JEREMIAH 8

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  8:1 “At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs. 2 And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. 3 Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, declares the Lord of hosts. Sin and Treachery4

“You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord:

When men fall, do they not rise again?

If one turns away, does he not return? 5

Why then has this people turned away

in perpetual backsliding?

They hold fast to deceit;

they refuse to return. 6

I have paid attention and listened,

but they have not spoken rightly;

no man relents of his evil,

saying, ‘What have I done?’

Everyone turns to his own course,

like a horse plunging headlong into battle. 7

Even the stork in the heavens

knows her times,

and the turtledove, swallow, and crane

keep the time of their coming,

but my people know not

the rules 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 shall be put to shame;

they shall be dismayed and taken;

behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,

so what wisdom is in them? 10

Therefore I will give their wives to others

and their fields to conquerors,

because from the least to the greatest

everyone is greedy for unjust gain;

from prophet to priest,

everyone deals falsely. 11

They have healed the wound of my people lightly,

saying, ‘Peace, peace,’

when there is no peace. 12

Were they ashamed when they committed abomination?

No, they were not at all ashamed;

they did not know how to blush.

Therefore they shall fall among the fallen;

when I punish them, they shall be overthrown,says the Lord. 13

When I would gather them, declares the Lord,

there are no grapes on the vine,

nor figs on the fig tree;

even the leaves are withered,

and what I gave them has passed away from them.”
14

Why do we sit still?

Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities

and perish there,

for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish

and has given us poisoned water to drink,

because we have sinned against the Lord. 15

We looked for peace, but no good came;

for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
16

“The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan;

at the sound of the neighing of their stallions

the whole land quakes.

They come and devour the land and all that fills it,

the city and those who dwell in it. 17

For behold, I am sending among you serpents,

adders that cannot be charmed,

and they shall bite you,”declares the Lord. Jeremiah Grieves for His People18

My joy is gone; grief is upon me;

my heart is sick within me. 19

Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people

from the length and breadth of the land:

“Is the Lord not in Zion?

Is her King not in her?”

“Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images

and with their foreign idols?” 20

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended,

and we are not saved.” 21

For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded;

I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.
22

Is there no balm in Gilead?

Is there no physician there?

Why then has the health of the daughter of my people

not been restored?

JEREMIAH 9

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9:1

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 travelers’ lodging place,

that I might leave my people

and go away from them!

For they are all adulterers,

a company of treacherous men. 3

They bend their tongue like a bow;

falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land;

for they proceed from evil to evil,

and they do not know me, declares the Lord.
4

Let everyone beware of his neighbor,

and put no trust in any brother,

for every brother is a deceiver,

and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. 5

Everyone deceives his neighbor,

and no one speaks the truth;

they have taught their tongue to speak lies;

they weary themselves committing iniquity. 6

Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,

they refuse to know me, declares the Lord.
7

Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:

“Behold, I will refine them and test them,

for what else can I do, because of my people? 8

Their tongue is a deadly arrow;

it speaks deceitfully;

with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor,

but in his heart he plans an ambush for him. 9

Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord,

and shall I not avenge myself

on a nation such as this?
10

“I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,

and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness,

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

and the lowing of cattle is not heard;

both the birds of the air and the beasts

have fled and are gone. 11

I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,

a lair of jackals,

and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,

without inhabitant.”
    12 Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13 And the Lord says: “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, 14 but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous 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 consumed them.”
17

Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“Consider, and call for the mourning women to come;

send for the skillful women to come; 18

let them make haste and raise a wailing over us,

that our eyes may run down with tears

and our eyelids flow with water. 19

For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:

‘How we are ruined!

We are utterly shamed,

because we have left the land,

because they have cast down our dwellings.’”
20

Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,

and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;

teach to your daughters a lament,

and each to her neighbor a dirge. 21

For death has come up into our windows;

it has entered our palaces,

cutting off the children from the streets

and the young men from the squares. 22

Speak: “Thus declares the Lord,

‘The dead bodies of men shall fall

like dung upon the open field,

like sheaves after the reaper,

and none shall gather them.’”
    23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
    25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

PROVERBS 6

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Practical Warnings6:1

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,

have given your pledge for a stranger, 2

if you are snared in the words of your mouth,

caught in the words of your mouth, 3

then do this, my son, and save yourself,

for you have come into the hand of your neighbor:

go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor. 4

Give your eyes no sleep

and your eyelids no slumber; 5

save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,

like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6

Go to the ant, O sluggard;

consider her ways, and be wise. 7

Without having any chief,

officer, or ruler, 8

she prepares her bread in summer

and gathers her food in harvest. 9

How long will you lie there, O sluggard?

When will you arise from your sleep? 10

A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest, 11

and poverty will come upon you like a robber,

and want like an armed man.
12

A worthless person, a wicked man,

goes about with crooked speech, 13

winks with his eyes, signals with his feet,

points with his finger, 14

with perverted heart devises evil,

continually sowing discord; 15

therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly;

in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
16

There are six things that the Lord hates,

seven that are an abomination to him: 17

haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

and hands that shed innocent blood, 18

a heart that devises wicked plans,

feet that make haste to run to evil, 19

a false witness who breathes out lies,

and one who sows discord among brothers. Warnings Against Adultery20

My son, keep your father’s commandment,

and forsake not your mother’s teaching. 21

Bind them on your heart always;

tie them around your neck. 22

When you walk, they will lead you;

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

and when you awake, they will talk with you. 23

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,

and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, 24

to preserve you from the evil woman,

from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. 25

Do not desire her beauty in your heart,

and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; 26

for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread,

but a married woman hunts down a precious life. 27

Can a man carry fire next to his chest

and his clothes not be burned? 28

Or can one walk on hot coals

and his feet not be scorched? 29

So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;

none who touches her will go unpunished. 30

People do not despise a thief if he steals

to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, 31

but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold;

he will give all the goods of his house. 32

He who commits adultery lacks sense;

he who does it destroys himself. 33

He will get wounds and dishonor,

and his disgrace will not be wiped away. 34

For jealousy makes a man furious,

and he will not spare when he takes revenge. 35

He will accept no compensation;

he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

1 PETER 2

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A Living Stone and a Holy People  2:1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
    4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone chosen and precious,

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone,” 8 and

“A stone of stumbling,

and a rock of offense.”They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
    9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
    11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Submission to Authority13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
    18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.