Rivertown United Reformed Church

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

This reading plan is from The One Year Bible ©1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991 Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. The One Year® is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

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

This reading plan is from The One Year Bible ©1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991 Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. The One Year® is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Jeremiah 6:15-8:7 (Listen)

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 those who fall;
  at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,”
says the LORD.

Thus says the LORD:
“Stand by the roads, and look,
  and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it,
  and find rest for your souls.
But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
I set watchmen over you, saying,
  ‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’
But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’
Therefore hear, O nations,
  and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people,
  the fruit of their devices,
because they have not paid attention to my words;
  and as for my law, they have rejected it.
What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba,
  or sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
  nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
Therefore thus says the LORD:
‘Behold, I will lay before this people
  stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
fathers and sons together,
  neighbor and friend shall perish.’”

Thus says the LORD:
“Behold, a people is coming from the north country,
  a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
They lay hold on bow and javelin;
  they are cruel and have no mercy;
  the sound of them is like the roaring sea;
they ride on horses,
  set in array as a man for battle,
  against you, O daughter of Zion!”
We have heard the report of it;
  our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
  pain as of a woman in labor.
Go not out into the field,
  nor walk on the road,
for the enemy has a sword;
  terror is on every side.
O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth,
  and roll in ashes;
make mourning as for an only son,
  most bitter lamentation,
for suddenly the destroyer
  will come upon us.

“I have made you a tester of metals among my people,
  that you may know and test their ways.
They are all stubbornly rebellious,
  going about with slanders;
they are bronze and iron;
  all of them act corruptly.
The bellows blow fiercely;
  the lead is consumed by the fire;
in vain the refining goes on,
  for the wicked are not removed.
Rejected silver they are called,
  for the LORD has rejected them.”

Evil in the Land

7:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the LORD. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’

“For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD. Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.

“As for you, do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. Is it I whom they provoke? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves, to their own shame? Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.”

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’ But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward. From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.

“So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.

“‘Cut off your hair and cast it away;
  raise a lamentation on the bare heights,
for the LORD has rejected and forsaken
  the generation of his wrath.’

The Valley of Slaughter

“For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the LORD. They have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away. And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste.

8:1 “At that time, declares the LORD, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs. And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, declares the LORD of hosts.

Sin and Treachery

“You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD:
When men fall, do they not rise again?
  If one turns away, does he not return?
Why then has this people turned away
  in perpetual backsliding?
They hold fast to deceit;
  they refuse to return.
I have paid attention and listened,
  but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
  saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
  like a horse plunging headlong into battle.
Even the stork in the heavens
  knows her times,
and the turtledove, swallow, and crane
  keep the time of their coming,
but my people know not
  the rules of the LORD.

Colossians 2:8-23 (Listen)

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Let No One Disqualify You

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Psalm 78:1-31 (Listen) Tell the Coming Generation A Maskil of Asaph.

78:1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
  incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable;
  I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known,
  that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
  but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
  and the wonders that he has done.

He established a testimony in Jacob
  and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
  to teach to their children,
that the next generation might know them,
  the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
  so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
  but keep his commandments;
and that they should not be like their fathers,
  a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
  whose spirit was not faithful to God.

The Ephraimites, armed with the bow,
  turned back on the day of battle.
They did not keep God's covenant,
  but refused to walk according to his law.
They forgot his works
  and the wonders that he had shown them.
In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders
  in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
  and made the waters stand like a heap.
In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
  and all the night with a fiery light.
He split rocks in the wilderness
  and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
He made streams come out of the rock
  and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

Yet they sinned still more against him,
  rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
They tested God in their heart
  by demanding the food they craved.
They spoke against God, saying,
  “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
He struck the rock so that water gushed out
  and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
  or provide meat for his people?”

Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of wrath;
  a fire was kindled against Jacob;
  his anger rose against Israel,
because they did not believe in God
  and did not trust his saving power.
Yet he commanded the skies above
  and opened the doors of heaven,
and he rained down on them manna to eat
  and gave them the grain of heaven.
Man ate of the bread of the angels;
  he sent them food in abundance.
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
  and by his power he led out the south wind;
he rained meat on them like dust,
  winged birds like the sand of the seas;
he let them fall in the midst of their camp,
  all around their dwellings.
And they ate and were well filled,
  for he gave them what they craved.
But before they had satisfied their craving,
  while the food was still in their mouths,
the anger of God rose against them,
  and he killed the strongest of them
  and laid low the young men of Israel.

Proverbs 24:26 (Listen)

Whoever gives an honest answer
  kisses the lips. (ESV)

Footnotes

[1] 8:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain
[2] 8:7 Or just decrees
[3] 2:8 Or elementary principles; also verse 20
[4] 2:15 Probably demonic rulers and authorities
[5] 2:15 Or in it (that is, the cross)
[6] 2:18 Or about the things he has seen
[7] 78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
[8] 78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting

This reading plan is from The One Year Bible ©1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991 Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. The One Year® is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Jeremiah 4:19-6:14 (Listen) Anguish over Judah's Desolation

My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
  Oh the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
  I cannot keep silent,
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
  the alarm of war.
Crash follows hard on crash;
  the whole land is laid waste.
Suddenly my tents are laid waste,
  my curtains in a moment.
How long must I see the standard
  and hear the sound of the trumpet?

“For my people are foolish;
  they know me not;
they are stupid children;
  they have no understanding.
They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!
  But how to do good they know not.”

I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void;
  and to the heavens, and they had no light.
I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
  and all the hills moved to and fro.
I looked, and behold, there was no man,
  and all the birds of the air had fled.
I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert,
  and all its cities were laid in ruins
  before the LORD, before his fierce anger.

For thus says the LORD, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.

“For this the earth shall mourn,
  and the heavens above be dark;
for I have spoken; I have purposed;
  I have not relented, nor will I turn back.”

At the noise of horseman and archer
  every city takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
  all the cities are forsaken,
  and no man dwells in them.
And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
  that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
  that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
  Your lovers despise you;
  they seek your life.
For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor,
  anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,
the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
  stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”

Jerusalem Refused to Repent

5:1 Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
  look and take note!
Search her squares to see
  if you can find a man,
one who does justice
  and seeks truth,
that I may pardon her.
Though they say, “As the LORD lives,”
  yet they swear falsely.
O LORD, do not your eyes look for truth?
You have struck them down,
  but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
  but they refused to take correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
  they have refused to repent.

Then I said, “These are only the poor;
  they have no sense;
for they do not know the way of the LORD,
  the justice of their God.
I will go to the great
  and will speak to them,
for they know the way of the LORD,
  the justice of their God.”
But they all alike had broken the yoke;
  they had burst the bonds.

Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them down;
  a wolf from the desert shall devastate them.
A leopard is watching their cities;
  everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many,
  their apostasies are great.

“How can I pardon you?
  Your children have forsaken me
  and have sworn by those who are no gods.
When I fed them to the full,
  they committed adultery
  and trooped to the houses of whores.
They were well-fed, lusty stallions,
  each neighing for his neighbor's wife.
Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the LORD;
  and shall I not avenge myself
  on a nation such as this?

“Go up through her vine rows and destroy,
  but make not a full end;
strip away her branches,
  for they are not the LORD's.
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
  have been utterly treacherous to me,
declares the LORD.
They have spoken falsely of the LORD
  and have said, ‘He will do nothing;
no disaster will come upon us,
  nor shall we see sword or famine.
The prophets will become wind;
  the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them!’”

The LORD Proclaims Judgment

Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts:
“Because you have spoken this word,
behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire,
  and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.
Behold, I am bringing against you
  a nation from afar, O house of Israel,
declares the LORD.
It is an enduring nation;
  it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know,
  nor can you understand what they say.
Their quiver is like an open tomb;
  they are all mighty warriors.
They shall eat up your harvest and your food;
  they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;
they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;
  they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
your fortified cities in which you trust
  they shall beat down with the sword.”

“But even in those days, declares the LORD, I will not make a full end of you. And when your people say, ‘Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’”

Declare this in the house of Jacob;
  proclaim it in Judah:
“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
  who have eyes, but see not,
  who have ears, but hear not.
Do you not fear me? declares the LORD.
  Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea,
  a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;
  though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
  they have turned aside and gone away.
They do not say in their hearts,
  ‘Let us fear the LORD our God,
who gives the rain in its season,
  the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
  the weeks appointed for the harvest.’
Your iniquities have turned these away,
  and your sins have kept good from you.
For wicked men are found among my people;
  they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.
They set a trap;
  they catch men.
Like a cage full of birds,
  their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
  they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
  they judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
  and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the LORD,
  and shall I not avenge myself
  on a nation such as this?”

An appalling and horrible thing
  has happened in the land:
the prophets prophesy falsely,
  and the priests rule at their direction;
my people love to have it so,
  but what will you do when the end comes?

Impending Disaster for Jerusalem

6:1 Flee for safety, O people of Benjamin,
  from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,
  and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem,
for disaster looms out of the north,
  and great destruction.
The lovely and delicately bred I will destroy,
  the daughter of Zion.
Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her;
  they shall pitch their tents around her;
  they shall pasture, each in his place.
“Prepare war against her;
  arise, and let us attack at noon!
Woe to us, for the day declines,
  for the shadows of evening lengthen!
Arise, and let us attack by night
  and destroy her palaces!”

For thus says the LORD of hosts:
“Cut down her trees;
  cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be punished;
  there is nothing but oppression within her.
As a well keeps its water fresh,
  so she keeps fresh her evil;
violence and destruction are heard within her;
  sickness and wounds are ever before me.
Be warned, O Jerusalem,
  lest I turn from you in disgust,
lest I make you a desolation,
  an uninhabited land.”

Thus says the LORD of hosts:
“They shall glean thoroughly as a vine
  the remnant of Israel;
like a grape-gatherer pass your hand again
  over its branches.”
To whom shall I speak and give warning,
  that they may hear?
Behold, their ears are uncircumcised,
  they cannot listen;
behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn;
  they take no pleasure in it.
Therefore I am full of the wrath of the LORD;
  I am weary of holding it in.
“Pour it out upon the children in the street,
  and upon the gatherings of young men, also;
both husband and wife shall be taken,
  the elderly and the very aged.
Their houses shall be turned over to others,
  their fields and wives together,
for I will stretch out my hand
  against the inhabitants of the land,”
declares the LORD.
“For from the least to the greatest of them,
  everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
  everyone deals falsely.
They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
  saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
  when there is no peace.

Colossians 1:21-2:7 (Listen)

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Paul's Ministry to the Church

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

Alive in Christ

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Psalm 77 (Listen) In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

77:1 I cry aloud to God,
  aloud to God, and he will hear me.
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
  in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
  my soul refuses to be comforted.
When I remember God, I moan;
  when I meditate, my spirit faints.     Selah

You hold my eyelids open;
  I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
I consider the days of old,
  the years long ago.
I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;
  let me meditate in my heart.”
  Then my spirit made a diligent search:
“Will the Lord spurn forever,
  and never again be favorable?
Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
  Are his promises at an end for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
  Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”     Selah

Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
  to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
  yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,
  and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
  What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
  you have made known your might among the peoples.
You with your arm redeemed your people,
  the children of Jacob and Joseph.     Selah

When the waters saw you, O God,
  when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
  indeed, the deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
  the skies gave forth thunder;
  your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
  your lightnings lighted up the world;
  the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
  your path through the great waters;
  yet your footprints were unseen.
You led your people like a flock
  by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Proverbs 24:23-25 (Listen) More Sayings of the Wise

These also are sayings of the wise.

Partiality in judging is not good.
Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,”
  will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,
but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,
  and a good blessing will come upon them. (ESV)

Footnotes

[1] 5:26 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
[2] 6:2 Or I have likened the daughter of Zion to the loveliest pasture
[3] 1:23 Or to every creature
[4] 77:6 Hebrew lacks I said
[5] 77:10 Or This is my grief: that the right hand of the Most High has changed
[6] 77:19 Hebrew unknown

This reading plan is from The One Year Bible ©1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991 Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. The One Year® is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Jeremiah 2:31-4:18 (Listen)

And you, O generation, behold the word of the LORD.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
  or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, ‘We are free,
  we will come no more to you’?
Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
  or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me
  days without number.

“How well you direct your course
  to seek love!
So that even to wicked women
  you have taught your ways.
Also on your skirts is found
  the lifeblood of the guiltless poor;
you did not find them breaking in.
  Yet in spite of all these things
you say, ‘I am innocent;
  surely his anger has turned from me.’
Behold, I will bring you to judgment
  for saying, ‘I have not sinned.’
How much you go about,
  changing your way!
You shall be put to shame by Egypt
  as you were put to shame by Assyria.
From it too you will come away
  with your hands on your head,
for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust,
  and you will not prosper by them.

3:1 “If a man divorces his wife
  and she goes from him
and becomes another man's wife,
  will he return to her?
Would not that land be greatly polluted?
You have played the whore with many lovers;
  and would you return to me?
declares the LORD.
Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see!
  Where have you not been ravished?
By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers
  like an Arab in the wilderness.
You have polluted the land
  with your vile whoredom.
Therefore the showers have been withheld,
  and the spring rain has not come;
yet you have the forehead of a whore;
  you refuse to be ashamed.
Have you not just now called to me,
  ‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—
will he be angry forever,
  will he be indignant to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken,
  but you have done all the evil that you could.”

Faithless Israel Called to Repentance

The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore. Because she took her whoredom lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD.”

And the LORD said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,

“‘Return, faithless Israel,
declares the LORD.
I will not look on you in anger,
  for I am merciful,
declares the LORD;
I will not be angry forever.
Only acknowledge your guilt,
  that you rebelled against the LORD your God
and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree,
  and that you have not obeyed my voice,
declares the LORD.
Return, O faithless children,
declares the LORD;
  for I am your master;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
  and I will bring you to Zion.

“‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, declares the LORD, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again. At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the LORD, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the LORD in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.

“‘I said,
  How I would set you among my sons,
and give you a pleasant land,
  a heritage most beautiful of all nations.
And I thought you would call me, My Father,
  and would not turn from following me.
Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband,
  so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel,
declares the LORD.’”

A voice on the bare heights is heard,
  the weeping and pleading of Israel's sons
because they have perverted their way;
  they have forgotten the LORD their God.
“Return, O faithless sons;
  I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to you,
  for you are the LORD our God.
Truly the hills are a delusion,
  the orgies on the mountains.
Truly in the LORD our God
  is the salvation of Israel.

“But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us. For we have sinned against the LORD our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”

4:1 “If you return, O Israel,
declares the LORD,
  to me you should return.
If you remove your detestable things from my presence,
  and do not waver,
and if you swear, ‘As the LORD lives,’
  in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then nations shall bless themselves in him,
  and in him shall they glory.”

For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

“Break up your fallow ground,
  and sow not among thorns.
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD;
  remove the foreskin of your hearts,
  O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
lest my wrath go forth like fire,
  and burn with none to quench it,
  because of the evil of your deeds.”

Disaster from the North

Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,

“Blow the trumpet through the land;
  cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble, and let us go
  into the fortified cities!’
Raise a standard toward Zion,
  flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring disaster from the north,
  and great destruction.
A lion has gone up from his thicket,
  a destroyer of nations has set out;
  he has gone out from his place
to make your land a waste;
  your cities will be ruins
  without inhabitant.
For this put on sackcloth,
  lament and wail,
for the fierce anger of the LORD
  has not turned back from us.”

“In that day, declares the LORD, courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”

At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them.”

Behold, he comes up like clouds;
  his chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are swifter than eagles—
  woe to us, for we are ruined!
O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil,
  that you may be saved.
How long shall your wicked thoughts
  lodge within you?
For a voice declares from Dan
  and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim.
Warn the nations that he is coming;
  announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come from a distant land;
  they shout against the cities of Judah.
Like keepers of a field are they against her all around,
  because she has rebelled against me,
declares the LORD.
Your ways and your deeds
  have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and it is bitter;
  it has reached your very heart.”

Colossians 1:1-20 (Listen) Greeting

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Preeminence of Christ

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Psalm 76 (Listen) Who Can Stand Before You? To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

76:1 In Judah God is known;
  his name is great in Israel.
His abode has been established in Salem,
  his dwelling place in Zion.
There he broke the flashing arrows,
  the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.     Selah

Glorious are you, more majestic
  than the mountains of prey.
The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;
  they sank into sleep;
all the men of war
  were unable to use their hands.
At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
  both rider and horse lay stunned.

But you, you are to be feared!
  Who can stand before you
  when once your anger is roused?
From the heavens you uttered judgment;
  the earth feared and was still,
when God arose to establish judgment,
  to save all the humble of the earth.     Selah

Surely the wrath of man shall praise you;
  the remnant of wrath you will put on like a belt.
Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them;
  let all around him bring gifts
  to him who is to be feared,
who cuts off the spirit of princes,
  who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

Proverbs 24:21-22 (Listen)

My son, fear the LORD and the king,
  and do not join with those who do otherwise,
for disaster will arise suddenly from them,
  and who knows the ruin that will come from them both? (ESV)

Footnotes

[1] 3:1 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew Saying, “If
[2] 3:23 Hebrew commotion
[3] 1:2 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
[4] 1:7 Greek fellow bondservant
[5] 1:7 Some manuscripts our
[6] 1:12 Or patience, with joy giving thanks
[7] 1:12 Some manuscripts us
[8] 1:16 That is, by means of; or in
[9] 76:10 Or extremity

This reading plan is from The One Year Bible ©1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991 Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. The One Year® is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Jeremiah 1:1-2:30 (Listen)

1:1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

The Call of Jeremiah

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the LORD said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the LORD.”

Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me,

“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.” Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” Then the LORD said to me, “Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.”

Israel Forsakes the LORD

2:1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD,

“I remember the devotion of your youth,
  your love as a bride,
how you followed me in the wilderness,
  in a land not sown.
Israel was holy to the LORD,
  the firstfruits of his harvest.
All who ate of it incurred guilt;
  disaster came upon them,
declares the LORD.”

Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. Thus says the LORD:

“What wrong did your fathers find in me
  that they went far from me,
and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?
They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD
  who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us in the wilderness,
  in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
  in a land that none passes through,
  where no man dwells?’
And I brought you into a plentiful land
  to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in, you defiled my land
  and made my heritage an abomination.
The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’
  Those who handle the law did not know me;
the shepherds transgressed against me;
  the prophets prophesied by Baal
  and went after things that do not profit.

“Therefore I still contend with you,
declares the LORD,
  and with your children's children I will contend.
For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see,
  or send to Kedar and examine with care;
  see if there has been such a thing.
Has a nation changed its gods,
  even though they are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory
  for that which does not profit.
Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
  be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the LORD,
for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
  the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
  broken cisterns that can hold no water.

“Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?
  Why then has he become a prey?
The lions have roared against him;
  they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste;
  his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.
Moreover, the men of Memphis and Tahpanhes
  have shaved the crown of your head.
Have you not brought this upon yourself
  by forsaking the LORD your God,
  when he led you in the way?
And now what do you gain by going to Egypt
  to drink the waters of the Nile?
Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
  to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
Your evil will chastise you,
  and your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and bitter
  for you to forsake the LORD your God;
  the fear of me is not in you,
declares the Lord GOD of hosts.

“For long ago I broke your yoke
  and burst your bonds;
  but you said, ‘I will not serve.’
Yes, on every high hill
  and under every green tree
  you bowed down like a whore.
Yet I planted you a choice vine,
  wholly of pure seed.
How then have you turned degenerate
  and become a wild vine?
Though you wash yourself with lye
  and use much soap,
  the stain of your guilt is still before me,
declares the Lord GOD.
How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
  I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way in the valley;
  know what you have done—
a restless young camel running here and there,
  a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
  Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her need weary themselves;
  in her month they will find her.
Keep your feet from going unshod
  and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
  for I have loved foreigners,
  and after them I will go.’

“As a thief is shamed when caught,
  so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
they, their kings, their officials,
  their priests, and their prophets,
who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
  and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to me,
  and not their face.
But in the time of their trouble they say,
  ‘Arise and save us!’
But where are your gods
  that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you,
  in your time of trouble;
for as many as your cities
  are your gods, O Judah.

“Why do you contend with me?
  You have all transgressed against me,
declares the LORD.
In vain have I struck your children;
  they took no correction;
your own sword devoured your prophets
  like a ravening lion.

Philippians 4 (Listen)

4:1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

Exhortation, Encouragement, and Prayer

I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

God's Provision

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Psalm 75 (Listen) God Will Judge with Equity To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

75:1 We give thanks to you, O God;
  we give thanks, for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.

“At the set time that I appoint
  I will judge with equity.
When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,
  it is I who keep steady its pillars.     Selah
I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
  and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;
do not lift up your horn on high,
  or speak with haughty neck.’”

For not from the east or from the west
  and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
but it is God who executes judgment,
  putting down one and lifting up another.
For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup
  with foaming wine, well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
  and all the wicked of the earth
  shall drain it down to the dregs.

But I will declare it forever;
  I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
  but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

Proverbs 24:17-20 (Listen)

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
  and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
lest the LORD see it and be displeased,
  and turn away his anger from him.

Fret not yourself because of evildoers,
  and be not envious of the wicked,
for the evil man has no future;
  the lamp of the wicked will be put out. (ESV)

Footnotes

[1] 1:11 Almond sounds like the Hebrew for watching (compare verse 12)
[2] 1:14 The Hebrew word can mean evil, harm, or disaster, depending on the context; so throughout Jeremiah
[3] 1:17 Hebrew gird up your loins
[4] 2:8 Or rulers
[5] 2:16 Hebrew grazed
[6] 4:1 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 8, 21
[7] 4:3 Or loyal Syzygus; Greek true yokefellow
[8] 4:14 Or have fellowship in
[9] 4:17 Or I seek the profit that accrues to your account
[10] 75:1 Hebrew They

This reading plan is from The One Year Bible ©1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991 Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. The One Year® is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Isaiah 66 (Listen) The Humble and Contrite in Spirit

66:1 Thus says the LORD:
“Heaven is my throne,
  and the earth is my footstool;
what is the house that you would build for me,
  and what is the place of my rest?
All these things my hand has made,
  and so all these things came to be,
declares the LORD.
But this is the one to whom I will look:
  he who is humble and contrite in spirit
  and trembles at my word.

“He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;
  he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck;
he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig's blood;
  he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.
These have chosen their own ways,
  and their soul delights in their abominations;
I also will choose harsh treatment for them
  and bring their fears upon them,
because when I called, no one answered,
  when I spoke, they did not listen;
but they did what was evil in my eyes
  and chose that in which I did not delight.”

Hear the word of the LORD,
  you who tremble at his word:
“Your brothers who hate you
  and cast you out for my name's sake
have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified,
  that we may see your joy’;
  but it is they who shall be put to shame.

“The sound of an uproar from the city!
  A sound from the temple!
The sound of the LORD,
  rendering recompense to his enemies!

Rejoice with Jerusalem

“Before she was in labor
  she gave birth;
before her pain came upon her
  she delivered a son.
Who has heard such a thing?
  Who has seen such things?
Shall a land be born in one day?
  Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?
For as soon as Zion was in labor
  she brought forth her children.
Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”
  says the LORD;
“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”
  says your God.

“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
  all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
  all you who mourn over her;
that you may nurse and be satisfied
  from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
  from her glorious abundance.”

For thus says the LORD:
“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
  and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,
  and bounced upon her knees.
As one whom his mother comforts,
  so I will comfort you;
  you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
  your bones shall flourish like the grass;
and the hand of the LORD shall be known to his servants,
  and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.

Final Judgment and Glory of the LORD

“For behold, the LORD will come in fire,
  and his chariots like the whirlwind,
to render his anger in fury,
  and his rebuke with flames of fire.
For by fire will the LORD enter into judgment,
  and by his sword, with all flesh;
  and those slain by the LORD shall be many.

“Those who sanctify and purify themselves to go into the gardens, following one in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and mice, shall come to an end together, declares the LORD.

“For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the LORD. And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.

“For as the new heavens and the new earth
  that I make
shall remain before me, says the LORD,
  so shall your offspring and your name remain.
From new moon to new moon,
  and from Sabbath to Sabbath,
all flesh shall come to worship before me,
declares the LORD.

“And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

Philippians 3:4-21 (Listen)

though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Straining Toward the Goal

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Psalm 74 (Listen) Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause A Maskil of Asaph.

74:1 O God, why do you cast us off forever?
  Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old,
  which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage!
  Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.
Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;
  the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place;
  they set up their own signs for signs.
They were like those who swing axes
  in a forest of trees.
And all its carved wood
  they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
They set your sanctuary on fire;
  they profaned the dwelling place of your name,
  bringing it down to the ground.
They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
  they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

We do not see our signs;
  there is no longer any prophet,
  and there is none among us who knows how long.
How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
  Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
  Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!

Yet God my King is from of old,
  working salvation in the midst of the earth.
You divided the sea by your might;
  you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
  you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
You split open springs and brooks;
  you dried up ever-flowing streams.
Yours is the day, yours also the night;
  you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.
You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
  you have made summer and winter.

Remember this, O LORD, how the enemy scoffs,
  and a foolish people reviles your name.
Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts;
  do not forget the life of your poor forever.

Have regard for the covenant,
  for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame;
  let the poor and needy praise your name.

Arise, O God, defend your cause;
  remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
  the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

Proverbs 24:15-16 (Listen)

Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous;
  do no violence to his home;
for the righteous falls seven times and rises again,
  but the wicked stumble in times of calamity. (ESV)

Footnotes

[1] 66:11 Or breast
[2] 66:18 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew lacks know
[3] 66:18 Hebrew and it is coming
[4] 3:6 Greek in the law
[5] 74:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
[6] 74:5 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
[7] 74:11 Hebrew from your bosom
[8] 74:13 Or the great sea creatures

This reading plan is from The One Year Bible ©1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991 Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. The One Year® is a registered trademark of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Isaiah 62:6-65:25 (Listen)

On your walls, O Jerusalem,
  I have set watchmen;
all the day and all the night
  they shall never be silent.
You who put the LORD in remembrance,
  take no rest,
and give him no rest
  until he establishes Jerusalem
  and makes it a praise in the earth.
The LORD has sworn by his right hand
  and by his mighty arm:
“I will not again give your grain
  to be food for your enemies,
and foreigners shall not drink your wine
  for which you have labored;
but those who garner it shall eat it
  and praise the LORD,
and those who gather it shall drink it
  in the courts of my sanctuary.”

Go through, go through the gates;
  prepare the way for the people;
build up, build up the highway;
  clear it of stones;
  lift up a signal over the peoples.
Behold, the LORD has proclaimed
  to the end of the earth:
Say to the daughter of Zion,
  “Behold, your salvation comes;
behold, his reward is with him,
  and his recompense before him.”
And they shall be called The Holy People,
  The Redeemed of the LORD;
and you shall be called Sought Out,
  A City Not Forsaken.

The LORD's Day of Vengeance

63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom,
  in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
  marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
  mighty to save.”

Why is your apparel red,
  and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?

“I have trodden the winepress alone,
  and from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
  and trampled them in my wrath;
their lifeblood spattered on my garments,
  and stained all my apparel.
For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
  and my year of redemption had come.
I looked, but there was no one to help;
  I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;
so my own arm brought me salvation,
  and my wrath upheld me.
I trampled down the peoples in my anger;
  I made them drunk in my wrath,
  and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

The LORD's Mercy Remembered

I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD,
  the praises of the LORD,
according to all that the LORD has granted us,
  and the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
  according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
For he said, “Surely they are my people,
  children who will not deal falsely.”
  And he became their Savior.
In all their affliction he was afflicted,
  and the angel of his presence saved them;
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
  he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

But they rebelled
  and grieved his Holy Spirit;
therefore he turned to be their enemy,
  and himself fought against them.
Then he remembered the days of old,
  of Moses and his people.
Where is he who brought them up out of the sea
  with the shepherds of his flock?
Where is he who put in the midst of them
  his Holy Spirit,
who caused his glorious arm
  to go at the right hand of Moses,
who divided the waters before them
  to make for himself an everlasting name,
  who led them through the depths?
Like a horse in the desert,
  they did not stumble.
Like livestock that go down into the valley,
  the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.
So you led your people,
  to make for yourself a glorious name.

Prayer for Mercy

Look down from heaven and see,
  from your holy and beautiful habitation.
Where are your zeal and your might?
  The stirring of your inner parts and your compassion
  are held back from me.
For you are our Father,
  though Abraham does not know us,
  and Israel does not acknowledge us;
you, O LORD, are our Father,
  our Redeemer from of old is your name.
O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways
  and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?
Return for the sake of your servants,
  the tribes of your heritage.
Your holy people held possession for a little while;
  our adversaries have trampled down your sanctuary.
We have become like those over whom you have never ruled,
  like those who are not called by your name.

64:1 Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
  that the mountains might quake at your presence—
as when fire kindles brushwood
  and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
  and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
  you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
From of old no one has heard
  or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
  who acts for those who wait for him.
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
  those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
  in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
We have all become like one who is unclean,
  and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
  and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is no one who calls upon your name,
  who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
  and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

But now, O LORD, you are our Father;
  we are the clay, and you are our potter;
  we are all the work of your hand.
Be not so terribly angry, O LORD,
  and remember not iniquity forever.
  Behold, please look, we are all your people.
Your holy cities have become a wilderness;
  Zion has become a wilderness,
  Jerusalem a desolation.
Our holy and beautiful house,
  where our fathers praised you,
has been burned by fire,
  and all our pleasant places have become ruins.
Will you restrain yourself at these things, O LORD?
  Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly?

Judgment and Salvation

65:1 I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;
  I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, “Here am I, here am I,”
  to a nation that was not called by my name.
I spread out my hands all the day
  to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
  following their own devices;
a people who provoke me
  to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
  and making offerings on bricks;
who sit in tombs,
  and spend the night in secret places;
who eat pig's flesh,
  and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;
who say, “Keep to yourself,
  do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
  a fire that burns all the day.
Behold, it is written before me:
  “I will not keep silent, but I will repay;
I will indeed repay into their bosom
  both your iniquities and your fathers' iniquities together,
says the LORD;
because they made offerings on the mountains
  and insulted me on the hills,
I will measure into their bosom
  payment for their former deeds.”

Thus says the LORD:
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
  and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,
  for there is a blessing in it,’
so I will do for my servants' sake,
  and not destroy them all.
I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,
  and from Judah possessors of my mountains;
my chosen shall possess it,
  and my servants shall dwell there.
Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,
  and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
  for my people who have sought me.
But you who forsake the LORD,
  who forget my holy mountain,
who set a table for Fortune
  and fill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,
I will destine you to the sword,
  and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
because, when I called, you did not answer;
  when I spoke, you did not listen,
but you did what was evil in my eyes
  and chose what I did not delight in.”

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
“Behold, my servants shall eat,
  but you shall be hungry;
behold, my servants shall drink,
  but you shall be thirsty;
behold, my servants shall rejoice,
  but you shall be put to shame;
behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart,
  but you shall cry out for pain of heart
  and shall wail for breaking of spirit.