JEREMIAH 11-13

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The Broken Covenant  11:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 3 and say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Cursed is the man who does not heed the words of this covenant 4 which I commanded your forefathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, ‘Listen to My voice, and do according to all which I command you; so you shall be My people, and I will be your God,’ 5 in order to confirm the oath which I swore to your forefathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.”’” Then I said, “Amen, O LORD.”
    6 And the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Hear the words of this covenant and do them. 7 For I solemnly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently, saying, “Listen to My voice.” 8 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’”
    9 Then the LORD said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.” 11 Therefore thus says the LORD, “Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster. 13 For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal.
    14 “Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.

15 “What right has My beloved in My house

When she has done many vile deeds?

Can the sacrificial flesh take away from you your disaster,

So that you can rejoice?”

16 The LORD called your name,

“A green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form”;

With the noise of a great tumult

He has kindled fire on it,

And its branches are worthless.

17 The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me by offering up sacrifices to Baal.
Plots against Jeremiah18 Moreover, the LORD made it known to me and I knew it;

Then You showed me their deeds.

19 But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter;

And I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying,

“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,

And let us cut him off from the land of the living,

That his name be remembered no more.”

20 But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously,

Who tries the feelings and the heart,

Let me see Your vengeance on them,

For to You have I committed my cause.

    21 Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, so that you will not die at our hand”; 22 therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, I am about to punish them! The young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters will die by famine; 23 and a remnant will not be left to them, for I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth--the year of their punishment.”
Jeremiah’s Prayer12:1 Righteous are You, O LORD, that I would plead my case with You;

Indeed I would discuss matters of justice with You:

Why has the way of the wicked prospered?

Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease?

2 You have planted them, they have also taken root;

They grow, they have even produced fruit.

You are near to their lips

But far from their mind.

3 But You know me, O LORD;

You see me;

And You examine my heart’s attitude toward You.

Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter

And set them apart for a day of carnage!

4 How long is the land to mourn

And the vegetation of the countryside to wither?

For the wickedness of those who dwell in it,

Animals and birds have been snatched away,

Because men have said, “He will not see our latter ending.”

5 “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out,

Then how can you compete with horses?

If you fall down in a land of peace,

How will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?

6 “For even your brothers and the household of your father,

Even they have dealt treacherously with you,

Even they have cried aloud after you.

Do not believe them, although they may say nice things to you.”

God’s Answer7 “I have forsaken My house,

I have abandoned My inheritance;

I have given the beloved of My soul

Into the hand of her enemies.

8 “My inheritance has become to Me

Like a lion in the forest;

She has roared against Me;

Therefore I have come to hate her.

9 “Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?

Are the birds of prey against her on every side?

Go, gather all the beasts of the field,

Bring them to devour!

10 “Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard,

They have trampled down My field;

They have made My pleasant field

A desolate wilderness.

11 “It has been made a desolation,

Desolate, it mourns before Me;

The whole land has been made desolate,

Because no man lays it to heart.

12 “On all the bare heights in the wilderness

Destroyers have come,

For a sword of the LORD is devouring

From one end of the land even to the other;

There is no peace for anyone.

13 “They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns,

They have strained themselves to no profit.

But be ashamed of your harvest

Because of the fierce anger of the LORD.”

    14 Thus says the LORD concerning all My wicked neighbors who strike at the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel, “Behold I am about to uproot them from their land and will uproot the house of Judah from among them. 15 And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will again have compassion on them; and I will bring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. 16 Then if they will really learn the ways of My people, to swear by My name, ‘As the LORD lives,’ even as they taught My people to swear by Baal, they will be built up in the midst of My people. 17 But if they will not listen, then I will uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the LORD.
The Ruined Waistband  13:1 Thus the LORD said to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.” 2 So I bought the waistband in accordance with the word of the LORD and put it around my waist. 3 Then the word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, 4 “Take the waistband that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the LORD had commanded me. 6 After many days the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the waistband which I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it; and lo, the waistband was ruined, it was totally worthless.
    8 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 “Thus says the LORD, ‘Just so will I destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless. 11 For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the LORD, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen.’
Captivity Threatened    12 “Therefore you are to speak this word to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, “Every jug is to be filled with wine.”’ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’ 13 then say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land--the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem--with drunkenness! 14 I will dash them against each other, both the fathers and the sons together,” declares the LORD. “I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion so as not to destroy them.”’”
15 Listen and give heed, do not be haughty,

For the LORD has spoken.

16 Give glory to the LORD your God,

Before He brings darkness

And before your feet stumble

On the dusky mountains,

And while you are hoping for light

He makes it into deep darkness,

And turns it into gloom.

17 But if you will not listen to it,

My soul will sob in secret for such pride;

And my eyes will bitterly weep

And flow down with tears,

Because the flock of the LORD has been taken captive.

18 Say to the king and the queen mother,

“Take a lowly seat,

For your beautiful crown

Has come down from your head.”

19 The cities of the Negev have been locked up,

And there is no one to open them;

All Judah has been carried into exile,

Wholly carried into exile.

20 “Lift up your eyes and see

Those coming from the north.

Where is the flock that was given you,

Your beautiful sheep?

21 “What will you say when He appoints over you--

And you yourself had taught them--

Former companions to be head over you?

Will not pangs take hold of you

Like a woman in childbirth?

22 “If you say in your heart,

‘Why have these things happened to me?’

Because of the magnitude of your iniquity

Your skirts have been removed

And your heels have been exposed.

23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin

Or the leopard his spots?

Then you also can do good

Who are accustomed to doing evil.

24 “Therefore I will scatter them like drifting straw

To the desert wind.

25 “This is your lot, the portion measured to you

From Me,” declares the LORD,

“Because you have forgotten Me

And trusted in falsehood.

26 “So I Myself have also stripped your skirts off over your face,

That your shame may be seen.

27 “As for your adulteries and your lustful neighings,

The lewdness of your prostitution

On the hills in the field,

I have seen your abominations.

Woe to you, O Jerusalem!

How long will you remain unclean?”

2 CORINTHIANS 12

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Paul’s Vision  12:1 Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a man was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know how such a man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows-- 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. 5 On behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. 6 For if I do wish to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.
A Thorn in the Flesh7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
    11 I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody. 12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles. 13 For in what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not become a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
    14 Here for this third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I do not seek what is yours, but you; for children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But be that as it may, I did not burden you myself; nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I took you in by deceit. 17 Certainly I have not taken advantage of you through any of those whom I have sent to you, have I? 18 I urged Titus to go, and I sent the brother with him. Titus did not take any advantage of you, did he? Did we not conduct ourselves in the same spirit and walk in the same steps?
    19 All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and all for your upbuilding, beloved. 20 For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances; 21 I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have practiced.