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19 My bowels, my bowels! I writhe!
The walls of my heart!
My heart is restless within me, I cannot keep silent,
for I hear in my inner self the sound of a horn, the alarm of war.
20 Destruction on destruction is proclaimed,
for all of the land is devastated.
Suddenly my tents are devastated,
my tent curtains in a moment.
21 How long must I see the banner,
and hear the sound of a horn?
22 “For my people are foolish,
they have not known me.
They are foolish children,
and they do not have insight.
They are skillful at doing evil,
and they do not know how to do good.”
23 I looked at the earth, and behold, it was wasteland and emptiness,
and to the heavens, and they were without their light.
24 I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
and all of the hills were jolted to and fro.
25 I looked and behold, there was no person,
and all of the birds[a] of the sky had fled.
26 I looked and behold, the fruitful land was a desert,[b]
and all of its cities were ruined before Yahweh,
before the face of his burning anger.[c]
27 For thus says Yahweh, “All of the land will be a desolation,
yet I will not make a complete desolation.
28 Because of this the earth will mourn,
and the heavens above will become dark.
Because I have spoken, I have planned,
and I have not relented, and I will not turn back from it.”
29 From the sound of a horseman and an archer[d] every town flees,
they enter in the thickets and among the rocks they climb.
Every town is forsaken,
and there is no person who lives in them.
30 And you, O devastated one, what do you do,
that you put on crimson,
that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,
that you make your eyes look bigger with the eye make-up?
In vain you beautify yourself.
Your lovers reject you;
they seek your life.
31 For I heard a voice like an ill woman,
anxiety like a woman who bears her first child,
the voice of the daughter of Zion.
She is gasping for breath,
she is spreading out her hands:
“Woe is me, for I am becoming tired[e] before killers.”
5 “Roam about through the streets of Jerusalem,
and look please, and take note,
and search at its public squares,
if you can find a person who does justice,
who seeks honesty,
so that I may forgive it.
2 And though they say, ‘As Yahweh lives,’[f]
therefore[g] they swear falsely.”
3 O Yahweh, do not your eyes look for honesty?
You have struck them, but they felt no pain,
you have destroyed them, they refused to take discipline.
They have hardened their faces more than rock,
they have refused to turn back.
4 Then I said, “They are just simple people,
they are foolish,
for they know not the way of Yahweh,
the law[h] of their God.
5 Let me go to the great,
and let me speak with them,
for they know the way of Yahweh,
the law[i] of their God.”
However, they together have broken the yoke,
they have torn to pieces the bonds.
6 Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them,
A wolf from the desert plains[j] will devastate them.
A leopard is watching their cities,
everyone who goes out from there will be torn,
because their transgressions are many,
their apostasies are numerous.
7 “How[k] can I forgive you?
Your children have forsaken me,
and they have sworn by those who are not gods.
But I fed them to the full,
and they committed adultery,
and flocked to the house of a prostitute.
8 They were well-fed lusty horses,
they neighed each to the wife of his neighbor.
9 Because of these things shall I not punish?” declares[l] Yahweh,
“and on a nation who is like this, shall I not take revenge?
10 Go up through her vineyards and destroy,
but you must not make complete destruction.
Remove her branches,
for they are not to Yahweh.
11 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have dealt utterly treacherously with me,” declares[m] Yahweh.
12 “They have denied Yahweh, and have said,
‘Not he, for[n] evil will not come on us,
we will see neither sword nor famine.
13 And the prophets are like wind,
and the word is not in them.’
Thus it will be done to them.”
14 Therefore[o] thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts,
“Because you have spoken this word,
look, I am making my words in your mouth like a fire,
and this people wood, and it will devour them.
15 Look, I am about to bring on you a nation from afar,
O house of Israel,” declares[p] Yahweh.
“It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation.[q]
A nation whose language you do not know,
and you cannot understand what they speak.
16 Their quiver is like an open tomb,
all of them are warriors.
17 And they will eat your harvest and your food,
they will eat your sons and your daughters,
they will eat your flock and your herd,
they will eat your vine and your fig tree,
they will smash with the sword your fortified cities,[r]
in which you trust.
18 “But even in those days,” declares[s] Yahweh, “I will not make you a complete destruction. 19 And then,[t] when you people say, ‘Why has Yahweh our God done all of these things to us?’ Then you will say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and have served gods of a foreign land in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that does not belong to you.’[u]
20 “Declare this in the house of Jacob,
and proclaim it in Judah, saying,
21 ‘Hear this please, O foolish and senseless[v] people,
who have eyes[w] but do not see,
who have ears[x] but do not hear.’
22 Do you not revere me?” declares[y] Yahweh,
“Do you not tremble before me?[z]
For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,
as an everlasting limit,[aa] and it cannot pass over it,
and they rise and fall loudly, but they cannot prevail,
and its waves roar, but they cannot pass over it.
23 But for this people is a stubborn and rebellious heart,
they have turned aside and have gone away.
24 And they do not say in their hearts,
‘Let us fear please Yahweh our God,
the one who gives the autumn rain[ab] and the spring rain[ac] in its season,
the set times of the harvest[ad] he keeps for us.’
25 Your iniquities have disturbed these,
and your sins have kept away the good from you.
26 For wicked people are found among my people,
they lie in wait like the hiding of fowlers,
they set up a trap,
they catch humans.
27 Like a cage full of birds,[ae]
so their houses are full of fraud.
Therefore[af] they have become great,
and they have become rich.
28 They have grown fat,
they have grown sleek,
also, their evil deeds have no limit.[ag]
They do not judge with justice,
the legal cause of the orphan,
or allow it to succeed,
and the legal case of the poor,
they do not defend.
29 Because of these things shall I not punish?” declares[ah] Yahweh,
“and on a nation who is like this, shall I not take revenge?
30 A horrific event and something horrible has happened in the land.
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,[ai]
and the priests rule by their own authority,[aj]
and my people love it[ak] so much.
But what will you do when the end comes?[al]
6 Flee for safety, O children of Benjamin,
from the midst of Jerusalem.
And in Tekoa blow a horn,
and on Beth-haccherem lift up a signal,
for evil looks down from the north,
and a great destruction.
2 The lovely and the delicate,
the daughter of Jerusalem, I will destroy.
3 Shepherds and their flocks will come against her,
they will pitch their tents against her all around,
they will pasture, each his portion.[am]
4 Sanctify[an] war against her.
Arise, and let us attack at noon.
Woe to us, for the day turns,
for the shadows of evening are lengthened.
5 Arise, and let us attack by night,
and let us destroy her citadel fortresses.”
6 For thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“Cut down trees and heap up a siege ramp against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be punished,
its oppression is in its midst.
7 As a water well keeps its water cool,
so she keeps cool her wickedness.
Violence and destruction are heard within her,
sickness and wounds[ao] are continually before me.[ap]
8 Be warned, O Jerusalem,
lest I turn away from you in disgust,
lest I make you a desolation,
a land that is not inhabited.”
9 Thus says Yahweh of hosts:
“They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine,
turn back your hand over the branches like a grape-gatherer.
10 To whom shall I speak and admonish,
that they may hear?
Look, their ears are closed,[aq]
and they are not able to listen attentively.
Look, the word of Yahweh is to them an object of scorn,
they do not delight in it.
11 But I am full with the wrath of Yahweh,
I struggle to hold it[ar] in.
Pour it out on the children[as] in the street,
and on the assemblies[at] of young men at the same time.
For even husband with wife will get trapped,
the old with him who is full of days.
12 And their houses will be turned over to others,
their fields and their wives together.
For I will stretch out my hand
against the inhabitants of the land,” declares[au] Yahweh.
13 “For from the smallest of them to the greatest of them,
everyone[av] makes profit for unlawful gain.
And from the prophet to the priest,
everyone[aw] practices deceit.
14 And they have treated the wound of my people lightly,
saying,[ax] ‘Peace, peace,’ but there is no peace.
15 Have they acted ashamed, for they have committed a detestable thing?
Not at all, nor were they ashamed; they did not know to feel humiliated.
Therefore[ay] they will fall among those who fall at the time I punish them,
they will stumble,” says Yahweh.
18 and he himself is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself may become first in everything, 19 because he was well pleased for all the fullness to dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by[a] making peace through the blood of his cross, through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
21 And although you were formerly alienated[b][c] and enemies in attitude, because of your evil deeds, 22 but now you have been reconciled[d] by his physical body[e] through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and steadfast and not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Paul’s Suffering and Stewardship
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings on behalf of you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ, on behalf of his body which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister, according to God’s stewardship which was given to me for you, to complete the word of God, 26 the mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations, but has now been revealed to his saints, 27 to whom God wanted to make known what is the glorious wealth of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, 28 whom we proclaim, by[f] admonishing every person[g] and teaching every person[h] with all wisdom, in order that we may present every person[i] mature in Christ, 29 for which purpose also I labor, striving according to his working which is at work powerfully in me.
Christ, the Mystery of God
2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on behalf of you, and those in Laodicea, and all those who have not seen my face in person[j], 2 so that their hearts may be encouraged, united in love and into all the wealth of the full assurance of insight into the knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ, 3 in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. 4 I say this in order that no one will deceive you with persuasive speech, 5 for even if I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and seeing your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
Made Alive in Christ
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, live in him, 7 firmly rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding with thankfulness.
Remembering God’s Help for Israel
For the music director, on Jeduthun.[a]
Of Asaph. A psalm.[b]
77 I cry out with my voice to God;
with my voice to God, that he may hear me.
2 In the day I have trouble, I seek[c] the Lord.
At night my hand stretches out continually;[d]
my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 I remember God and I groan loudly;
I meditate and my spirit grows faint.
4 You hold open my eyelids.
I am troubled and cannot speak.
5 I think about the days from long ago,
the years of ancient times.
6 I remember my song in the night.
With my heart I meditate,
and my spirit searches to understand.
7 Will the Lord reject us forever,
and will he never be pleased with us again?
8 Has his loyal love ceased forever?
Is his promise[e] ended throughout generations?
9 Has God forgotten to have compassion?
Or has he closed off his mercies in anger? Selah
10 So I said, “This pierces me—[f]
the right hand of the Most High has changed.”
11 I will remember the deeds of Yah.[g]
Surely I will remember your wonders[h] from long ago.
12 I will also muse on all your work,
and meditate on your deeds.
13 O God, your way is distinctive.[i]
Who is a great god like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;[j]
you have made known your might among the peoples.
15 With your arm you redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 Waters saw you, O God;
waters saw you and they trembled.
Surely the deeps shook.
17 The clouds poured out water.
The skies thundered.[k]
Your arrows also flew about.[l]
18 The sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind;[m]
lightnings lit the world;
the earth shook and quaked.
19 Your way was through the sea,
and your path[n] through many waters.
Yet your footprints were not discerned.[o]
20 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
23 These sayings are also for the wise:
Partiality[a] in judgment is not good.
24 Whoever says to the guilty, “You are righteous,” the people will curse him;
the nations will abhor him.
25 But they who rebuke will have delight,
and upon them blessings of goodness will come.
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