Jeremiah 4:1-18

New King James Version

Jeremiah Laments over Judah

4 “If you will return, O Israel,” says the Lord,
^(A)“Return to Me;
And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight,
Then you shall not be moved.
²^(B)And you shall swear, ‘The Lord lives,’
^(C)In truth, in ^[a]judgment, and in righteousness;
^(D)The nations shall bless themselves in Him,
And in Him they shall ^(E)glory.”

³For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

^(F)“Break up your ^[b]fallow ground,
And ^(G)do not sow among thorns.
⁴^(H)Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
And take away the foreskins of your hearts,
You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My fury come forth like fire,
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings.”

An Imminent Invasion

⁵Declare in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say:

^(I)“Blow the trumpet in the land;
Cry, ‘Gather together,’
And say, ^(J)‘Assemble yourselves,
And let us go into the fortified cities.’
⁶Set up the ^[c]standard toward Zion.
Take refuge! Do not delay!
For I will bring disaster from the ^(K)north,
And great destruction.”

⁷^(L)The lion has come up from his thicket,
And ^(M)the destroyer of nations is on his way.
He has gone forth from his place
^(N)To make your land desolate.
Your cities will be laid waste,
Without inhabitant.
⁸For this, ^(O)clothe yourself with sackcloth,
Lament and wail.
For the fierce anger of the Lord
Has not turned back from us.

⁹“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord,
“That the heart of the king shall perish,
And the heart of the princes;
The priests shall be astonished,
And the prophets shall wonder.”

¹⁰Then I said, “Ah, Lord God!
^(P)Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem,
^(Q)Saying, ‘You shall have peace,’
Whereas the sword reaches to the ^[d]heart.”

¹¹At that time it will be said
To this people and to Jerusalem,
^(R)“A dry wind of the desolate heights blows in the wilderness
Toward the daughter of My people—
Not to fan or to cleanse—
¹²A wind too strong for these will come for Me;
Now ^(S)I will also speak judgment against them.”

¹³“Behold, he shall come up like clouds,
And ^(T)his chariots like a whirlwind.
^(U)His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are plundered!”

¹⁴O Jerusalem, ^(V)wash your heart from wickedness,
That you may be saved.
How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
¹⁵For a voice declares ^(W)from Dan
And proclaims ^[e]affliction from Mount Ephraim:
¹⁶“Make mention to the nations,
Yes, proclaim against Jerusalem,
That watchers come from a ^(X)far country
And raise their voice against the cities of Judah.
¹⁷^(Y)Like keepers of a field they are against her all around,
Because she has been rebellious against Me,” says the Lord.
¹⁸“Your^(Z) ways and your doings
Have procured these things for you.
This is your wickedness,
Because it is bitter,
Because it reaches to your heart.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Jeremiah 4:2 justice
Jeremiah 4:3 untilled
Jeremiah 4:6 banner
Jeremiah 4:10 Lit. soul
Jeremiah 4:15 Or wickedness

2 Corinthians 4

New King James Version

The Light of Christ’s Gospel

4 Therefore, since we have this ministry, ^(A)as we have received mercy, we ^(B)do not lose heart. ²But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor ^[a]handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth ^(C)commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. ³But even if our gospel is veiled, ^(D)it is veiled to those who are perishing, ⁴whose minds ^(E)the god of this age ^(F)has blinded, who do not believe, lest ^(G)the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, ^(H)who is the image of God, should shine on them. ⁵^(I)For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ^(J)ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶For it is the God ^(K)who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has ^(L)shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Cast Down but Unconquered

⁷But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, ^(M)that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. ⁸We are ^(N)hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not ^(O)forsaken; ^(P)struck down, but not destroyed— ¹⁰^(Q)always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, ^(R)that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. ¹¹For we who live ^(S)are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹²So then death is working in us, but life in you.

¹³And since we have ^(T)the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ^(U)“I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, ¹⁴knowing that ^(V)He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. ¹⁵For ^(W)all things are for your sakes, that ^(X)grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

Seeing the Invisible

¹⁶Therefore we ^(Y)do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is ^(Z)being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For ^(AA)our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, ¹⁸^(AB)while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Footnotes

2 Corinthians 4:2 adulterating the word of God

Jeremiah 5:1-19

New King James Version

The Justice of God’s Judgment

5 “Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem;
See now and know;
And seek in her open places
^(A)If you can find a man,
^(B)If there is anyone who executes ^[a]judgment,
Who seeks the truth,
^(C)And I will pardon her.
²^(D)Though they say, ‘As ^(E)the Lord lives,’
Surely they ^(F)swear falsely.”

³O Lord, are not ^(G)Your eyes on the truth?
You have ^(H)stricken them,
But they have not grieved;
You have consumed them,
But ^(I)they have refused to receive correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
They have refused to return.

⁴Therefore I said, “Surely these are poor.
They are foolish;
For ^(J)they do not know the way of the Lord,
The judgment of their God.
⁵I will go to the great men and speak to them,
For ^(K)they have known the way of the Lord,
The judgment of their God.”

But these have altogether ^(L)broken the yoke
And burst the bonds.
⁶Therefore ^(M)a lion from the forest shall slay them,
^(N)A wolf of the deserts shall destroy them;
^(O)A leopard will watch over their cities.
Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces,
Because their transgressions are many;
Their backslidings have increased.

⁷“How shall I pardon you for this?
Your children have forsaken Me
And ^(P)sworn by those ^(Q)that are not gods.
^(R)When I had fed them to the full,
Then they committed adultery
And assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
⁸^(S)They were like well-fed lusty stallions;
Every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife.
⁹Shall I not punish them for these things?” says the Lord.
“And shall I not ^(T)avenge Myself on such a nation as this?

¹⁰“Go up on her walls and destroy,
But do not ^[b]make a ^(U)complete end.
Take away her branches,
For they are not the Lord’s.
¹¹For ^(V)the house of Israel and the house of Judah
Have dealt very treacherously with Me,” says the Lord.

¹²^(W)They have lied about the Lord,
And said, ^(X)“It is not He.
^(Y)Neither will ^[c]evil come upon us,
Nor shall we see sword or famine.
¹³And the prophets become wind,
For the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them.”

¹⁴Therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts:

“Because you speak this word,
^(Z)Behold, I will make My words in your mouth fire,
And this people wood,
And it shall devour them.
¹⁵Behold, I will bring a ^(AA)nation against you ^(AB)from afar,
O house of Israel,” says the Lord.
“It is a mighty nation,
It is an ancient nation,
A nation whose language you do not know,
Nor can you understand what they say.
¹⁶Their quiver is like an open tomb;
They are all mighty men.
¹⁷And they shall eat up your ^(AC)harvest and your bread,
Which your sons and daughters should eat.
They shall eat up your flocks and your herds;
They shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
They shall destroy your fortified cities,
In which you trust, with the sword.

¹⁸“Nevertheless in those days,” says the Lord, “I ^(AD)will not ^[d]make a complete end of you. ¹⁹And it will be when you say, ^(AE)‘Why does the Lord our God do all these things to us?’ then you shall answer them, ‘Just as you have ^(AF)forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so ^(AG)you shall serve aliens in a land that is not yours.’

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Jeremiah 5:1 justice
Jeremiah 5:10 completely destroy
Jeremiah 5:12 disaster
Jeremiah 5:18 completely destroy

2 Corinthians 5

New King James Version

Assurance of the Resurrection

5 For we know that if ^(A)our earthly ^[a]house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house ^(B)not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ²For in this ^(C)we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our ^[b]habitation which is from heaven, ³if indeed, ^(D)having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. ⁴For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, ^(E)but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. ⁵Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also ^(F)has given us the Spirit as ^[c]a guarantee.

⁶So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. ⁷For ^(G)we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸We are confident, yes, ^(H)well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

The Judgment Seat of Christ

⁹Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. ¹⁰^(I)For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, ^(J)that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. ¹¹Knowing, therefore, ^(K)the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.

Be Reconciled to God

¹²For ^(L)we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity ^(M)to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. ¹³For ^(N)if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. ¹⁴For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that ^(O)if One died for all, then all died; ¹⁵and He died for all, ^(P)that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

¹⁶^(Q)Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, ^(R)yet now we know Him thus no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone ^(S)is in Christ, he is ^(T)a new creation; ^(U)old things have passed away; behold, all things have become ^(V)new. ¹⁸Now all things are of God, ^(W)who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹that is, that ^(X)God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not ^[d]imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

²⁰Now then, we are ^(Y)ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. ²¹For ^(Z)He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become ^(AA)the righteousness of God in Him.