40 Therefore the Lord was angry(A) with his people
    and abhorred his inheritance.(B)
41 He gave them into the hands(C) of the nations,
    and their foes ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed(D) them
    and subjected them to their power.
43 Many times he delivered them,(E)
    but they were bent on rebellion(F)
    and they wasted away in their sin.
44 Yet he took note of their distress
    when he heard their cry;(G)
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant(H)
    and out of his great love(I) he relented.(J)
46 He caused all who held them captive
    to show them mercy.(K)

47 Save us,(L) Lord our God,
    and gather us(M) from the nations,
that we may give thanks(N) to your holy name(O)
    and glory in your praise.

48 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.

Let all the people say, “Amen!”(P)

Praise the Lord.

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12 Who is wise(A) enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?

13 The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.(B) 14 Instead, they have followed(C) the stubbornness of their hearts;(D) they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” 15 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food(E) and drink poisoned water.(F) 16 I will scatter them among nations(G) that neither they nor their ancestors have known,(H) and I will pursue them with the sword(I) until I have made an end of them.”(J)

17 This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women(K) to come;
    send for the most skillful of them.
18 Let them come quickly
    and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
    and water streams from our eyelids.(L)
19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
    ‘How ruined(M) we are!
    How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
    because our houses are in ruins.’”

20 Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
    open your ears to the words of his mouth.(N)
Teach your daughters how to wail;
    teach one another a lament.(O)
21 Death has climbed in through our windows(P)
    and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
    and the young men(Q) from the public squares.

22 Say, “This is what the Lord declares:

“‘Dead bodies will lie
    like dung(R) on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
    with no one to gather them.’”

23 This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom(S)
    or the strong boast of their strength(T)
    or the rich boast of their riches,(U)
24 but let the one who boasts boast(V) about this:
    that they have the understanding to know(W) me,
that I am the Lord,(X) who exercises kindness,(Y)
    justice and righteousness(Z) on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.

25 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh(AA) 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.[a](AB) For all these nations are really uncircumcised,(AC) and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.(AD)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads

Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin

The priests and the captain of the temple guard(A) and the Sadducees(B) came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.(C) They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail(D) until the next day. But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew(E) to about five thousand.

The next day the rulers,(F) the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas,(G) John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,(H) said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!(I) If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame(J) and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,(K) whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead,(L) that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,
    which has become the cornerstone.’[a](M)

12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”(N)

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 4:11 Psalm 118:22

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