JEREMIAH 17

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The Deceitful Heart17:1 The sin of Judah is written down with an iron stylus;

With a diamond point it is engraved upon the tablet of their heart

And on the horns of their altars,

2 As they remember their children,

So they remember their altars and their Asherim

By green trees on the high hills.

3 O mountain of Mine in the countryside,

I will give over your wealth and all your treasures for booty,

Your high places for sin throughout your borders.

4 And you will, even of yourself, let go of your inheritance

That I gave you;

And I will make you serve your enemies

In the land which you do not know;

For you have kindled a fire in My anger

Which will burn forever.

5 Thus says the LORD,

“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind

And makes flesh his strength,

And whose heart turns away from the LORD.

6 “For he will be like a bush in the desert

And will not see when prosperity comes,

But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,

A land of salt without inhabitant.

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD

And whose trust is the LORD.

8 “For he will be like a tree planted by the water,

That extends its roots by a stream

And will not fear when the heat comes;

But its leaves will be green,

And it will not be anxious in a year of drought

Nor cease to yield fruit.

9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else

And is desperately sick;

Who can understand it?

10 “I, the LORD, search the heart,

I test the mind,

Even to give to each man according to his ways,

According to the results of his deeds.

11 “As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid,

So is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly;

In the midst of his days it will forsake him,

And in the end he will be a fool.”

12 A glorious throne on high from the beginning

Is the place of our sanctuary.

13 O LORD, the hope of Israel,

All who forsake You will be put to shame.

Those who turn away on earth will be written down,

Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the LORD.

14 Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed;

Save me and I will be saved,

For You are my praise.

15 Look, they keep saying to me,

“Where is the word of the LORD?

Let it come now!”

16 But as for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd after You,

Nor have I longed for the woeful day;

You Yourself know that the utterance of my lips

Was in Your presence.

17 Do not be a terror to me;

You are my refuge in the day of disaster.

18 Let those who persecute me be put to shame, but as for me, let me not be put to shame;

Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed.

Bring on them a day of disaster,

And crush them with twofold destruction!

The Sabbath Must Be Kept    19 Thus the LORD said to me, “Go and stand in the public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20 and say to them, ‘Listen to the word of the LORD, kings of Judah, and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates: 21 Thus says the LORD, “Take heed for yourselves, and do not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers. 23 Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction.
    24 “But it will come about, if you listen attentively to Me,” declares the LORD, “to bring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work on it, 25 then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. 26 They will come in from the cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the lowland, from the hill country and from the Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the LORD. 27 But if you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and not be quenched.”’”

JEREMIAH 18

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The Potter and the Clay  18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, 2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. 4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.
    5 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 6 “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. 7 At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; 8 if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. 9 Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; 10 if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it. 11 So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.”’ 12 But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
13 “Therefore thus says the LORD,

‘Ask now among the nations,

Who ever heard the like of this?

The virgin of Israel

Has done a most appalling thing.

14 ‘Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country?

Or is the cold flowing water from a foreign land ever snatched away?

15 ‘For My people have forgotten Me,

They burn incense to worthless gods

And they have stumbled from their ways,

From the ancient paths,

To walk in bypaths,

Not on a highway,

16 To make their land a desolation,

An object of perpetual hissing;

Everyone who passes by it will be astonished

And shake his head.

17 ‘Like an east wind I will scatter them

Before the enemy;

I will show them My back and not My face

In the day of their calamity.’”

    18 Then they said, “Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the sage, nor the divine word to the prophet! Come on and let us strike at him with our tongue, and let us give no heed to any of his words.”
19 Do give heed to me, O LORD,

And listen to what my opponents are saying!

20 Should good be repaid with evil?

For they have dug a pit for me.

Remember how I stood before You

To speak good on their behalf,

So as to turn away Your wrath from them.

21 Therefore, give their children over to famine

And deliver them up to the power of the sword;

And let their wives become childless and widowed.

Let their men also be smitten to death,

Their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

22 May an outcry be heard from their houses,

When You suddenly bring raiders upon them;

For they have dug a pit to capture me

And hidden snares for my feet.

23 Yet You, O LORD, know

All their deadly designs against me;

Do not forgive their iniquity

Or blot out their sin from Your sight.

But may they be overthrown before You;

Deal with them in the time of Your anger!

PROVERBS 13

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Contrast the Upright and the Wicked13:1 A wise son accepts his father’s discipline,

But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

2 From the fruit of a man’s mouth he enjoys good,

But the desire of the treacherous is violence.

3 The one who guards his mouth preserves his life;

The one who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,

But the soul of the diligent is made fat.

5 A righteous man hates falsehood,

But a wicked man acts disgustingly and shamefully.

6 Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless,

But wickedness subverts the sinner.

7 There is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing;

Another pretends to be poor, but has great wealth.

8 The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth,

But the poor hears no rebuke.

9 The light of the righteous rejoices,

But the lamp of the wicked goes out.

10 Through insolence comes nothing but strife,

But wisdom is with those who receive counsel.

11 Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles,

But the one who gathers by labor increases it.

12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

13 The one who despises the word will be in debt to it,

But the one who fears the commandment will be rewarded.

14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,

To turn aside from the snares of death.

15 Good understanding produces favor,

But the way of the treacherous is hard.

16 Every prudent man acts with knowledge,

But a fool displays folly.

17 A wicked messenger falls into adversity,

But a faithful envoy brings healing.

18 Poverty and shame will come to him who neglects discipline,

But he who regards reproof will be honored.

19 Desire realized is sweet to the soul,

But it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil.

20 He who walks with wise men will be wise,

But the companion of fools will suffer harm.

21 Adversity pursues sinners,

But the righteous will be rewarded with prosperity.

22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,

And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.

23 Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor,

But it is swept away by injustice.

24 He who withholds his rod hates his son,

But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.

25 The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite,

But the stomach of the wicked is in need.

PSALM 120

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Prayer for Deliverance from the Treacherous.A Song of Ascents.
120:1 In my trouble I cried to the LORD,

And He answered me.

2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips,

From a deceitful tongue.

3 What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you,

You deceitful tongue?

4 Sharp arrows of the warrior,

With the burning coals of the broom tree.

5 Woe is me, for I sojourn in Meshech,

For I dwell among the tents of Kedar!

6 Too long has my soul had its dwelling

With those who hate peace.

7 I am for peace, but when I speak,

They are for war.

PSALM 121

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The LORD the Keeper of Israel.A Song of Ascents.
121:1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;

From where shall my help come?

2 My help comes from the LORD,

Who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to slip;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, He who keeps Israel

Will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper;

The LORD is your shade on your right hand.

6 The sun will not smite you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will protect you from all evil;

He will keep your soul.

8 The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in

From this time forth and forever.