I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds

^[a] To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben.^[b] A Psalm of David.

The Obedience of the Rechabites

35 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of ^(A)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: ² “Go to the house of the ^(B)Rechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of ^(C)the chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” ³ So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. ⁴ I brought them to the house of the Lord into ^(D)the chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, ^(E)the man of God, which was near ^(F)the chamber of the officials, above ^(G)the chamber of ^(H)Maaseiah the son of Shallum, ^(I)keeper of the threshold. ⁵ Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” ⁶ But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for ^(J)Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. ⁷ You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, ^(K)that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ ⁸ We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹ and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, ¹⁰ but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹ But ^(L)when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of ^(M)the army of the Chaldeans and ^(N)the army of the Syrians.’ ^(O)So we are living in Jerusalem.”

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^(P)Will you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. ¹⁴ The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. I have spoken to you ^(Q)persistently, but you have not listened to me. ¹⁵ I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them ^(R)persistently, saying, ^(S)‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and ^(T)do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ ^(U)But you did not incline your ear or listen to me. ¹⁶ The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. ¹⁷ Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, ^(V)because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, ^(W)I have called to them and they have not answered.”

¹⁸ But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, ¹⁹ therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man ^(X)to stand before me.”

Paul's Visions and His Thorn

12 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and ^(A)revelations of the Lord. ² I know a man ^(B)in Christ who fourteen years ago was ^(C)caught up to ^(D)the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, ^(E)God knows. ³ And I know that this man was caught up into ^(F)paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, ^(G)God knows— ⁴ and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. ⁵ On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, ^(H)except of my weaknesses— ⁶ though if I should wish to boast, ^(I)I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. ⁷ So ^(J)to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,^{[a] (K)}a thorn was given me in the flesh, ^(L)a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. ^8 (M)Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. ⁹ But he said to me, ^(N)“My grace is sufficient for you, for ^(O)my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that ^(P)the power of Christ may rest upon me. ^10 (Q)For the sake of Christ, then, ^(R)I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For ^(S)when I am weak, then I am strong.

Concern for the Corinthian Church

^11 (T)I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was ^(U)not at all inferior to these super-apostles, ^(V)even though I am nothing. ^12 (W)The signs of a true apostle were performed among you ^(X)with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. ¹³ For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that ^(Y)I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

¹⁴ Here ^(Z)for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for ^(AA)I seek not what is yours but you. For ^(AB)children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but ^(AC)parents for their children. ^15 (AD)I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If ^(AE)I love you more, am I to be loved less? ¹⁶ But granting that ^(AF)I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. ¹⁷ Did I take advantage of you ^(AG)through any of those whom I sent to you? ^18 (AH)I urged Titus to go, and sent ^(AI)the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

¹⁹ Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is ^(AJ)in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and ^(AK)all for your upbuilding, beloved. ²⁰ For I fear that perhaps ^(AL)when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. ²¹ I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those ^(AM)who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, ^(AN)sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.