Jeremiah 31:1-20

English Standard Version

The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy

31 ^(A)“At that time, declares the Lord, ^(B)I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”

²Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
    found grace in the wilderness;
^(C)when Israel sought for rest,
³    the Lord appeared to him^[a] from far away.
^(D)I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore ^(E)I have continued ^(F)my faithfulness to you.
⁴^(G)Again I will build you, and you shall be built,
    O virgin Israel!
^(H)Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines
    and shall go forth in ^(I)the dance of the merrymakers.
⁵^(J)Again you shall plant vineyards
    on the mountains of Samaria;
the planters shall plant
    and shall enjoy the fruit.
⁶For there shall be a day when watchmen will call
    in ^(K)the hill country of Ephraim:
^(L)‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.’”

⁷For thus says the Lord:
^(M)“Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,
    and raise shouts for ^(N)the chief of the nations;
proclaim, give praise, and say,
    ^(O)‘O Lord, save your people,
    the remnant of Israel.’
⁸Behold, I will bring them ^(P)from the north country
    and ^(Q)gather them from ^(R)the farthest parts of the earth,
among them ^(S)the blind and the lame,
    the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;
    a great company, they shall return here.
⁹^(T)With weeping they shall come,
    ^(U)and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,
I will make them ^(V)walk by brooks of water,
    ^(W)in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,
for ^(X)I am a father to Israel,
    and Ephraim is ^(Y)my firstborn.

¹⁰“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
    and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will ^(Z)gather him,
    and will keep him ^(AA)as a shepherd keeps his flock.’
¹¹^(AB)For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
    and has redeemed him from ^(AC)hands too strong for him.
¹²They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
    ^(AD)and they shall be radiant ^(AE)over the goodness of the Lord,
^(AF)over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
    and over the young of the flock and the herd;
^(AG)their life shall be like a watered garden,
    ^(AH)and they shall languish no more.
¹³^(AI)Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
    and the young men and the old shall be merry.
^(AJ)I will turn their mourning into joy;
    I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
¹⁴^(AK)I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
    and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the Lord.”

¹⁵Thus says the Lord:
^(AL)“A voice is heard in ^(AM)Ramah,
    lamentation and bitter weeping.
^(AN)Rachel is weeping for her children;
    she refuses to be comforted for her children,
    ^(AO)because they are no more.”

¹⁶Thus says the Lord:
“Keep your voice from weeping,
    and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for your work,
declares the Lord,
    and ^(AP)they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷^(AQ)There is hope for your future,
declares the Lord,
    and your children shall come back to their own country.
¹⁸I have heard ^(AR)Ephraim grieving,
‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,
    like an untrained calf;
^(AS)bring me back that I may be restored,
    for you are the Lord my God.
¹⁹For after ^(AT)I had turned away, I relented,
    and after I was instructed, ^(AU)I struck my thigh;
^(AV)I was ashamed, and I was confounded,
    because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
²⁰^(AW)Is Ephraim my dear son?
    ^(AX)Is he my darling child?
For as often as I speak against him,
    I do remember him still.
^(AY)Therefore my heart^[b] yearns for him;
    I will surely have mercy on him,
declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 31:3 Septuagint; Hebrew me
Jeremiah 31:20 Hebrew bowels

Acts 18:24-19:7

English Standard Version

Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus

²⁴Now a Jew named ^(A)Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, ^(B)competent in the Scriptures. ²⁵He had been instructed in ^(C)the way of the Lord. And ^(D)being fervent in spirit,^[a] he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only ^(E)the baptism of John. ²⁶He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when ^(F)Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him ^(G)the way of God more accurately. ²⁷And when he wished to cross to ^(H)Achaia, ^(I)the brothers encouraged him and ^(J)wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, ^(K)he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, ²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures ^(L)that the Christ was Jesus.

Paul in Ephesus

19 And it happened that while ^(M)Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed ^(N)through the inland^[b] country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. ²And he said to them, ^(O)“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, ^(P)we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³And he said, ^(Q)“Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into ^(R)John's baptism.” ⁴And Paul said, ^(S)“John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people ^(T)to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” ⁵On hearing this, ^(U)they were baptized in^[c] the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶And ^(V)when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and ^(W)they began speaking in tongues and ^(X)prophesying. ⁷There were about twelve men in all.

Footnotes

Acts 18:25 Or in the Spirit
Acts 19:1 Greek upper (that is, highland)
Acts 19:5 Or into

Jeremiah 31:23-40

English Standard Version

²³Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, ^(A)when I restore their fortunes:

^(B)“‘The Lord bless you, ^(C)O habitation of righteousness,
^(D)O holy hill!’

²⁴^(E)And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and ^(F)the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. ²⁵For I will ^(G)satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

²⁶At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

²⁷^(H)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^(I)I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with ^(J)the seed of man and the seed of beast. ²⁸And it shall come to pass that ^(K)as I have watched over them ^(L)to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, ^(M)so I will watch over them ^(N)to build and to plant, declares the Lord. ²⁹In those days they shall no longer say:

^(O)“‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children's teeth are set on edge.’

³⁰^(P)But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

The New Covenant

³¹^(Q)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make ^(R)a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³²not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when ^(S)I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, ^(T)though I was their husband, declares the Lord. ³³^(U)For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: ^(V)I will put my law within them, and I will write it ^(W)on their hearts. ^(X)And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ ^(Y)for they shall all know me, ^(Z)from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For ^(AA)I will forgive their iniquity, and ^(AB)I will remember their sin no more.”

³⁵Thus says the Lord,
who ^(AC)gives the sun for light by day
    and ^(AD)the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
    ^(AE)the Lord of hosts is his name:
³⁶^(AF)“If this fixed order departs
    from before me, declares the Lord,
then shall the offspring of Israel cease
    from being a nation before me forever.”

³⁷Thus says the Lord:
“If the heavens above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,
^(AG)then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel
for all that they have done,
declares the Lord.”

³⁸^(AH)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when the city shall be rebuilt for the Lord ^(AI)from the Tower of Hananel to ^(AJ)the Corner Gate. ³⁹^(AK)And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. ⁴⁰^(AL)The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the ^(AM)brook Kidron, to the corner of ^(AN)the Horse Gate toward the east, ^(AO)shall be sacred to the Lord. ^(AP)It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”

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Acts 19:8-20

English Standard Version

⁸And ^(A)he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them ^(B)about the kingdom of God. ⁹^(C)But when some became stubborn and ^(D)continued in unbelief, speaking evil of ^(E)the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.^[a] ¹⁰This continued for ^(F)two years, so that ^(G)all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

The Sons of Sceva

¹¹And ^(H)God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, ¹²^(I)so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and ^(J)the evil spirits came out of them. ¹³Then some of the itinerant Jewish ^(K)exorcists ^(L)undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ^(M)“I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” ¹⁴Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵But the evil spirit answered them, ^(N)“Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” ¹⁶And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all^[b] of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and ^(O)the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. ¹⁸Also many of those who were now believers came, ^(P)confessing and divulging their practices. ¹⁹And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰So the word of the Lord ^(Q)continued to increase and prevail mightily.