ESV: Every Day in the Word

October 10: Jeremiah 14:11-16:15, 1 Thessalonians 2:10-3:13, Psalm 80, Proverbs 25:1-5

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:01:00 -0400

Jeremiah 14:11-16:15 (Listen)

The LORD said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Lying Prophets

Then I said: “Ah, Lord GOD, behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” And the LORD said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although I did not send them, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.

“You shall say to them this word:
‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
  and let them not cease,
for the virgin daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,
  with a very grievous blow.
If I go out into the field,
  behold, those pierced by the sword!
And if I enter the city,
  behold, the diseases of famine!
For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land
  and have no knowledge.’”

Have you utterly rejected Judah?
  Does your soul loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
  so that there is no healing for us?
We looked for peace, but no good came;
  for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD,
  and the iniquity of our fathers,
  for we have sinned against you.
Do not spurn us, for your name's sake;
  do not dishonor your glorious throne;
  remember and do not break your covenant with us.
Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain?
  Or can the heavens give showers?
Are you not he, O LORD our God?
  We set our hope on you,
  for you do all these things.

The LORD Will Not Relent

15:1 Then the LORD said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD:

“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’

I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.

“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
  or who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
  to ask about your welfare?
You have rejected me, declares the LORD;
  you keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
  I am weary of relenting.
I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork
  in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
  they did not turn from their ways.
I have made their widows more in number
  than the sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of young men
  a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
  fall upon them suddenly.
She who bore seven has grown feeble;
  she has fainted away;
her sun went down while it was yet day;
  she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
  before their enemies,
declares the LORD.”

Jeremiah's Complaint

Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. The LORD said, “Have I not set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze?

“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as spoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

O LORD, you know;
  remember me and visit me,
  and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
  know that for your sake I bear reproach.
Your words were found, and I ate them,
  and your words became to me a joy
  and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
  O LORD, God of hosts.
I did not sit in the company of revelers,
  nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone, because your hand was upon me,
  for you had filled me with indignation.
Why is my pain unceasing,
  my wound incurable,
  refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me like a deceitful brook,
  like waters that fail?

Therefore thus says the LORD:
“If you return, I will restore you,
  and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
  you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
  but you shall not turn to them.
And I will make you to this people
  a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
  but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
  to save you and deliver you,
declares the LORD.
I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
  and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”

Famine, Sword, and Death

16:1 The word of the LORD came to me: “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. For thus says the LORD concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land: They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.

“For thus says the LORD: Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament or grieve for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, my steadfast love and mercy, declares the LORD. Both great and small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or cut himself or make himself bald for them. No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother. You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

“And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?’ then you shall say to them: ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the LORD, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’

The LORD Will Restore Israel

“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.

1 Thessalonians 2:10-3:13 (Listen)

You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But God's wrath has come upon them at last!

Paul's Longing to See Them Again

But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.

3:1 Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know. For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.

Timothy's Encouraging Report

But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord. For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?

Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

Psalm 80 (Listen)

Restore Us, O God

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm.

80:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
  you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
  Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your might
  and come to save us!

Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!

O LORD God of hosts,
  how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?
You have fed them with the bread of tears
  and given them tears to drink in full measure.
You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,
  and our enemies laugh among themselves.

Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!

You brought a vine out of Egypt;
  you drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it;
  it took deep root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered with its shade,
  the mighty cedars with its branches.
It sent out its branches to the sea
  and its shoots to the River.
Why then have you broken down its walls,
  so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
The boar from the forest ravages it,
  and all that move in the field feed on it.

Turn again, O God of hosts!
  Look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
  the stock that your right hand planted,
  and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;
  may they perish at the rebuke of your face!
But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
  the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
Then we shall not turn back from you;
  give us life, and we will call upon your name!

Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Proverbs 25:1-5 (Listen)

More Proverbs of Solomon

25:1 These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.

It is the glory of God to conceal things,
  but the glory of kings is to search things out.
As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth,
  so the heart of kings is unsearchable.
Take away the dross from the silver,
  and the smith has material for a vessel;
take away the wicked from the presence of the king,
  and his throne will be established in righteousness. (ESV)

Footnotes

[1] 15:11 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
[2] 2:13 Or without ceasing
[3] 2:16 Or completely, or forever
[4] 3:2 Some manuscripts servant
[5] 3:7 Or brothers and sisters
[6] 80:3 Or Turn us again; also verses 7, 19
[7] 80:11 That is, the Euphrates

October 9: Jeremiah 12:1-14:10, 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:9, Psalm 79, Proverbs 24:30-34

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:01:00 -0400

Jeremiah 12:1-14:10 (Listen)

Jeremiah's Complaint

12:1 Righteous are you, O LORD,
  when I complain to you;
  yet I would plead my case before you.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
  Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
You plant them, and they take root;
  they grow and produce fruit;
you are near in their mouth
  and far from their heart.
But you, O LORD, know me;
  you see me, and test my heart toward you.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
  and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
How long will the land mourn
  and the grass of every field wither?
For the evil of those who dwell in it
  the beasts and the birds are swept away,
  because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

The LORD Answers Jeremiah

“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
  how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
  what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?
For even your brothers and the house of your father,
  even they have dealt treacherously with you;
  they are in full cry after you;
do not believe them,
  though they speak friendly words to you.”

“I have forsaken my house;
  I have abandoned my heritage;
I have given the beloved of my soul
  into the hands of her enemies.
My heritage has become to me
  like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
  therefore I hate her.
Is my heritage to me like a hyena's lair?
  Are the birds of prey against her all around?
Go, assemble all the wild beasts;
  bring them to devour.
Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
  they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
  a desolate wilderness.
They have made it a desolation;
  desolate, it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
  but no man lays it to heart.
Upon all the bare heights in the desert
  destroyers have come,
for the sword of the LORD devours
  from one end of the land to the other;
  no flesh has peace.
They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
  they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their harvests
  because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

Thus says the LORD concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the LORD.”

The Ruined Loincloth

13:1 Thus says the LORD to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the LORD, and put it around my waist. And the word of the LORD came to me a second time, “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. And after many days the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing.

Then the word of the LORD came to me: “Thus says the LORD: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the LORD, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

The Jars Filled with Wine

“You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the LORD. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”

Exile Threatened

Hear and give ear; be not proud,
  for the LORD has spoken.
Give glory to the LORD your God
  before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
  on the twilight mountains,
and while you look for light
  he turns it into gloom
  and makes it deep darkness.
But if you will not listen,
  my soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,
  because the LORD's flock has been taken captive.

Say to the king and the queen mother:
  “Take a lowly seat,
for your beautiful crown
  has come down from your head.”
The cities of the Negeb are shut up,
  with none to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
  wholly taken into exile.

“Lift up your eyes and see
  those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
  your beautiful flock?
What will you say when they set as head over you
  those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you?
Will not pangs take hold of you
  like those of a woman in labor?
And if you say in your heart,
  ‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
  that your skirts are lifted up
  and you suffer violence.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin
  or the leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
  who are accustomed to do evil.
I will scatter you like chaff
  driven by the wind from the desert.
This is your lot,
  the portion I have measured out to you, declares the LORD,
because you have forgotten me
  and trusted in lies.
I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
  and your shame will be seen.
I have seen your abominations,
  your adulteries and neighings, your lewd whorings,
  on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
  How long will it be before you are made clean?”

Famine, Sword, and Pestilence

14:1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

“Judah mourns,
  and her gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
  and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
Her nobles send their servants for water;
  they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
  they return with their vessels empty;
they are ashamed and confounded
  and cover their heads.
Because of the ground that is dismayed,
  since there is no rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
  they cover their heads.
Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
  because there is no grass.
The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
  they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
  because there is no vegetation.

“Though our iniquities testify against us,
  act, O LORD, for your name's sake;
for our backslidings are many;
  we have sinned against you.
O you hope of Israel,
  its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
  like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
Why should you be like a man confused,
  like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet you, O LORD, are in the midst of us,
  and we are called by your name;
  do not leave us.”

Thus says the LORD concerning this people:
“They have loved to wander thus;
  they have not restrained their feet;
therefore the LORD does not accept them;
  now he will remember their iniquity
  and punish their sins.”

1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:9 (Listen)

Greeting

1:1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace to you and peace.

The Thessalonians' Faith and Example

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

Paul's Ministry to the Thessalonians

2:1 For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

Psalm 79 (Listen)

How Long, O LORD?

A Psalm of Asaph.

79:1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
  they have defiled your holy temple;
  they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
They have given the bodies of your servants
  to the birds of the heavens for food,
  the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
They have poured out their blood like water
  all around Jerusalem,
  and there was no one to bury them.
We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
  mocked and derided by those around us.

How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever?
  Will your jealousy burn like fire?
Pour out your anger on the nations
  that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
  that do not call upon your name!
For they have devoured Jacob
  and laid waste his habitation.

Do not remember against us our former iniquities;
  let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
  for we are brought very low.
Help us, O God of our salvation,
  for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and atone for our sins,
  for your name's sake!
Why should the nations say,
  “Where is their God?”
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
  be known among the nations before our eyes!

Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
  according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die!
Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors
  the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
  will give thanks to you forever;
  from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Proverbs 24:30-34 (Listen)

I passed by the field of a sluggard,
  by the vineyard of a man lacking sense,
and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
  the ground was covered with nettles,
  and its stone wall was broken down.
Then I saw and considered it;
  I looked and received instruction.
A little sleep, a little slumber,
  a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
  and want like an armed man. (ESV)

Footnotes

[1] 12:13 Hebrew your
[2] 13:24 Hebrew them
[3] 1:2 Or without ceasing
[4] 1:4 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church
[5] 2:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 9, 14, 17
[6] 2:5 Or with a flattering speech
[7] 2:7 Some manuscripts infants
[8] 79:8 Or the iniquities of former generations

October 8: Jeremiah 10-11, Colossians 3:18-4:18, Psalm 78:56-72, Proverbs 24:28-29

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:01:00 -0400

Jeremiah 10-11 (Listen)

Idols and the Living God

10:1 Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the LORD:

“Learn not the way of the nations,
  nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
  because the nations are dismayed at them,
for the customs of the peoples are vanity.
A tree from the forest is cut down
  and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
They decorate it with silver and gold;
  they fasten it with hammer and nails
  so that it cannot move.
Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
  and they cannot speak;
they have to be carried,
  for they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
  for they cannot do evil,
  neither is it in them to do good.”

There is none like you, O LORD;
  you are great, and your name is great in might.
Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
  For this is your due;
for among all the wise ones of the nations
  and in all their kingdoms
  there is none like you.
They are both stupid and foolish;
  the instruction of idols is but wood!
Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,
  and gold from Uphaz.
They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;
  their clothing is violet and purple;
  they are all the work of skilled men.
But the LORD is the true God;
  he is the living God and the everlasting King.
At his wrath the earth quakes,
  and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”

It is he who made the earth by his power,
  who established the world by his wisdom,
  and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
  and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
  and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
  every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
  and there is no breath in them.
They are worthless, a work of delusion;
  at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
  for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
  the LORD of hosts is his name.

Gather up your bundle from the ground,
  O you who dwell under siege!
For thus says the LORD:
“Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land
  at this time,
and I will bring distress on them,
  that they may feel it.”

Woe is me because of my hurt!
  My wound is grievous.
But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,
  and I must bear it.”
My tent is destroyed,
  and all my cords are broken;
my children have gone from me,
  and they are not;
there is no one to spread my tent again
  and to set up my curtains.
For the shepherds are stupid
  and do not inquire of the LORD;
therefore they have not prospered,
  and all their flock is scattered.

A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—
a great commotion out of the north country
to make the cities of Judah a desolation,
a lair of jackals.

I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself,
that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
Correct me, O LORD, but in justice;
not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,
  and on the peoples that call not on your name,
for they have devoured Jacob;
  they have devoured him and consumed him,
  and have laid waste his habitation.

The Broken Covenant

11:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, LORD.”

And the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

Again the LORD said to me, “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. Therefore, thus says the LORD, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.

“Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult? The LORD once called you ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed. The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

The LORD made it known to me and I knew;
  then you showed me their deeds.
But I was like a gentle lamb
  led to the slaughter.
I did not know it was against me
  they devised schemes, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
  let us cut him off from the land of the living,
  that his name be remembered no more.”
But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously,
  who tests the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
  for to you have I committed my cause.

Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand”— therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.”

Colossians 3:18-4:18 (Listen)

Rules for Christian Households

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.

Further Instructions

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Final Greetings

Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.

Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.”

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.

Psalm 78:56-72 (Listen)

Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God
  and did not keep his testimonies,
but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
  they twisted like a deceitful bow.
For they provoked him to anger with their high places;
  they moved him to jealousy with their idols.
When God heard, he was full of wrath,
  and he utterly rejected Israel.
He forsook his dwelling at Shiloh,
  the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
and delivered his power to captivity,
  his glory to the hand of the foe.
He gave his people over to the sword
  and vented his wrath on his heritage.
Fire devoured their young men,
  and their young women had no marriage song.
Their priests fell by the sword,
  and their widows made no lamentation.
Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
  like a strong man shouting because of wine.
And he put his adversaries to rout;
  he put them to everlasting shame.

He rejected the tent of Joseph;
  he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
but he chose the tribe of Judah,
  Mount Zion, which he loves.
He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
  like the earth, which he has founded forever.
He chose David his servant
  and took him from the sheepfolds;
from following the nursing ewes he brought him
  to shepherd Jacob his people,
  Israel his inheritance.
With upright heart he shepherded them
  and guided them with his skillful hand.

Proverbs 24:28-29 (Listen)

Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause,
and do not deceive with your lips.
Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;
I will pay the man back for what he has done.” (ESV)

Footnotes

[1] 10:3 Or vapor, or mist
[2] 10:5 Hebrew They
[3] 10:11 This verse is in Aramaic
[4] 3:22 Or Servants; Greek Bondservants
[5] 3:22 Or your masters according to the flesh
[6] 4:1 Or servants; Greek bondservants
[7] 4:7 Greek fellow bondservant; also verse 12
[8] 4:15 Or brothers and sisters

October 7: Jeremiah 8:8-9:26, Colossians 3:1-17, Psalm 78:32-55, Proverbs 24:27

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:01:00 -0400

Jeremiah 8:8-9:26 (Listen)

“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
  and the law of the LORD is with us’?
But behold, the lying pen of the scribes
  has made it into a lie.
The wise men shall be put to shame;
  they shall be dismayed and taken;
behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD,
  so what wisdom is in them?
Therefore I will give their wives to others
  and their fields to conquerors,
because from the least to the greatest
  everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
from prophet to priest,
  everyone deals falsely.
They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
  saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
  when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?
  No, they were not at all ashamed;
  they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;
  when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the LORD.
When I would gather them, declares the LORD,
  there are no grapes on the vine,
  nor figs on the fig tree;
even the leaves are withered,
  and what I gave them has passed away from them.”

Why do we sit still?
Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities
  and perish there,
for the LORD our God has doomed us to perish
  and has given us poisoned water to drink,
  because we have sinned against the LORD.
We looked for peace, but no good came;
  for a time of healing, but behold, terror.

“The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan;
  at the sound of the neighing of their stallions
  the whole land quakes.
They come and devour the land and all that fills it,
  the city and those who dwell in it.
For behold, I am sending among you serpents,
  adders that cannot be charmed,
  and they shall bite you,”
declares the LORD.

Jeremiah Grieves for His People

My joy is gone; grief is upon me;
  my heart is sick within me.
Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people
  from the length and breadth of the land:
“Is the LORD not in Zion?
  Is her King not in her?”
“Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images
  and with their foreign idols?”
“The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
  and we are not saved.”
For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded;
  I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.

Is there no balm in Gilead?
  Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of the daughter of my people
  not been restored?
9:1 Oh that my head were waters,
  and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
  for the slain of the daughter of my people!
Oh that I had in the desert
  a travelers' lodging place,
that I might leave my people
  and go away from them!
For they are all adulterers,
  a company of treacherous men.
They bend their tongue like a bow;
  falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
  and they do not know me, declares the LORD.

Let everyone beware of his neighbor,
  and put no trust in any brother,
for every brother is a deceiver,
  and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
Everyone deceives his neighbor,
  and no one speaks the truth;
they have taught their tongue to speak lies;
  they weary themselves committing iniquity.
Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,
  they refuse to know me, declares the LORD.

Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Behold, I will refine them and test them,
  for what else can I do, because of my people?
Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
  it speaks deceitfully;
with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor,
  but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.
Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD,
  and shall I not avenge myself
  on a nation such as this?

“I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,
  and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness,
because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,
  and the lowing of cattle is not heard;
both the birds of the air and the beasts
  have fled and are gone.
I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
  a lair of jackals,
and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,
  without inhabitant.”

Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? And the LORD says: “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous water to drink. I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”

Thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;
  send for the skillful women to come;
let them make haste and raise a wailing over us,
  that our eyes may run down with tears
  and our eyelids flow with water.
For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
  ‘How we are ruined!
  We are utterly shamed,
because we have left the land,
  because they have cast down our dwellings.’”

Hear, O women, the word of the LORD,
  and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;
teach to your daughters a lament,
  and each to her neighbor a dirge.
For death has come up into our windows;
  it has entered our palaces,
cutting off the children from the streets
  and the young men from the squares.
Speak, “Thus declares the LORD:
‘The dead bodies of men shall fall
  like dung upon the open field,
like sheaves after the reaper,
  and none shall gather them.’”

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

Colossians 3:1-17 (Listen)

Put On the New Self

3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Psalm 78:32-55 (Listen)

In spite of all this, they still sinned;
  despite his wonders, they did not believe.
So he made their days vanish like a breath,
  and their years in terror.
When he killed them, they sought him;
  they repented and sought God earnestly.
They remembered that God was their rock,
  the Most High God their redeemer.
But they flattered him with their mouths;
  they lied to him with their tongues.
Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
  they were not faithful to his covenant.
Yet he, being compassionate,
  atoned for their iniquity
  and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
  and did not stir up all his wrath.
He remembered that they were but flesh,
  a wind that passes and comes not again.
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
  and grieved him in the desert!
They tested God again and again
  and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
They did not remember his power
  or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
when he performed his signs in Egypt
  and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.
He turned their rivers to blood,
  so that they could not drink of their streams.
He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
  and frogs, which destroyed them.
He gave their crops to the destroying locust
  and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
He destroyed their vines with hail
  and their sycamores with frost.
He gave over their cattle to the hail
  and their flocks to thunderbolts.
He let loose on them his burning anger,
  wrath, indignation, and distress,
  a company of destroying angels.
He made a path for his anger;
  he did not spare them from death,
  but gave their lives over to the plague.
He struck down every firstborn in Egypt,
  the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
Then he led out his people like sheep
  and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid,
  but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
And he brought them to his holy land,
  to the mountain which his right hand had won.
He drove out nations before them;
  he apportioned them for a possession
  and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

Proverbs 24:27 (Listen)

Prepare your work outside;
get everything ready for yourself in the field,
and after that build your house. (ESV)

Footnotes

[1] 8:13 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
[2] 8:18 Compare Septuagint; the meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
[3] 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Hebrew
[4] 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Hebrew
[5] 9:3 Septuagint; Hebrew and not for truth they have grown strong
[6] 3:4 Some manuscripts our
[7] 3:5 Greek therefore your members that are on the earth
[8] 3:6 Some manuscripts add upon the sons of disobedience
[9] 3:9 Greek man; also as supplied in verse 10
[10] 3:11 Greek bondservant
[11] 78:33 Hebrew in
[12] 78:33 Or vapor
[13] 78:42 Hebrew hand