Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.
Jeremiah 5
"Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem,
and look please, and take note,
and search at its public squares,
if you can find a person who does justice,
who seeks honesty,
so that I may forgive it.
And though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’
therefore they swear falsely."
O Yahweh, do not your eyes look for honesty?
You have struck them, but they felt no pain,
you have destroyed them, they refused to take discipline.
They have hardened their faces more than rock,
they have refused to turn back.
Then I said, "They are just simple people,
they are foolish,
for they know not the way of Yahweh,
the law of their God.
Let me go to the great,
and let me speak with them,
for they know the way of Yahweh,
the law of their God."
However, they together have broken the yoke,
they have torn to pieces the bonds.
Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them,
A wolf from the desert plains will devastate them.
A leopard is watching their cities,
everyone who goes out from there will be torn,
because their transgressions are many,
their apostasies are numerous.
"How can I forgive you?
Your children have forsaken me,
and they have sworn by those who are not gods.
But I fed them to the full,
and they committed adultery,
and flocked to the house of a prostitute.
They were well-fed lusty horses,
they neighed each to the wife of his neighbor.
Because of these things shall I not punish?" declares Yahweh,
"and on a nation who is like this, shall I not take revenge?
Go up through her vineyards and destroy,
but you must not make complete destruction.
Remove her branches,
for they are not to Yahweh.
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have dealt utterly treacherously with me," declares Yahweh.
"They have denied Yahweh, and have said,
‘Not he, for evil will not come on us,
we will see neither sword nor famine.
And the prophets are like wind,
and the word is not in them.’
Thus it will be done to them."
Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts,
"Because you have spoken this word,
look, I am making my words in your mouth like a fire,
and this people wood, and it will devour them.
Look, I am about to bring on you a nation from afar,
O house of Israel," declares Yahweh.
"It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation.
A nation whose language you do not know,
and you cannot understand what they speak.
Their quiver is like an open tomb,
all of them are warriors.
And they will eat your harvest and your food,
they will eat your sons and your daughters,
they will eat your flock and your herd,
they will eat your vine and your fig tree,
they will smash with the sword your fortified cities,
in which you trust.
"But even in those days," declares Yahweh, "I will not make you a complete destruction. And then, when you people say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all of these things to us?’ Then you will say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and have served gods of a foreign land in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that does not belong to you.’
"Declare this in the house of Jacob,
and proclaim it in Judah, saying,
‘Hear this please, O foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes but do not see,
who have ears but do not hear.’
Do you not revere me?" declares Yahweh,
"Do you not tremble before me?
For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,
as an everlasting limit, and it cannot pass over it,
and they rise and fall loudly, but they cannot prevail,
and its waves roar, but they cannot pass over it.
But for this people is a stubborn and rebellious heart,
they have turned aside and have gone away.
And they do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear please Yahweh our God,
the one who gives the autumn rain and the spring rain in its season,
the set times of the harvest he keeps for us.’
Your iniquities have disturbed these,
and your sins have kept away the good from you.
For wicked people are found among my people,
they lie in wait like the hiding of fowlers,
they set up a trap,
they catch humans.
Like a cage full of birds,
so their houses are full of fraud.
Therefore they have become great,
and they have become rich.
They have grown fat,
they have grown sleek,
also, their evil deeds have no limit.
They do not judge with justice,
the legal cause of the orphan,
or allow it to succeed,
and the legal case of the poor,
they do not defend.
Because of these things shall I not punish?" declares Yahweh,
"and on a nation who is like this, shall I not take revenge?
A horrific event and something horrible has happened in the land.
The prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love it so much.
But what will you do when the end comes?
Jeremiah 6
Flee for safety, O children of Benjamin,
from the midst of Jerusalem.
And in Tekoa blow a horn,
and on Beth-haccherem lift up a signal,
for evil looks down from the north,
and a great destruction.
The lovely and the delicate,
the daughter of Jerusalem, I will destroy.
Shepherds and their flocks will come against her,
they will pitch their tents against her all around,
they will pasture, each his portion.
Sanctify war against her.
Arise, and let us attack at noon.
Woe to us, for the day turns,
for the shadows of evening are lengthened.
Arise, and let us attack by night,
and let us destroy her citadel fortresses."
For thus says Yahweh of hosts,
"Cut down trees and heap up a siege ramp against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be punished,
its oppression is in its midst.
As a water well keeps its water cool,
so she keeps cool her wickedness.
Violence and destruction are heard within her,
sickness and wounds are continually before me.
Be warned, O Jerusalem,
lest I turn away from you in disgust,
lest I make you a desolation,
a land that is not inhabited."
Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine,
turn back your hand over the branches like a grape-gatherer.
To whom shall I speak and admonish,
that they may hear?
Look, their ears are closed,
and they are not able to listen attentively.
Look, the word of Yahweh is to them an object of scorn,
they do not delight in it.
But I am full with the wrath of Yahweh,
I struggle to hold it in.
Pour it out on the children in the street,
and on the assemblies of young men at the same time.
For even husband with wife will get trapped,
the old with him who is full of days.
And their houses will be turned over to others,
their fields and their wives together.
For I will stretch out my hand
against the inhabitants of the land," declares Yahweh.
"For from the smallest of them to the greatest of them,
everyone makes profit for unlawful gain.
And from the prophet to the priest,
everyone practices deceit.
And they have treated the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.
Have they acted ashamed, for they have committed a detestable thing?
Not at all, nor were they ashamed; they did not know to feel humiliated.
Therefore they will fall among those who fall at the time I punish them,
they will stumble," says Yahweh.
Thus says Yahweh: "Stand at the roads and look,
and ask for the ancient paths, where the way of the good is,
and walk in it, and find rest for your inner selves.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
And I raised up watchmen over you:
‘Listen attentively to the sound of a horn.’
But they said, ‘We will not listen attentively.’
Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O community,
what will happen to them.
Hear, O earth,
look, I am about to bring disaster to this people,
the fruit of their plans,
because they have not listened attentively to my words,
and my teaching, they have rejected it also.
What is this to me?
Frankincense comes from Sheba,
and the precious spice reed from a distant land.
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
your sacrifices are not pleasing to me."
Therefore thus says Yahweh:
"Look, I am about to put before this people stumbling blocks,
and they will stumble against them,
fathers and children together,
neighbor and his friend will perish."
Thus says Yahweh:
"Look, a people is coming from the land of the north,
a great nation is woken up from the farthest part of the earth.
The bow and the short sword they grasp are cruel,
and they show no mercy.
Their sound roars like the sea, and on horses they ride,
drawn up like a man for battle against you, O daughter of Zion."
We have heard news of it,
our hands grow slack,
anxiety has grasped us,
pain as a woman who gives birth.
You must not go out into the field,
and you must not walk on the road,
for the enemy has a sword,
terror is all around.
O daughter of my people,
gird yourself with sackcloth,
and roll about in the ashes in mourning,
a mourning ceremony as for an only child.
Make for yourself wailing of bitterness,
for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.
"I have made you an assayer among my people, a fortification,
so that you may know and put to the test their ways.
All of them are stubborn rebels,
going about talking slander.
They are bronze and iron,
they are all behaving corruptly.
The bellows are burned up,
lead is consumed by fire.
In vain he keeps on refining,
but the wicked are not torn apart.
They are called rejected silver,
For Yahweh has rejected them."
Jeremiah 7
The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, "Stand in the gate of the house of Yahweh and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, all of Judah, those who enter through these gates to bow in worship to Yahweh. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Make your ways and your deeds good and let me dwell with you in this place. Do not trust in the deceitful words, saying, ‘The temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, they are the temple of Yahweh.’ For if you truly make your ways and your deeds good, if you truly do justice between a man and his neighbor, you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, you do not shed innocent blood in this place, and you do not go after other gods to your harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors forever and ever.
Look, you are relying for yourselves on deceitful words without benefiting. Will you steal? Will you murder? And will you commit adultery? And will you swear falsely? And will you make a smoke offering to the Baal? And will you go after other gods whom you have not known? And then you come and you stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and you say, ‘we are safe to go on doing all of these detestable things.’ Has this house, which is called by my name, become a cave of robbers in your eyes? Look, I, even I, have seen it," declares Yahweh.
"For go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell in the beginning, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because of your doing all these things," declares Yahweh, "and I have spoken to you over and over again, and you have not listened, and I called you, and you have not answered, therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, in which you are trusting, and to the place that I gave to you and to your ancestors what I did to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight just as I cast out all of your blood relatives, all of the offspring of Ephraim."’
"And you, you must not pray for this people, and you must not lift up for them a cry of entreaty or a prayer, and you must not plead with me, for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children are gathering wood, and the fathers are kindling the fire, and the women are kneading dough to make sacrificial cakes for the queen of heaven, and they pour out libations to other gods for the sake of provoking me to anger. Are they provoking me to anger? " declares Yahweh, "Is it not themselves they hurt, for the sake of the shame of their faces?" Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, "Look, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on the humankind, and on the animal, and on the tree of the field, and on the fruit of the ground, and it will not be extinguished."
Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, "Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For I did not speak with your ancestors, nor did I command them in the day of bringing them out from the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offering and sacrifice. But I only commanded them this word, saying, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be to you God, and you will be to me people, and you must walk in all of the way that I command you, so that it goes well with you.’ Yet they did not obey, and they did not incline their ear, but they walked in their own plans, in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and they became worse instead of better. From the day that your ancestors came out from the land of Egypt until this day I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, day after day, sending again and again. Yet they have not listened to me and they have not inclined their ear, but they have hardened their neck, they did more evil than their ancestors. So you shall speak to them all these words, but they will not listen to you, and you shall call to them, but they will not answer you.
"And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the voice of Yahweh their God, and they have not accepted discipline. The truth has perished, and it is cut off from their mouths. Shear your hair and throw it away, and lift up a lament on the barren heights, for Yahweh has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.’ For the people of Judah have done evil in my eyes," declares Yahweh, "They have set their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. And they built the high place of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I have not commanded, and it did not come into my mind. Therefore look, days are about to come," declares Yahweh, "and it will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of the Slaughter, and they will bury in Topheth until there is no more place. And the dead bodies of this people will be as food for the birds of the heavens, and for the animals of the earth, without anyone to scare them away. And I will cause to disappear from the towns of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the sound of jubilation, and the sound of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, for the land will become a site of ruins.
Psalm 75
For the music director, according to Do Not Destroy.
A psalm of Asaph. A song.
We give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks, and your name is near.
Your wonderful deeds are told.
"I will indeed set an appointed time;
I will judge fairly.
The earth and all its inhabitants are shaking;
I steady its columns. Selah
I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast!’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn!
Do not lift up high your horn.
Do not speak with arrogant pride.’"
For it is not from the east or the west
and not from the south that lifting up comes,
rather God is the judge;
one he brings low, and another he lifts up.
For there is a cup in the hand of Yahweh
with wine that foams, fully mixed,
and he pours out from this.
Surely all the wicked of the land
will quaff it down to its dregs.
But as for me, I will proclaim forever;
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
"And all the horns of the wicked I will cut off.
The horns of the righteous will be lifted up."
2 Corinthians 10
Now I, Paul, appeal to you myself by the humility and gentleness of Christ, who when I am present in person am humble among you, but when I am absent am bold toward you— now I ask when I am present that I will not need to be bold with the confidence with which I propose to show boldness toward some who consider us as behaving according to the flesh. For although we are living in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but powerful to God for the tearing down of fortresses, tearing down arguments and all pride that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. And we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is completed.
You are looking at things according to appearance. If anyone is convinced he himself is Christ’s, he should consider this concerning himself again: that just as Christ himself is, so also are we. For even if I boast somewhat more about our authority that the Lord gave us for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame, so that I do not want to appear as if I were terrifying you by my letters, because it is said, "His letters are severe and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech is of no account." Let such a person consider this: that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, we will also be in actions when we are present.
For we do not dare to classify or to compare ourselves with some who commend themselves, but they themselves, when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, do not understand. But we will not boast beyond limits, but according to the measure of the assignment that God has assigned to us as a measure to reach even as far as you. For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we had not reached you, because we have reached even as far as you with the gospel of Christ, not boasting beyond limits in the labors of others, but having hope that as your faith is growing to be enlarged greatly by you according to our assignment, so that we may proclaim the gospel in the regions that lie beyond you, and not boast in the things accomplished in the area assigned to someone else. But "the one who boasts, let him boast in the Lord." For it is not the one commending himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.