Sunday, 27 October

1.   Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead with You; Yet let me talk with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously? 2.   You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; They grow, yes, they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth But far from their mind. 3.   But You, O LORD, know me; You have seen me, And You have tested my heart toward You. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, And prepare them for the day of slaughter. 4.   How long will the land mourn, And the herbs of every field wither? The beasts and birds are consumed, For the wickedness of those who dwell there, Because they said, "He will not see our final end." 5.   "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, In which you trusted, they wearied you , Then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan? 6.   For even your brothers, the house of your father, Even they have dealt treacherously with you; Yes, they have called a multitude after you. Do not believe them, Even though they speak smooth words to you. 7.   "I have forsaken My house, I have left My heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of My soul into the hand of her enemies. 8.   My heritage is to Me like a lion in the forest; It cries out against Me; Therefore I have hated it. 9.   My heritage is to Me like a speckled vulture; The vultures all around are against her. Come, assemble all the beasts of the field, Bring them to devour! 10.   "Many rulers have destroyed My vineyard, They have trodden My portion underfoot; They have made My pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11.   They have made it desolate; Desolate, it mourns to Me; The whole land is made desolate, Because no one takes it to heart. 12.   The plunderers have come On all the desolate heights in the wilderness, For the sword of the LORD shall devour From one end of the land to the other end of the land; No flesh shall have peace. 13.   They have sown wheat but reaped thorns; They have put themselves to pain but do not profit. But be ashamed of your harvest Because of the fierce anger of the LORD." 14.   Thus says the LORD: "Against all My evil neighbors who touch the inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit––behold, I will pluck them out of their land and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 15.   "Then it shall be, after I have plucked them out, that I will return and have compassion on them and bring them back, everyone to his heritage and everyone to his land. 16.   "And it shall be, if they will learn carefully the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ as they taught My people to swear by Baal, then they shall be established in the midst of My people. 17.   "But if they do not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation," says the LORD.

1.   Thus the LORD said to me: "Go and get yourself a linen sash, and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water." 2.   So I got a sash according to the word of the LORD, and put it around my waist. 3.   And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, 4.   "Take the sash that you acquired, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock." 5.   So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD commanded me. 6.   Now it came to pass after many days that the LORD said to me, "Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the sash which I commanded you to hide there." 7.   Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the sash from the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing. 8.   Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9.   "Thus says the LORD: ‘In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10.   ‘This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, who follow the dictates of their hearts, and walk after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be just like this sash which is profitable for nothing. 11.   ‘For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the LORD, ‘that they may become My people, for renown, for praise, and for glory; but they would not hear.’ 12.   "Therefore you shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: "Every bottle shall be filled with wine."’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every bottle will be filled with wine?’ 13.   "Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land––even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem––with drunkenness! 14.   "And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together," says the LORD. "I will not pity nor spare nor have mercy, but will destroy them."’" 15.   Hear and give ear: Do not be proud, For the LORD has spoken. 16.   Give glory to the LORD your God Before He causes darkness, And before your feet stumble On the dark mountains, And while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death And makes it dense darkness. 17.   But if you will not hear it, My soul will weep in secret for your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly And run down with tears, Because the LORD’S flock has been taken captive. 18.   Say to the king and to the queen mother, "Humble yourselves; Sit down, For your rule shall collapse, the crown of your glory." 19.   The cities of the South shall be shut up, And no one shall open them ; Judah shall be carried away captive, all of it; It shall be wholly carried away captive. 20.   Lift up your eyes and see Those who come from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you, Your beautiful sheep? 21.   What will you say when He punishes you? For you have taught them To be chieftains, to be head over you. Will not pangs seize you, Like a woman in labor? 22.   And if you say in your heart, "Why have these things come upon me?" For the greatness of your iniquity Your skirts have been uncovered, Your heels made bare. 23.   Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil. 24.   "Therefore I will scatter them like stubble That passes away by the wind of the wilderness. 25.   This is your lot, The portion of your measures from Me," says the LORD, "Because you have forgotten Me And trusted in falsehood. 26.   Therefore I will uncover your skirts over your face, That your shame may appear. 27.   I have seen your adulteries And your lustful neighings, The lewdness of your harlotry, Your abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean?"

1.   The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the droughts. 2.   "Judah mourns, And her gates languish; They mourn for the land, And the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. 3.   Their nobles have sent their lads for water; They went to the cisterns and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; They were ashamed and confounded And covered their heads. 4.   Because the ground is parched, For there was no rain in the land, The plowmen were ashamed; They covered their heads. 5.   Yes, the deer also gave birth in the field, But left because there was no grass. 6.   And the wild donkeys stood in the desolate heights; They sniffed at the wind like jackals; Their eyes failed because there was no grass." 7.   O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, Do it for Your name’s sake; For our backslidings are many, We have sinned against You. 8.   O the Hope of Israel, his Savior in time of trouble, Why should You be like a stranger in the land, And like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night? 9.   Why should You be like a man astonished, Like a mighty one who cannot save? Yet You, O LORD, are in our midst, And we are called by Your name; Do not leave us! 10.   Thus says the LORD to this people: "Thus they have loved to wander; They have not restrained their feet. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; He will remember their iniquity now, And punish their sins." 11.   Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for this people, for their good. 12.   "When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence." 13.   Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’" 14.   And the LORD said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart. 15.   "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, whom I did not send, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not be in this land’ ––‘By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed! 16.   ‘And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; they will have no one to bury them––them nor their wives, their sons nor their daughters––for I will pour their wickedness on them.’ 17.   "Therefore you shall say this word to them: ‘Let my eyes flow with tears night and day, And let them not cease; For the virgin daughter of my people Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow. 18.   If I go out to the field, Then behold, those slain with the sword! And if I enter the city, Then behold, those sick from famine! Yes, both prophet and priest go about in a land they do not know.’" 19.   Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us so that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but there was no good; And for the time of healing, and there was trouble. 20.   We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness And the iniquity of our fathers, For we have sinned against You. 21.   Do not abhor us , for Your name’s sake; Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory. Remember, do not break Your covenant with us. 22.   Are there any among the idols of the nations that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are You not He, O LORD our God? Therefore we will wait for You, Since You have made all these.

1.   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2.   He was in the beginning with God. 3.   All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4.   In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5.   And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 6.   There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7.   This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8.   He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9.   That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 10.   He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11.   He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12.   But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13.   who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14.   And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15.   John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’" 16.   And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17.   For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18.   No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him . 19.   Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" 20.   He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." 21.   And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." 22.   Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" 23.   He said: "I am ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD,"’ as the prophet Isaiah said." 24.   Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees. 25.   And they asked him, saying, "Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?" 26.   John answered them, saying, "I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. 27.   "It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose." 28.   These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.