven grows faint and gasps for breath; her sun has gone down while it is yet day. She sits childless now, disgraced and humiliated. And those who are left, I will hand over to the enemy to be killed," says the LORD. 10 Then I said, "What sadness is mine, my mother. Oh, that I had died at birth! I am hated everywhere I go. I am neither a lender who has threatened to foreclose nor a borrower who refuses to pay-- yet they all curse me." 11 The LORD replied, "All will be well with you, Jeremiah. Your enemies will ask you to plead on their behalf in times of trouble and distress. 12 Can a man break a bar of iron from the north, or a bar of bronze? 13 Because of all my people's sins against me, I will hand over their wealth and treasures as plunder to the enemy. 14 I will tell their enemies to take them as captives to a foreign land. For my anger blazes forth like fire, and it will consume them." 15 Then I said, "LORD, you know I am suffering for your sake. Punish my persecutors! Don't let them kill me! Be merciful to me and give them what they deserve! 16 Your words are what sustain me. They bring me great joy and are my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty. 17 I never joined the people in their merry feasts. I sat alone because your hand was on me. I burst with indignation at their sins. 18 Why then does my suffering continue? Why is my wound so incurable? Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook. It is like a spring that has gone dry." 19 The LORD replied, "If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me. If you speak words that are worthy, you will be my spokesman. You are to influence them; do not let them influence you! 20 They will fight against you like an attacking army, but I will make you as secure as a fortified wall. They will not conquer you, for I will protect and deliver you. I, the LORD, have spoken! 21 Yes, I will certainly keep you safe from these wicked men. I will rescue you from their cruel hands." 16:1 THE LORD gave me another message. He said, 2 "Do not marry or have children in this place. 3 For this is what the LORD says about the children born here in this city and about their mothers and fathers:4 They will die from terrible diseases. No one will mourn for them or bury them, and they will lie scattered on the ground like dung. They will die from war and famine, and their bodies will be food for the vultures and wild animals. 5" Do not go to their funerals to mourn and show sympathy for them, "says the LORD," for I have removed my protection and peace from them. I have taken away my unfailing love and my mercy. 6 Both the great and the lowly will die in this land. No one will bury them or mourn for them. Their friends will not cut themselves or shave their heads in sadness. 7 No one will offer a meal to comfort those who mourn for the dead-- not even for the death of a mother or a father. No one will send a cup of wine to console them. 8 "And do not go to their feasts and parties. Do not eat and drink with them at all. 9 For the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:In your own lifetime, before your very eyes, I will put an end to the happy singing and laughter in this land. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. 10" When you tell the people all these things, they will ask, `Why has the LORD decreed such terrible things against us? What have we done to deserve such treatment? What is our sin against the LORD our God? '11 Tell them that this is the LORD's reply:It is because your ancestors were unfaithful to me. They worshiped other gods and served them. They abandoned me. They did not keep my law. 12 And you are even worse than your ancestors! You stubbornly follow your own evil desires and refuse to listen to me. 13 So I will throw you out of this land and send you into a foreign land where you and your ancestors have never been. There you can worship idols all you like-- and I will grant you no favors! 14 "But the time is coming," says the LORD, "when people who are taking an oath will no longer say, `As surely as the LORD lives, who rescued the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.' 15 Instead, they will say, `As surely as the LORD lives, who brought the people of Israel back to their own land from the land of the north and from all the countries to which he had exiled them. 'For I will bring them back to this land that I gave their ancestors."


Don't you remember, dear brothers and sisters, how hard we [Paul and his coworkers] worked among you? Night and day we toiled to earn a living so that our expenses would not be a burden to anyone there as we preached God's Good News among you. 10 You yourselves are our witnesses-- and so is God-- that we were pure and honest and faultless toward all of you believers. 11 And you know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. 12 We pleaded with you, encouraged you, and urged you to live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. For he called you into his Kingdom to share his glory. 13 And we will never stop thanking God that when we preached his message to you, you didn't think of the words we spoke as being just our own. You accepted what we said as the very word of God-- which, of course, it was. And this word continues to work in you who believe. 14 And then, dear brothers and sisters, you suffered persecution from your own countrymen. In this way, you imitated the believers in God's churches in Judea who, because of their belief in Christ Jesus, suffered from their own people, the Jews. 15 For some of the Jews had killed their own prophets, and some even killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecuted us and driven us out. They displease God and oppose everyone 16 by trying to keep us from preaching the Good News to the Gentiles, for fear some might be saved. By doing this, they continue to pile up their sins. But the anger of God has caught up with them at last. 17 Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again. 18 We wanted very much to come, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us. 19 After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what is our proud reward and crown? It is you! Yes, you will bring us much joy as we stand together before our Lord Jesus when he comes back again. 20 For you are our pride and joy. 3:1 FINALLY, when we could stand it no longer, we decided that I should stay alone in Athens, 2 and we sent Timothy to visit you. He is our co- worker for God and our brother in proclaiming the Good News of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, 3 and to keep you from becoming disturbed by the troubles you were going through. But, of course, you know that such troubles are going to happen to us Christians. 4 Even while we were with you, we warned you that troubles would soon come-- and they did, as you well know. 5 That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the Tempter had gotten the best of you and that all our work had been useless. 6 Now Timothy has just returned, bringing the good news that your faith and love are as strong as ever. He reports that you remember our visit with joy and that you want to see us just as much as we want to see you. 7 So we have been greatly comforted, dear brothers and sisters, *in all of our own crushing troubles and suffering, because you have remained strong in your faith. 8 It gives us new life, knowing you remain strong in the Lord. 9 How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy in the presence of God. 10 Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill up anything that may still be missing in your faith. 11 May God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus make it possible for us to come to you very soon. 12 And may the Lord make your love grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else, just as our love overflows toward you. 13 As a result, Christ will make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy when you stand before God our Father on that day when our Lord Jesus comes with all those who belong to him.


For the choir director:A psalm of Asaph, to be sung to the tune "Lilies of the Covenant."
1 Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Israel like a flock.
O God, enthroned above the cherubim,
display your radiant glory
2 to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Show us your mighty power.
Come to rescue us!
3 Turn us again to yourself, O God.
Make your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved.
4 O LORD God Almighty,
how long will you be angry and reject our prayers?
5 You have fed us with sorrow
and made us drink tears by the bucketful.
6 You have made us the scorn of neighboring nations.
Our enemies treat us as a joke.
7 Turn us again to yourself, O God Almighty.
Make your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved.
8 You brought us from Egypt as though we were a tender vine;
you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land.
9 You cleared the ground for us,
and we took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with our shade;
the mighty cedars were covered with our branches.
11 We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea,
our limbs east to the Euphrates River.
12 But now, why have you broken down our walls
so that all who pass may steal our fruit?
13 The boar from the forest devours us,
and the wild animals feed on us.
14 Come back, we beg you, O God Almighty.
Look down from heaven and see our plight.
Watch over and care for this vine
15 that you yourself have planted,
this son you have raised for yourself.
16 For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies.
May they perish at the sight of your frown.
17 Strengthen the man you love,
the son of your choice.
18 Then we will never forsake you again.
Revive us so we can call on your name once more.
19 Turn us again to yourself, O LORD God Almighty.
Make your face shine down upon us.
Only then will we be saved.


These are more proverbs of Solomon, collected by the advisers of King Hezekiah of Judah. It is God's privilege to conceal things and the king's privilege to discover them. No one can discover the height of heaven, the depth of the earth, or all that goes on in the king's mind! Remove the dross from silver, and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith. Remove the wicked from the king's court, and his reign will be made secure by justice

Reading through the Word....Day 280, October 7

JEREMIAH 12:1- 14:10
1 THESSALONIANS 1:1- 2:8
PSALM 79:1- 13
PROVERBS 24:30- 34


LORD, you always give me [Jeremiah] justice when I bring a case before you. Now let me bring you this complaint:Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy? 2 You have planted them, and they have taken root and prospered. Your name is on their lips, but in their hearts they give you no credit at all. 3 But as for me, LORD, you know my heart. You see me and test my thoughts. Drag these people away like helpless sheep to be butchered! Set them aside to be slaughtered! 4 How long must this land weep? Even the grass in the fields has withered. The wild animals and birds have disappeared because of the evil in the land. Yet the people say, "The LORD won't do anything!" 5 Then the LORD replied to me, "If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan? 6 Even your own brothers, members of your own family, have turned on you. They have plotted, raising a cry against you. Do not trust them, no matter how pleasantly they speak. 7" I have abandoned my people, my special possession. I have surrendered my dearest ones to their enemies. 8 My chosen people have roared at me like a lion of the forest, so I have treated them as though I hated them. 9 My chosen people have become as disgusting to me as a vulture. And indeed, they are surrounded by vultures. Bring on the wild beasts to pick their corpses clean! 10 "Many rulers have ravaged my vineyard, trampling down the vines and turning all its beauty into a barren wilderness. 11 They have made it an empty wasteland; I hear its mournful cry. The whole land is desolate, and no one even cares. 12 Destroying armies plunder the land. The sword of the LORD kills people from one end of the nation to the other. No one will escape! 13 My people have planted wheat but are harvesting thorns. They have worked hard, but it has done them no good. They will harvest a crop of shame, for the fierce anger of the LORD is upon them." 14 Now this is what the LORD says:"As for all the evil nations reaching out for the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands just as Judah will be uprooted from hers. 15 But afterward I will return and have compassion on all of them. I will bring them home to their own lands again, each nation to its own inheritance. 16 And if these nations quickly learn the ways of my people, and if they learn to swear by my name, saying, `As surely as the LORD lives '(just as they taught my people to swear by the name of Baal), then they will be given a place among my people. 17 But any nation who refuses to obey me will be uprooted and destroyed. I, the LORD, have spoken!" 13:1 THIS is what the LORD said to me:"Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not wash it." 2 So I bought the belt as the LORD directed me and put it around my waist. 3 Then the LORD gave me another message:4 "Take the linen belt you are wearing, and go to the Euphrates River. Hide it there in a hole in the rocks." 5 So I went and hid it at the Euphrates as the LORD had instructed me. 6 A long time afterward, the LORD said to me, "Go back to the Euphrates and get the linen belt that I told you to hide there." 7 So I went to the Euphrates and dug it out of the hole where I had hidden it. But now it was mildewed and falling apart. The belt was useless. 8 Then I received this message from the LORD:9 "The LORD says:This illustrates how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. 10 These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship idols. Therefore, they will become like this linen belt-- good for nothing! 11 As a belt clings to a person's waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me," says the LORD. "They were to be my people, my pride, my glory-- an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me. 12" So tell them, `The LORD, the God of Israel, says:All your wineskins will be full of wine.' And they will reply, `Of course, you don't need to tell us how prosperous we will be! '13 Then tell them, `No, this is what the LORD means:I will make everyone in this land so confused that they will seem drunk-- from the king sitting on David's throne and from the priests and the prophets, right on down to the common people. 14 I will smash them one against the other, even parents against children, says the LORD. I will not let my pity or mercy or compassion keep me from destroying them.' "15 Listen! Do not be proud, for the LORD has spoken. 16 Give glory to the LORD your God before it is too late. Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you, causing you to stumble and fall on the dark mountains. For then, when you look for light, you will find only terrible darkness. 17 And if you still refuse to listen, I will weep alone because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears because the LORD's flock will be led away into exile. 18 Say to the king and his mother," Come down from your thrones and sit in the dust, for your glorious crowns will soon be snatched from your heads. "19 The towns of the Negev will close their gates, and no one will be able to open them. The people of Judah will be taken away as captives. They will all be carried into exile. 20 See the armies marching down from the north! Where is your flock-- your beautiful flock-- that he gave you to care for? 21 How will you feel when the LORD sets your foreign allies over you as rulers? You will writhe in pain like a woman giving birth! 22 You may ask yourself," Why is all this happening to me? "It is because of your many sins! That is why you have been raped and destroyed by invading armies. 23 Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard take away its spots? Neither can you start doing good, for you always do evil. 24" I will scatter you, just as chaff is scattered by the winds blowing in from the desert. 25 This is your allotment, that which is due you, "says the LORD." I have measured it out especially for you, because you have forgotten me and put your trust in false gods. 26 I myself will expose you to shame. 27 I am keenly aware of your adultery and lust, and your abominable idol worship out in the fields and on the hills. Your destruction is sure, Jerusalem! How long will it be before you are pure? "14:1 THIS message came to Jeremiah from the LORD, explaining why he was holding back the rain:2" Judah wilts; her businesses have ground to a halt. All the people sit on the ground in mourning, and a great cry rises from Jerusalem. 3 The nobles send servants to get water, but all the wells are dry. The servants return with empty pitchers, confused and desperate, covering their heads in grief. 4 The ground is parched and cracked for lack of rain. The farmers are afraid; they, too, cover their heads. 5 The deer abandons her newborn fawn because there is no grass. 6 The wild donkeys stand on the bare hills panting like thirsty jackals. They strain their eyes looking for grass to eat, but there is none to be found. "7 The people say," LORD, our wickedness has caught up with us. We have sinned against you. So please, help us for the sake of your own reputation. 8 O Hope of Israel, our Savior in times of trouble! Why are you like a stranger to us? Why are you like someone passing through the land, stopping only for the night? 9 Are you also confused? Are you helpless to save us? You are right here among us, LORD. We are known as your people. Please don't abandon us now! "10 So the LORD replies to his people," You love to wander far from me and do not follow in my paths. Now I will no longer accept you as my people. I will remember all your wickedness and will punish you for your sins. "


This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. It is written to the church in Thessalonica, you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May his grace and peace be yours. 2 We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. 3 As we talk to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and your continual anticipation of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 We know that God loves you, dear brothers and sisters, *and that he chose you to be his own people. 5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know that the way we lived among you was further proof of the truth of our message. 6 So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. 7 As a result, you yourselves became an example to all the Christians in Greece. 8 And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Greece, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don't need to tell them about it, 9 for they themselves keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the true and living God. 10 And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God's Son from heaven-- Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment. 2:1 YOU yourselves know, dear brothers and sisters, *that our visit to you was not a failure. 2 You know how badly we had been treated at Philippi just before we came to you and how much we suffered there. Yet our God gave us the courage to declare his Good News to you boldly, even though we were surrounded by many who opposed us. 3 So you can see that we were not preaching with any deceit or impure purposes or trickery. 4 For we speak as messengers who have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He is the one who examines the motives of our hearts. 5 Never once did we try to win you with flattery, as you very well know. And God is our witness that we were not just pretending to be your friends so you would give us money! 6 As for praise, we have never asked for it from you or anyone else. 7 As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but we were as gentle among you as a mother feeding and caring for her own children. 8 We loved you so much that we gave you not only God's Good News but our own lives, too.


A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, pagan nations have conquered your land, your special possession.
They have defiled your holy Temple
and made Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
2 They have left the bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of heaven.
The flesh of your godly ones
has become food for the wild animals.
3 Blood has flowed like water all around Jerusalem;
no one is left to bury the dead.
4 We are mocked by our neighbors,
an object of scorn and derision to those around us.
5 O LORD, how long will you be angry with us? Forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that refuse to recognize you--
on kingdoms that do not call upon your name.
7 For they have devoured your people Israel,
making the land a desolate wilderness.
8 Oh, do not hold us guilty for our former sins!
Let your tenderhearted mercies quickly meet our needs,
for we are brought low to the dust.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation!
Help us for the honor of your name.
Oh, save us and forgive our sins
for the sake of your name.
10 Why should pagan nations be allowed to scoff,
asking," Where is their God? "
Show us your vengeance against the nations,
for they have spilled the blood of your servants.
11 Listen to the moaning of the prisoners.
Demonstrate your great power by saving those condemned to die.
12 O Lord, take sevenfold vengeance on our neighbors
for the scorn they have hurled at you.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will thank you forever and ever,
praising your greatness from generation to generation.


I walked by the field of a lazy person, the vineyard of one lacking sense. I saw that it was overgrown with thorns. It was covered with weeds, and its walls were broken down. Then, as I looked and thought about it, I learned this lesson:A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- and poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber

Reading through the Word....Day 279, October 6

JEREMIAH 10:1- 11:23
COLOSSIANS 3:18- 4:18
PSALM 78:56- 72
PROVERBS 24:28- 29


Hear the word of the LORD, O Israel! 2 This is what the LORD says:"Do not act like other nations who try to read their future in the stars. Do not be afraid of their predictions, even though other nations are terrified by them. 3 Their ways are futile and foolish. They cut down a tree and carve an idol. 4 They decorate it with gold and silver and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails so it won't fall over. 5 There stands their god like a helpless scarecrow in a garden! It cannot speak, and it needs to be carried because it cannot walk. Do not be afraid of such gods, for they can neither harm you nor do you any good." 6 LORD, there is no one like you! For you are great, and your name is full of power. 7 Who would not fear you, O King of nations? That title belongs to you alone! Among all the wise people of the earth and in all the kingdoms of the world, there is no one like you. 8 The wisest of people who worship idols are stupid and foolish. The things they worship are made of wood! 9 They bring beaten sheets of silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, and they give these materials to skillful craftsmen who make their idols. Then they dress these gods in royal purple robes made by expert tailors. 10 But the LORD is the only true God, the living God. He is the everlasting King! The whole earth trembles at his anger. The nations hide before his wrath. 11 Say this to those who worship other gods:"Your so- called gods, who did not make the heavens and earth, will vanish from the earth." 12 But God made the earth by his power,
and he preserves it by his wisdom.
He has stretched out the heavens
by his understanding.
13 When he speaks, there is thunder in the heavens.
He causes the clouds to rise over the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain
and releases the wind from his storehouses.
14 Compared to him, all people are foolish
and have no knowledge at all!
They make idols, but the idols will disgrace their makers,
for they are frauds.
They have no life or power in them.
15 Idols are worthless; they are lies!
The time is coming when they will all be destroyed.
16 But the God of Israel is no idol!
He is the Creator of everything that exists,
including Israel, his own special possession.
The LORD Almighty is his name!
17 "Pack your bag and prepare to leave; the siege is about to begin," 18 says the LORD. "For suddenly, I will fling you from this land and pour great troubles upon you. At last you will feel my anger." 19 My wound is desperate, and my grief is great. My sickness is incurable, but I must bear it. 20 My home is gone, and no one is left to help me rebuild it. My children have been taken away, and I will never see them again. 21 The shepherds of my people have lost their senses. They no longer follow the LORD or ask what he wants of them. Therefore, they fail completely, and their flocks are scattered. 22 Listen! Hear the terrifying roar of great armies as they roll down from the north. The towns of Judah will be destroyed and will become a haunt for jackals. 23 I know, LORD, that a person's life is not his own. No one is able to plan his own course. 24 So correct me, LORD, but please be gentle. Do not correct me in anger, for I would die. 25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that refuse to recognize you-- on nations that do not call upon your name. For they have utterly devoured your people Israel, making the land a desolate wilderness. 11:1 THE LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2 "Remind the people of Judah and Jerusalem about the terms of their covenant with me. 3 Say to them, `This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:Cursed is anyone who does not obey the terms of my covenant! 4 For I said to your ancestors when I brought them out of slavery in Egypt," If you obey me and do whatever I command you, then you will be my people, and I will be your God. "5 I said this so I could keep my promise to your ancestors to give you a land flowing with milk and honey-- the land you live in today. '" Then I replied, "So be it, LORD!" 6 Then the LORD said, "Broadcast this message in the streets of Jerusalem. Go from town to town throughout the land and say, `Remember the covenant your ancestors made, and do everything they promised. 7 For I solemnly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, repeating over and over again to this day:" Obey me! "8 But your ancestors did not pay any attention; they would not even listen. Instead, they stubbornly followed their own evil desires. And because they refused to obey, I brought upon them all the curses described in our covenant.'" 9 Again the LORD spoke to me and said, "I have discovered a conspiracy against me among the people of Judah and Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their forefathers. They have refused to listen to me and are worshiping idols. Israel and Judah have both broken the covenant I made with their ancestors. 11 Therefore, says the LORD, I am going to bring calamity upon them, and they will not escape. Though they beg for mercy, I will not listen to their cries. 12 Then the people of Judah and Jerusalem will pray to their idols and offer incense before them. But the idols will not save them when disaster strikes! 13 Look now, people of Judah, you have as many gods as there are cities and towns. Your altars of shame-- altars for burning incense to your god Baal-- are along every street in Jerusalem. 14" Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do not weep or pray for them, for I will not listen to them when they cry out to me in distress. 15 What right do my beloved people have to come to my Temple, where they have done so many immoral things? Can their sacrifices avert their destruction? They actually rejoice in doing evil! 16 "I, the LORD, once called them a thriving olive tree, beautiful to see and full of good fruit. But now I have sent the fury of their enemies to burn them with fire, leaving them charred and broken. 17 I, the LORD Almighty, who planted this olive tree, have ordered it destroyed. For the people of Israel and Judah have done evil, provoking my anger by offering incense to Baal." 18 Then the LORD told me about the plots my enemies were making against me. 19 I had been as unaware as a lamb on the way to its slaughter. I had no idea that they were planning to kill me! "Let's destroy this man and all his words," they said. "Let's kill him, so his name will be forgotten forever." 20 O LORD Almighty, you are just, and you examine the deepest thoughts of hearts and minds. Let me see your vengeance against them, for I have committed my cause to you. 21 The men of Anathoth wanted me dead. They said they would kill me if I did not stop speaking in the LORD's name. 22 So this is what the LORD Almighty says about them:"I will punish them! Their young men will die in battle, and their little boys and girls will starve. 23 Not one of these plotters from Anathoth will survive, for I will bring disaster upon them when their time of punishment comes."


You wives must submit to your husbands, as is fitting for those who belong to the Lord. 19 And you husbands must love your wives and never treat them harshly. 20 You children must always obey your parents, for this is what pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, don't aggravate your children. If you do, they will become discouraged and quit trying. 22 You slaves must obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Obey them willingly because of your reverent fear of the Lord. 23 Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you are serving is Christ. 25 But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites who can get away with evil. 4:1 YOU slave owners must be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that you also have a Master-- in heaven. 2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. 3 Don't forget to pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to preach about his secret plan-- that Christ is also for you Gentiles. That is why I am here in chains. 4 Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. 5 Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone. 7 Tychicus, a much loved brother, will tell you how I am getting along. He is a faithful helper who serves the Lord with me. 8 I have sent him on this special trip to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you. 9 I am also sending Onesimus, a faithful and much loved brother, one of your own people. He and Tychicus will give you all the latest news. 10 Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you his greetings, and so does Mark, Barnabas's cousin. And as you were instructed before, make Mark welcome if he comes your way. 11 Jesus (the one we call Justus) also sends his greetings. These are the only Jewish Christians among my co- workers; they are working with me here for the Kingdom of God. And what a comfort they have been! 12 Epaphras, from your city, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident of the whole will of God. 13 I can assure you that he has agonized for you and also for the Christians in Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14 Dear Doctor Luke sends his greetings, and so does Demas. 15 Please give my greetings to our Christian brothers and sisters *at Laodicea, and to Nympha and those who meet in her house. 16 After you have read this letter, pass it on to the church at Laodicea so they can read it, too. And you should read the letter I wrote to them. 17 And say to Archippus, "Be sure to carry out the work the Lord gave you." 18 Here is my greeting in my own handwriting-- PAUL. Remember my chains. May the grace of God be with you.


Yet though he [God] did all this for them [the Israelites],
they continued to test his patience.
They rebelled against the Most High
and refused to follow his decrees.
57 They turned back and were as faithless as their parents had been.
They were as useless as a crooked bow.
58 They made God angry by building altars to other gods;
they made him jealous with their idols.
59 When God heard them, he was very angry,
and he rejected Israel completely.
60 Then he abandoned his dwelling at Shiloh,
the Tabernacle where he had lived among the people.
61 He allowed the Ark of his might to be captured;
he surrendered his glory into enemy hands.
62 He gave his people over to be butchered by the sword,
because he was so angry with his own people-- his special possession.
63 Their young men were killed by fire;
their young women died before singing their wedding songs.
64 Their priests were slaughtered,
and their widows could not mourn their deaths.
65 Then the Lord rose up as though waking from sleep,
like a mighty man aroused from a drunken stupor.
66 He routed his enemies
and sent them to eternal shame.
67 But he rejected Joseph's descendants;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 He chose instead the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loved.
69 There he built his towering sanctuary,
as solid and enduring as the earth itself.
70 He chose his servant David,
calling him from the sheep pens.
71 He took David from tending the ewes and lambs
and made him the shepherd of Jacob's descendants--
God's own people, Israel.
72 He cared for them with a true heart
and led them with skillful hands.


Do not testify spitefully against innocent neighbors; don't lie about them. And don't say, "Now I can pay them back for all their meanness to me! I'll get even

Reading through the Word....Day 278, October 5

JEREMIAH 8:8- 9:26
COLOSSIANS 3:1- 17
PSALM 78:32- 55
PROVERBS 24:27


"`How can you [Israelites] say," We are wise because we have the law of the LORD, "when your teachers have twisted it so badly? 9 These wise teachers will be shamed by exile for their sin, for they have rejected the word of the LORD. Are they so wise after all? 10 I will give their wives and their farms to others. 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. 11 They offer superficial treatments for my people's mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when all is war. 12 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 when they are punished, says the LORD. 13 I will take away their rich harvests of figs and grapes. Their fruit trees will all die. All the good things I prepared for them will soon be gone. I, the LORD, have spoken! '14" Then the people will say, `Why should we wait here to die? Come, let's go to the fortified cities to die there. For the LORD our God has decreed our destruction and has given us a cup of poison to drink because we sinned against the LORD. 15 We hoped for peace, but no peace came. We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror. 16 The snorting of the enemies' warhorses can be heard all the way from the land of Dan in the north! The whole land trembles at the approach of the terrible army, for it is coming to devour the land and everything in it-- cities and people alike. '17 "I will send these enemy troops among you like poisonous snakes you cannot charm," says the LORD. "No matter what you do, they will bite you, and you will die." 18 My grief is beyond healing; my heart is broken. 19 Listen to the weeping of my people; it can be heard all across the land. "Has the LORD abandoned Jerusalem?" the people ask. "Is her King no longer there?" "Oh, why have they angered me with their carved idols and worthless gods?" asks the LORD. 20 "The harvest is finished, and the summer is gone," the people cry, "yet we are not saved!" 21 I weep for the hurt of my people. I am stunned and silent, mute with grief. 22 Is there no medicine in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why is there no healing for the wounds of my people? 9:1 OH, that my eyes were a fountain of tears; I would weep forever! I would sob day and night for all my people who have been slaughtered. 2 Oh, that I could go away and forget them and live in a shack in the desert, for they are all adulterous and treacherous. 3 "My people bend their tongues like bows to shoot lies. They refuse to stand up for the truth. And they only go from bad to worse! They care nothing for me," says the LORD. 4 "Beware of your neighbor! Beware of your brother! They all take advantage of one another and spread their slanderous lies. 5 They all fool and defraud each other; no one tells the truth. With practiced tongues they tell lies; they wear themselves out with all their sinning. 6 They pile lie upon lie and utterly refuse to come to me," says the LORD. 7 Therefore, the LORD Almighty says, "See, I will melt them in a crucible and test them like metal. What else can I do with them? 8 For their tongues aim lies like poisoned arrows. They promise peace to their neighbors while planning to kill them. 9 Should I not punish them for this?" asks the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself against a nation such as this?" 10 I will weep for the mountains and wail for the desert pastures. For they are desolate and empty of life; the lowing of cattle is heard no more; the birds and wild animals all have fled. 11 "I will make Jerusalem into a heap of ruins," says the LORD. "It will be a place haunted by jackals. The towns of Judah will be ghost towns, with no one living in them." 12 Who is wise enough to understand all this? Who has been instructed by the LORD and can explain it to others? Why has the land been ruined so completely that no one even dares to travel through it? 13 The LORD replies, "This has happened because my people have abandoned the instructions I gave them; they have refused to obey my law. 14 Instead, they have stubbornly followed their own desires and worshiped the images of Baal, as their ancestors taught them. 15 So now, listen to what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:Look! I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink. 16 I will scatter them around the world, and they will be strangers in distant lands. Their enemies will chase them with the sword until I have destroyed them completely." 17 This is what the LORD Almighty says:"Think about what is going on! Call for the mourners to come. 18 Quick! Begin your weeping! Let the tears flow from your eyes. 19 Hear the people of Jerusalem crying in despair, `We are ruined! Disaster has come upon us! We must leave our land, because our homes have been torn down.'" 20 Listen, you women, to the words of the LORD; open your ears to what he has to say. Teach your daughters to wail; teach one another how to lament. 21 For death has crept in through our windows and has entered our mansions. It has killed off the flower of our youth:Children no longer play in the streets, and young men no longer gather in the squares. 22 And the LORD says, "Bodies will be scattered across the fields like dung, or like bundles of grain after the harvest. No one will be left to bury them." 23 This is what the LORD says:"Let not the wise man gloat in his wisdom, or the mighty man in his might, or the rich man in his riches. 24 Let them boast in this alone:that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD who is just and righteous, whose love is unfailing, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken! 25" A time is coming, "says the LORD," when I will punish all those who are circumcised in body but not in spirit-- 26 the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, the people who live in distant places, and yes, even the people of Judah. Like all these pagan nations, the people of Israel also have uncircumcised hearts. "


Since you [Colossians] have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God's right hand in the place of honor and power. 2 Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. 3 For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. 5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don't be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry. 6 God's terrible anger will come upon those who do such things. 7 You used to do them when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don't lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand- new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you. 11 In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. 12 Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13 You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14 And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful. 16 Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father.


But in spite of this, the people kept on sinning.
They refused to believe in his [God's] miracles.
33 So he ended their lives in failure
and gave them years of terror.
34 When God killed some of them, the rest finally sought him.
They repented and turned to God.
35 Then they remembered that God was their rock,
that their redeemer was the Most High.
36 But they followed him only with their words;
they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts were not loyal to him.
They did not keep his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful and forgave their sins
and didn't destroy them all.
Many a time he held back his anger
and did not unleash his fury!
39 For he remembered that they were merely mortal,
gone in a moment like a breath of wind, never to return.
40 Oh, how often they rebelled against him in the desert
and grieved his heart in the wilderness.
41 Again and again they tested God's patience
and frustrated the Holy One of Israel.
42 They forgot about his power
and how he rescued them from their enemies.
43 They forgot his miraculous signs in Egypt,
his wonders on the plain of Zoan.
44 For he turned their rivers into blood,
so no one could drink from the streams.
45 He sent vast swarms of flies to consume them
and hordes of frogs to ruin them.
46 He gave their crops to caterpillars;
their harvest was consumed by locusts.
47 He destroyed their grapevines with hail
and shattered their sycamores with sleet.
48 He abandoned their cattle to the hail,
their livestock to bolts of lightning.
49 He loosed on them his fierce anger--
all his fury, rage, and hostility.
He dispatched against them
a band of destroying angels.
50 He turned his anger against them;
he did not spare the Egyptians 'lives
but handed them over to the plague.
51 He killed the oldest son in each Egyptian family,
the flower of youth throughout the land of Egypt.
52 But he led his own people like a flock of sheep,
guiding them safely through the wilderness.
53 He kept them safe so they were not afraid;
but the sea closed in upon their enemies.
54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this land of hills he had won for them.
55 He drove out the nations before them;
he gave them their inheritance by lot.
He settled the tribes of Israel into their homes.


Develop your business first before building your house

Reading through the Word....Day 277, October 4

JEREMIAH 6:16- 8:7
COLOSSIANS 2:8- 23
PSALM 78:1- 31
PROVERBS 24:26


So now the LORD pleads, "Stop right where you are! Look for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, `No, that's not the road we want! '17 I set watchmen over you who said, `Listen for the sound of the trumpet!' But you replied, `No! We won't pay attention! '18" Therefore, listen to this, all you nations. Take note of my people's condition. 19 Listen, all the earth! I will bring disaster upon my people. It is the fruit of their own sin because they refuse to listen to me. They have rejected all my instructions. 20 There is no use now in offering me sweet incense from Sheba. Keep your expensive perfumes! I cannot accept your burnt offerings. Your sacrifices have no sweet fragrance for me. "21 Therefore, this is what the LORD says:" I will put obstacles in my people's path. Fathers and sons will both fall over them. Neighbors and friends will collapse together. "22 This is what the LORD says:" See a great army marching from the north! A great nation is rising against you from far- off lands. 23 They are fully armed for slaughter. They are cruel and show no mercy. As they ride forward, the noise of their army is like a roaring sea. They are marching in battle formation to destroy you, Jerusalem. "24 We have heard reports about the enemy, and we are weak with fright. Fear and pain have gripped us, like that of a woman about to give birth. 25 Don't go out to the fields! Don't travel the roads! The enemy is everywhere, and they are ready to kill. We are terrorized at every turn! 26 Now my people, dress yourselves in sackcloth, and sit among the ashes. Mourn and weep bitterly, as for the loss of an only son. For suddenly, the destroying armies will be upon you! 27" Jeremiah, I have made you a tester of metals, that you may determine the quality of my people. 28 Are they not the worst of rebels, full of slander? They are as insolent as bronze, as hard and cruel as iron. All of them lead others into corruption. 29 The bellows blow fiercely. The refining fire grows hotter. But it will never purify and cleanse them because there is no purity in them to refine. 30 I will label them `Rejected Silver' because I, the LORD, am discarding them. "7:1 THE LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2" Go to the entrance of the LORD's Temple, and give this message to the people:`O Judah, listen to this message from the LORD! Listen to it, all of you who worship here! 3 The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:Even now, if you quit your evil ways, I will let you stay in your own land. 4 But do not be fooled by those who repeatedly promise your safety because the Temple of the LORD is here. 5 I will be merciful only if you stop your wicked thoughts and deeds and are fair to others; 6 and if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; and if you stop your murdering; and if you stop worshiping idols as you now do to your own harm. 7 Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever. 8 "`Do you think that because the Temple is here you will never suffer? Don't fool yourselves! 9 Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and worship Baal and all those other new gods of yours, 10 and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant," We are safe! "-- only to go right back to all those evils again? 11 Do you think this Temple, which honors my name, is a den of thieves? I see all the evil going on there, says the LORD. 12" `Go to the place at Shiloh where I once put the Tabernacle to honor my name. See what I did there because of all the wickedness of my people, the Israelites. 13 While you were doing these wicked things, says the LORD, I spoke to you about it repeatedly, but you would not listen. I called out to you, but you refused to answer. 14 So just as I destroyed Shiloh, I will now destroy this Temple that was built to honor my name, this Temple that you trust for help, this place that I gave to you and your ancestors. 15 And I will send you into exile, just as I did your relatives, the people of Israel. '16 "Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do not weep or pray for them, and don't beg me to help them, for I will not listen to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing throughout the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 No wonder I am so angry! Watch how the children gather wood and the fathers build sacrificial fires. See how the women knead dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. And they give drink offerings to their other idol gods! 19 Am I the one they are hurting?" asks the LORD. "Most of all, they hurt themselves, to their own shame." 20 So the Sovereign LORD says:"I will pour out my terrible fury on this place. Its people, animals, trees, and crops will be consumed by the unquenchable fire of my anger." 21 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:"Away with your burnt offerings and sacrifices! Eat them yourselves! 22 When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them. 23 This is what I told them:`Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Only do as I say, and all will be well!' 24" But my people would not listen to me. They kept on doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward. 25 From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my prophets-- day in and day out. 26 But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful-- even worse than their ancestors. 27 "Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not expect them to respond. 28 Say to them, `This is the nation whose people will not obey the LORD their God and who refuse to be taught. Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips. 29 O Jerusalem, shave your head in mourning, and weep alone on the mountains. For the LORD has rejected and forsaken this generation that has provoked his fury. '30" The people of Judah have sinned before my very eyes, "says the LORD." They have set up their abominable idols right in my own Temple, defiling it. 31 They have built the pagan shrines of Topheth in the valley of the son of Hinnom, where they sacrifice their little sons and daughters in the fire. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing! 32 So beware, for the time is coming, "says the LORD," when that place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They will bury so many bodies in Topheth that there won't be room for all the graves. 33 The corpses of my people will be food for the vultures and wild animals, and no one will be left to scare them away. 34 I will put an end to the happy singing and laughter in the streets of Jerusalem. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard in the towns of Judah. The land will lie in complete desolation. 8:1 "IN that day," says the LORD, "the enemy will break open the graves of the kings and officials of Judah, and the graves of the priests, prophets, and common people. 2 They will dig out their bones and spread them out on the ground before the sun, moon, and stars-- the gods my people have loved, served, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up again or buried but will be scattered on the ground like dung. 3 And the people of this evil nation who survive will wish to die rather than live where I will send them. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken! 4" Jeremiah, say to the people, `This is what the LORD says:When people fall down, don't they get up again? When they start down the wrong road and discover their mistake, don't they turn back? 5 Then why do these people keep going along their self- destructive path, refusing to turn back, even though I have warned them? 6 I listen to their conversations, and what do I hear? Is anyone sorry for sin? Does anyone say, "What a terrible thing I have done"? No! All are running down the path of sin as swiftly as a horse rushing into battle! 7 The stork knows the time of her migration, as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane. They all return at the proper time each year. But not my people! They do not know what the LORD requires of them.' "


Don't let anyone lead you [Colossians] astray with empty philosophy and high- sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ. 9 For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, 10 and you are complete through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe. 11 When you came to Christ, you were" circumcised, "but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedure-- the cutting away of your sinful nature. 12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. 13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ's cross. 15 In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ. 16 So don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new- moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. 17 For these rules were only shadows of the real thing, Christ himself. 18 Don't let anyone condemn you by insisting on self- denial. And don't let anyone say you must worship angels, even though they say they have had visions about this. These people claim to be so humble, but their sinful minds have made them proud. 19 But they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For we are joined together in his body by his strong sinews, and we grow only as we get our nourishment and strength from God. 20 You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the evil powers of this world. So why do you keep on following rules of the world, such as, 21" Don't handle, don't eat, don't touch. "22 Such rules are mere human teaching about things that are gone as soon as we use them. 23 These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, humility, and severe bodily discipline. But they have no effect when it comes to conquering a person's evil thoughts and desires.


A psalm of Asaph.
1 O my people, listen to my teaching.
Open your ears to what I am saying,
2 for I will speak to you in a parable.
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past--
3 stories we have heard and know,
stories our ancestors handed down to us.
4 We will not hide these truths from our children
but will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD.
We will tell of his power and the mighty miracles he did.
5 For he issued his decree to Jacob;
he gave his law to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to teach them to their children,
6 so the next generation might know them--
even the children not yet born--
that they in turn might teach their children.
7 So each generation can set its hope anew on God,
remembering his glorious miracles
and obeying his commands.
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors--
stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful,
refusing to give their hearts to God.
9 The warriors of Ephraim, though fully armed,
turned their backs and fled when the day of battle came.
10 They did not keep God's covenant,
and they refused to live by his law.
11 They forgot what he had done--
the wonderful miracles he had shown them,
12 the miracles he did for their ancestors in Egypt, on the plain of Zoan.
13 For he divided the sea before them and led them through!
The water stood up like walls beside them!
14 In the daytime he led them by a cloud,
and at night by a pillar of fire.
15 He split open the rocks in the wilderness
to give them plenty of water, as from a gushing spring.
16 He made streams pour from the rock,
making the waters flow down like a river!
17 Yet they kept on with their sin,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They willfully tested God in their hearts,
demanding the foods they craved.
19 They even spoke against God himself, saying,
" God can't give us food in the desert.
20 Yes, he can strike a rock so water gushes out,
but he can't give his people bread and meat. "
21 When the LORD heard them, he was angry.
The fire of his wrath burned against Jacob.
Yes, his anger rose against Israel,
22 for they did not believe God
or trust him to care for them.
23 But he commanded the skies to open--
he opened the doors of heaven--
24 and rained down manna for them to eat.
He gave them bread from heaven.
25 They ate the food of angels!
God gave them all they could hold.
26 He released the east wind in the heavens
and guided the south wind by his mighty power.
27 He rained down meat as thick as dust--
birds as plentiful as the sands along the seashore!
28 He caused the birds to fall within their camp
and all around their tents.
29 The people ate their fill.
He gave them what they wanted.
30 But before they finished eating this food they had craved,
while the meat was yet in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed their strongest men;
he struck down the finest of Israel's young men.


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