JEREMIAH 4

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4:1

“If you return, O Israel,declares the Lord,to me you should return.If you remove your detestable things from my presence,and do not waver, 2

and if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’

in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,

then nations shall bless themselves in him,

and in him shall they glory.”
    3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:

“Break up your fallow ground,

and sow not among thorns. 4

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;

remove the foreskin of your hearts,

O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;

lest my wrath go forth like fire,

and burn with none to quench it,

because of the evil of your deeds.” Disaster from the North5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,

“Blow the trumpet through the land;

cry aloud and say,

‘Assemble, and let us go

into the fortified cities!’ 6

Raise a standard toward Zion,

flee for safety, stay not,

for I bring disaster from the north,

and great destruction. 7

A lion has gone up from his thicket,

a destroyer of nations has set out;

he has gone out from his place

to make your land a waste;

your cities will be ruins

without inhabitant. 8

For this put on sackcloth,

lament and wail,

for the fierce anger of the Lord

has not turned back from us.” 9 “In that day, declares the Lord, courage shall fail both king and officials. The priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, surely you have utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you,’ whereas the sword has reached their very life.”
    11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12 a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them.”
13

Behold, he comes up like clouds;

his chariots like the whirlwind;

his horses are swifter than eagles—

woe to us, for we are ruined! 14

O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil,

that you may be saved.

How long shall your wicked thoughts

lodge within you? 15

For a voice declares from Dan

and proclaims trouble from Mount Ephraim. 16

Warn the nations that he is coming;

announce to Jerusalem,

“Besiegers come from a distant land;

they shout against the cities of Judah. 17

Like keepers of a field are they against her all around,

because she has rebelled against me,declares the Lord. 18

Your ways and your deeds

have brought this upon you.

This is your doom, and it is bitter;

it has reached your very heart.” Anguish over Judah’s Desolation19

My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!

Oh the walls of my heart!

My heart is beating wildly;

I cannot keep silent,

for I hear the sound of the trumpet,

the alarm of war. 20

Crash follows hard on crash;

the whole land is laid waste.

Suddenly my tents are laid waste,

my curtains in a moment. 21

How long must I see the standard

and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22

“For my people are foolish;

they know me not;

they are stupid children;

they have no understanding.

They are ‘wise’—in doing evil!

But how to do good they know not.”
23

I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void;

and to the heavens, and they had no light. 24

I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,

and all the hills moved to and fro. 25

I looked, and behold, there was no man,

and all the birds of the air had fled. 26

I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert,

and all its cities were laid in ruins

before the Lord, before his fierce anger.
    27 For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.
28

“For this the earth shall mourn,

and the heavens above be dark;

for I have spoken; I have purposed;

I have not relented, nor will I turn back.”
29

At the noise of horseman and archer

every city takes to flight;

they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;

all the cities are forsaken,

and no man dwells in them. 30

And you, O desolate one,

what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,

that you adorn yourself with ornaments of gold,

that you enlarge your eyes with paint?

In vain you beautify yourself.

Your lovers despise you;

they seek your life. 31

For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor,

anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,

the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,

stretching out her hands,

“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”

JEREMIAH 5

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Jerusalem Refused to Repent5:1

Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,

look and take note!

Search her squares to see

if you can find a man,

one who does justice

and seeks truth,

that I may pardon her. 2

Though they say, “As the Lord lives,”

yet they swear falsely. 3

O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?

You have struck them down,

but they felt no anguish;

you have consumed them,

but they refused to take correction.

They have made their faces harder than rock;

they have refused to repent.
4

Then I said, “These are only the poor;

they have no sense;

for they do not know the way of the Lord,

the justice of their God. 5

I will go to the great

and will speak to them,

for they know the way of the Lord,

the justice of their God.”

But they all alike had broken the yoke;

they had burst the bonds.
6

Therefore a lion from the forest shall strike them down;

a wolf from the desert shall devastate them.

A leopard is watching their cities;

everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,

because their transgressions are many,

their apostasies are great.
7

“How can I pardon you?

Your children have forsaken me

and have sworn by those who are no gods.

When I fed them to the full,

they committed adultery

and trooped to the houses of whores. 8

They were well-fed, lusty stallions,

each neighing for his neighbor’s wife. 9

Shall I not punish them for these things?declares the Lord;and shall I not avenge myselfon a nation such as this?
10

“Go up through her vine rows and destroy,

but make not a full end;

strip away her branches,

for they are not the Lord’s. 11

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah

have been utterly treacherous to me,declares the Lord. 12

They have spoken falsely of the Lord

and have said, ‘He will do nothing;

no disaster will come upon us,

nor shall we see sword or famine. 13

The prophets will become wind;

the word is not in them.

Thus shall it be done to them!’” The Lord Proclaims Judgment14

Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts:

“Because you have spoken this word,

behold, I am making my words in your mouth a fire,

and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them. 15

Behold, I am bringing against you

a nation from afar, O house of Israel,declares the Lord.It is an enduring nation;it is an ancient nation,a nation whose language you do not know,nor can you understand what they say. 16

Their quiver is like an open tomb;

they are all mighty warriors. 17

They shall eat up your harvest and your food;

they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;

they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;

they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;

your fortified cities in which you trust

they shall beat down with the sword.”
    18 “But even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not make a full end of you. 19 And when your people say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ you shall say to them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve foreigners in a land that is not yours.’”
20

Declare this in the house of Jacob;

proclaim it in Judah: 21

“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,

who have eyes, but see not,

who have ears, but hear not. 22

Do you not fear me? declares the Lord.

Do you not tremble before me?

I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea,

a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;

though the waves toss, they cannot prevail;

though they roar, they cannot pass over it. 23

But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;

they have turned aside and gone away. 24

They do not say in their hearts,

‘Let us fear the Lord our God,

who gives the rain in its season,

the autumn rain and the spring rain,

and keeps for us

the weeks appointed for the harvest.’ 25

Your iniquities have turned these away,

and your sins have kept good from you. 26

For wicked men are found among my people;

they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.

They set a trap;

they catch men. 27

Like a cage full of birds,

their houses are full of deceit;

therefore they have become great and rich; 28

they have grown fat and sleek.

They know no bounds in deeds of evil;

they judge not with justice

the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,

and they do not defend the rights of the needy. 29

Shall I not punish them for these things?declares the Lord,and shall I not avenge myselfon a nation such as this?”
30

An appalling and horrible thing

has happened in the land: 31

the prophets prophesy falsely,

and the priests rule at their direction;

my people love to have it so,

but what will you do when the end comes?

PROVERBS 4

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A Father’s Wise Instruction4:1

Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction,

and be attentive, that you may gain insight, 2

for I give you good precepts;

do not forsake my teaching. 3

When I was a son with my father,

tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, 4

he taught me and said to me,

“Let your heart hold fast my words;

keep my commandments, and live. 5

Get wisdom; get insight;

do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 6

Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;

love her, and she will guard you. 7

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,

and whatever you get, get insight. 8

Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;

she will honor you if you embrace her. 9

She will place on your head a graceful garland;

she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”
10

Hear, my son, and accept my words,

that the years of your life may be many. 11

I have taught you the way of wisdom;

I have led you in the paths of uprightness. 12

When you walk, your step will not be hampered,

and if you run, you will not stumble. 13

Keep hold of instruction; do not let go;

guard her, for she is your life. 14

Do not enter the path of the wicked,

and do not walk in the way of the evil. 15

Avoid it; do not go on it;

turn away from it and pass on. 16

For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong;

they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. 17

For they eat the bread of wickedness

and drink the wine of violence. 18

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,

which shines brighter and brighter until full day. 19

The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;

they do not know over what they stumble.
20

My son, be attentive to my words;

incline your ear to my sayings. 21

Let them not escape from your sight;

keep them within your heart. 22

For they are life to those who find them,

and healing to all their flesh. 23

Keep your heart with all vigilance,

for from it flow the springs of life. 24

Put away from you crooked speech,

and put devious talk far from you. 25

Let your eyes look directly forward,

and your gaze be straight before you. 26

Ponder the path of your feet;

then all your ways will be sure. 27

Do not swerve to the right or to the left;

turn your foot away from evil.

JAMES 5

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Warning to the Rich  5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. Patience in Suffering7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.
    12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. The Prayer of Faith13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
    19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.