Jeremiah 11-12

English Standard Version

The Broken Covenant

11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²^(A)“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^(B)Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant ⁴that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, ^(C)from the iron furnace, saying, ^(D)Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. ^(E)So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, ⁵^(F)that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, ^(G)to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”

⁶And the Lord said to me, ^(H)“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ^(I)Hear the words of this covenant and do them. ⁷For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, ^(J)warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, ^(K)Obey my voice. ⁸^(L)Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, ^(M)but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all ^(N)the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

⁹Again the Lord said to me, ^(O)“A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰They have turned back to ^(P)the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. ^(Q)They have gone after other gods to serve them. ^(R)The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. ¹¹Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. ^(S)Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. ¹²Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(T)will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, ^(U)but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. ¹³^(V)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, ^(W)altars to make offerings to Baal.

¹⁴“Therefore ^(X)do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, ^(Y)for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. ¹⁵^(Z)What right has my beloved in my house, ^(AA)when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? ^(AB)Can you then exult? ¹⁶The Lord once called you ^(AC)‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But ^(AD)with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and ^(AE)its branches will be consumed. ¹⁷The Lord of hosts, ^(AF)who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, ^(AG)provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

¹⁸The Lord made it known to me and I knew;
    then you showed me their deeds.
¹⁹But I was ^(AH)like a gentle lamb
    led to the slaughter.
I did not know ^(AI)it was against me
    they devised schemes, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
    ^(AJ)let us cut him off from ^(AK)the land of the living,
    that his name be remembered no more.”
²⁰But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,
    who ^(AL)tests ^(AM)the heart and the mind,
^(AN)let me see your vengeance upon them,
    for to you have I committed my cause.

²¹Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of ^(AO)Anathoth, ^(AP)who seek your life, and say, ^(AQ)“Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand”— ²²therefore 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, ²³and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of ^(AR)Anathoth, ^(AS)the year of their punishment.”

Jeremiah's Complaint

12 ^(AT)Righteous are you, O Lord,
    when I complain to you;
    yet I would plead my case before you.
^(AU)Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
    Why do all ^(AV)who are treacherous thrive?
²You plant them, and they take root;
    they grow and produce fruit;
^(AW)you are near in their mouth
    and far from their heart.
³^(AX)But you, O Lord, know me;
    ^(AY)you see me, and test my heart toward you.
^(AZ)Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
    and set them apart for ^(BA)the day of slaughter.
⁴^(BB)How long will the land mourn
    and the grass of every field wither?
^(BC)For the evil of those who dwell in it
    ^(BD)the beasts and the birds are swept away,
    because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

⁵“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
    how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
    what will you do in ^(BE)the thicket of the Jordan?
⁶For ^(BF)even your brothers and the house of your father,
    ^(BG)even they have dealt treacherously with you;
    they are in full cry after you;
^(BH)do not believe them,
    though they speak friendly words to you.”

⁷“I have forsaken my house;
    I have abandoned ^(BI)my heritage;
I have given ^(BJ)the beloved of my soul
    into the hands of her enemies.
⁸^(BK)My heritage has become to me
    like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
    therefore I hate her.
⁹Is ^(BL)my heritage to me like ^(BM)a hyena's lair?
    Are the ^(BN)birds of prey against her all around?
Go, ^(BO)assemble all the wild beasts;
    bring them to devour.
¹⁰Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
    ^(BP)they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
    a desolate wilderness.
¹¹They have made it a desolation;
    desolate, ^(BQ)it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
    ^(BR)but no man lays it to heart.
¹²Upon all the bare heights in the desert
    destroyers have come,
for the sword of the Lord devours
    from one end of the land to the other;
    no flesh has peace.
¹³^(BS)They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
    ^(BT)they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their^[a] harvests
    ^(BU)because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

¹⁴Thus says the Lord concerning all ^(BV)my evil neighbors ^(BW)who touch the heritage that ^(BX)I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. ¹⁵And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, ^(BY)and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. ¹⁶And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, ^(BZ)to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, ^(CA)then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. ¹⁷^(CB)But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 12:13 Hebrew your

Galatians 5

English Standard Version

Christ Has Set Us Free

5 For ^(A)freedom Christ has ^(B)set us free; ^(C)stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to ^(D)a yoke of ^(E)slavery.

²Look: I, Paul, say to you that ^(F)if you accept circumcision, ^(G)Christ will be of no advantage to you. ³I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that ^(H)he is obligated to keep the whole law. ⁴You are ^(I)severed from Christ, ^(J)you who would be justified^[a] by the law; ^(K)you have fallen away from grace. ⁵For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly ^(L)wait for the hope of righteousness. ⁶For in Christ Jesus ^(M)neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but ^(N)only faith working through love.

⁷^(O)You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying ^(P)the truth? ⁸This persuasion is not from ^(Q)him who calls you. ⁹^(R)A little leaven leavens the whole lump. ¹⁰^(S)I have confidence in the Lord that you will ^(T)take no other view, and ^(U)the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. ¹¹But if I, brothers,^[b] still preach^[c] circumcision, ^(V)why am I still being persecuted? In that case ^(W)the offense of the cross has been removed. ¹²I wish ^(X)those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

¹³For you were called to freedom, brothers. ^(Y)Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love ^(Z)serve one another. ¹⁴For ^(AA)the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ^(AB)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵But if you ^(AC)bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

Keep in Step with the Spirit

¹⁶But I say, ^(AD)walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify ^(AE)the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For ^(AF)the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, ^(AG)to keep you from doing the things you want to do. ¹⁸But if you are ^(AH)led by the Spirit, ^(AI)you are not under the law. ¹⁹Now ^(AJ)the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, ^(AK)divisions, ²¹envy,^[d] drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that ^(AL)those who do^[e] such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²²But ^(AM)the fruit of the Spirit is ^(AN)love, joy, peace, patience, ^(AO)kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³^(AP)gentleness, ^(AQ)self-control; ^(AR)against such things there is no law. ²⁴And those who belong to Christ Jesus ^(AS)have crucified the flesh with its ^(AT)passions and desires.

²⁵If we live by the Spirit, ^(AU)let us also keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶^(AV)Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Footnotes

Galatians 5:4 Or counted righteous
Galatians 5:11 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 13
Galatians 5:11 Greek proclaim
Galatians 5:21 Some manuscripts add murder
Galatians 5:21 Or make a practice of doing

Psalm 111

English Standard Version

Great Are the Lord's Works

111 ^[a] ^(A)Praise the Lord!
I ^(B)will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
    in the company of ^(C)the upright, in the congregation.
²Great are the ^(D)works of the Lord,
    ^(E)studied by all who delight in them.
³^(F)Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
    and his ^(G)righteousness endures forever.
⁴He has ^(H)caused his wondrous works to be remembered;
    the Lord is gracious and merciful.
⁵He provides food for those who fear him;
    he ^(I)remembers his covenant forever.
⁶He has shown his people the power of his works,
    in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
⁷The works of his hands are faithful and just;
    all his precepts are ^(J)trustworthy;
⁸they are ^(K)established forever and ever,
    to be performed with ^(L)faithfulness and uprightness.
⁹He sent ^(M)redemption to his people;
    he has ^(N)commanded his covenant forever.
    ^(O)Holy and awesome is his name!
¹⁰^(P)The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
    all those who practice it have ^(Q)a good understanding.
    His ^(R)praise endures forever!

Footnotes

Psalm 111:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, each line beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet

Proverbs 24:13-16

English Standard Version

¹³My son, ^(A)eat honey, for it is good,
    and ^(B)the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.
¹⁴Know that wisdom is such to your soul;
    if you find it, there will be ^(C)a future,
    and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵^(D)Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous;
do no violence to his home;
¹⁶^(E)for the righteous falls ^(F)seven times and rises again,
but ^(G)the wicked stumble in times of calamity.