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Jeremiah’s Lament
19 My anguish, my anguish![a] I writhe in agony!
Oh, the pain in[b] my heart!(A)
My heart pounds;
I cannot be silent.
For you, my soul,
have heard the sound of the ram’s horn—
the shout of battle.
20 Disaster after disaster(B) is reported
because the whole land is destroyed.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my tent curtains, in a moment.
21 How long must I see the signal flag
and hear the sound of the ram’s horn?
22 “For My people are fools;
they do not know Me.
They are foolish children,
without understanding.(C)
They are skilled in doing what is evil,
but they do not know how to do what is good.”(D)
23 I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty.(E)
I looked to the heavens,
and their light was gone.(F)
24 I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;(G)
all the hills shook.
25 I looked, and no man was left;(H)
all the birds of the sky had fled.(I)
26 I looked, and the fertile field(J) was a wilderness.(K)
All its cities were torn down
because of the Lord
and His burning anger.(L)
27 For this is what the Lord says:
The whole land will be a desolation,(M)
but I will not finish it off.(N)
28 Because of this, the earth will mourn;(O)
the skies above will grow dark.(P)
I have spoken; I have planned,
and I will not relent or turn back from it.(Q)
29 Every city flees(R)
at the sound of the horseman and the archer.
They enter the thickets
and climb among the rocks.(S)
Every city is abandoned;
no inhabitant is left.
30 And you, devastated one, what are you doing(T)
that you dress yourself in scarlet,
that you adorn yourself with gold jewelry,
that you enlarge your eyes with paint?(U)
You beautify yourself for nothing.
Your lovers reject you;(V)
they want to take your life.(W)
31 I hear a cry like a woman in labor,(X)
a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child.
The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands:(Y)
Woe is me, for my life is weary
because of the murderers!
The Depravity of Jerusalem
5 Roam(Z) through the streets of Jerusalem.
Look and take note;
search in her squares.
If you find one person,(AA)
any who acts justly,
who seeks to be faithful,
then I will forgive her.(AB)
2 When they say, “As the Lord lives,”(AC)
they are swearing falsely.(AD)
3 Lord, don’t Your eyes look for faithfulness?(AE)
You have struck them, but they felt no pain.(AF)
You finished them off,
but they refused to accept discipline.(AG)
They made their faces harder than rock,(AH)
and they refused to return.(AI)
4 Then I thought:
They are just the poor;
they have played the fool.
For they don’t understand the way of the Lord,(AJ)
the justice of their God.(AK)
5 I will go to the powerful
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.(AL)
However, these also had broken the yoke
and torn off the chains.(AM)
6 Therefore, a lion from the forest will strike them down.(AN)
A wolf from an arid plain will ravage them.
A leopard(AO) keeps watch over their cities.
Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces
because their rebellious acts are many,(AP)
their unfaithful deeds numerous.(AQ)
7 Why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned Me
and sworn by those who are not gods.(AR)
I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery;(AS)
they gashed themselves(AT) at the[c] prostitute’s house.
8 They are well-fed,[d] eager[e] stallions,(AU)
each neighing(AV) after someone else’s wife.(AW)
9 Should I not punish them for these things?(AX)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself(AY)
on such a nation as this?
10 Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them,(AZ)
but do not finish them off.(BA)
Prune away her shoots,
for they do not belong to the Lord.(BB)
11 They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
have dealt very treacherously with Me.(BC)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12 They have contradicted the Lord
and insisted, “It won’t happen.[f](BD)
Harm won’t come to us;
we won’t see sword or famine.”
13 The prophets become only wind,
for the Lord’s word is not in them.
This will in fact happen to them.
Coming Judgment
14 Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Hosts says:
Because you have spoken this word,
I am going to make My words
become fire in your mouth.(BE)
These people are the wood,
and the fire will consume them.(BF)
15 I am about to bring a nation
from far away against you,(BG)
house of Israel.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
It is an established nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know
and whose speech you do not understand.(BH)
16 Their quiver is like an open grave;(BI)
they are all mighty warriors.
17 They will consume your harvest and your food.(BJ)
They will consume your sons and your daughters.
They will consume your flocks and your herds.
They will consume your vines and your fig trees.
They will destroy with the sword
your fortified cities(BK) in which you trust.
18 “But even in those days”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“I will not finish you off.(BL) 19 When people ask, ‘For what offense has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ You will respond to them: Just as you abandoned Me(BM) and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours.(BN)
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying:
21 Hear this,
you foolish and senseless[g] people.(BO)
They have eyes, but they don’t see.
They have ears, but they don’t hear.(BP)
22 Do you not fear Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Do you not tremble before Me,
the One who set the sand as the boundary of the sea,
an enduring barrier that it cannot cross?(BQ)
The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.
They roar but cannot pass over it.
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.(BR)
They have turned aside and have gone away.
24 They have not said to themselves,
‘Let’s fear the Lord our God,(BS)
who gives the rain,(BT) both early and late,(BU) in its season,(BV)
who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.’
25 Your guilty acts have diverted these things from you.
Your sins have withheld My bounty from you,(BW)
26 for wicked men live among My people.
They watch like fowlers lying in wait.[h](BX)
They set a trap;(BY)
they catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
so their houses are full of deceit.(BZ)
Therefore they have grown powerful and rich.
28 They have become fat(CA) and sleek.
They have also excelled in evil matters.
They have not taken up cases,
such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper,
and they have not defended the rights of the needy.(CB)
29 Should I not punish them for these things?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge Myself(CC)
on such a nation as this?
30 A horrible, terrible thing
has taken place in the land.(CD)
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,(CE)
and the priests rule by their own authority.
My people love it like this.
But what will you do at the end of it?(CF)
Threatened Siege of Jerusalem
6 “Run for cover,(CG) Benjaminites,
out of Jerusalem!
Sound the ram’s horn(CH) in Tekoa;(CI)
raise a smoke signal(CJ) over Beth-haccherem,[i]
for disaster threatens from the north,(CK)
even great destruction.
2 Though she is beautiful and delicate,
I will destroy[j] Daughter Zion.
3 Shepherds and their flocks will come against her;
they will pitch their tents all around her.(CL)
Each will pasture his own portion.
4 Set them apart for war(CM) against her;
rise up, let’s attack at noon.
Woe to us, for the day is passing;
the evening shadows grow long.
5 Rise up, let’s attack by night.
Let us destroy her fortresses.”
6 For this is what the Lord of Hosts says:
Cut down the trees;(CN)
raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem.
This city must be punished.
There is nothing but oppression within her.(CO)
7 As a well gushes out its water,
so she pours out her evil.[k]
Violence and destruction(CP) resound in her.
Sickness and wounds keep coming to My attention.
8 Be warned, Jerusalem,
or I will turn away from you;(CQ)
I will make you a desolation,
a land without inhabitants.(CR)
Wrath on Israel
9 This is what the Lord of Hosts says:
Glean the remnant of Israel(CS)
as thoroughly as a vine.
Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer
over the branches.
10 Who can I speak to and give such a warning[l]
that they will listen?
Look, their ear is uncircumcised,[m](CT)
so they cannot pay attention.
See, the word of the Lord has become contemptible to them—
they find no pleasure in it.(CU)
11 But I am full of the Lord’s wrath;
I am tired of holding it back.(CV)
Pour it out on the children in the street,(CW)
on the gang of young men as well.
For both husband and wife will be captured,
the old with the very old.[n]
12 Their houses will be turned over to others,(CX)
their fields and wives as well,
for I will stretch out My hand(CY)
against the inhabitants of the land.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
13 For from the least to the greatest of them,(CZ)
everyone is making profit dishonestly.(DA)
From prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.(DB)
14 They have treated My people’s brokenness superficially,
claiming, “Peace, peace,”(DC)
when there is no peace.
15 Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently?
They weren’t at all ashamed.
They can no longer feel humiliation.(DD)
Therefore, they will fall among the fallen.
When I punish them, they will collapse,(DE)
says the Lord.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church;
He is the beginning,(A)
the firstborn from the dead,(B)
so that He might come to have
first place in everything.
19 For God was pleased to have
all His fullness(C) dwell in Him,(D)
20 and through Him to reconcile
everything to Himself
by making peace(E)
through the blood(F) of His cross[a](G)—
whether things on earth or things in heaven.
21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. 22 But now He has reconciled you by His physical body[b] through His death,(H) to present you holy, faultless,(I) and blameless before Him(J)— 23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith(K) and are not shifted away from the hope(L) of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation(M) under heaven,(N) and I, Paul,(O) have become a servant of it.
Paul’s Ministry
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings(P) for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body,(Q) that is, the church. 25 I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ(R) in you, the hope(S) of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 I labor for this, striving(T) with His strength that works powerfully in me.(U)
2 For I want you to know how great a struggle(V) I have for you, for those in Laodicea,(W) and for all who have not seen me in person. 2 I want their hearts to be encouraged(X) and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery(Y)—Christ.[c](Z) 3 All the treasures of wisdom(AA) and knowledge(AB) are hidden in Him.
Christ versus the Colossian Heresy
4 I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments. 5 For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit,(AC) rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.
6 Therefore, as you have received(AD) Christ Jesus the Lord,(AE) walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him(AF) and established in the faith, just as you were taught,(AG) overflowing with gratitude.
Psalm 77
Confidence in a Time of Crisis
For the choir director: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph.(A) A psalm.
1 I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and He will hear me.(B)
2 I sought the Lord in my day of trouble.
My hands were continually lifted up
all night long;
I refused to be comforted.(C)
3 I think of God; I groan;
I meditate; my spirit becomes weak.(D)
4 You have kept me from closing my eyes;
I am troubled and cannot speak.(E)
5 I consider days of old,
years long past.(F)
6 At night I remember my music;
I meditate in my heart, and my spirit ponders.(G)
7 “Will the Lord reject forever
and never again show favor?(H)
8 Has His faithful love ceased forever?
Is His promise at an end for all generations?(I)
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has He in anger withheld His compassion?”(J)
10 So I say, “I am grieved[a]
that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”(K)
11 I will remember the Lord’s works;
yes, I will remember Your ancient wonders.(L)
12 I will reflect on all You have done
and meditate on Your actions.(M)
13 God, Your way is holy.
What god is great like God?(N)
14 You are the God who works wonders;
You revealed Your strength among the peoples.(O)
15 With power You redeemed Your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.(P)
16 The waters saw You, God.
The waters saw You; they trembled.
Even the depths shook.(Q)
17 The clouds poured down water.
The storm clouds thundered;
Your arrows flashed back and forth.(R)
18 The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
lightning lit up the world.(S)
The earth shook and quaked.(T)
19 Your way went through the sea
and Your path through the great waters,
but Your footprints were unseen.(U)
20 You led Your people like a flock(V)
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.(W)
23 These sayings also belong to the wise:(A)
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