Jeremiah 9:1-24

New American Standard Bible

Grief over Zion

9 ^[a]^(A)Oh, that my head were waters
And my eyes a fountain of tears,
That I might weep day and night
For those slain of the ^(B)daughter of my people!
²^[b]^(C)Oh that I had in the desert
A travelers’ lodging place;
So that I might leave my people
And go away from them!
For all of them are ^(D)adulterers,
An assembly of ^(E)treacherous people.
³“They ^(F)bend their tongues like their bows;
Lies and not truth prevail in the land;
For they ^(G)proceed from evil to evil,
And they ^(H)do not know Me,” declares the Lord.
⁴“Let everyone ^(I)be on guard against his neighbor,
And ^(J)do not trust any brother;
Because every ^(K)brother utterly ^[c]betrays,
And every neighbor ^(L)goes about as a slanderer.
⁵Everyone ^(M)deceives his neighbor
And does not speak the truth.
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
They ^(N)weary themselves committing wrongdoing.
⁶Your ^(O)dwelling is in the midst of deceit;
Through deceit they ^(P)refuse to know Me,” declares the Lord.

⁷Therefore this is what the Lord of armies says:

“Behold, I will refine them and ^(Q)put them to the test;
For ^(R)what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?
⁸Their ^(S)tongue is a deadly arrow;
It speaks deceit;
With his mouth one ^(T)speaks peace to his neighbor,
But inwardly he ^(U)sets an ambush for him.
⁹^(V)Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the Lord.
“Shall I not avenge Myself
On a nation such as this?

¹⁰“I will take up a weeping and wailing for the ^(W)mountains,
And for the pastures of the ^(X)wilderness a song of mourning,
Because they are ^(Y)laid waste so that no one passes through,
And the sound of the livestock is not heard;
Both the ^(Z)birds of the sky and the animals have fled; they are gone.
¹¹I will make Jerusalem a ^(AA)heap of ruins,
A haunt of ^(AB)jackals;
And I will make the cities of Judah a ^(AC)desolation without inhabitant.”

¹²Who is the ^(AD)wise person who may understand this? And who is he to whom ^(AE)the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? ^(AF)Why is the land destroyed, laid waste like the desert, so that no one passes through? ¹³The Lord said, “Because they have ^(AG)abandoned My Law which I put before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, ¹⁴but have ^(AH)followed the stubbornness of their heart and the ^(AI)Baals, ^[d]as their ^(AJ)fathers taught them,” ¹⁵therefore this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, ^(AK)I will feed this people wormwood; and I will give them ^(AL)poisoned water to drink. ¹⁶I will also ^(AM)scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the ^(AN)sword after them until I have put an end to them.”

¹⁷This is what the Lord of armies says:

“Consider and call for the ^(AO)mourning women, that they may come;
And send for the ^[e]^(AP)skillful women, that they may come!
¹⁸Have them hurry and take up a wailing for us,
So that our ^(AQ)eyes may shed tears,
And our eyelids flow with water.
¹⁹For a voice of ^(AR)wailing is heard from Zion:
‘^(AS)How devastated we are!
We are put to great shame,
For we have ^(AT)abandoned the land
Because they have torn down our homes.’”
²⁰Now hear the word of the Lord, you ^(AU)women,
And let your ears receive the word of His mouth;
Teach your daughters wailing,
And have every woman teach her neighbor a song of mourning.
²¹For ^(AV)death has come up through our windows;
It has entered our palaces
To eliminate the ^(AW)children from the streets,
The young men from the public squares.
²²Speak, “This is what the Lord says:
‘The corpses of people will fall ^(AX)like dung on the open field,
And like the sheaf after the reaper,
But no one will gather them.’”

²³This is what the Lord says: “^(AY)Let no wise man boast of his wisdom, nor let the ^(AZ)mighty man boast of his might, nor a ^(BA)rich man boast of his riches; ²⁴but let the one who boasts ^(BB)boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who ^(BC)exercises ^[f]mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I ^(BD)delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 9:1 Ch 8:23 in Heb
Jeremiah 9:2 Ch 9:1 in Heb
Jeremiah 9:4 I.e., like Jacob (a play on words)
Jeremiah 9:14 Lit which
Jeremiah 9:17 I.e., professional mourners
Jeremiah 9:24 Or faithfulness

2 Corinthians 10

New American Standard Bible

Paul Confronts the Corinthians

10 Now ^(A)I, Paul, myself ^(B)urge you by the ^(C)meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who ^(D)am ^[a]meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent! ²I ask that ^(E)when I am present I need not be bold with the confidence with which I intend to be courageous against ^(F)some, who regard us as if we walked ^(G)according to the flesh. ³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle ^(H)according to the flesh, ⁴for the ^(I)weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but ^[b]divinely powerful ^(J)for the destruction of fortresses. ⁵We are destroying arguments and all ^(K)arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the ^(L)obedience of Christ, ⁶and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever ^(M)your obedience is complete.

⁷^[c]^(N)You are looking at ^[d]things as they are outwardly. ^(O)If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ’s, have him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ’s, ^(P)so too are we. ⁸For if ^(Q)I boast somewhat ^[e]more about our ^(R)authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be put to shame, ⁹^[f]for I do not want to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters. ¹⁰For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his ^[g]personal presence is ^(S)unimpressive and ^(T)his speech contemptible.” ¹¹Have such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also in deed when present.

¹²For we do not presume to rank or compare ourselves with ^[h]some of those who ^(U)commend themselves; but when they ^[i]measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they have no understanding. ¹³But we will not boast ^(V)beyond our measure, but ^[j]^(W)within the measure of the ^[k]domain which God assigned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you. ¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you, for ^(X)we were the first to come even as far as you in the ^(Y)gospel of Christ; ¹⁵not boasting ^(Z)beyond our measure, that is, in ^(AA)other people’s labors, but with the hope that as ^(AB)your faith grows, we will be, ^[l]within our ^[m]domain, ^(AC)enlarged even more by you, ¹⁶so as to ^(AD)preach the gospel even to ^(AE)the regions beyond you, and not to boast ^[n]^(AF)in what has been accomplished in the domain of another. ¹⁷But ^(AG)the one who boasts is to boast in the Lord. ¹⁸For it is not the one who ^(AH)commends himself that is approved, but the one ^(AI)whom the Lord commends.

Footnotes

2 Corinthians 10:1 Lit lowly
2 Corinthians 10:4 Or mighty before God
2 Corinthians 10:7 Or Look at... or Do you look at...?
2 Corinthians 10:7 Lit what is before your face
2 Corinthians 10:8 Or more abundantly
2 Corinthians 10:9 Lit so that I may not seem
2 Corinthians 10:10 Lit bodily presence is weak
2 Corinthians 10:12 Or any
2 Corinthians 10:12 I.e., evaluate
2 Corinthians 10:13 Lit according to the measure
2 Corinthians 10:13 Or assignment; lit standard
2 Corinthians 10:15 Lit according to our
2 Corinthians 10:15 See note 2 v 13
2 Corinthians 10:16 Lit to the things prepared in the

Jeremiah 10

New American Standard Bible

A Satire on Idolatry

10 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, house of Israel. ²This is what the Lord says:

“^(A)Do not learn the way of the nations,
And do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens,
Although the nations are terrified by them;
³For the customs of the peoples are ^(B)futile;
For ^(C)it is wood cut from the forest,
The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool.
⁴They ^(D)decorate the idol with silver and gold;
They ^(E)fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not totter.
⁵They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
And they ^(F)cannot speak;
They must be ^(G)carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they ^(H)can do no harm,
Nor can they do any good.”

⁶^(I)There is none like You, Lord;
You are ^(J)great, and Your name is great in might.
⁷^(K)Who would not fear You, O ^(L)King of the nations?
For it is Your due!
For among all the ^(M)wise men of the nations
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.
⁸But they are altogether ^(N)stupid and foolish;
The instruction from idols is nothing but wood!
⁹Beaten ^(O)silver is brought from ^(P)Tarshish,
And ^(Q)gold from Uphaz,
The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith;
Their clothing is of violet and purple;
They are all the ^(R)work of skilled people.
¹⁰But the Lord is the ^(S)true God;
He is the ^(T)living God and the ^(U)everlasting King.
The ^(V)earth quakes at His wrath,
And the nations cannot ^(W)endure His indignation.

¹¹^[a]This is what you shall say to them: “The ^(X)gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will ^(Y)perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”

¹²It is ^(Z)He who made the earth by His power,
Who ^(AA)established the world by His wisdom;
And by His understanding He has ^(AB)stretched out the heavens.
¹³When He utters His ^(AC)voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens,
And He makes the ^(AD)clouds ascend from the end of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain,
And brings out the ^(AE)wind from His storehouses.
¹⁴Every person is ^(AF)stupid, devoid of knowledge;
Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
For his cast metal images are deceitful,
And there is no breath in them.
¹⁵They are ^(AG)worthless, a work of mockery;
At the ^(AH)time of their punishment they will perish.
¹⁶The ^(AI)Portion of Jacob is not like these;
For He is the ^[b]^(AJ)Maker of everything,
And ^(AK)Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
The ^(AL)Lord of armies is His name.

¹⁷^(AM)Pick up your bundle from the ground,
You who live under siege!
¹⁸For this is what the Lord says:
“Behold, I am ^(AN)slinging out the inhabitants of the land
At this time,
And I will cause them distress,
So that they may ^[c]be found.”

¹⁹^(AO)Woe to me, because of my ^[d]injury!
My ^(AP)wound is incurable.
But I said, “This certainly is a sickness,
And I ^(AQ)must endure it.”
²⁰My ^(AR)tent is destroyed,
And all my ropes are broken.
My ^(AS)sons have gone from me and are no more.
There is ^(AT)no one to stretch out my tent again
Or to set up my curtains.
²¹For the shepherds have become stupid
And ^(AU)have not sought the Lord.
Therefore they have not prospered,
And ^(AV)all their flock is scattered.
²²The sound of a ^(AW)report! Behold, it is coming—
A great roar ^(AX)from the land of the north—
To ^(AY)make the cities of Judah
A desolation, a haunt of jackals.

²³I know, Lord, that ^(AZ)a person’s way is not in himself,
^(BA)Nor is it in a person who walks to direct his steps.
²⁴^(BB)Correct me, Lord, but with justice;
Not with Your anger, or You will ^[e]bring me to nothing.
²⁵^(BC)Pour out Your wrath on the nations that ^(BD)do not know You,
And on the families who ^(BE)do not call upon Your name;
For they have devoured Jacob;
They have ^(BF)devoured him and consumed him,
And have laid waste his ^[f]settlement.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 10:11 This verse is in Aram
Jeremiah 10:16 Lit Fashioner
Jeremiah 10:18 Lit find
Jeremiah 10:19 Lit breaking
Jeremiah 10:24 Lit diminish me
Jeremiah 10:25 Or pasture

2 Corinthians 11

New American Standard Bible

Paul Defends His Apostleship

11 I wish that you would ^(A)bear with me in a little ^(B)foolishness; but ^[a]indeed you are bearing with me. ²For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I ^(C)betrothed you to one husband, to ^(D)present you as a pure virgin to Christ. ³But I am afraid that, as the ^(E)serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ⁴For if ^[b]one comes and preaches ^(F)another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a ^(G)different spirit which you have not received, or a ^(H)different gospel which you have not accepted, this you ^(I)tolerate ^(J)very well! ⁵For I consider myself ^(K)not in the least inferior to the ^[c]most eminent apostles. ⁶But even if I am ^(L)unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in ^(M)knowledge; in fact, in every way we have ^(N)made this evident to you in all things.

⁷Or ^(O)did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the ^(P)gospel of God to you ^(Q)without charge? ⁸I robbed other churches by ^(R)taking wages from them to serve you; ⁹and when I was present with you and was in need, I was ^(S)not a burden to anyone; for when ^(T)the brothers came from ^(U)Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from ^(V)being a burden to you, ^[d]and will continue to do so. ¹⁰^(W)As the truth of Christ is in me, ^(X)this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of ^(Y)Achaia. ¹¹Why? ^(Z)Because I do not love you? ^(AA)God knows that I do!

¹²But what I am doing I will also continue to do, ^(AB)so that I may eliminate the opportunity from those who want an opportunity to be ^[e]regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. ¹³For such men are ^(AC)false apostles, ^(AD)deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴No wonder, for even ^(AE)Satan disguises himself as an ^(AF)angel of light. ¹⁵Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, ^(AG)whose end will be according to their deeds.

¹⁶^(AH)Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little. ¹⁷What I am saying, I am not saying ^[f]^(AI)as the Lord would, but as ^(AJ)in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. ¹⁸Since ^(AK)many boast ^(AL)according to the flesh, I will boast also. ¹⁹For you, ^(AM)being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly. ²⁰For you tolerate it if anyone ^(AN)enslaves you, if anyone ^(AO)devours you, if anyone ^(AP)takes advantage of you, if anyone ^(AQ)exalts himself, if anyone ^(AR)hits you in the face. ²¹To my ^(AS)shame I must say that we have been ^(AT)weak by comparison.

But in whatever respect anyone else ^(AU)is bold—I am ^(AV)speaking in foolishness—I too am bold. ²²Are they ^(AW)Hebrews? ^(AX)So am I. Are they ^(AY)Israelites? ^(AZ)So am I. Are they ^[g]^(BA)descendants of Abraham? ^(BB)So am I. ²³Are they ^(BC)servants of Christ?—I am speaking as if insane—I more so; in ^(BD)far more labors, in ^(BE)far more imprisonments, ^[h]^(BF)beaten times without number, often in danger of ^(BG)death. ²⁴Five times I received from the Jews ^(BH)thirty-nine lashes. ²⁵Three times I was ^(BI)beaten with rods, once I was ^(BJ)stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent adrift at sea. ²⁶I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my ^(BK)countrymen, dangers from the ^(BL)Gentiles, dangers in the ^(BM)city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among ^(BN)false brothers; ²⁷I have been in ^(BO)labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in ^(BP)hunger and thirst, often ^(BQ)without food, in cold and ^[i]^(BR)exposure. ²⁸Apart from such ^[j]external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for ^(BS)all the churches. ²⁹Who is ^(BT)weak without my being weak? Who is ^[k]led into sin ^[l]without my intense concern?

³⁰If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my ^(BU)weakness. ³¹The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, ^(BV)He who is blessed forever, ^(BW)knows that I am not lying. ³²In ^(BX)Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was ^(BY)guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, ³³and I was let down in a basket ^(BZ)through a window ^[m]in the wall, and so escaped his hands.