Jeremiah 16:16-18:23
Punishment of Exile
16 “I am about to send for many fishermen”(A)—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and they will fish for them. Then I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them down on every mountain and hill and out of the clefts of the rocks, 17 for my gaze takes in all their ways.(B) They are not concealed from me, and their iniquity is not hidden from my sight. 18 I will first repay them double for their iniquity(C) and sin because they have polluted my land. They have filled my inheritance with the carcasses of their abhorrent and detestable idols.”
19 Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
my refuge in a time of distress,(D)
the nations will come to you
from the ends of the earth, and they will say,
“Our ancestors inherited only lies,
worthless idols(E) of no benefit at all.”
20 Can one make gods for himself?
But they are not gods.(F)
21 “Therefore, I am about to inform them,
and this time I will make them know
my power and my might;
then they will know that my name is the Lord.”(G)
The Persistent Sin of Judah
17 The sin of Judah is inscribed
with an iron stylus.(H)
With a diamond point
it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts(I)
and on the horns of their[a] altars,
2 while their children remember their altars
and their Asherah poles, by the green trees
on the high hills(J)—
3 my mountains in the countryside.
I will give up your wealth
and all your treasures as plunder(K)
because of the sin of your high places[b]
in all your borders.(L)
4 You will, on your own, relinquish your inheritance
that I gave you.
I will make you serve your enemies
in a land you do not know,(M)
for you have set my anger on fire;(N)
it will burn forever.
Curse and Blessing
5 This is what the Lord says:
Cursed is the person who trusts in mankind.(O)
He makes human flesh his strength,(P)
and his heart turns from the Lord.
6 He will be like a juniper in the Arabah;(Q)
he cannot see when good comes
but dwells in the parched places in the wilderness,
in a salt land where no one lives.(R)
7 The person who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed.(S)
8 He will be like a tree planted by water:(T)
it sends its roots out toward a stream,
it doesn’t fear when heat comes,
and its foliage remains green.
It will not worry in a year of drought
or cease producing fruit.
The Deceitful Heart
10 I, the Lord, examine the mind,
I test the heart[c](W)
to give to each according to his way,
according to what his actions deserve.(X)
11 He who makes a fortune unjustly
is like a partridge that hatches eggs it didn’t lay.
In the middle of his life
his riches will abandon him,
so in the end he will be a fool.(Y)
12 A glorious throne(Z)
on high(AA) from the beginning
is the place of our sanctuary.(AB)
13 Lord, the hope of Israel,(AC)
all who abandon you
will be put to shame.
All who turn away from me
will be written in the dirt,
for they have abandoned
the Lord, the fountain of living water.(AD)
Jeremiah’s Plea
14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;
save me, and I will be saved,
for you are my praise.(AE)
15 Hear how they keep challenging me,(AF)
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come!”
16 But I have not run away from being your shepherd,
and I have not longed for the fatal day.(AG)
You know my words were spoken in your presence.
17 Don’t become a terror to me.
You are my refuge(AH) in the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,(AI)
but don’t let me be put to shame.
Let them be terrified, but don’t let me be terrified.
Bring on them the day of disaster;(AJ)
shatter them with total[d] destruction.
Observing the Sabbath
19 This is what the Lord said to me, “Go and stand at the People’s Gate, through which the kings of Judah enter and leave, as well as at all the gates of Jerusalem. 20 Announce to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, all Judah, and all the residents of Jerusalem who enter through these gates. 21 This is what the Lord says: Watch yourselves; do not pick up a load and bring it in through Jerusalem’s gates on the Sabbath day.(AK) 22 Do not carry a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day or do any work,(AL) but keep the Sabbath day holy, just as I commanded your ancestors.(AM) 23 They wouldn’t listen or pay attention but became obstinate,(AN) not listening or accepting discipline.
24 “‘However, if you listen to me—this is the Lord’s declaration—and do not bring loads through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25 kings and princes will enter through the gates of this city. They will sit on the throne of David;(AO) they will ride in chariots and on horses(AP) with their officials, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. This city will be inhabited forever. 26 Then people will come from the cities of Judah and from the area around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the Judean foothills, from the hill country and from the Negev(AQ) bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and thanksgiving sacrifices to the house of the Lord. 27 But if you do not listen to me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying a load while entering the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, I will set fire to its gates,(AR) and it will consume the citadels(AS) of Jerusalem(AT) and not be extinguished.’”(AU)
Parable of the Potter
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down at once to the potter’s house;(AV) there I will reveal my words to you.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel.[e] 4 But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.(AW)
5 The word of the Lord came to me: 6 “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.(AX) 7 At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it.(AY) 8 However, if that nation about which I have made the announcement turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.(AZ) 9 At another time I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it.(BA) 10 However, if it does what is evil in my sight by not listening to me, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it.(BB) 11 So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds.’(BC) 12 But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless.(BD) We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
Deluded Israel
13 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:
Ask among the nations,
who has heard things like these?
Virgin Israel has done a most horrible thing.(BE)
14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave the highland crags?
Or does cold water flowing from a distance ever fail?
15 Yet my people have forgotten me.(BF)
They burn incense to worthless idols
that make them stumble in their ways(BG)
on the ancient roads,(BH)
and make them walk on new paths, not the highway.
16 They have made their land a horror,(BI)
a perpetual object of scorn;[f](BJ)
all who pass by it will be appalled(BK)
and shake their heads.(BL)
17 I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind.(BM)
I will show them[g] my back and not my face(BN)
on the day of their calamity.
Plot against Jeremiah
18 Then certain ones said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah,(BO) for instruction will never be lost from the priest,(BP) or counsel from the wise, or a word from the prophet.(BQ) Come, let’s denounce him[h] and pay no attention to all his words.”
19 Pay attention to me, Lord.
Hear what my opponents are saying!(BR)
20 Should good be repaid with evil?
Yet they have dug a pit for me.(BS)
Remember how I stood before you
to speak good on their behalf,
to turn your anger from them.
21 Therefore, hand their children over to famine,(BT)
and give them over to the power of the sword.
Let their wives become childless and widowed,
their husbands slain by deadly disease,[i]
their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses
when you suddenly bring raiders against them,
for they have dug a pit to capture me
and have hidden snares for my feet.(BU)
23 But you, Lord, know
all their deadly plots against me.
Do not wipe out their iniquity;(BV)
do not blot out their sin before you.
Let them be forced to stumble before you;
deal with them in the time of your anger.
Footnotes:
Cross references:
- 16:16 : Am 4:2; Hab 1:14–15
- 16:17 : 2Ch 16:9; Jb 34:21; Ps 90:8; Pr 5:21; Jr 32:19
- 16:18 : Is 40:2; Rv 18:6
- 16:19 : Ps 37:39; Nah 1:7
- 16:19 : Jr 8:19; 10:8,15; 14:22
- 16:20 : Gn 1:26; Jr 2:11
- 16:21 : Jr 33:2
- 17:1 : Jb 19:24
- 17:1 : Pr 3:3; 7:3; Jr 31:33–34
- 17:2 : Dt 16:21; 1Kg 14:23; 2Kg 17:10
- 17:3 : Ps 44:10; Is 10:6; 42:22–24; Jr 20:5; 49:31–32; Ezk 7:21; 26:12; 29:19; 36:4; Am 3:11; Zph 1:13
- 17:3 : Jr 15:13
- 17:4 : Jr 16:13; 22:28; Ezk 32:9
- 17:4 : Dt 32:22; Jr 15:14
- 17:5 : Ps 146:3
- 17:5 : 2Ch 32:8
- 17:6 : Jr 48:6
- 17:6 : Gn 19:24–26; Ps 107:34
- 17:7 : Ps 40:4
- 17:8 : Ps 1:3; Ezk 17:5–8
- 17:9 : Gn 6:5
- 17:9 : Jr 15:18; Mc 1:9
- 17:10 : Dt 8:2; Ps 17:3; 26:2; Pr 16:2; 17:3
- 17:10 : Jr 4:18; 7:3,5; 18:11; 23:22; 25:5; 26:3,13; 32:19; Rm 2:6
- 17:11 : Lk 12:20
- 17:12 : Is 6:1–3; Jr 14:21; Ezk 1:26–28
- 17:12 : Ps 102:19; Jr 25:30
- 17:12 : Ps 68:33–35; Is 60:13
- 17:13 : Jr 14:8; 50:7
- 17:13 : Jr 2:13
- 17:14 : Ps 22:25; 71:6; 109:1
- 17:15 : Is 5:19; 2Pt 3:4
- 17:16 : Am 5:18
- 17:17 : Ps 46:1; 61:3; 62:7–8
- 17:18 : Ps 35:4
- 17:18 : Ps 35:8
- 17:21 : Neh 13:15–21; Jn 5:9–12
- 17:22 : Ex 20:8–10; Dt 5:12–14; Is 56:2–6
- 17:22 : Ezk 20:12
- 17:23 : Jr 7:26
- 17:25 : Jr 22:2,30; 29:16; 36:30
- 17:25 : Jr 22:4
- 17:26 : Jr 32:44; 33:13
- 17:27 : Lm 4:11
- 17:27 : Jr 49:27; Am 1:14
- 17:27 : 2Kg 25:9
- 17:27 : Jr 7:20
- 18:2 : Is 29:16; Jr 19:1–2
- 18:4 : Rm 9:21
- 18:6 : Gn 2:7–8; Is 43:1; 64:8
- 18:7 : Jr 1:10; 24:6; 31:28
- 18:8 : 2Sm 24:1; Jr 42:10; Jnh 3:10
- 18:9 : Jr 1:10
- 18:10 : Ezk 18:25–29; 33:12–13
- 18:11 : Jr 4:18; 7:3; 35:15
- 18:12 : Is 57:12; Jr 2:25
- 18:13 : Jr 5:30; Hs 6:10
- 18:15 : Jr 2:32; 3:21; 13:25; Ezk 22:12; 23:35; Hs 8:14
- 18:15 : Ezk 14:3,4,7; 44:12; Rv 2:14
- 18:15 : Jr 6:16
- 18:16 : Dt 28:37; 2Ch 29:8; 30:7; Jr 5:30; 19:8; 25:9,18; 29:18; 42:18; 44:12,22; 50:13; Mc 6:16; Zph 2:15
- 18:16 : Lm 2:15
- 18:16 : Jr 19:8; 49:17
- 18:16 : Jb 2:11; 42:11; Ps 22:7; 69:20; Is 51:19; Jr 15:5; 48:27; Nah 3:7
- 18:17 : Ex 10:13; 14:21; Jb 27:21; 38:24; Ps 48:7; Is 27:8; Jr 13:24
- 18:17 : 2Ch 29:6; Jr 2:27; 32:33; Ezk 8:16
- 18:18 : Jr 11:19
- 18:18 : Jr 2:8,26; 5:31; 6:13; 8:10; 13:13; 23:11,33; Ezk 7:26; Mc 3:11; Zph 3:4
- 18:18 : Jr 5:13
- 18:19 : Ps 55:2–3; 142:6
- 18:20 : Ps 35:7; 57:6
- 18:21 : Ps 109:9–20
- 18:22 : Ps 140:5; 142:3
- 18:23 : Neh 4:5
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:3
The Call to Sanctification
4 Additionally then, brothers and sisters, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received instruction from us on how you should live and please God—as you are doing[a]—do this even more. 2 For you know what commands we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is God’s will,(A) your sanctification:(B) that you keep away(C) from sexual immorality, 4 that each of you knows how to control his own body[b] in holiness and honor, 5 not with lustful passions,(D) like the Gentiles, who don’t know God. 6 This means one must not transgress against and take advantage(E) of a brother or sister in this manner, because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you. 7 For God has not called us to impurity(F) but to live in holiness. 8 Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.(G)
Loving and Working
9 About brotherly love: You don’t need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God(H) to love one another.(I) 10 In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers and sisters in the entire region of Macedonia.(J) But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more, 11 to seek to lead a quiet life,(K) to mind your own business,[c] and to work(L) with your own hands, as we commanded you, 12 so that you may behave properly(M) in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.[d](N)
The Comfort of Christ’s Coming
13 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, concerning those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.(O) 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose(P) again,(Q) in the same way, through Jesus,(R) God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For we say this to you by a word from the Lord:(S) We who are still alive at the Lord’s coming(T) will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.(U) 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout,[e](V) with the archangel’s(W) voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ(X) will rise first. 17 Then(Y) we who are still alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds(Z) to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage[f] one another with these words.
The Day of the Lord
5 About the times and the seasons:(AA) Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord(AB) will come just like a thief(AC) in the night. 3 When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction(AD) will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
Footnotes:
Cross references:
- 4:3 : 1Th 5:18
- 4:3 : Rm 6:19,22; 1Co 1:30; 2Th 2:13; 1Tm 2:15; Heb 12:14; 1Pt 1:2
- 4:3 : 1Tm 4:3
- 4:5 : 2Pt 1:4; 2:10
- 4:6 : 2Co 12:17
- 4:7 : Mt 23:27; 2Co 12:21; Gl 5:19; Eph 4:19; 5:3; Col 3:5; 1Th 2:3
- 4:8 : Ps 51:11; Jn 1:33; Ac 2:4; Rm 8:9; Gl 5:25; Ti 3:5; 1Jn 5:8; Rv 3:22
- 4:9 : Jn 6:45
- 4:9 : 1Jn 3:11
- 4:10 : Ac 16:9
- 4:11 : Lk 14:4; 23:56; Ac 11:18; 21:14
- 4:11 : 2Th 3:12; 2Jn 8
- 4:12 : Rm 13:13; 1Co 14:40
- 4:12 : Eph 4:28
- 4:13 : Jr 14:19; Eph 2:12; 1Th 1:3
- 4:14 : Lk 18:33
- 4:14 : Rm 14:9,15; 1Co 8:11; 15:3–4; 2Co 5:15
- 4:14 : Jn 14:19; Rm 8:11; 1Co 6:14; 15:18–20; 2Co 4:14; Php 1:23
- 4:15 : 2Pt 1:21; Rv 11:8
- 4:15 : 1Jn 2:28
- 4:15 : 1Co 15:51
- 4:16 : Jn 5:25
- 4:16 : Jd 9
- 4:16 : Rm 16:7; 1Co 15:18; 1Pt 5:14; Rv 14:13; 20:5
- 4:17 : 1Co 15:23,51–52
- 4:17 : Mt 26:64
- 5:1 : Dn 2:21; Ac 1:7
- 5:2 : Jl 2:1; Mt 25:13; Ac 2:20; Php 1:6
- 5:2 : Jn 10:1
- 5:3 : 2Th 1:9
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Psalm 81
Psalm 81
A Call to Obedience
For the choir director: on the Gittith. Of Asaph.(A)
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.(B)
2 Lift up a song—play the tambourine,
the melodious lyre, and the harp.(C)
3 Blow the ram’s horn on the day of our feasts[a]
during the new moon(D)
and during the full moon.
4 For this is a statute for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.(E)
5 He set it up as a decree for Joseph
when he went throughout[b] the land of Egypt.(F)
I heard an unfamiliar language:
6 “I relieved his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were freed from carrying the basket.(G)
7 You called out in distress, and I rescued you;
I answered you from the thundercloud.(H)
I tested you at the Waters of Meribah.(I)Selah
8 Listen, my people, and I will admonish you.
Israel, if you would only listen to me!(J)
9 There must not be a strange god among you;
you must not bow down to a foreign god.(K)
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.(L)
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.(M)
11 “But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel did not obey me.(N)
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own plans.(O)
13 If only my people would listen to me
and Israel would follow my ways,(P)
14 I would quickly subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.”(Q)
15 Those who hate the Lord
would cower to him;(R)
their doom would last forever.(S)
16 But he would feed Israel[c] with the best wheat.
“I would satisfy you with honey from the rock.”(T)
Cross references:
- 81:0 : 1Ch 16:5,7; Ps 8; 84
- 81:1 : Ps 59:16; 95:1–2; 98:4
- 81:2 : Ps 33:2; 71:22; 92:3
- 81:3 : Lv 23:24; Nm 10:10; 29:1
- 81:4 : 1Ch 16:17; Ps 105:10
- 81:5 : Ps 78:5; 122:4
- 81:6 : Is 9:4; 10:27
- 81:7 : Ex 14:24; 20:18–20
- 81:7 : Ex 17:1–7; Nm 20:2–13
- 81:8 : Ps 50:7
- 81:9 : Ex 20:3–5; 22:20; 34:14
- 81:10 : Ex 20:2; Dt 5:6
- 81:10 : Ps 78:25; 107:9
- 81:11 : Jr 7:24; 13:10
- 81:12 : Jb 8:4; Jr 11:8
- 81:13 : Dt 5:29; Is 48:18
- 81:14 : Ps 18:47; 47:3; Am 1:8
- 81:15 : Ps 18:44; 66:3
- 81:15 : Dt 32:35
- 81:16 : Nm 18:12; Dt 32:13–14; Ps 147:14
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
Proverbs 25:6-8
6 Don’t boast about yourself before the king,
and don’t stand in the place of the great;
7 for it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here!”
than to demote you in plain view of a noble.[a](A)
8 Don’t take a matter to court hastily.(B)
Otherwise, what will you do afterward
if your opponent[b] humiliates you?
Cross references:
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.