Saturday, 26 October

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! 2.   Oh, that I had in the wilderness A lodging place for travelers; That I might leave my people, And go from them! For they are all adulterers, An assembly of treacherous men. 3.   "And like their bow they have bent their tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth. For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me," says the LORD. 4.   "Everyone take heed to his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; For every brother will utterly supplant, And every neighbor will walk with slanderers. 5.   Everyone will deceive his neighbor, And will not speak the truth; They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves to commit iniquity. 6.   Your dwelling place is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me," says the LORD. 7.   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: "Behold, I will refine them and try them; For how shall I deal with the daughter of My people? 8.   Their tongue is an arrow shot out; It speaks deceit; One speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, But in his heart he lies in wait. 9.   Shall I not punish them for these things ?" says the LORD. "Shall I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?" 10.   I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, And for the dwelling places of the wilderness a lamentation, Because they are burned up, So that no one can pass through; Nor can men hear the voice of the cattle. Both the birds of the heavens and the beasts have fled; They are gone. 11.   "I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant." 12.   Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness, so that no one can pass through? 13.   And the LORD said, "Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked according to it, 14.   "but they have walked according to the dictates of their own hearts and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them," 15.   therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. 16.   "I will scatter them also among the Gentiles, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them." 17.   Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Consider and call for the mourning women, That they may come; And send for skillful wailing women, That they may come. 18.   Let them make haste And take up a wailing for us, That our eyes may run with tears, And our eyelids gush with water. 19.   For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How we are plundered! We are greatly ashamed, Because we have forsaken the land, Because we have been cast out of our dwellings.’" 20.   Yet hear the word of the LORD, O women, And let your ear receive the word of His mouth; Teach your daughters wailing, And everyone her neighbor a lamentation. 21.   For death has come through our windows, Has entered our palaces, To kill off the children–– no longer to be outside! And the young men–– no longer on the streets! 22.   Speak, "Thus says the LORD: ‘Even the carcasses of men shall fall as refuse on the open field, Like cuttings after the harvester, And no one shall gather them .’" 23.   Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 24.   But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD. 25.   "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that I will punish all who are circumcised with the uncircumcised–– 26.   "Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, and all who are in the farthest corners, who dwell in the wilderness. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart."

1.   Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2.   Thus says the LORD: "Do not learn the way of the Gentiles; Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. 3.   For the customs of the peoples are futile; For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. 4.   They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not topple. 5.   They are upright, like a palm tree, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot go by themselves . Do not be afraid of them, For they cannot do evil, Nor can they do any good." 6.   Inasmuch as there is none like You, O LORD (You are great, and Your name is great in might), 7.   Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? For this is Your rightful due. For among all the wise men of the nations, And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You. 8.   But they are altogether dull–hearted and foolish; A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine. 9.   Silver is beaten into plates; It is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of the craftsman And of the hands of the metalsmith; Blue and purple are their clothing; They are all the work of skillful men . 10.   But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation. 11.   Thus you shall say to them: "The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens." 12.   He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion. 13.   When He utters His voice, There is a multitude of waters in the heavens: "And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, He brings the wind out of His treasuries." 14.   Everyone is dull–hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there is no breath in them. 15.   They are futile, a work of errors; In the time of their punishment they shall perish. 16.   The Portion of Jacob is not like them, For He is the Maker of all things , And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; The LORD of hosts is His name. 17.   Gather up your wares from the land, O inhabitant of the fortress! 18.   For thus says the LORD: "Behold, I will throw out at this time The inhabitants of the land, And will distress them, That they may find it so ." 19.   Woe is me for my hurt! My wound is severe. But I say, "Truly this is an infirmity, And I must bear it." 20.   My tent is plundered, And all my cords are broken; My children have gone from me, And they are no more. There is no one to pitch my tent anymore, Or set up my curtains. 21.   For the shepherds have become dull–hearted, And have not sought the LORD; Therefore they shall not prosper, And all their flocks shall be scattered. 22.   Behold, the noise of the report has come, And a great commotion out of the north country, To make the cities of Judah desolate, a den of jackals. 23.   O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. 24.   O LORD, correct me, but with justice; Not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing. 25.   Pour out Your fury on the Gentiles, who do not know You, And on the families who do not call on Your name; For they have eaten up Jacob, Devoured him and consumed him, And made his dwelling place desolate.

1.   The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2.   "Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3.   "and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant 4.   "which I commanded your fathers in the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and do according to all that I command you; so shall you be My people, and I will be your God,’ 5.   "that I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them ‘a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as it is this day."’" And I answered and said, "So be it, LORD." 6.   Then the LORD said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7.   ‘For I earnestly exhorted your fathers in the day I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, until this day, rising early and exhorting, saying, "Obey My voice." 8.   ‘Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone followed the dictates of his evil heart; therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but which they have not done.’" 9.   And the LORD said to me, "A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10.   "They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers." 11.   Therefore thus says the LORD: "Behold, I will surely bring calamity on them which they will not be able to escape; and though they cry out to Me, I will not listen to them. 12.   "Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they offer incense, but they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble. 13.   "For according to the number of your cities were your gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal. 14.   "So do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear them in the time that they cry out to Me because of their trouble. 15.   "What has My beloved to do in My house, Having done lewd deeds with many? And the holy flesh has passed from you. When you do evil, then you rejoice. 16.   The LORD called your name, Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit. With the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire on it, And its branches are broken. 17.   "For the LORD of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced doom against you for the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering incense to Baal." 18.   Now the LORD gave me knowledge of it , and I know it ; for You showed me their doings. 19.   But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying , "Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more." 20.   But, O LORD of hosts, You who judge righteously, Testing the mind and the heart, Let me see Your vengeance on them, For to You I have revealed my cause. 21.   "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth who seek your life, saying, ‘Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, lest you die by our hand’ –– 22.   "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; 23.   ‘and there shall be no remnant of them, for I will bring catastrophe on the men of Anathoth, even the year of their punishment.’"

1.   Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2.   that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3.   knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4.   and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." 5.   For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6.   by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7.   But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8.   But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9.   The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 10.   But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11.   Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12.   looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13.   Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 14.   Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15.   and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation––as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16.   as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. 17.   You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18.   but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.