Evil in the Land

7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ^2 (A)“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. ³ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(B)Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. ^4 (C)Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

⁵ “For if you truly ^(D)amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly ^(E)execute justice one with another, ⁶ if you ^(F)do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, ^(G)or shed innocent blood in this place, ^(H)and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, ^7 (I)then I will let you dwell in this place, ^(J)in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

⁸ “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. ^9 (K)Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, ^(L)swear falsely, ^(M)make offerings to Baal, ^(N)and go after other gods that you have not known, ¹⁰ and then come and stand before me in this house, ^(O)which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? ^11 (P)Has this house, ^(Q)which is called by my name, ^(R)become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. ¹² Go now to ^(S)my place that was in Shiloh, ^(T)where I made my name dwell at first, and ^(U)see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. ¹³ And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and ^(V)when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and ^(W)when I called you, you did not answer, ¹⁴ therefore I will do to ^(X)the house ^(Y)that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, ^(Z)as I did to Shiloh. ^15 (AA)And I will cast you out of my sight, ^(AB)as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of ^(AC)Ephraim.

How Great Are Your Works

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.

Mystery and Victory

⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: ^(A)flesh and blood ^(B)cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. ^(C)We shall not all sleep, ^(D)but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For ^(E)the trumpet will sound, and ^(F)the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and ^(G)this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and ^(J)the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, ^(K)who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

^58 (L)Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in ^(M)the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord ^(N)your labor is not in vain.

³⁹ He also told them a parable: ^(A)“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? ^40 (B)A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is ^(C)fully trained will be like his teacher. ^41 (D)Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but ^(E)do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³ “For ^(F)no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, ⁴⁴ for ^(G)each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. ^45 (H)The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces ^(I)evil, ^(J)for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Build Your House on the Rock

^46 (K)“Why ^(L)do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? ^47 (M)Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.^{[a] 49 (N)}But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and ^(O)the ruin of that house was great.”