Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.
Jeremiah 47
The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza. Thus says Yahweh:
"Look, waters are rising from the north,
and they will become as a raging torrent,
and they will overflow the land,
and that which fills it,
the city and those who live in it.
And the people will cry out,
and every inhabitant of the land will wail,
from the sound of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,
from the clattering of his chariots,
the noise of their wheels.
Fathers do not turn to their children
because of the slackness of their hands.
Because of the day that is coming
to destroy all the Philistines,
to cut off from Tyre and from Sidon
every survivor who could help,
for Yahweh is destroying the Philistines,
the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.
Baldness has come upon Gaza,
Ashkelon is destroyed.
O remnant of their valley,
how long will you cut yourself with a blade?
Ah, sword of Yahweh,
how long will you not be quiet?
Gather to your sheath,
keep quiet and stand still.
How can you be quiet
when Yahweh has given an order to it?
Against Ashkelon and against the shore of the sea,
there he has appointed it."
Jeremiah 48
Concerning Moab, thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel:
"Woe to Nebo,
for it is devastated.
It is ashamed,
Kiriathaim is captured.
Misgab is ashamed,
and it is filled with terror.
The glory of Moab is no longer.
In Heshbon they planned evil against her.
Come and let us cut her off from being a nation.
Also, Madmen, you will be silent.
After you will go the sword.
The sound of a cry of distress arises from Horonaim,
devastation and great destruction.
Moab is broken,
her little ones make heard a cry for help.
For the ascent of Luhith,
in weeping they go weeping,
For on the slope of Horonaim they have heard
the distresses of the cry of distress of the destruction.
Flee! Save your life!
For you must not be like the juniper tree in the desert.
For because of your trusting in your works and in your treasures,
even you yourselves will be taken,
and Chemosh will go out into the exile,
his priests and his officials together.
And the destroyer will come to every town,
and a town will not escape.
And the valley will be destroyed,
and the plain will be destroyed, as Yahweh has spoken.
Give salt for Moab,
for certainly she will go to ruin,
and her towns will become as a desolation,
without an inhabitant in them.
The one who does the work of Yahweh with slackness is cursed,
and the one who keeps away blood from his sword is cursed.
Moab has been at ease from his youth,
and he has been quiet on his dregs,
and he has not been poured out from vessel to vessel,
and he has not gone into exile.
Therefore his taste has remained unchanged,
and his fragrance has not changed.
Therefore look, days are coming," declares Yahweh,
"and I will send to him decanters,
and they will decant him,
and his vessels they will empty out,
and their jars they will smash.
Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
just as the house of Israel were ashamed of Bethel, their trust.
How can you say, ‘we are warriors,
and men of might for the battle.’
Moab is destroyed,
and his towns have gone up,
and the choice of his young men have gone down to the slaughtering,"
declares the King, Yahweh of hosts is his name.
"The disaster of Moab is near to come,
and his disaster approaches very quickly.
Mourn for him, all his surroundings,
and all those who knew his name.
Say, ‘How the staff of might is broken,
the staff of glory.’
Come down from glory and sit on the parched ground,
O inhabitant, daughter of Dibon,
for the destroyer of Moab has come up against you,
he has destroyed your fortifications.
Stand by the road and watch,
O inhabitant of Aroer.
Ask the man who is fleeing and the woman who is escaping,
say, ‘What has happened?’
Moab is ashamed,
for it is filled with terror.
Wail and cry out,
tell it by Arnon that Moab is devastated.
Judgment has also come to the land of the plain, to Holon, and to Jahaz, and on Mephaath, and on Dibon, and on Nebo, and on Beth-diblathaim, and on Kiriathaim, and on Beth-gamul, and on Beth-meon, and on Kerioth, and on Bozrah, and on all the towns of the land of Moab, the far and the near. The horn of Moab is cut off and his arm is broken," declares Yahweh.
"Make him drunk,
because he magnified himself against Yahweh,
and let Moab wallow in his vomit.
And he also will become a laughingstock.
Now was not Israel the laughingstock to you?
Or was he found among thieves?
For as often as you spoke over him
you shook your head.
Leave the towns and dwell on the rock,
O inhabitants of Moab,
and be like the dove,
it nests on the sides of the mouth of a ravine.
We have heard of the pride of Moab
—he is very proud—
his height, and his pride, and his arrogance,
and the haughtiness of his heart.
I know his insolence," declares Yahweh,
"and his boastings are false;
they act falsely.
Therefore over Moab I wail,
and for all of Moab I cry out,
for the people of Kir-heres I moan.
More than the weeping of Jazer
I weep for you, O vine Sibmah.
Your branches cross over the sea,
up to the sea of Jazer they reach.
Upon your summer fruit and upon your vintage
the destroyer has fallen.
And joy and rejoicing have been taken away from the fruitful land,
even from the land of Moab.
And the wine from the wine presses
I have caused to disappear.
He will not tread with exuberant shouts.
Exuberant shouts will not be exuberant shouts.
From the cry for help of Heshbon, up to Elealeh,
up to Jahaz, they give their voice,
from Zoar up to Horonaim, up to Eglath-shelishiyah,
for even the waters of Nimrim have become as a desolation.
And I will cause to disappear for Moab," declares Yahweh,
"the one who presents a sacrifice at a high place,
and the one who burns a smoke offering to his gods.
Therefore my heart moans for Moab like the flute.
It moans for the people of Kir-heres like the flute.
Therefore the wealth they gained has perished.
For on every head is baldness,
and every beard is trimmed.
On all the hands, slashes,
and on the loins, sackcloth.
On all the roofs of Moab, and in its public squares,
there is wailing everywhere.
For I have broken Moab like a vessel,
there is no delight in it," declares Yahweh.
"How it is filled with terror! How they wail!
How Moab has turned his back! He is disgraced!
So Moab has become as a derision,
and as a terror for all his surrounding peoples."
For thus says Yahweh,
"Look, like an eagle he will swoop down,
and he will spread out his wings against Moab.
Kerioth will be taken,
and the strongholds will be conquered,
and the hearts of the warriors of Moab will be on that day
like the heart of a woman who is in labor.
And Moab will be destroyed from being a people,
because against Yahweh he magnified himself.
Dread, and pit, and a trapping net are against you,
O inhabitant of Moab," declares Yahweh.
"He who flees before the dread
will fall into the pit,
and the one who climbs up from the pit
will be caught in the trapping net,
for I will bring on Moab
the year of their punishment," declares Yahweh.
"In the shadow of Heshbon
fugitives stand without strength,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
and a flame from Sihon.
And it has eaten the forehead of Moab,
and the skulls of the people of tumult.
Woe to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh have perished.
For your sons have been taken into captivity,
and your daughters into captivity.
Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the last of the days," declares Yahweh.
Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
Jeremiah 49
Concerning the Ammonites: Thus says Yahweh,
"Are there no sons for Israel?
Or is there no heir for him?
Why has Milcom taken possession of Gad,
and his people dwelled in its towns?
Therefore look, days are coming," declares Yahweh,
"and I will sound against Rabbah, the Ammonites,
the alarm of the war,
and it will become as a mound of desolation,
and its daughters will burn in the fire.
Then Israel will dispossess his dispossessors," says Yahweh.
"Wail, Heshbon, for Ai is devastated.
Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah, put on sackcloth.
Lament and run back and forth among the walls.
For Milcom will go into exile,
his priests and his officials together.
Why do you boast in your valleys?
Your valleys are ebbing.
O unfaithful daughter, who trusted in her treasures,
who said, ‘Who will come against me?’
Look, I am going to bring dread on you,"
declares Lord Yahweh of hosts,
"from all your surrounding neighbors.
And you will be scattered,
each one before it,
and there is no one who gathers the fugitives.
Yet afterward I will restore
the fortunes of the Ammonites," declares Yahweh.
Concerning Edom, thus says Yahweh of hosts:
"Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?
Has counsel become lost from those who understand?
Is their wisdom rotting?
Flee! Turn back! Get down low!
O inhabitants of Dedan.
For I will bring upon him the disaster of Esau
at the time when I will punish him.
If grape-gatherers come to you,
would they not leave gleanings?
If thieves in the night,
they destroy only enough for them.
But I have stripped Esau bare.
I have uncovered his hiding places,
and he is not able to hide himself.
His offspring are devastated, along with his brothers,
and his neighbors, and he is no more.
Leave your orphans. I will let them live.
And your widows, let them trust in me."
For thus says Yahweh, "Look, those who are not condemned to drink the cup must certainly drink it. And are you the one who will go entirely unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for you must certainly drink it. For I have sworn by myself," declares Yahweh, "that Bozrah will become as a horror, as a disgrace, as a waste, and as a curse. And all her towns will be everlasting sites of ruins."
I have heard a message from Yahweh,
and a messenger has been sent among the nations.
"Gather and come against her,
and rise for the battle."
"For look, I will make you small among the nations,
despised by the humankind.
Your terror has deceived you,
the pride of your heart,
O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock,
you who seize the height of the hill.
Though you make your nest high like the eagle,
from there I will bring you down," declares Yahweh.
"And Edom will become as a horror,
everyone who passes by it will be appalled,
and will hiss because of all its blows.
As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighbors," says Yahweh,
"no one will live there,
and the son of humankind will not dwell as an alien in it.
Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets of the Jordan
to a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream.
So I will chase him away hurriedly from it.
And whoever is chosen I will appoint over it.
For who is like me, and who can summon me?
And who is this, the shepherd who can stand before me?"
Therefore hear the plan of Yahweh that he has planned against Edom,
and his plans that he has planned against the inhabitants of Teman.
Surely they will drag them away,
the little ones of the flock.
Surely he will cause to be desolated over them
their grazing place.
The earth will quake from the sound of their falling.
A cry of distress! Their voice will be heard at the Red Sea.
Look, like an eagle he will go up and he will swoop down,
and he will spread out his wings against Bozrah.
And the heart of the warriors of Edom will be in that day
like the heart of a woman who is in labor.
Concerning Damascus:
"Hamath and Arpad are ashamed,
for they have heard bad news;
they melt.
There is concern in the sea.
It is not able to keep quiet.
Damascus has grown slack.
She has turned away to flee and panic.
Anxiety has seized her,
and labor pains have grasped her,
like a woman in labor.
How the city of praise has not been abandoned!
The city of my joy!
Therefore her young men will fall in her public squares,
and all the soldiers will perish in that day," declares Yahweh of hosts.
"And I will kindle a fire at the wall of Damascus,
and it will devour the citadel fortresses of Ben-hadad."
Concerning Kedar and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon defeated. Thus says Yahweh:
"Rise up, go up against Kedar
and destroy the people of the east.
They will take their tents, and their flocks,
their tent curtains, and all their equipment,
and their camels they will carry away for themselves,
and they will call to them, ‘Terror is from all around.’
Flee! Wander far away! Get down low!
O inhabitants of Hazor," declares Yahweh.
"For Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, has planned a plan against you.
And he has schemed a scheme against you.
Rise up, go up against a nation which is at ease,
living securely," declares Yahweh.
"There are no gates and there are no bars for them,
they dwell alone.
And their camels will become as plunder,
and the multitude of their livestock as spoil.
And I will scatter to every wind those who are trimmed to the side,
and from every side I will bring their disaster," declares Yahweh.
"And Hazor will become as a lair of jackals,
a waste forever;
no one will live there,
and no son of humankind will dwell as an alien in it."
The word of Yahweh that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah the king of Judah, saying, "Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
‘Look, I am going to break the bow of Elam,
the first and best of their might.
And I will bring to Elam four winds,
from the four corners of heaven,
and I will scatter them to all these winds,
and there will not be a nation
where the scattered people of Elam will not go.
So I will shatter Elam before their enemies,
and before the seekers of their life.
And I will bring disaster upon them,
my burning anger,’ declares Yahweh.
‘And I will send after them the sword
until I have destroyed them.
And I will set my throne in Elam
and I will destroy from there king and officials,’ declares Yahweh.
‘And then in the last of the days
I will restore the fortunes of Elam,’ declares Yahweh."
Psalm 80
For the music director, according to The Lilies.
A testimony. Of Asaph. A psalm.
Give ear, O shepherd of Israel,
who leads Joseph like a flock.
Shine forth, you who sits enthroned above the cherubim.
Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
stir up your power
and come for our salvation.
O God, restore us,
and cause your face to shine that we may be saved.
O Yahweh God of hosts,
how long will you be angry
against the prayer of your people?
You have fed them the bread of tears;
you have given them tears to drink in full measure.
You have made us an object of strife to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock among themselves.
O God of hosts, restore us
and cause your face to shine that we may be saved.
You uprooted a vine from Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
You prepared a place before it,
and it took deep root and filled the land.
The mountains were covered with its shade,
and the mighty cedars with its boughs.
It spread its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the river.
Why have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass on the road pluck fruit from it?
Swine from the forests devour it
and creatures of the field feed on it.
Please return, O God of hosts.
Observe from heaven and see,
and pay attention to this vine,
eventhe stalk that your right hand planted,
and concerning the shoot you strengthened for yourself.
It is burned with fire, cut down.
They perish at the rebuke of your face.
Let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
on the son of humankind whom you made strong for yourself.
Then we will not turn back from you.
Restore us to life, and we will proclaim your name.
O Yahweh God of hosts, restore us;
cause your face to shine that we may be saved.
2 Peter 2
But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you also, who will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, thus bringing on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their licentious ways, because of whom the way of truth will be reviled. And in greediness they will exploit you with false words, whose condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but held them captive in Tartarus with chains of darkness and handed them over to be kept for judgment, and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a proclaimer of righteousness, and seven others when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly, and condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes, having appointed them as an example for those who are going to be ungodly, and rescued righteous Lot, worn down by the way of life of lawless persons in licentiousness (for that righteous man, as he lived among them day after day, was tormenting his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he was seeing and hearing), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to reserve the unrighteous to be punished at the day of judgment, and especially those who go after the flesh in defiling lust and who despise authority.
Bold and arrogant, they do not tremble in awe as they blaspheme majestic beings, whereas angels, who are greater in strength and power, do not bring against them a demeaning judgment. But these persons, like irrational animals born only with natural instincts for capture and killing, blaspheming about things they do not understand, in their destruction will also be destroyed, being harmed as the wages of unrighteousness. Considering reveling in the daytime a pleasure, they are stains and blemishes, carousing in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you, having eyes full of desire for an adulteress and unceasing from sin, enticing unstable persons, and having hearts trained for greediness. Accursed children! By leaving the straight path, they have gone astray, because they followed the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but received a rebuke for his own lawlessness: a speechless donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the prophet’s madness.
These people are waterless springs and mists driven by a hurricane, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved. For by speaking high-sounding but empty words, they entice with desires of the flesh and with licentiousness those who are scarcely escaping from those who live in error, promising them freedom although they themselves are slaves of depravity. For to whatever someone succumbs, by this he is also enslaved. For if, after they have escaped from the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and they are again entangled in these things and succumb to them, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. The statement of the true proverb has happened to them, "A dog returns to its own vomit," and "A sow, after washing herself, returns to wallowing in the mud."