JEREMIAH 8

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The Sin and Treachery of Judah  8:1 “At that time,” declares the LORD, “they will bring out the bones of the kings of Judah and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem from their graves. 2 They will spread them out to the sun, the moon and to all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served, and which they have gone after and which they have sought, and which they have worshiped. They will not be gathered or buried; they will be as dung on the face of the ground. 3 And death will be chosen rather than life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family, that remains in all the places to which I have driven them,” declares the LORD of hosts. 4 “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD,

“Do men fall and not get up again?

Does one turn away and not repent?

5 “Why then has this people, Jerusalem,

Turned away in continual apostasy?

They hold fast to deceit,

They refuse to return.

6 “I have listened and heard,

They have spoken what is not right;

No man repented of his wickedness,

Saying, ‘What have I done?’

Everyone turned to his course,

Like a horse charging into the battle.

7 “Even the stork in the sky

Knows her seasons;

And the turtledove and the swift and the thrush

Observe the time of their migration;

But My people do not know

The ordinance of the LORD.

8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise,

And the law of the LORD is with us’?

But behold, the lying pen of the scribes

Has made it into a lie.

9 “The wise men are put to shame,

They are dismayed and caught;

Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD,

And what kind of wisdom do they have?

10 “Therefore I will give their wives to others,

Their fields to new owners;

Because from the least even to the greatest

Everyone is greedy for gain;

From the prophet even to the priest

Everyone practices deceit.

11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially,

Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’

But there is no peace.

12 “Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done?

They certainly were not ashamed,

And they did not know how to blush;

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

At the time of their punishment they shall be brought down,”

Says the LORD.

13 “I will surely snatch them away,” declares the LORD;

“There will be no grapes on the vine

And no figs on the fig tree,

And the leaf will wither;

And what I have given them will pass away.”’”

14 Why are we sitting still?

Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the fortified cities

And let us perish there,

Because the LORD our God has doomed us

And given us poisoned water to drink,

For we have sinned against the LORD.

15 We waited for peace, but no good came;

For a time of healing, but behold, terror!

16 From Dan is heard the snorting of his horses;

At the sound of the neighing of his stallions

The whole land quakes;

For they come and devour the land and its fullness,

The city and its inhabitants.

17 “For behold, I am sending serpents against you,

Adders, for which there is no charm,

And they will bite you,” declares the LORD.

18 My sorrow is beyond healing,

My heart is faint within me!

19 Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land:

“Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not within her?”

“Why have they provoked Me with their graven images, with foreign idols?”

20 “Harvest is past, summer is ended,

And we are not saved.”

21 For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken;

I mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.

22 Is there no balm in Gilead?

Is there no physician there?

Why then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?

JEREMIAH 9

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A Lament over Zion9:1 Oh that my head were waters

And my eyes a fountain of tears,

That I might weep day and night

For the slain of the daughter of my people!

2 Oh that I had in the desert

A wayfarers’ lodging place;

That I might leave my people

And go from them!

For all of them are adulterers,

An assembly of treacherous men.

3 “They bend their tongue like their bow;

Lies and not truth prevail in the land;

For they proceed from evil to evil,

And they do not know Me,” declares the LORD.

4 “Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor,

And do not trust any brother;

Because every brother deals craftily,

And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.

5 “Everyone deceives his neighbor

And does not speak the truth,

They have taught their tongue to speak lies;

They weary themselves committing iniquity.

6 “Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit;

Through deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.

    7 Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts,

“Behold, I will refine them and assay them;

For what else can I do, because of the daughter of My people?

8 “Their tongue is a deadly arrow;

It speaks deceit;

With his mouth one speaks peace to his neighbor,

But inwardly he sets an ambush for him.

9 “Shall I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD.

“On a nation such as this

Shall I not avenge Myself?

10 “For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing,

And for the pastures of the wilderness a dirge,

Because they are laid waste so that no one passes through,

And the lowing of the cattle is not heard;

Both the birds of the sky and the beasts have fled; they are gone.

11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,

A haunt of jackals;

And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”

    12 Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? 13 The LORD said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it, 14 but have walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baals, as their fathers taught them,” 15 therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, “behold, I will feed them, this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. 16 I will scatter them among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them until I have annihilated them.”
    17 Thus says the LORD of hosts,

“Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come;

And send for the wailing women, that they may come!

18 “Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us,

That our eyes may shed tears

And our eyelids flow with water.

19 “For a voice of wailing is heard from Zion,

‘How are we ruined!

We are put to great shame,

For we have left the land,

Because they have cast down our dwellings.’”

20 Now hear the word of the LORD, O you women,

And let your ear receive the word of His mouth;

Teach your daughters wailing,

And everyone her neighbor a dirge.

21 For death has come up through our windows;

It has entered our palaces

To cut off the children from the streets,

The young men from the town squares.

22 Speak, “Thus says the LORD,

‘The corpses of men will fall like dung on the open field,

And like the sheaf after the reaper,

But no one will gather them.’”

    23 Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.
    25 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised-- 26 Egypt and Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all those inhabiting the desert who clip the hair on their temples; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.”

PROVERBS 9

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Wisdom’s Invitation9:1 Wisdom has built her house,

She has hewn out her seven pillars;

2 She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine;

She has also set her table;

3 She has sent out her maidens, she calls

From the tops of the heights of the city:

4 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!”

To him who lacks understanding she says,

5 “Come, eat of my food

And drink of the wine I have mixed.

6 “Forsake your folly and live,

And proceed in the way of understanding.”

7 He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself,

And he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself.

8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you,

Reprove a wise man and he will love you.

9 Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser,

Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

11 For by me your days will be multiplied,

And years of life will be added to you.

12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,

And if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

13 The woman of folly is boisterous,

She is naive and knows nothing.

14 She sits at the doorway of her house,

On a seat by the high places of the city,

15 Calling to those who pass by,

Who are making their paths straight:

16 “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here,”

And to him who lacks understanding she says,

17 “Stolen water is sweet;

And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

18 But he does not know that the dead are there,

That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

1 PETER 2

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As Newborn Babes  2:1 Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, 2 like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, 3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
As Living Stones    4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture:

“BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone,

AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,

“THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,

THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,”

8 and,

“A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”;

for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

    9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.
    11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Honor Authority    13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16 Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. 17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.
    18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. 19 For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
Christ Is Our Example21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, 22 WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; 23 and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.