Jeremiah 10:19-25

New International Version

¹⁹Woe to me because of my injury!
    My wound^(A) is incurable!
Yet I said to myself,
    “This is my sickness, and I must endure^(B) it.”
²⁰My tent^(C) is destroyed;
    all its ropes are snapped.
My children are gone from me and are no more;^(D)
    no one is left now to pitch my tent
    or to set up my shelter.
²¹The shepherds^(E) are senseless^(F)
    and do not inquire of the Lord;^(G)
so they do not prosper^(H)
    and all their flock is scattered.^(I)
²²Listen! The report is coming—
    a great commotion from the land of the north!^(J)
It will make the towns of Judah desolate,^(K)
    a haunt of jackals.^(L)

Jeremiah’s Prayer

²³Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;
    it is not for them to direct their steps.^(M)
²⁴Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—
    not in your anger,^(N)
    or you will reduce me to nothing.^(O)
²⁵Pour out your wrath on the nations^(P)
    that do not acknowledge you,
    on the peoples who do not call on your name.^(Q)
For they have devoured^(R) Jacob;
    they have devoured him completely
    and destroyed his homeland.^(S)

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Hebrews 11:1-12

New International Version

Faith in Action

11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for^(A) and assurance about what we do not see.^(B) ²This is what the ancients were commended for.^(C)

³By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command,^(D) so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

⁴By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended^(E) as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings.^(F) And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.^(G)

⁵By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”^[a]^(H) For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. ⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him^(I) must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

⁷By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen,^(J) in holy fear built an ark^(K) to save his family.^(L) By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.^(M)

⁸By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance,^(N) obeyed and went,^(O) even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹By faith he made his home in the promised land^(P) like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents,^(Q) as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.^(R) ¹⁰For he was looking forward to the city^(S) with foundations,^(T) whose architect and builder is God.^(U) ¹¹And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age,^(V) was enabled to bear children^(W) because she^[b] considered him faithful^(X) who had made the promise. ¹²And so from this one man, and he as good as dead,^(Y) came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.^(Z)

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Footnotes

Hebrews 11:5 Gen. 5:24
Hebrews 11:11 Or By faith Abraham, even though he was too old to have children—and Sarah herself was not able to conceive—was enabled to become a father because he