With God We Shall Do Valiantly

A Song. A Psalm of David.

The Broken Covenant

11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ^2 (A)“Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ³ You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^(B)Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant ⁴ that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, ^(C)from the iron furnace, saying, ^(D)Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. ^(E)So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, ^5 (F)that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, ^(G)to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”

⁶ And the Lord said to me, ^(H)“Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ^(I)Hear the words of this covenant and do them. ⁷ For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, ^(J)warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, ^(K)Obey my voice. ^8 (L)Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, ^(M)but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all ^(N)the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

⁹ Again the Lord said to me, ^(O)“A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ They have turned back to ^(P)the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. ^(Q)They have gone after other gods to serve them. ^(R)The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. ¹¹ Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. ^(S)Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. ¹² Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem ^(T)will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, ^(U)but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. ^13 (V)For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, ^(W)altars to make offerings to Baal.

¹⁴ “Therefore ^(X)do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, ^(Y)for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. ^15 (Z)What right has my beloved in my house, ^(AA)when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? ^(AB)Can you then exult? ¹⁶ The Lord once called you ^(AC)‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But ^(AD)with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and ^(AE)its branches will be consumed. ¹⁷ The Lord of hosts, ^(AF)who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, ^(AG)provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

²¹ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of ^(AO)Anathoth, ^(AP)who seek your life, and say, ^(AQ)“Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand”— ²² therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, ²³ and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of ^(AR)Anathoth, ^(AS)the year of their punishment.”

Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection

^30 (A)They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, ³¹ for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, ^(B)after three days he will rise.” ^32 (C)But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.

Who Is the Greatest?

³³ And ^(D)they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house ^(E)he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way ^(F)they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. ³⁵ And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, ^(G)“If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and ^(H)taking him in his arms, he said to them, ^37 (I)“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and ^(J)whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Anyone Not Against Us Is for Us

^38 (K)John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone ^(L)casting out demons in your name,^[a] and ^(M)we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” ³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. ^40 (N)For the one who is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ For truly, I say to you, ^(O)whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.

Temptations to Sin

^42 (P)“Whoever causes one of ^(Q)these little ones who believe in me to sin,^{[b] (R)}it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. ^43 (S)And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to ^(T)hell,^[c] to ^(U)the unquenchable fire.^{[d] 45 (V)}And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into ^(W)hell. ^47 (X)And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into ^(Y)hell, ⁴⁸ ‘where ^(Z)their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ ⁴⁹ For everyone will be salted with fire.^{[e] 50 (AA)}Salt is good, ^(AB)but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? ^(AC)Have salt in yourselves, and ^(AD)be at peace with one another.”