Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 07

Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 07

Matthew 25:14-46

Through My Bible – April 07

Matthew 25:14-46 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 25

The Parable of the Talents

14 “You see, the kingdom of heaven is like a man going on a journey. He called his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, [1] to another two talents, and to still another one talent, each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The servant who had received the five talents immediately put them to work and gained five more talents. 17 In the same way, the servant who had received the two talents gained two more. 18 But the servant who had received one talent went away, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 The servant who received the five talents came and brought five more talents. He said, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’

21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’

22 “The servant who received the two talents came and said, ‘Master, you entrusted me with two talents. See, I have gained two more talents.’

23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’

24 “Then the servant who received one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter seed. 25 Since I was afraid, I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

26 “His master answered him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! You knew that I reap where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter seed? 27 Well then, you should have deposited my money with the bankers so that when I came I would get my money back with interest. 28 Take the talent away from him and give it to the servant who has the ten talents. 29 Because everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 30 Throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Jesus Will Judge the World

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. 36 I was lacking clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or lacking clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

40 “The King will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you did not give me food to eat. I was thirsty and you did not give me anything to drink. 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, lacking clothes and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not take care of me.’

44 “Then they will also answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or lacking clothes or sick or in prison and did not serve you?’

45 “At that time he will answer them, ‘Amen I tell you: Just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’ 46 And they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 25:15 Each talent was worth six thousand denarii. A denarius was one day’s wage.




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 06

Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 06

Matthew 24:32 – 25:13

Through My Bible – April 06

Matthew 24:32 – 25:13 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 24

32 “Learn this lesson from the fig tree. When its branch has become tender and produces leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the doors. 34 Amen I tell you: This generation [1] will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Be Ready!

36 “No one knows when that day and hour will be, not the angels of heaven, not even the Son, but only the Father. 37 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be when the Son of Man returns. 38 In fact, in the days before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the very day that Noah entered the ark. 39 And they did not realize what was coming until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man returns.

40 “At that time two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. 42 So be alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But understand this: If the master of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 You also need to be ready for this reason: The Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect him.

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master finds doing this when he returns. 47 Amen I tell you: He will put him in charge of all that he has. 48 But if that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will return on a day when he does not expect it and at an hour he does not know. 51 The master will cut him in two and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

Matthew 25

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take any oil with them; but the wise took oil in their containers with their lamps. While the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, ‘No, there may not be enough for us and for you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 But while they were away buying oil, the bridegroom came. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut. 11 Later, the other virgins also came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, let us in.’ 12 But he answered, ‘Amen I tell you: I do not know you.’ 13 Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 24:34 Or kind of people, or race




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 05

Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 05

Matthew 24:1-31

Through My Bible – April 05

Matthew 24:1-31 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 24

The Destruction of Jerusalem and the End of the World

1 As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, his disciples came up to him to call his attention to the temple buildings. Then he replied to them, “Do you see all of these things? Amen I tell you: Not one stone here will be left on another that will not be thrown down.”

While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world?”

Jesus answered them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. Because many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will deceive many people. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because all these things must happen; but that is not yet the end. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are only the beginning of birth pains. Then they will hand you over to be persecuted, and they will put you to death. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. 10 Then many will fall away from faith. They will betray each other and hate each other. 11 Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because lawlessness will increase, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But whoever endures to the end will be saved. 14 This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15 “Therefore when you see the abomination that causes desolation, that was spoken of through the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place—let the reader understand— 16 then those who are in Judea should flee to the mountains. 17 The one on the housetop should not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 The one who is in the field should not return to get his clothes. 19 How terrible it will be for those who are pregnant or are nursing babies in those days! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in the winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For at that time there will be great distress, unlike any that has happened since the beginning of the world until now, and unlike any that will happen again. 22 If those days were not shortened, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.

23 “At that time if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There he is,’ do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive even the elect, if it were possible.

25 “See, I have told you in advance. 26 So if they tell you, ‘Look! There he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out there, or ‘Look! Here he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 Just as the lightning flashes from the east and shines as far as the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. 28 Wherever the carcass may be, there the vultures will gather.

29 “Immediately after the misery of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. And at that time all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 04

Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 04

Matthew 23:23-39

Through My Bible – April 04

Matthew 23:23-39 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 23

23 “Woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give ten percent of your mint, dill, and cumin, but you have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. You should have done these things and not failed to do the other things. 24 Blind guides, you strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

25 “Woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of a cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and dish so that the outside may become clean too.

27 “Woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that appear beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead people’s bones and every kind of uncleanness. 28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29 “Woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape being condemned to hell?

34 “Look, this is why I am sending you prophets, wise men, and experts in the law. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town. 35 As a result, you will be held responsible for all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Amen I tell you: All these things will come upon this generation.

37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will certainly not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” [1]

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 23:39 Psalm 118:26




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 03

Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 03

Matthew 23:1-22

Through My Bible – April 03

Matthew 23:1-22 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 23

Do Not Do As They Do

1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples. He said, “The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So practice and observe whatever they tell you. But do not do as they do, because they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads, burdens that are hard to carry, and place them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to help them. They do all their works to be seen by people. They make their phylacteries [1] wide and lengthen the fringes of their garments. They love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, the greetings in the marketplaces, and being called ‘Rabbi’ by people. But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. Also do not call anyone on earth your ‘Father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 And you are not to be called ‘leaders,’ for you have one Leader, the Christ. 11 But the greatest among you will be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Woes and Warnings

13 “But woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven right in front of people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor do you permit those who are trying to enter to do so. [2] 15 Woe to you, experts in the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel the sea and the land to make one convert, and then when he is converted, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ 17 You blind fools! After all, which is greater: the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated.’ 19 You blind men! After all, which is greater: the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20 So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it. 21 Also, whoever swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven, swears by God’s throne and by him who sits on it.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 23:5 Phylacteries were small leather boxes attached by a leather strap to the forehead or left arm. In each box were pieces of parchment inscribed with quotations from Exodus 13:1-10; 13:11-16; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21. See Deuteronomy 6:8 for this custom.
  2. Matthew 23:13 Many early witnesses to the text omit verse 14. See Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 where inclusion is certain.




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 02

Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 02

Matthew 22:15-46

Through My Bible – April 02

Matthew 22:15-46 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 22

Paying Taxes to Caesar

15 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted together how to trap him in his words. 16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are truthful and teach the way of God in accord with the truth. You are not concerned about gaining anyone’s approval because you are not swayed by appearances. 17 So tell us, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

18 But Jesus knew their evil purpose and said, “Why are you testing me, hypocrites? 19 Show me the coin used for the tax.”

They brought him a denarius.

20 He asked them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

21 “Caesar’s,” they replied to him.

Then he said to them, “Therefore give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

22 When they heard this, they were amazed. Then they left him and went away.

The God of the Living

23 That same day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to him. They asked him a question: 24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother should marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.’ [1] 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one died after he married her, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 It was the same with the second brother, the third, and all the way to the seventh. 27 Last of all, the woman died. 28 So then, in the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since they all married her?”

29 “You are mistaken,” Jesus replied, “since you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. 30 In fact, in the resurrection people neither marry nor are given in marriage. Instead they are like the angels of God in heaven. 31 And concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you never read what was spoken to you by God: 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’? [2] He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

33 When the crowds heard his answer, they were amazed at his teaching.

Love God and Your Neighbor

34 When they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees met together. 35 One of them who was an expert in the law asked him a question, trying to trap him. 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ [3] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ [4] 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend [5] on these two commandments.”

David’s Son and David’s Lord

41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

They said to him, “The Son of David.”

43 He said to them, “Then how can David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,

44 The Lord said to my Lord,
    ‘Sit at my right hand,
    until I put your enemies
    under your feet’?” [6]

45 “So if David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

46 No one was able to answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 22:24 Deuteronomy 25:5
  2. Matthew 22:32 Exodus 3:6,15
  3. Matthew 22:37 Deuteronomy 6:5
  4. Matthew 22:39 Leviticus 19:18
  5. Matthew 22:40 Or hang
  6. Matthew 22:44 Psalm 110:1




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 01

Through My Bible Yr 02 – April 01

Matthew 22:1-14

Through My Bible – April 01

Matthew 22:1-14 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 22

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent out his servants to summon those who were invited to the wedding banquet, but they did not want to come.

“Then he sent out other servants and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and my fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet!’

“But those who were invited paid no attention and went off, one to his own farm, another to his business. The rest seized the king’s servants, mistreated them, and killed them. As a result, the king was very angry. He sent his army and killed those murderers and burned their town.

“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. So go to the main crossroads and invite as many as you find to the wedding banquet.’ 10 Those servants went out to the roads and gathered together everyone they found, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wearing wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. 13 Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 31

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 31

Matthew 21:23-46

Through My Bible – March 31

Matthew 21:23-46 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 21

Jesus’ Authority Questioned

23 When Jesus went into the temple courts, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him while he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things?” and “Who gave you this authority?”

24 Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer it, I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?”

They discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the crowd, since they all regard John as a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.”

He said to them, “Then I will not tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Two Sons

28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered, ‘I will not,’ but later he changed his mind and went. 30 He came to the second and said the same thing. The second son answered, ‘I will go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Amen I tell you: The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, but you did not believe him. However, the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him. Even when you saw this, you did not change your mind and believe him.

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. He leased it out to some tenant farmers and went away on a journey. 34 When the time approached to harvest the fruit, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 The tenant farmers seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then the landowner sent even more servants than the first time. The tenant farmers treated them the same way. 37 Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. 38 But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance!’ 39 They took him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 So when the landowner comes, what will he do to those tenant farmers?”

41 They told him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end. Then he will lease out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his fruit when it is due.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes? [1]

43 “That is why I tell you the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruit. 44 Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was talking about them. 46 Although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds because the people regarded him as a prophet.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 21:42 Psalm 118:22-23




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 30

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 30

Matthew 20:29 – 21:22

Through My Bible – March 30

Matthew 20:29 – 21:22 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 20

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

29 As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 There were two blind men sitting by the road. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be quiet. But they shouted even louder, “Have mercy on us, Lord, Son of David!”

32 Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?”

33 They told him, “Lord, open our eyes.”

34 Jesus was moved with compassion and touched their eyes. Immediately they regained their sight, and they followed him.

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem

Matthew 21

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you. Immediately you will find a donkey tied there along with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

Tell the daughter of Zion: Look, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. [1]

The disciples went and did just as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their outer clothing on them, and he sat on it. A very large crowd spread their outer clothing on the road. Others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them out on the road. The crowds who went in front of him and those who followed kept shouting,

Hosanna [2] to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! [3]
Hosanna in the highest!

10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, asking, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds were saying, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus Cleanses His Father’s House

12 Jesus entered the temple courts [4] and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ [5] but you are making it a den of robbers!” [6]

14 The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the experts in the law saw the wonders he performed and heard the children calling out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant. 16 They said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?”

“Yes,” Jesus told them, “Have you never read,

    From the lips of little children and nursing babies
    you have prepared praise?” [7]
17 He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

The Withered Fig Tree

18 As he returned to the city early in the morning, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, “May there never be fruit from you again!”

Immediately the fig tree withered away. 20 When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”

21 Jesus answered them, “Amen I tell you: If you have faith, and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it would be done. 22 Whatever you ask for in prayer, as you believe, you will receive.”

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 21:5 Isaiah 62:11; Zechariah 9:9
  2. Matthew 21:9 The Greek here simply transliterates the Hebrew Hosanna, which means save us now.
  3. Matthew 21:9 Psalm 118:25-26
  4. Matthew 21:12 Some witnesses to the text add of God.
  5. Matthew 21:13 Isaiah 56:7
  6. Matthew 21:13 Jeremiah 7:11
  7. Matthew 21:16 Psalm 8:2




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 29

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 29

Matthew 19:23 – 20:28

Through My Bible – March 29

Matthew 19:23 – 20:28 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 19

23 Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen I tell you: It will be very hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?”

26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

27 Then Peter answered, “Look, we have left everything and followed you! What then will we have?”

28 Jesus said to them, “Amen I tell you: In the renewal, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 Everyone who has left homes or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, because of my name, will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”

The Workers in the Vineyard

Matthew 20

“Indeed the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. After agreeing to pay the workers a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. He also went out about the third hour [1] and saw others standing unemployed in the marketplace. To these he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.’ So they went. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did the same thing. When he went out about the eleventh hour, he found others standing unemployed. He said to them, ‘Why have you stood here all day unemployed?’

“They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’

“He told them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When it was evening, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last group and ending with the first.’

“When those who were hired around the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. 10 When those who were hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But they each received a denarius too. 11 After they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner: 12 ‘Those who were last worked one hour, and you made them equal to us who have endured the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not make an agreement with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last one hired the same as I also gave to you. 15 Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 In the same way, the last will be first, and the first, last.”

Again Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection

17 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside; and on the way he said to them, 18 “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and experts in the law, and they will condemn him to death. 19 They will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, flog, and crucify him. On the third day he will be raised.”

20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking something of him. 21 He said to her, “What do you want?”

She said to him, “Promise that in your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and one on your left hand.”

22 But Jesus answered, “You [2] do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?”

They said to him, “We are.”

23 He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not for me to give; rather these places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

24 When the ten heard this, they were angry with the two brothers.

25 But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It will not be that way among you. Instead whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you will be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 20:3 9 am
  2. Matthew 20:22 Each you in this verse is plural.




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 28

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 28

Matthew 19:1-22

Through My Bible – March 28

Matthew 19:1-22 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 19

Marriage and Divorce

1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. Some Pharisees came in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”

He answered, “Haven’t you read that from the beginning their Maker ‘made them male and female,’ [1] and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will be one flesh’? [2] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, man must not separate.”

They asked him, “Then why did Moses command a man to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

Jesus said to them, “Because of your hard hearts, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives, but it was not that way from the beginning. I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except on the grounds of her sexual immorality, and marries another woman is committing adultery.” [3]

10 His disciples said to him, “If this is the relationship of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For example, there are eunuchs who were born that way, and others who were castrated by people, and others who decided to remain unmarried because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this should accept it.”

Jesus Loves Little Children

13 Then some people brought little children to Jesus to have him place his hands on them and pray. But the disciples rebuked them. 14 Then Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” [4] 15 After he placed his hands on them, he left that place.

The Rich Young Ruler

16 There was a man who came to him and said, “Teacher, what good thing should I do that I may have eternal life?”

17 Jesus said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? Only one is good. But if you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

18 “Which ones?” the man asked him.

Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. 19 Honor your father and mother.’ And, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” [5]

20 The young man said to him, “I have kept all these. What am I still lacking?”

21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had many possessions.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 19:4 Genesis 1:27
  2. Matthew 19:5 Genesis 2:24
  3. Matthew 19:9 Some witnesses to the text add And the one who marries the divorced woman also commits adultery.
  4. Matthew 19:14 Or because of such is the kingdom of heaven
  5. Matthew 19:19 Exodus 20:12-16; Deuteronomy 5:16-20; Leviticus 19:18




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 27

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 27

Jeremiah 24 – 25

Through My Bible – March 27

Jeremiah 24 – 25 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Two Baskets of Figs

Jeremiah 24

The Lord showed me two baskets of figs sitting in front of the Lord’s temple. This took place after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had exiled Jeconiah [1] son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem, along with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the smiths, and had brought them to Babylon.

One basket had very good figs, like early figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten. Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

“Figs,” I said. “The good figs are very good, and the bad ones are very bad, so bad they cannot be eaten.”

The word of the Lord came to me.

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. I will treat the exiles from Judah like these good figs, those exiles that I sent out from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. I will keep my eye on them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God. They will return to me with their whole heart.

But like the bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten—this is what the Lord says—this is how I will deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and with those who live in the land of Egypt. I will make them an object of horror and disaster among all the nations of the earth. They will be a disgrace, a proverb, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I banish them. 10 I will send the sword, famine, and plague against them until they have perished from the soil that I have given to them and to their fathers.

Seventy Years of Exile

Jeremiah 25

This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah. This was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to everyone who lived in Jerusalem.

For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, to this very day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you again and again. But you have not listened. The Lord sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or paid attention.

The Lord said: Turn, each of you, from your evil way of life and from the evil things you do. Live on the land the Lord gave to you and to your forefathers long ago to be yours forever. Do not follow after other gods or serve them or worship them, and do not provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.

But you would not obey me, declares the Lord. So you kept provoking me to anger with the work of your hands, and you have hurt yourselves.

Therefore this is what the Lord of Armies says. Because you have not obeyed my words, watch out! I will send for all the clans of the north, declares the Lord, and I will send for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and derision. The land will be ruins forever. 10 I will take the sound of joy away from them and the sound of gladness. I will take away the voice of the bride and groom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land will become a desolation and a ruin, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 When the seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the Lord. I will make it desolate forever. 13 I will bring on that land all my words which I have spoken against it, everything that is written in this book, in which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, but I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.

The Cup of God’s Wrath

15 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath, and make all the nations, to whom I send you, drink it. 16 They will drink, stagger, and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”

17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and made all the nations to whom he had sent me drink from it— 18 to destroy them and to make them an object of horror and derision, and to make them a curse, as they are today. They are:

Jerusalem, all the cities of Judah, its kings and officials,
19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, and all his people,
20 also all the various foreigners there,
also all the kings of the land of Uz,
all the kings of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and
    the remnant of Ashdod),
21 Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites,
22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon,
and the kings of the islands across the sea,
23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who live on the edge of the desert, [2]
24 all the kings of Arabia,
all the kings of the various peoples who live in the wilderness,
25 all the kings of Zimri,
all the kings of Elam, all the kings of the Medes,
26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another,
and all the kingdoms of the world which are on the face of the earth.

Then after them, the king of Sheshak [3] will drink.

27 You are to tell them that this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Drink and get drunk. Vomit! Fall and rise no more, because of the sword I will send among you.” 28 But if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink, then tell them, “This is what the Lord of Armies says. You must drink it. 29 See, I am beginning to bring disaster to the city called by my name. Will you somehow go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I will call for a sword on all who live on the earth, declares the Lord of Armies.”

30 Prophesy all these words against them. Say to them:
The Lord will roar from on high,
and he will thunder from his holy dwelling.
He will roar mightily against his flock.
He will shout against all who live on the earth,
like those who tread grapes.
31 The roaring will reach the ends of the earth,
for the Lord will bring charges against the nations.
He will judge all flesh
and put the wicked to the sword, declares the Lord.
32 This is what the Lord of Armies says.
Look! Disaster is moving from nation to nation,
and a great storm is rising from the ends of the earth.
33 On that day those slain by the Lord will lie scattered
    from one end of the earth to the other.
They will not be mourned.
They will not be gathered up.
They will not be buried.
They lie on the ground like manure.

34 Wail, you shepherds, and cry.
Roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock,
for the day for you to be slaughtered has come.
You will be shattered,
and you will fall like fine pottery. [4]
35 The shepherds will have nowhere to flee.
The leaders of the flock will have no escape.
36 Hear the cry of the shepherds
and the wailing of the leaders of the flock,
for the Lord is destroying their pasture.
37 The peaceful meadows are silenced,
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
38 He has left his lair like a lion,
and their land will become desolate,
because of the fierceness of the oppressor,
and because of his fierce anger.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 24:1 That is, Jehoiachin
  2. Jeremiah 25:23 Or and all who cut their hair (or beards) short
  3. Jeremiah 25:26 Sheshak is a cypher or cryptogram for Babylon. It is written in reverse alphabet: A=Z, B=Y, etc. In the Hebrew alphabet, bbl reversed is shshk.
  4. Jeremiah 25:34 The translation follows the Hebrew. The Greek variant reads like choice rams.




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 26

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 26

Jeremiah 23

Through My Bible – March 26

Jeremiah 23 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

The Righteous Branch

23 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! declares the Lord.

Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd my people.

You have scattered my flock.
You have driven them away.
You have not taken care of them,
but I will certainly take care of you,
because of the evil things you have done,
declares the Lord.
I will gather what is left of my flock
    out of all the countries where I have driven them,
and I will bring them back to their pastures.
They will be fruitful and multiply.
I will raise up shepherds over them
    who will shepherd them.
They will no longer be afraid or terrified,
nor will any be missing, declares the Lord.

Listen, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
who will reign wisely as king
and establish justice and righteousness on earth.
In his days Judah will be saved
and Israel will dwell securely.
This is his name by which he will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteousness.

So, mark my words, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no longer be said, “As surely as the Lord lives who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,” but, “as surely as the Lord lives who brought up the descendants of the house of Israel and led them out of a land in the north and from all the countries where I had driven them.” Then they will dwell in their own land.

Against False Prophets

Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken inside me.
All my bones tremble.
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord,
and because of his holy words.
10 Look, the land is full of adulterers.
Because of the curse, the land mourns.
The pastures in the wilderness are dried up.
Their way of life is evil,
and their use of power is unjust.
11 Both prophet and priest are godless.
I have found their wickedness even in my House,
declares the Lord.
12 Therefore, they will discover that their path
is like slippery places in the darkness.
They will be driven away,
and they will fall there,
because I will bring disaster on them,
the year of their punishment, declares the Lord.
13 Among the prophets of Samaria [1]
I saw something offensive.
They prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
14 Now among the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen something horrifying.
They commit adultery and walk in lies.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns away from his wickedness.
They have all become like Sodom to me.
The people who live there are like Gomorrah.

15 So this is what the Lord of Armies says concerning the prophets.
Watch, I will feed them wormwood
and give them bitter water to drink,
because from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has gone out into all the land.

16 This is what the Lord of Armies says.
Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They are giving you false hope.
They proclaim visions that come from their own hearts
and not from the mouth of the Lord.
17 They keep saying to those who despise me,
“The Lord has said that you will have peace.”
And to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart,
they say, “No harm will come to you.”
18 But have any of them stood in the council of the Lord,
    to see and hear his word?
Who has listened to his word and heard it?
19 Look, a storm from the Lord!
His wrath has gone out,
like a whirlwind twisting down,
whirling over the heads of the wicked.

20 The Lord’s anger will not turn back until he has completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart. In later days you will understand it fully.

21 I did not send these prophets, yet they ran.
I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,
they would have made my people hear my words,
and they would have turned them from their evil ways
and from their evil deeds.
23 Am I a God who is only nearby, declares the Lord,
and not a God far away?
24 Can anyone hide in secret places
so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord.
Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.

25 I have heard what the prophets who prophesy lies in my name have said. They say, “I have had a dream! I have had a dream!” 26 How long will this be in the hearts of these lying prophets? These prophets proclaim the fantasies of their own hearts. 27 They think they can make my people forget my name with the dreams each one tells his neighbor, the way their fathers forgot my name because of Baal. 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream. But let the one who has my word speak my word faithfully.

What has chaff to do with grain? declares the Lord. 29 Is not my word like a fire? declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? 30 Therefore listen to this, declares the Lord. I am against the prophets who steal my words from each other. 31 Indeed, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their own tongues to say, “This is what the Lord declares!” 32 Yes, I am against those who prophesy about lying dreams, declares the Lord. I am against those who tell lying dreams to lead my people astray with their extravagant lies. But I did not send them or command them. They provide no benefit for this people, declares the Lord.

33 When these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, “What is the message [2] from the Lord?” say to them, “What is the message? This is the Lord’s message: I will abandon you.”

34 As for the prophet, the priest, or anyone who says “the message from the Lord,” I will punish that man and his household. 35 Each man will ask his neighbor, “What has the Lord answered?” or “What has the Lord said?” 36 But do not refer to “the message of the Lord” anymore, because each man’s word has become his own message, because you have perverted the words of the Living God, the Lord of Armies, our God.

37 You say this to the prophet: “What has the Lord answered you?” or “What has the Lord said?” 38 But if you say that you have the message [3] of the Lord, this is what the Lord says to you: Since you say “the message of the Lord,” although I have sent a message telling you not to say “the message of the Lord,” 39 watch out, because I will completely forget you and throw you out of my presence. I will abandon you and this city, which I gave to your fathers. 40 I will bring everlasting scorn and everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 23:13 Samaria fell to the Assyrians in 722 bc because of its idolatry. See 2 Kings 17:7-20.
  2. Jeremiah 23:33 The Hebrew word translated message also has the negative connotation burden. If this first line is translated what is the burden from the Lord, the Lord’s response may be translated you are the burden.
  3. Jeremiah 23:38 This word also has the negative connotation burden.




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 25

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 25

Jeremiah 21 – 22

Through My Bible – March 25

Jeremiah 21 – 22 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

The Lord Rejects King Zedekiah

Jeremiah 21

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malkijah along with Zephaniah the priest, the son of Ma’aseiah, [1] to speak to Jeremiah. They said, “Inquire of the Lord for us, because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will perform some of his wonders on our behalf as he did in the past, so that Nebuchadnezzar will withdraw from us.”

But Jeremiah answered them:

Tell Zedekiah that the Lord, the God of Israel, says this.

I will certainly turn the weapons of war in your hands against you, the ones you are using to fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans, [2] who are outside your wall besieging you. And I will bring them inside this city.

I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, with furious anger and great wrath. I will strike those who live in this city, both man and animal. They will die of a terrible plague. Afterward, says the Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, those who serve him, and the people in this city who survive the plague, sword, and famine. I will deliver them into the hands of their enemies and into the hands of those who seek their lives. He will strike them with the sword. He will show them no compassion, no pity, and no mercy.

Tell this people this is what the Lord says. I will certainly set before you the way of life and the way of death. Whoever remains in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but all those who go out and surrender to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will escape with their lives. 10 For I have set my face against this city to bring harm and not good, says the Lord. The city will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it up with fire.

11 Concerning the house of the king of Judah, this is the word of the Lord. 12 The Lord says that you, House of David, are to administer justice in the morning and deliver the victim of robbery from the hand of the oppressor, or my wrath will flare up like fire and burn so that no one can put it out, because of the evil you have done.

13 Look, I am against you, you who live in this valley in the rocky highlands, declares the Lord. I am against you who say, “Who can come against us? Who can enter our homes?” 14 I will punish you according to what you have done, says the Lord. I will kindle a fire in the forest, and it will consume everything around you.

Judgment Against Three Evil Kings

Jeremiah 22

This is what the Lord says.

Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and speak this message there.

Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, you who sit on David’s throne—you, your officials, and your people who enter these gates.

This is what the Lord says. Do what is just and right. Rescue the person who has been robbed from the hand of the oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, to the fatherless, or to the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place. If you diligently carry this out, then kings who sit on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this house, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. But if you will not obey these words, then I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that this house will become a ruin.

Yes, this is what the Lord says about the house of the king of Judah.

You are like Gilead to me,
like the peak of Lebanon.
You can be sure that I will turn you into a wilderness,
like uninhabited towns.
I will send destroyers against you,
each of them with his weapons.
They will cut down your best cedars,
and they will throw them into the fire.

Many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, “Why did the Lord do such a thing to this great city?” And the answer will be, “It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God. They worshipped other gods and served them.”

A Message About Shallum

10 Do not weep for the dead.
Do not mourn for him,
but weep bitterly for the one who is exiled,
because he will never return.
He will never see the land of his birth.

11 For this is what the Lord says about Shallum [3] son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned in place of his father Josiah. He has gone out from this place, but he will never return again. 12 He will die in the place where they have led him captive. He will never see this land again.

A Message About Jehoiakim

13 Woe to him who builds his house through unrighteousness
and his roof with injustice,
who makes his neighbors work for nothing
and does not pay them,
14 who says, “I will build a huge mansion for myself
    with spacious upper rooms.”
He makes large windows for it,
panels it with cedar,
and paints it red.

15 Does it make you a king when you are extravagant with cedar?
Didn’t your father eat and drink,
and do what was just and right?
Then it went well for him.
16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy,
and it went well.
Isn’t this what it means to know me? declares the Lord.
17 But your eyes and your heart are greedy for gain,
    for shedding innocent blood,
    for oppression, and committing violence.

18 Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning
Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
    They will not mourn for him,
“Oh, my brother! Oh, my sister!”
They will not mourn for him,
“Oh, my master! Oh, his glory!”
19 He will be buried with the burial of a donkey—
dragged away and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.

20 Go up to Lebanon and cry out.
Lift your voice in Bashan.
Cry out from Abarim,
because all your lovers have been destroyed.
21 I spoke to you when you were at peace,
but you said, “I will not listen.”
This has been your way since your youth.
You have never listened to me.
22 Your shepherds will be herded by the wind.
Your lovers will go into exile.
Then you will be ashamed and humiliated because of all your evil.
23 You who live in Lebanon,
you who make your nest in the cedars,
how you will groan when pains come upon you,
pains like those of a woman in labor!

A Message About Coniah

24 As I live, declares the Lord, even if you, Coniah [4] son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would pull you off. 25 I will deliver you into the hand of those who want to take your life, those you fear. I will deliver you into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 26 I will throw you and the mother who bore you into another country, where neither of you were born, and there you will die. 27 They will never return to the land to which they long to return.

28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken pot?
Is he a jar no one wants?
Why are he and his children thrown out,
cast into a land they do not know?
29 Land, land, O land!
Hear the word of the Lord!
30 This is what the Lord says.
Record this man as childless,
a man who will not prosper in his lifetime.
None of his offspring will prosper
    by sitting on David’s throne and ruling in Judah.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 21:1 The stop mark ′ shows that the double vowel is to be pronounced as two syllables.
  2. Jeremiah 21:4 The Chaldeans were the ethnic group ruling Babylon at this time.
  3. Jeremiah 22:11 Also called Jehoahaz. After the death of good King Josiah, Josiah’s son Shallum/Jehoahaz was exiled to Egypt by Pharaoh Neco. See 2 Kings 23:28-34.
  4. Jeremiah 22:24 Also called Jeconiah and Jehoiachin




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 24

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 24

Jeremiah 19 – 20

Through My Bible – March 24

Jeremiah 19 – 20 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

A Clay Jar

Jeremiah 19

This is what the Lord says.

Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the elders of the people and some of the priests. Go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, by the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I will tell you.

Say this to them:

Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and you who live in Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says.

Watch out! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of all who hear about it ring, because they have forsaken me and have defiled this place. They have burned incense in it to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah ever knew. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent. They have built high places to Baal and burned their children in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, and which did not enter my mind. So listen to this. The days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Topheth or Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

I will ruin [1] the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, at the hands of those who seek their lives. I will make their dead bodies food for the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the land. I will make this city desolate, and I will make it a target of contempt. Everyone who passes by will be horrified and scoff because of all its wounds. I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters. They will eat one another’s flesh during the pressure from the siege that their enemies, those who want to kill them, will bring upon them.

10 Then break the jar in the sight of the men who are with you. 11 Tell them this is what the Lord of Armies says.

This is how I will break this people and this city, like a potter’s jar that is so smashed that it cannot be made whole again. They will bury people in Topheth until there is no place left to bury. 12 This is what I will do to this place, says the Lord, and to those who live here: I will make this city like Topheth. 13 The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will become defiled—all the houses on whose rooftops they have burned incense to all the army of the heavens and poured out drink offerings to other gods. They will all be defiled like that place Topheth.

14 Then Jeremiah came back from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the courtyard of the House of the Lord and said to all the people: 15 “This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says. I will certainly bring on this city and on all its towns every disaster that I have proclaimed against it, because they have become stiff-necked, refusing to hear my words.”

Jeremiah and Pashhur

Jeremiah 20

When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who served as the chief officer in the House of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying about these things, Pashhur ordered them to beat Jeremiah the prophet, and he put him in the stocks at the Upper Benjamin Gate in the House of the Lord.

The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call you Pashhur, but Magor Missabib, [2] for this is what the Lord says: I will certainly make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will carry the people captive to Babylon, and he will strike them with the sword. Also, the riches of this city, all its property, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah—I will give it all away into the hands of their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon. As for you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, you will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon! You will die there, and you will be buried there, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied falsely.”

Jeremiah’s Confession

You persuaded me, Lord, and I agreed to it. [3]
You are stronger than I am, and you won out.
I have become a laughingstock all day long,
and everyone is mocking me.
Whenever I speak, I cry out.
I cry out, “Violence and destruction!”
But the word of the Lord has brought scorn on me.
I am mocked all day long.
If I say, “I will not mention him
or speak in his name anymore,”
then there is a burning fire in my heart,
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary of holding it in.
I cannot!
10 I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!”
All my close friends,
those who are watching for my fall, say,
“Denounce him! Let’s denounce him.
Perhaps he can be pressured into making a mistake.
Then we will have the upper hand against him,
and we will take our revenge on him.”
11 But the Lord is with me like a terrifying warrior.
So my persecutors will stumble,
and they will not gain the upper hand.
They will be put to shame completely,
because they have not been successful.
Their eternal disgrace will never be forgotten.

12 Lord of Armies, you test the righteous.
You see the heart and the mind.
Let me see your vengeance on them,
for I have laid out my case before you.
13 Sing to the Lord!
Praise the Lord,
for he has delivered the life of the needy
    from the hand of the wicked.

A Curse

14 May the day I was born be cursed.
Do not let the day my mother gave birth to me be blessed.
15 May the man be cursed who brought news to my father,
“A son is born to you,”
the man who brought him great joy.
16 Let that man be like the cities the Lord overthrew without pity.
Let him hear a cry in the morning,
an alarm for war at noon,
17 because he did not put me to death in the womb,
so that my mother would have been my grave,
and her womb would have been pregnant forever.
18 Why did I emerge from that womb
    to see trouble and sorrow,
    to finish my days in shame?

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 19:7 The Hebrew word baqaq, ruin, sounds like the word baqbuq, jar, in verse 1.
  2. Jeremiah 20:3 Magor Missabib means terror on every side.
  3. Jeremiah 20:7 Or, more literally, you pressured me, and I was pressured. The Hebrew verb (patah) is the same in both halves of the line, but it has different connotations when applied to God and to Jeremiah. You deceived me and I was deceived is probably too strong a word to express Jeremiah’s accusation against the Lord, but Jeremiah is claiming that the Lord had led him to believe that being a prophet was going to be a great thing. It is hard to find any evidence to justify Jeremiah’s accusation if you read Jeremiah 1–3. The same Hebrew verb occurs again in verse 10.




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 23

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 23

Jeremiah 17:19 – 18:23

Through My Bible – March 23

Jeremiah 17:19 – 18:23 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Jeremiah 17

Keep the Sabbath Day Holy

19 This is what the Lord told me.

Go and stand at the Gate of the People, through which the kings of Judah enter and leave, and in all the gates of Jerusalem. 20 Tell them this message.

Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, all of Judah, and all who live in Jerusalem, and all who enter by these gates.

21 This is what the Lord says. Protect your lives. Do not carry a load of things on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Do not carry a load out of your houses on the Sabbath day. Do not do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy as I commanded your fathers.

23 But they did not listen or pay attention. They became stiff-necked so that they would not hear or receive instruction.

24 However, if you listen carefully to me, declares the Lord, and if you do not carry any load through the gates of the city on the Sabbath day, but you instead keep the Sabbath day holy and do not do any work, 25 then kings who sit on David’s throne and their officials will enter in through the gates of this city, riding in chariots and on horses, along with the men of Judah and with those who live in Jerusalem. They will live in this city forever. 26 They will come from the cities of Judah, from the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, [1] from the hill country, and from the Negev. [2] They will bring burnt offerings, sacrifices, fellowship offerings, [3] incense, and thank offerings to the House of the Lord. 27 But if you will not listen to me and do not keep the Sabbath day holy, and you enter the gates of Jerusalem carrying a load on the Sabbath day, then I will set fire to its gates. I will burn the public buildings of Jerusalem, and the fire will not be put out.

The Potter’s House

Jeremiah 18

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Get up, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will reveal my words to you.”

So I went down to the potter’s house, and he was making something on the wheel. But the pot he was forming out of the clay was ruined as he shaped it with his hands, so the potter formed it into a different pot, whatever he saw fit to make.

Then the word of the Lord came to me.

House of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? declares the Lord. See, like clay in the potter’s hands, that is what you are in my hands, house of Israel. One time I may say that a nation or a kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, but if that nation I spoke about repents of its evil, then I will relent and not bring the disaster I had planned to bring against it. Another time I may say that a nation or a kingdom is to be built and planted, 10 but if they do what is evil in my sight by not listening to my voice, then I will not bring about the good I said I would do for them.

11 Now therefore say this to the men of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. This is what the Lord says. Look! I am forming a disaster against you. I am devising a plan against you. Turn from your evil ways, each of you, and reform your ways and your actions.

12 But they will say, “It is hopeless! Each of us will always walk in the stubbornness of his own evil heart.”

13 Therefore this is what the Lord says.

Ask among the nations,
“Who has ever heard anything like this?”
Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing.
14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever disappear from its rocky slopes?
Does cold water flowing from a long distance ever run dry?
15 Yet my people have forgotten me.
They burn incense to false gods,
    that make them stumble in their ways,
    in the ancient paths.
They walk on side roads,
on roads not built up.
16 They make their land something horrible,
a target of lasting contempt. [4]
Everyone who passes by will be horrified and shake his head.
17 Like the east wind I will scatter them in front of their enemies.
I will show them my back and not my face on the day of their calamity.

A Plot Against Jeremiah

18 Some people said, “Come on! Let’s make plans against Jeremiah, because the law will not vanish from the priest, nor guidance from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come on, let’s attack him with words and pay no attention to anything he says.”

19 Listen to me, Lord.
Listen to what my opponents are saying.
20 Should good be repaid with evil?
Yet they have dug a pit for me.
Remember how I stood before you to speak on their behalf,
to turn your anger from them.
21 Therefore, hand their children over to famine,
and hand them over to the power of the sword.
Let their wives become childless widows.
Let their men be put to death,
and their young men be struck in battle by the sword.
22 Let a cry be heard from their houses
when you suddenly bring marauders against them,
because they have dug a pit to capture me
and have hidden snares for my feet.
23 But you, Lord, are aware of all their plots to kill me.
Do not forgive their guilt.
Do not blot out their sin from your sight.
Let them be overthrown in your presence.
Deal with them in the time of your anger.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 17:26 The western foothills of Judah
  2. Jeremiah 17:26 The arid region south of Judah
  3. Jeremiah 17:26 Traditionally peace offerings
  4. Jeremiah 18:16 Literally hissing




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 22

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 22

Jeremiah 16:1 – 17:18

Through My Bible – March 22

Jeremiah 16:1 – 17:18 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Jeremiah Must Not Marry

Jeremiah 16

The word of the Lord came to me.

You are not to marry a wife in this place
or to have sons and daughters,
because this is what the Lord says
    about the sons and daughters born in this place,
about the mothers who bore them,
and about the fathers who conceived them in this land:
    They will die of deadly diseases.
    They will not be mourned.
    They will not be buried.
    They will lie on the ground like manure.
    They will be devoured by sword and famine,
    and their carcasses will become food for the birds in the sky
    and the wild animals in the land.

This is what the Lord says.
Do not enter a house where people are grieving.
Do not go there to mourn for anyone or to comfort anyone,
for I have taken away my peace from this people, declares the Lord,
along with my mercy and my compassion.

Both the greatest and the least will die in this land.
No one will bury them or mourn for them.
No one will cut himself or shave himself for them.
No one will break bread to comfort those who mourn the dead.
No one will offer a consoling cup, even for a father or a mother.
Do not enter a house where there is feasting,
or sit down there to eat and drink.
For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says.
I will certainly put an end to the sounds of joy and happiness in this place,
as well as the voices of bride and groom.
This will take place before your eyes and in your lifetime.

An Evil Day

10 When you tell the people all of this, they will ask you, “Why has the Lord decreed all this great disaster against us? What are we guilty of? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?”

11 Then say this to them:

It is because your fathers abandoned me, declares the Lord, and followed other gods. They served them, and they worshipped them. They abandoned me and did not keep my law. 12 But you have done more evil than your fathers. Look, each of you follows his own stubborn, evil heart, and you do not listen to me. 13 Therefore, I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your fathers have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, and I will show you no mercy.

14 Nevertheless, listen to this. The days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer say, “As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the children of Israel out from the land of Egypt.” 15 But they will say, “As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the children of Israel out from the land in the north and from all the lands to which he exiled them.” For I will restore them to the homeland I gave to their fathers.

16 Look, I am sending for many fishermen, declares the Lord, and they will catch them. After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt for them on every mountain, on every high hill, and in the crevices of the rocks. 17 My eyes are watching everything they do. It is not hidden from me, nor is their guilt hidden from my eyes. 18 But first I will pay them double for their guilt and their sin, because they defiled my land with the carcasses of their disgusting idols, and they have filled my inheritance with their abominations.

19 The Lord is my strength and my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.
Nations will come to you from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our forefathers possessed only false gods,
worthless idols, and there was nothing good in them.
20 Can a man make gods for himself?
Yes, but they are not gods!”

21 Therefore I will certainly teach them.
This time I will teach them my power and my strength,
and then they will know that my name is the Lord.

The Sin of Judah

Jeremiah 17

Judah’s sin is written with an iron stylus.
It is engraved with a diamond [1] tip on the tablet of their hearts
and on the horns of their altars.
Even their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles, [2]
beside every green tree on the high hills,
and on the mountains in the countryside.
I will turn all your wealth into plunder
because of the sin you committed on the high places
    throughout all your territory.
You will lose your inheritance that I gave you,
and I will make you serve your enemies in a land you do not know.
You have started a fire in my anger that will burn forever.

Curses and Blessings

This is what the Lord says.
Cursed is anyone who trusts in mankind,
who seeks his strength from human flesh,
and who turns his heart away from the Lord.
He will be like a juniper bush in the wasteland.
He will not see good things when they come.
He lives in a dry place in the wilderness,
in a salty land where no one lives.
But blessed is anyone who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by water.
It sends out its roots to the stream.
It does not fear the heat when it comes.
Its leaves will remain green.
It is not concerned about a time of drought.
It does not stop producing fruit.

The Deceitful Heart

The heart is more deceitful than anything.
It is beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 I, the Lord, am the one who searches the heart
and examines the mind,
    to reward a man according to what he has done,
    according to what his deeds deserve.
11 Those who accumulate a fortune unjustly
    are like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay.
Midway through life their fortune will be lost,
and in the end they will be exposed as fools.

12 The place of our sanctuary is a glorious throne,
    exalted from the beginning.
13 You are the hope of Israel, Lord.
All who forsake you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you [3] will be written in the earth,
because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.

14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed.
Save me, and I will be saved,
for you are the one I praise.
15 They say to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come!”

16 I have not tried to run away from being your shepherd, [4]
nor have I wanted to bring the day of incurable pain.
You are aware of everything that comes out of my lips.
It is not hidden from you.
17 Do not be a terror to me.
You are my refuge in the day of disaster.
18 Let my persecutors be put to shame,
but do not let me be put to shame.
Let them be terrified,
but do not let me be terrified.
Bring on them the day of disaster
and destroy them with double destruction.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 17:1 Or flint
  2. Jeremiah 17:2 Wooden poles were set up to worship the Canaanite fertility goddess Asherah.
  3. Jeremiah 17:13 You is the reading of the Greek. The Hebrew reads me. This reading would require a change of speakers to the Lord.
  4. Jeremiah 17:16 Some ancient versions read this line as a parallel to the following line: I have not run after you for the sake of disaster.




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 21

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 21

Jeremiah 14 – 15

Through My Bible – March 21

Jeremiah 14 – 15 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

The Drought

Jeremiah 14

This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought.

Judah mourns.
Her city gates fall apart.
They mourn for the land,
and a cry of grief rises from Jerusalem.
The strong send the weak to get water.
They go to the cisterns but find no water.
They return with empty containers.
Ashamed and humiliated, they cover their heads.
The ground is cracked,
because there has been no rain in the land.
The farmers are distressed.
They cover their heads.
Even the doe in the field gives birth
and then abandons the fawn,
because there is no grass.
Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights.
They pant for air like jackals.
Their eyes grow dim,
because there are no plants to eat.

Jeremiah’s Prayers and the Lord’s Answers

    Do something, Lord, for the sake of your name,
    even though our guilt testifies against us.
    We have rebelled many times,
    and we have sinned against you.
    You are Israel’s hope,
    its Savior in times of trouble.
    Why are you like a stranger in the land,
    like a traveler who stays only for the night?
    Why are you like a man taken by surprise,
    like a strong warrior who cannot save?
    You are among us, Lord,
    and we are called by your name.
    Do not forsake us!

10 This is what the Lord says concerning this people.

    They love to wander!
    They never restrain their feet.
    So the Lord does not accept them.
    Instead, he will remember their guilt
    and punish their sins.

11 The Lord told me, “Do not pray for the well-being of these people. 12 Even if they fast, I will not listen to their cries for help. Even if they sacrifice burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will finish them off with sword, famine, and plague.”

13 Then I said, “But, Lord God, the prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see sword or famine. I will give you lasting peace in this place.’”

14 Then the Lord said this to me:

Those prophets are prophesying lies in my name, but I did not send them. I did not command them, and I did not speak to them. They are prophesying a false vision to you and providing worthless omens—something from their own imagination. 15 Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the prophets who prophesy lies in my name. I did not send them. They say that there will be no sword or famine in this land, but by sword and famine those prophets will die. 16 The people to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of famine and the sword. No one will bury them—them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters. I will pour out on them the destruction that they deserve.

17 You, Jeremiah, are to say this to them:

Let my eyes overflow with tears,
without stopping night or day,
because the virgin daughter of my people has been severely injured.
It is a very serious wound.
18 If I go out to the field,
I see those who have been run through by the sword.
If go into the city,
I see those diseased by famine.
Both prophet and priest have gone to a land they do not know.

The People’s Prayer

19 Lord, have you completely rejected Judah?
Do you despise Zion?
Why have you afflicted us,
so that we cannot be healed?
We looked for health,
but nothing good came.
We hoped for healing,
but there was only terror.
20 We acknowledge our wickedness
and the guilt of our fathers.
We have sinned against you.
21 For your name’s sake, do not despise us.
Do not dishonor your glorious throne.
Remember your covenant with us,
and do not break it.
22 Do the worthless idols of the nations send rain?
Do the skies provide the torrential showers?
Is it not rather you, who are the Lord our God?
Our hope is in you,
because you are the one who does all these things.

The Verdict Has Been Determined

Jeremiah 15

The Lord said to me:

Even if Moses and Samuel were standing in front of me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from me. Let them go! When they ask you, “Where should we go?” tell them that this is what the Lord says:

Those doomed [1] to death, to death,
those doomed to the sword, to the sword,
those doomed to famine, to famine,
those doomed to captivity, to captivity.

I will punish them in four ways, declares the Lord: The sword will kill, and dogs will drag them away. The birds in the sky and the wild animals in the land will devour and destroy. I will make them an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.

Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem?
Who will mourn for you?
Who will turn back to ask how you are?
You have rejected me, declares the Lord.
You have turned away from me.
So I will stretch out my hand against you and destroy you.
I am weary of showing compassion.
I will scatter them with a winnowing fork at the gates of the land.
I will make them childless.
I will destroy my people,
because they have not changed their ways.
I will make their widows more numerous than the sand on the seashore.
At noon I will bring a destroyer against the mothers of their
        young men.
I will bring anguish and terror down on them suddenly.
The mother of seven will grow faint.
She will breathe her last.
Her sun will set while it is still day,
and she will be ashamed and humiliated.
The survivors I will put to the sword in the presence of their enemies,
        declares the Lord.

Jeremiah’s Complaint

10 I am so miserable, my mother, that you gave birth to me.

I am the man with whom the whole land argues and quarrels.

I have not lent or borrowed, but everyone curses me.

The Lord’s Response to Jeremiah

11 The Lord said:

I will surely set you free for your own good.
I will surely make your enemies plead with you
in a time of trouble and in a time of distress.

12 Can anyone break iron—iron from the north—or bronze?

13 I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder, without cost, because of all your sins throughout all your territory. 14 I will make you serve your enemies in a land you do not know, for my anger is kindled in me, and you will burn continuously.

Jeremiah Responds

15 O Lord, you understand.
Remember me and care for me.
Take vengeance for me on those who persecute me.
You are slow to anger.
Do not take me away.
Keep in mind that for your sake I bear disgrace.
16 Your words came to me, and I devoured them.
Your words became my joy,
the delight of my heart,
because I bear your name,
O Lord God of Armies.
17 I did not sit with the band of partygoers,
nor did I celebrate with them.
I sat alone, because your hand was upon me.
You filled me with indignation.

18 Why is my pain unending?
Why is my wound incurable, refusing to heal?
Will you be as deceptive as an intermittent stream to me,
like a source of water that a person can’t depend on?

The Lord’s Response

19 Therefore this is what the Lord says.
If you repent, I will take you back,
so that you may stand before me.
If what you say is worthwhile and not worthless,
you will be my spokesman.
They must turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.
20 I will make you like a bronze wall to this people.
They will fight against you,
but they will not overcome you,
because I am with you to save you
and to rescue you, declares the Lord.
21 I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked,
and I will deliver you from the grasp of the ruthless.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 15:2 Or destined




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 20

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 20

Jeremiah 13

Through My Bible – March 20

Jeremiah 13 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

A Linen Undergarment

13 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and purchase a linen undergarment [1] for yourself. Put it around your waist. Do not let it touch water.” So I bought an undergarment as the Lord said, and I put it on.

Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time: “Take the undergarment you purchased, the one you are wearing around your waist, and go right now to Perath [2] and hide it there in a cleft in the rocks.” So I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lord commanded me.

Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go to Perath and retrieve the undergarment I told you to hide there.” So I went to Perath and searched. I took the undergarment from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and worthless.

Then the word of the Lord came to me.

This is what the Lord says. I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem in the same way. 10 These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They follow their own stubborn hearts. They follow after other gods by serving them and worshipping them. They are all like this worthless undergarment. 11 Just as an undergarment fits tightly around a man’s waist, in the same way I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord. I did this so that they would be my people and so that they would bring praise and honor to my name, but they would not listen.

The Broken Wine Jar

12 Give this message to them.

This is what the Lord God of Israel says: “Every clay jar will be filled with wine.” Then they will say to you, “We know that every clay jar will be filled with wine.”

13 So say to them, “This is what the Lord says. I will certainly make everyone who lives in this land drunk. The kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all those who live in Jerusalem will become drunk. 14 Then I will smash them to pieces—a man against his brother, fathers, and sons, declares the Lord. I will not spare them. I will destroy them without pity or compassion.”

15 Listen and pay attention!
Do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.
16 Honor the Lord your God before he brings darkness,
and before your feet stumble on the mountains at dusk.
You will look for light,
but he will turn it into the shadow of death
and change it into deep darkness.
17 If you will not listen,
I will cry for you in secret because of your arrogance.
My eyes will weep bitterly and overflow with tears,
because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive.
18 Say to the king and to the queen mother,
“Come down from your thrones,
because your crowns will fall from your heads.” [3]
19 The cities of the Negev are under siege,
and no one can get through to them.
All of Judah will be taken into exile.
They will be carried away completely.

20 Look up and see those who are coming from the north.
Where is the flock entrusted to you,
the sheep you were so proud of?

The Future of Jerusalem

21 What will you say when associates whom you yourself have taught are appointed as masters over you? Won’t pain seize you like a woman in labor? 22 If you ask yourself, “Why has this happened to me?” you should know that it is because of your great guilt that your skirt has been torn off, and you have been violated.

23 Can an Ethiopian [4] change the color of his skin?
Can a leopard change its spots?
Just as little can you, who are disciples of evil, do good.

24 I will scatter you like chaff blown by the desert wind.
25 This is your lot.
This is what I have assigned to you,
declares the Lord.
This will take place because you have forgotten me
and trusted in falsehood.
26 I myself will lift your skirt over your head,
so that your shame can be seen—
27 your adulteries, your lust-filled neighing,
and your shameless prostitution.
I have seen your detestable acts on the hills and in the countryside.
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
You are unclean.
After this, will you ever be clean again?

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 13:1 Suggested translations include loincloth, shorts, wrap, and belt. It was probably a skirt-like garment reaching from the waist to the knees.
  2. Jeremiah 13:4 Or the Euphrates. The Hebrew name Perath is often used in the Old Testament as the name for the river Euphrates, which was about 350 miles away. Was Jeremiah told to make the long journey to the Euphrates or to go to a nearby location whose name served as a symbol of the Euphrates? We do not have enough information to answer the question.
  3. Jeremiah 13:18 The Greek and other versions support the reading fall from your heads. The meaning of the reading in the Hebrew text is uncertain.
  4. Jeremiah 13:23 Hebrew Cushite. Cush was the territory just south of Egypt, present-day Sudan. Cushite refers to black Africans.




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 19

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 19

Jeremiah 11 – 12

Through My Bible – March 19

Jeremiah 11 – 12 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

The Broken Covenant

Jeremiah 11

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.

Listen to the terms of this covenant, and announce them to every man in Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. A curse on the man who does not obey the terms of this covenant, the terms I commanded your fathers [1] when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace. I said, “Obey me and do everything that I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God.” Then I will ratify the oath I swore to your fathers, that I would give them a land flowing with milk and honey—as it is today.

I answered, “Amen, Lord.”

The Lord then told me to proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem.

Listen to the terms of this covenant and obey them. From the time when I brought your fathers out of the land of Egypt until today, I have warned them again and again to obey my voice, but they did not obey. They did not pay attention. Each one lived according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart. So I brought all the curses of this covenant on them. I commanded them to obey, but they did not obey.

The Lord also said to me:

A conspiracy has been uncovered among the men of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their fathers, who refused to obey my words. They are following other gods and serving them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken the covenant I made with their fathers.

11 Therefore this is what the Lord says. Watch this. I am going to bring a disaster on them that they will not be able to escape. They will cry out to me, but I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem will cry out to the gods to whom they have been burning offerings, but who cannot do anything to save them in the time of trouble. 13 Judah, you have as many gods as you have towns. You have set up as many altars to burn offerings to Shame—that is, to Baal—as there are streets in Jerusalem.

14 As for you, Jeremiah, do not pray for this people or lift up a cry or a request for them. I will not listen to them when they call to me in their time of distress. 15 She is my beloved, but what right does she have to be in my temple when she has done so many wicked things? Can consecrated meat prevent you from being punished if you rejoice when you do evil?

16 The Lord called you a green olive tree with beautifully formed fruit. But with the roar of a mighty storm he will set it ablaze, and its branches will be broken.

17 The Lord of Armies, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done. They have provoked me to anger by burning incense to Baal.

A Plot Against Jeremiah

18 The Lord revealed their plot to me so I became aware of it. He showed me what they were doing. 19 I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I had not realized that they had plotted against me. They were saying:

“Let us destroy the tree along with its fruit.
Let us cut him off from the land of the living,
so that his name will no longer be remembered.”

20 But, Lord of Armies, you judge righteously.
You test the heart and mind.
Let me see your vengeance on them,
    for I have presented my case to you.

21 Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the men of Anathoth who are seeking your life and saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hands.” 22 This is what the Lord of Armies says. I will certainly punish them. Their young men will die by the sword. Their sons and daughters will die by famine, 23 and none of them will be left. I will bring disaster on the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.

Jeremiah’s Complaint

Jeremiah 12

Lord, you are righteous whenever I bring a case before you.
Nevertheless, I want to speak with you about justice.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do the treacherous live at ease?
You plant them, and they take root.
They grow, and they produce fruit.
You are always on their lips,
but far from their hearts.
But you know me, Lord.
You see me and test the attitude of my heart toward you.
Drag them away like sheep for the slaughter,
and set them apart for the day when they will be put to death.
How long will the land mourn,
and the grass in the whole countryside wither?
Because of the evil of the people who live there,
the animals and birds are dying,
for the people have said,
“He will not see how things turn out for us.” [2]

The Lord’s Reply

If you have raced men on foot
and they have tired you out,
how will you compete against horses?
If you fall in open country,
how will you manage in the thickets along the Jordan?
Your relatives and the members of your father’s
    household have betrayed you.
They have raised a loud outcry against you.
Do not trust them when they speak friendly words to you.
I have abandoned my house.
I have forsaken my heritage.
I have given the one I love dearly into the hands of her enemies.
My heritage has become like a lion in the forest to me.
She roars at me, so I hate her.
For me my heritage has become like a howling hyena,
    surrounded by scavenging birds of prey. [3]
Go and gather all the wild animals.
Bring them to devour her.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard
and trampled down my estate.
They will turn my pleasant estate into a desolate wasteland.
11 They have made it a wasteland.
It mourns. It is desolate before me.
The whole land is laid waste,
because there is no one who cares.
12 Looters are swarming over all the barren heights in the wilderness.
The Lord has a sword that devours from one end of the land
        to the other.
No one will be safe.
13 They plant wheat, but they reap thorns.
They wear themselves out, but they gain nothing.
Be ashamed of your harvests,
because of the burning anger of the Lord.

14 This is what the Lord says. As for my wicked neighbors, who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will certainly uproot them from their homeland, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them. 15 After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them. I will return each of them to his own inheritance and each of them to his own land. 16 If they carefully learn the ways of my people and swear by my name, saying, “As surely as the Lord lives” (just as they once taught my people to swear by Baal), then they will be established among my people. 17 But if they do not listen, I will completely uproot and destroy that nation, declares the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 11:4 Or forefathers or ancestors
  2. Jeremiah 12:4 Literally the Hebrew reads he will not see what our end will be. The Greek reads he cannot see our ways.
  3. Jeremiah 12:9 Or like a speckled bird of prey, surrounded by other scavenging birds. The Hebrew of the verse is difficult.




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 18

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 18

Jeremiah 9:23 – 10:25

Through My Bible – March 18

Jeremiah 9:23 – 10:25 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Jeremiah 9

23 This is what the Lord says.
The wise man should not boast in his wisdom.
The strong man should not boast in his strength,
nor the rich man in his riches.
24 Instead, let those who boast boast about this:
that they have understanding, and that they know me.
They know that I am the Lord,
who shows mercy, justice, and righteousness on earth,
for I delight in these things, declares the Lord.

25 Watch! The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised only in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all who cut their hair short [1] and who live in the wilderness. [2] Actually, these are all uncircumcised nations. And the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in their hearts.

False Gods and the True God

Jeremiah 10

Hear the word that the Lord is speaking to you, house of Israel.

This is what the Lord says.

Do not learn the ways of the nations,
or be frightened by signs in the heavens,
although the nations are frightened by them.
The rituals of the peoples are worthless.
They cut down a tree in the forest.
Then the hands of a craftsman work it with an ax.
They decorate it with silver and gold,
but they have to nail it down with hammers,
    so that it will not tip over.
Their idols are like a scarecrow in a melon [3] patch.
They cannot speak.
They must be carried because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them. They can do no harm,
nor can they do any good.

No one is like you, Lord.
You are great and your name is powerful.
Is there anyone who should not fear you, King of the Nations?
That is what you deserve.
Among all the wise men of the nations
and in all their kingdoms,
there is no one like you.
They are stupid and foolish,
because they are instructed by worthless idols made of wood.
Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish,
and gold is brought from Uphaz.
The handiwork of a goldsmith
and the work of a craftsman,
their idols are dressed in blue and purple.
But they are nothing but the work of skilled craftsmen.

10 But the Lord is the true God.
He is the living God, the eternal King.
The earth quakes at his wrath.
The nations cannot endure his fury.

11 You are to say this to them:
“These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth,
    will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.” [4]

12 But the one who made the earth by his power,
    established the world by his wisdom,
    and stretched out the heavens by his understanding—
13 he thunders, and the waters in the heavens roar.
He makes storm clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings out the wind from his warehouses.

14 But as for mankind, they are all stupid.
Their knowledge has dried up.
Every goldsmith is embarrassed by his idols.
The images he makes are false.
There is no breath in them.
15 They are worthless,
an achievement to be mocked.
At the time of their punishment, they will perish.
16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,
because he is the Maker of all things,
including Israel, the tribe that belongs to him.
The Lord of Armies is his name.

17 Pick up your pack from the ground,
you who live under siege.
18 For this is what the Lord says.
Watch, I am going to throw out those who live in the land at this time.
I am going to bring them distress that they will feel.

Jeremiah’s Lament

19 Woe to me because of my wound!
My injury is severe!
But I said, “Yes, this is my suffering,
and I must bear it.”
20 My tent is destroyed.
All its ropes are broken.
My children are gone, and they are no more.
No one is left to pitch my tent
or to set up my dwelling.
21 The shepherds have become as senseless as animals.
They do not seek the Lord.
That is why they do not prosper
and all their flock is scattered.
22 Listen! I hear noise—
a great commotion from a land in the north.
It will make the cities of Judah desolate.
It will make them a haunt for jackals.

Jeremiah’s Prayer

23 I know, Lord, that a man’s way is not his own,
nor can a man direct his own steps.
24 Correct me, Lord, but with justice,
not in your anger,
or you will reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out your wrath on the nations who do not acknowledge you,
on the peoples who do not call on your name,
for they have devoured Jacob.
They have devoured him completely
and made his homeland desolate.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 9:26 Cutting the hair short was often done in honor of a pagan god and was forbidden in Leviticus 19:27.
  2. Jeremiah 9:26 Or and all who live in the distant corners of the desert
  3. Jeremiah 10:5 Or cucumber
  4. Jeremiah 10:11 This verse is in Aramaic. The word for make (avad) sounds like the word for perish (’avad).




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 17

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 17

Jeremiah 8:4 – 9:22

Through My Bible – March 17

Jeremiah 8:4 – 9:22 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Jeremiah 8

You are to tell them that this is what the Lord says:
Do people fall and not get up again?
If a person turns away, doesn’t he turn back again?
Then why has this people turned away?
Why is Jerusalem always turning away?
They hang on to deception
and refuse to let it go.
I have paid attention and listened,
but they do not say what is right.
No one repents of his wickedness.
No one asks, “What have I done?”
Everyone pursues his own course,
    like a horse charging into battle.
Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons.
The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush [1]
    observe the right time for their migration.
But my people do not recognize
    the just judgments of the Lord.
How can you say, “We are wise,
and the law of the Lord is with us,”
when in reality the lying pen of the scribes
    has changed it into a lie?
Your wise men will be put to shame.
They will be shattered and captured.
Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,
what kind of wisdom do they have?
10 That is why I will give their wives to other men
and their fields to new owners,
because, from the least to the greatest,
all of them are greedy for gain.
From prophet to priest, everyone practices deceit.
11 They dress the wound of the daughter of my people [2]
    as if it were not serious.
“Peace, peace,” they say,
when there is no peace.
12 Are they ashamed when they do such a detestable thing?
No, they have no shame at all.
They do not even know how to blush.
That is why they will fall among the fallen.
They will be brought down when I punish them, says the Lord.

13 I will take away their harvest, [3] declares the Lord.
There will be no grapes on the vine.
There will be no figs on the fig tree,
and the leaves will wither.
What I have given them will be taken away from them.

The People React

14 Why are we just sitting here?
Let’s get together!
Let us go into the fortified cities and die there.
The Lord our God has condemned us to die
    by giving us poisoned water to drink,
    because we have sinned against him.
15 We hoped for peace,
but no good came.
We hoped for a time of healing,
but there is only terror.
16 The snorting of horses is heard from Dan.
At the sound of the neighing of mighty stallions,
    the whole land trembles.
They have come to devour the land and everything in it,
    the city and all who live there.

The Lord Responds

17 Look, I am sending snakes among you,
venomous snakes that cannot be charmed,
and they will bite you, declares the Lord.

Jeremiah Reacts

18 My joy is gone, grief is upon me, [4]
and my heart is sick.
19 I hear the cry of my dear people from a distant land:
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
Is her King not there?”

The Lord Responds

Why have they provoked my anger with their carved images,
with their worthless foreign idols?

The People

20 The harvest is past,
summer has ended,
and we have not been saved.

Jeremiah’s Grief

21 Because my people are crushed, I have been crushed.
I am in mourning, and horror seizes me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead? [5]
Is there no physician there?
Why has the health of my people not been restored?

Jeremiah 9

I wish my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears.
Then I would weep day and night
    for the fallen of my people. [6]
I wish there was a lodging place for travelers
in the wilderness.
Then I would leave my people
and get away from them.
They are all adulterers,
a society of traitors.

The Lord Gives a Warning

They bend their tongues like bows, to deceive.
It is not by faithfulness that they prevail in the land.
They go from evil to evil,
and they do not acknowledge me,
declares the Lord.

Everyone should be on guard against his friend.
Do not trust any brother,
for every brother is really a deceiver,
and every friend spreads slander.
Everyone betrays his friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie.
They wear themselves out with sinning.
You, Jeremiah, live in the midst of deception!
In their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,
declares the Lord.

Therefore this is what the Lord of Armies says.
Watch me. I will refine them and test them.
What else can I do for my dear people?
Their tongues are like deadly arrows.
They speak deceitfully.
With their mouths they speak peacefully to their neighbors,
but in their hearts they set traps.
Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord.
Shall I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?

Jeremiah’s Grief

10 I will cry and sob for the mountains.
I will sing a lament for the pastures in the wilderness.
They are desolate and untraveled,
and not even the lowing of cattle is heard.
From the birds in the sky to all the animals below, everything has fled.
They are all gone.

The Lord’s Threat

11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a jackals’ den,
and I am going to lay waste to the cities of Judah,
so that no one can live there.

Jeremiah’s Question

12 Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord so that he can explain it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one can pass through it?

The Lord’s Answer

13 The Lord said:

This happened because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them. They did not listen to my voice or live according to it. 14 Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts, and they have followed the Baals as their fathers taught them. 15 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says. Watch me. I am going to make this people eat wormwood and drink bitter water. 16 I will scatter them among nations that they and their fathers have not known, and I will pursue them with the sword until I have destroyed them. 17 This is what the Lord of Armies says.

Consider this, and call for the wailing women.

Send for those who are the most skilled.

The People Mourn [7]

18 They should hurry and sob over us.
Our eyes will run with tears.
Our eyelids will stream with water.
19 The sound of sobbing is heard from Zion.
“We are ruined!
We are so ashamed!
We must leave our land
because they have torn down our dwellings.”

20 Listen to the word of the Lord, you women.
Pay attention to the word from his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to sob.
Each of you should teach her neighbor a lament.
21 Death has climbed in through a window
and entered our citadels.
It has taken away the children from the streets
and the young men from the city squares.

22 This is what the Lord says.
Dead bodies will fall
like manure on the ground,
like freshly cut grain after the reaper,
with no one to gather it.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 8:7 The precise identification of these species of birds is uncertain.
  2. Jeremiah 8:11 An affectionate way of addressing Judah as his dear people
  3. Jeremiah 8:13 The translation follows the Greek text. The Hebrew reads I will completely snatch them away.
  4. Jeremiah 8:18 Or My comforter, grief is upon me. The meaning of one Hebrew word in this line is uncertain.
  5. Jeremiah 8:22 A region east of the Jordan, known for plants such as the storax tree, which is useful for medicinal purposes
  6. Jeremiah 9:1 English 9:1 is Hebrew 8:23. The other English verse numbers in chapter 9 are one number higher than the Hebrew verse numbers.
  7. Jeremiah 9:18 In these chapters the warnings of the Lord and the responses of the people are interwoven in such a way that it is sometimes difficult to separate them.




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 16

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 16

Jeremiah 7:1 – 8:3

Through My Bible – March 16

Jeremiah 7:1 – 8:3 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Your False Religion Is Useless

Jeremiah 7

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.

Stand in the gate of the House of the Lord and proclaim this message there.

Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who are coming through this gate to worship the Lord. This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says.

Reform your ways and your actions, and I will establish you in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”

Sincerely reform your ways and your actions. Carry out justice between a man and his neighbor. Do not oppress the alien who lives in your land, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place. Do not follow after other gods to your own harm. If you avoid these things, I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your fathers forever and ever.

Take warning. You are trusting in deceptive words that cannot help you.

Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and swear falsely? Will you offer sacrifices to Baal and follow other gods you do not know? 10 Will you come and stand before me in this temple that bears my Name, and say, “We are safe,” the whole time you do all these detestable things? 11 This house bears my Name! Have you made it a den of robbers? Watch out! I myself have been watching, declares the Lord.

Heed the Warning of Shiloh

12 Go to my place in Shiloh, where I first made a dwelling place for my Name. See what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel.

13 You have done all these things, declares the Lord. Even though I spoke to you again and again, you did not listen. I called you, but you did not answer. 14 Because of this, what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house that bears my Name—the place in which you trust, the place I gave to you and to your fathers. 15 I will drive you out of my sight just as I drove away all of your brothers, the people of Ephraim.

Do Not Pray for This People

16 As for you, Jeremiah, do not pray for this people or lift up a cry or a request for them, and do not plead with me. I will not listen to you. 17 Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18 The children gather wood, the fathers light a fire, and their wives knead dough to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to make me angry. 19 Am I the one they are frustrating? declares the Lord. No, they are frustrating themselves, to their own shame.

20 Therefore this is what the Lord God says. You may be sure that my burning anger will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the land. It will burn and not be put out.

Their Sacrifices Are Useless

21 This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says. Go ahead. Grab your burnt offerings, along with your other sacrifices, and eat the meat yourselves! 22 When I brought your fathers out of Egypt, I said nothing to them about burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 I gave them only this command: “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Walk entirely in the way I commanded you to walk, so that it may go well with you.” 24 But they did not obey me or listen to me. They followed their own advice and the stubbornness of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time your fathers left Egypt until today, I have sent all my servants, the prophets, to them again and again. 26 But they did not obey me or listen to me. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their fathers.

27 So say all these things to them, but they will not listen to you. Call to them, but they will not answer you. 28 Say to them, “This is the nation that did not obey the Lord its God or accept discipline. Faithfulness has perished, and it has disappeared from their lips. 29 Cut off your hair and throw it away. Sing a lament on the barren heights, for the Lord has rejected and forsaken this generation under his wrath.”

30 The people of Judah have committed evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They set up their disgusting idols in the house that bears my Name, and they have defiled it. 31 They built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—a thing I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.

32 That is why the days are coming, declares the Lord, when that place will no longer be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth because there will be no other place left. 33 The corpses of those people will become food for the birds in the sky and the wild animals in the land, and there will be no one to frighten them away. 34 In the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, I will bring the sounds of joy and happiness to an end, as well as the voices of groom and bride, for the land will become desolate.

Jeremiah 8

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 people who live in Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. They will be exposed to the sun, to the moon, and to all the army of the heavens, which they loved and served and followed and consulted and worshipped. They will not be gathered up again. They will not be reburied. They will lie on the ground like manure. Death will be chosen rather than life for [1] the entire remnant left from this evil family, wherever I banish them, declares the Lord of Armies.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 8:3 Or by




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 15

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 15

Jeremiah 5 – 6

Through My Bible – March 15

Jeremiah 5 – 6 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

A Dialogue About Jerusalem’s Sin
The Lord [1]

Jeremiah 5

Hurry here and there through the streets of Jerusalem.
Look and take note.
Search her public squares.
See if you can find just one person who deals justly
and who seeks to be faithful.
If you can, I will forgive her.
Though they say, “As surely as the Lord lives,”
they are still swearing falsely.

The Prophet

Lord, don’t your eyes look for faithfulness?
You struck them,
but they felt no pain.
You crushed them,
but they refused discipline.
They made their faces harder than rock
and refused to repent.
Then I said:
    These are only the poor.
    They are foolish,
    because they do not know the way of the Lord
    and the just verdict of their God.
    I will go to the great men and speak to them.
    Certainly they know the way of the Lord,
    the just verdict of their God.
    But all of them together have broken the yoke
    and have torn off their chains.
    That is why a lion from the forest will strike them.
    A wolf from the desert will attack them,
    and a leopard is watching their cities.
    Everyone who comes out of them will be torn to pieces
    because their rebellions are so many,
    and their unfaithfulness is so great.

The Lord

Why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned me
and sworn by gods that are not gods.
I satisfied their needs,
yet they committed adultery
and crowded into prostitutes’ houses.
They are well-fed, lusty [2] stallions,
each one neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
Should I not punish them for this? declares the Lord.
Should I not avenge myself on a nation like this one?
10 Go through her vineyards and destroy them,
but do not destroy them completely.
Cut away the branches,
because they do not belong to the Lord.
11 The house of Israel and the house of Judah
    have been completely unfaithful to me, declares the Lord.

12 They have lied about the Lord.
They say, “He is nothing.
No disaster will come upon us.
We will not see sword or famine.
13 The prophets are only wind.
The word is not in them,
so let what they say come upon them.” [3]
14 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Armies, says.
Because they have said this,
I will make my words in your mouth a fire.
These people are the wood, and it will burn them up.
15 Now, O house of Israel, I am bringing against you
    a nation from far away, declares the Lord.
I am bringing an enduring nation, an ancient nation.
They are a nation whose language you do not know,
nor can you understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is like an open grave.
They are all strong warriors.
17 They will consume your harvest and your bread.
They will consume your sons and daughters.
They will consume your flocks and herds,
and they will consume your vines and fig trees.
With their swords they will beat down your fortified cities,
the places in which you trust.

18 Yet even in those days, declares the Lord, I will not destroy you completely. 19 When the people ask, “Why has the Lord our God done this to us?” answer them, “Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land that is not your own.”

20 Declare this to the house of Jacob!
Proclaim it in Judah!
21 Hear this, you foolish, senseless people!
You have eyes but you cannot see.
You have ears but you cannot hear.
22 Do you not fear me? declares the Lord.
Do you not tremble before me?
I made sand as the boundary for the sea,
a permanent barrier that it cannot cross.
The waves toss back and forth,
but they cannot get past it.
The towering waves crash,
but they cannot pass over it.
23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart.
They have turned aside and wandered away.
24 They do not say to themselves,
“We should fear the Lord our God,
who sends autumn rains and spring rains at the right time,
who reserves for us enough weeks for the harvest.”
25 But your guilty actions have kept these things at a distance.
Your sins have kept these good things away from you.
26 Wicked men are found among my people.
Like men who trap birds, they lie in wait for my people
    to set traps and catch people. [4]
27 Like a cage full of birds, their houses are full of deceit.
That is how they became powerful and rich.
28 They have become fat and sleek.
They have gone beyond evil words. [5]
They do not argue a case for the fatherless to help them win,
and they do not seek justice for the poor.
29 Should I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord.
Should I not avenge myself on a nation like this one?
30 A terrible thing has taken place.
A horrible thing has happened in the land.
31 Prophets prophesy lies,
priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love this.
But what will you do in the end?

The Siege Is Coming
The Lord [6]

Jeremiah 6

Flee for safety, people of Benjamin!
Get out of Jerusalem!
Blow the ram’s horn in Tekoa. [7]
Raise a signal over Beth Hakkerem!
Disaster and great destruction threaten from the north.
I will silence the beautiful, pampered daughter of Zion. [8]
Shepherds and their flocks will come against her.
They will pitch their tents all around.
Each one will pasture his flock in his own spot.

The Enemy

Consecrate yourselves for war against her.
Rise up, we will attack at noon!

The People of Judah

We are doomed! The day is ending.
The evening shadows are getting longer.

The Enemy

We should get up and attack at night
and destroy its citadels.

The Lord

This is what the Lord of Armies says.
Cut down her trees.
Raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem.
This city must be punished.
There is nothing but oppression inside her.
Just as a well pours out fresh [9] water,
she pours out fresh evil.
Violence and destruction are heard in her.
Sickness and wounds are always before me.
Be warned, Jerusalem,
or I will turn away from you.
I will make your land desolate,
so that no one can live there.

This is what the Lord of Armies says.
They will glean what remains of Israel
    as thoroughly as a vine.
Like someone gathering grapes,
pass your hand over the branches again.
10 Who can I speak to?
Who will listen to my warning? [10]
Look! Their ears are uncircumcised.
They will not be able to hear.
Indeed, to them the word of the Lord is an embarrassment.
They take no pleasure in it.

11 I am full of the Lord’s wrath, [11]
and I cannot hold it in.
Pour it out on the children in the street
and on the young men gathered together.
Both husband and wife will be taken,
the old along with the very old.
12 Their houses will be turned over to others,
together with their fields and their wives,
because I will stretch out my hand against those who live in the land,
declares the Lord.

13 From the least of them to the greatest,
all of them are greedy for gain.
From prophets to priests, they all practice deceit.
14 They have treated the wound of my people as if it were nothing serious.
They say, “Peace, peace,” but there is no peace!
15 Are they ashamed of the detestable things they have done?
No, they are not ashamed at all!
They do not know how to be ashamed.
So they will fall with the fallen.
They will be thrown down when I punish them, says the Lord.

16 This is what the Lord says.
Stand at the crossroads and look.
Ask about the ancient paths.
Ask where the good road is.
Walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, “We will not walk in it.”
17 I set watchmen over you and said,
“Listen to the sound of the ram’s horn!”
But you said, “We will not listen.”

18 Therefore, listen, you nations!
You witnesses, observe what will happen to them.
19 Listen, O earth.
I am bringing disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not listened to my words,
and they have rejected my law.
20 What use to me is incense from Sheba
or sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not appealing to me.
Your sacrifices do not please me.

21 Therefore this is what the Lord says.
Look, I am going to place obstacles in front of this people.
Parents and children alike will stumble over them.
Friends and neighbors will perish.

22 This is what the Lord says.
Look, a nation is coming from a land in the north.
A great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
23 Its warriors grip bows and spears.
They are cruel and merciless.
They sound like the roaring sea.
They ride horses, arranged like soldiers ready for battle
    against you, O daughter of Zion.

The People of Judah

24 We have heard the news about them,
and our hands hang limp.
Anguish grips us like a woman in labor.
25 Do not go out to the field.
Do not walk on the road,
because the enemy has a sword.
There is terror on every side.
26 Put on sackcloth, daughter of my people.
Roll in ashes.
Mourn as you would for an only son,
because suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

The Lord

27 I have made you like someone who tests metals.
My people are the ore that is being tested.
Observe them,
and examine their ways.
28 They are all stubborn rebels,
walking in slander.
They are as hard as bronze and iron,
and all of them are contaminated.
29 The bellows blows hot to melt away the refining agent [12] with fire.
The refining agent is completely used up, but the evil is not removed.
30 They are classified as rejected silver,
because the Lord has rejected them.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 5:1 The Hebrew text does not provide introductory words to mark the frequent changes of speaker. The translation provides headings to help the reader track these changes.
  2. Jeremiah 5:8 The meaning of each of these two adjectives is uncertain.
  3. Jeremiah 5:13 This closing quotation mark may be placed at the end of verse 12.
  4. Jeremiah 5:26 The meanings of two Hebrew words in this verse are uncertain.
  5. Jeremiah 5:28 Or their evil deeds overflow
  6. Jeremiah 6:1 On the basis of the context and the gender of the Hebrew pronouns, the captions identify various speakers: the Lord, the enemy, and the people. In some instances these captions and divisions of the text are debatable.
  7. Jeremiah 6:1 The Hebrew word taka, blow, sounds like the name of the village Tekoa.
  8. Jeremiah 6:2 The meanings of two Hebrew words in this verse are uncertain.
  9. Jeremiah 6:7 Literally cool
  10. Jeremiah 6:10 The translation observes the traditional distinction between who and whom in formal prose but also recognizes the lessening use of this distinction in conversation.
  11. Jeremiah 6:11 The Lord refers to himself in the third person. This is not unusual in Hebrew poetry.
  12. Jeremiah 6:29 Literally lead




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 14

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 14

Jeremiah 3:6 – 4:31

Through My Bible – March 14

Jeremiah 3:6 – 4:31 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Jeremiah 3

Unfaithful Israel, Treacherous Judah

In the days of King Josiah, the Lord asked me:

Have you seen what unfaithful Israel did? She has gone up onto every high hill and under every green tree and acted like a prostitute there. I told myself that after she did all this, she would return to me, but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. Unfaithful Israel committed adultery, so I sent her away. I gave her a certificate of divorce, yet I saw that in spite of this, her treacherous sister Judah had no fear. She also went and acted like a prostitute. Since Israel regarded her sexual sins so lightly, she defiled the land by committing adultery with stones and trees. 10 In spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not turn back to me with all her heart, but only pretended, declares the Lord.

11 Then the Lord said to me:
Unfaithful Israel is more righteous than treacherous Judah.
12 Go, proclaim these words to the north.
Return, unfaithful Israel, declares the Lord.
I will no longer frown on you,
because I am merciful, declares the Lord.
I will not be angry forever.
13 At least acknowledge your guilt.
Admit that you rebelled against the Lord your God.
You have distributed your favors to strangers under every green tree,
and you have not listened to me, declares the Lord.

14 Return, unfaithful people, declares the Lord, because I am your husband. I will take you—one from a city, two from a family—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 In those days, when you have been fruitful and increased in number in the land, declares the Lord, men will no longer say, “The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord.” It will not enter their minds. It will not be remembered. It will not be missed, nor will another one be made. 17 Then they will call Jerusalem “The Throne of the Lord.” All nations will gather there in Jerusalem for the sake of the name of the Lord. No longer will they stubbornly follow their own evil hearts.

18 In those days the house of Judah will join with the house of Israel, and together they will come from a land in the north to the land I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

A Dialogue Between the Lord and Israel About True Repentance
The Lord

19 I myself said that I would like to treat you like sons
and give you a desirable land,
the most splendid inheritance among the entire army of nations.
I thought you would call me Father
and would no longer turn away from me.
20 But you, O house of Israel, have been unfaithful to me,
like a wife who is unfaithful to her husband, declares the Lord.

21 A cry is heard on the bare hills,
the weeping and pleading of the people of Israel,
because they have perverted their way.
They have forgotten the Lord their God.

22 Return, unfaithful people.
I will cure you of your unfaithfulness.

The People

Yes, we will come to you,
for you are the Lord our God!
23 Yes, there has been deception from the hills,
and commotion in the mountains,
but there is salvation for Israel in the Lord our God.
24 Since our younger days,
    shameful gods have consumed the results of our fathers’ hard work,
    their sheep and cattle,
    and their sons and daughters.
25 We will lie down in that shame.
Our disgrace covers us.
We have sinned against the Lord our God,
both we and our fathers.
From our younger days until today,
we have not obeyed the Lord our God.

The Lord

Jeremiah 4

Israel, if you will return, declares the Lord,
return to me.
If you remove your disgusting idols from my sight,
and do not go astray,
and if you swear, “As surely as the Lord lives,”
    in truth, justice, and righteousness,
then the nations will be blessed by him,
and they will take pride in him.

For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:
Break up your unplowed ground
and do not sow among thorns.
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord.
Circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah,
you who live in Jerusalem.
Otherwise my rage will burn like fire,
fire that cannot be put out,
because of the evil that you have done.

The Lord Brings Judgment From the North

Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem.
Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land.
Shout loudly and say, “Gather together!
We must flee into the fortified cities!”
Raise a signal flag to flee to Zion!
Flee for safety!
Do not stay behind!
I am bringing disaster from the north.
I am bringing terrible destruction.
A lion has come out of his den.
A destroyer of nations has set out.
He has come out of his lair to lay waste to the land.
Your cities will lie in ruins with no one living in them.
So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail,
because the burning anger of the Lord has not turned away from us.

When that day comes, declares the Lord,
the heart of the king will fail,
and the hearts of the officials as well.
The priests will be stunned.
The prophets will be dumbfounded.

Jeremiah’s Grief

10 Then I said:
Oh no, Lord God!
You have completely deceived these people
and Jerusalem as well.
You said, “You will have peace,”
but the sword is at our throats!

Further Warning From the Lord

11 At that time it will be said to these people and to Jerusalem: “A hot wind from the bare hills in the wilderness blows toward my dear people, but not to winnow or purify. 12 A wind too strong for that is being sent by me. Now I am passing judgment on them.”

13 Look! He rises up like clouds.
His chariots are like a whirlwind.
His horses are faster than eagles!
“We are doomed! We are ruined!”

14 Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart
    so that you will be saved.
How long will your wicked thoughts live inside you?

15 A voice declares from Dan, [1]
and a report of disaster comes from the hills of Ephraim.
16 Announce this to the nations.
Make Jerusalem hear it.
A besieging army is coming from a distant land,
raising a war cry against the cities of Judah.
17 They have surrounded her like men watching a field,
because she has rebelled against me, declares the Lord.
18 The way you live and the things you did have brought this on you.
This is your punishment.
It is bitter!
It strikes your heart!

Jeremiah’s Grief

19 My agony! My agony! [2]
I am writhing in pain.
Oh my heart!
The walls of my heart are quivering!
I cannot keep silent,
because I hear the sound of the ram’s horn.
It is the signal for war!
20 One disaster after another is announced.
All the land is ruined.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed.
My tent curtains are torn apart in an instant.
21 How long must I see the battle flag
and hear the sound of the ram’s horn?

The Lord’s Grief

22 My people are fools.
They do not know me.
They are ignorant children.
They do not understand.
They are experts at doing evil,
and they do not know how to do good.
23 I looked at the earth.
It was undeveloped and empty. [3]
I looked at the heavens,
but there were no lights.
24 I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking.
All the hills were shaking.
25 I looked and there was no one there.
Every bird in the sky had flown away.
26 I looked and saw that the fertile land was a wilderness.
All the cities were torn down,
because of the Lord and his burning anger.

27 This is what the Lord says.
The land will be laid waste,
but I will not destroy it completely.
28 Because of this, the earth will mourn,
and the sky above will grow dark.
I have spoken. I have made plans.
I will show no pity,
and I will not turn back from this.
29 At the sound of riders and archers,
the people of every city will flee.
They will go off into the brush.
They will climb up into the rocks.
Every city will be abandoned.
There will not be anyone to live in them.

30 You are destroyed!
What are you doing?
Why do you dress in scarlet
and put on gold jewelry?
Why do you put makeup on your eyes?
You are making yourself look beautiful for nothing.
Your lovers reject you.
They seek your life.

31 Listen, I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor,
a cry of pain like that of a woman giving birth to her first child,
the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands and saying,
“Oh no, it is hopeless!
My life is slipping away in the presence of murderers.”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 4:15 Dan was in the far north of Israel, the first place to be reached by an invasion from the north.
  2. Jeremiah 4:19 Literally my guts, my guts
  3. Jeremiah 4:23 As it was on the first day of creation




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 13

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 13

Jeremiah 2:1 – 3:5

Through My Bible – March 13

Jeremiah 2:1 – 3:5 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Israel Has Forsaken the Lord

Jeremiah 2

The word of the Lord came to me.

Go and proclaim this in the hearing of Jerusalem.
This is what the Lord says.
This is what I remember concerning you:
    your faithfulness when you were young,
    and your love when you were pledged in marriage.
I remember how you followed me in the wilderness,
in a land that has never been planted.
Israel was set apart as holy to the Lord,
    the firstfruits of his harvest.
All those who devoured Israel became guilty,
and disaster came upon them, declares the Lord.
Hear the word of the Lord, you house of Jacob.
All you families of the house of Israel,
this is what the Lord says.
What fault did your fathers find in me,
that they departed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols,
and so they became worthless themselves.
They did not say,
“Where is the Lord, who brought us up from the land of Egypt?
Where is the one who led us through the wilderness,
    through a desert wasteland filled with ravines,
    through a land of drought and the shadow of death,
    a land which no one passes through,
    a land where no human being lives?”
I brought you into a fertile land,
to eat its fruit and its good things.
But you defiled my land
and made my inheritance repulsive.
The priests did not ask, “Where is the Lord?”
The experts in the law did not acknowledge me.
Their shepherds rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied by Baal
and went after useless idols.

So I am bringing charges against you again, declares the Lord,
and I am bringing charges against your children’s children.
10 Cross over to the coasts of Cyprus [1] and look.
Send someone to Kedar [2] and observe carefully.
See if there has ever been anything like this.
11 Has a nation ever exchanged its gods
(even though they are not gods at all)?
Yet my people have exchanged their Glory [3]
    for useless idols.
12 Be appalled at this, you heavens.
Be horrified and wither away completely, declares the Lord.
13 For my people have committed two evils:
They have abandoned me, the spring of living water,
and they have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that hold no water!

14 Is Israel a servant, born into slavery?
Why then has Israel been plundered?
15 Young lions have roared at him.
They have growled loudly.
They have made his land desolate.
His towns are burned and deserted.
16 The men of Memphis [4] and Tahpanhes
    have shaved the top of your head. [5]
17 Have you not brought this on yourself
    by deserting the Lord your God
    while he led you on the way?
18 So why are you on the road to Egypt
    to drink the water of the Shihor? [6]
And why are you on the road to Assyria
    to drink the water of the River? [7]
19 It is your own evil that will bring discipline on you.
Your backsliding will judge you.
Know and see how evil and bitter it is for you
    to forsake the Lord your God,
    to have no fear of me,
declares the Lord God of Armies.

20 Long ago I broke your yoke.
I [8] tore off your chains,
but you said, “I will not serve you!”
Instead, on every high hill
and under every green tree
you sprawl out like a prostitute.
21 But I planted you as a very good vine,
healthy and from reliable stock.
How then did you turn against me?
How then did you turn into a wild vine?
22 Even if you scrub yourself with cleanser
and use a lot of strong soap,
the stain of your guilt is before me, declares the Lord.
23 How can you say, “I have not defiled myself.
I have not gone after the Baals”?
Look what you did in the valley!
Think about what you did!
You were a fast female camel
    running wildly all over the place,
24 or a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,
    sniffing the wind in her passion.
Who can control her when she is in heat?
None of the males who pursue her will become tired.
They will find her in her mating time.
25 Stop before your shoes wear out
and your throat becomes dry!
But you say, “It’s hopeless!
I love strange gods, and I must pursue them.”

26 As a thief is shamed when he is caught,
so the house of Israel will be shamed—
the people, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets.
27 They say to wood, “You are my father.”
They say to stone, “You gave birth to me.”
They have turned their backs to me
and not their faces.
But when a time of trouble comes, they say,
“Get up and save us!”
28 Where are the gods you made for yourselves?
Let them rise up,
if they are able to save you in a time of trouble.
After all, Judah, you have as many gods as you have towns.

29 Why do you bring charges against me?
You have all rebelled against me, declares the Lord.
30 I punished your people in vain.
They did not respond to correction.
Your own sword has devoured your prophets,
    like a raging lion.

31 You people of this generation,
consider the word of the Lord.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
or a land of deep darkness?
Why do my people say, “We are free to wander.
We will not come to you anymore”?
32 Does a virgin about to be married forget her jewelry?
Does a bride forget her veil? [9]
But my people have forgotten me for countless days.
33 How practiced you are in the ways that you pursue love!
Even the most evil women could learn from your ways.
34 The lifeblood of poor, innocent people is found on your skirt,
even though you did not catch them breaking in.
In spite of all this, 35 you say, “I am innocent.
He will not be angry with me.”
But I have indeed judged you
because you say, “I have not sinned.”

36 How fickle you are in changing your direction!
You will be disappointed by Egypt,
just as you were by Assyria.
37 So you will leave there with your hands on your head,
because the Lord has rejected the ones you trust.
You will receive no help from them.

Jeremiah 3

If a man divorces his wife
and she leaves him and marries another man,
can he return to her again? [10]
Wouldn’t acting like that completely defile the land?
But you have lived like a prostitute with many lovers.
And now you want to return to me?
declares the Lord.
Look up to the bare hills and see.
Is there any place where you have not engaged in sex? [11]
You sat by the roadsides waiting for lovers,
    like a nomad [12] in the desert.
You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
That is why the showers have been withheld,
and the spring rains have not come.
Yet you have the shameless look of a prostitute.
You refuse to be ashamed.

Did you not just call to me, “My father!
You are my close friend from my youth!”?
You say, “Will he be angry for so long?
Will he keep up his wrath forever?”
Yes, that is what you say,
but you do whatever evil you can.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 2:10 Hebrew Kittim. The term may include other areas in the Mediterranean basin besides Cyprus.
  2. Jeremiah 2:10 An area in Arabia
  3. Jeremiah 2:11 Or their glory. This reading follows the main Hebrew text. An alternate Hebrew reading is my glory.
  4. Jeremiah 2:16 Hebrew Noph. The English names of Egyptian cities are usually based on the Greek forms of their names rather than the Hebrew forms.
  5. Jeremiah 2:16 Or have cracked your skull
  6. Jeremiah 2:18 A branch of the Nile
  7. Jeremiah 2:18 That is, the Euphrates
  8. Jeremiah 2:20 The translation follows the Hebrew reading. The Greek Old Testament reads you.
  9. Jeremiah 2:32 Literally sash
  10. Jeremiah 3:1 Deuteronomy 24:1-4 says that he cannot.
  11. Jeremiah 3:2 The main Hebrew reading uses a blunt sexual term. The reading written in the margin of the Hebrew text substitutes a milder term. The translation above splits the difference.
  12. Jeremiah 3:2 Or an Arab




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 12

Through My Bible Yr 02 – March 12

Through My Bible – March 12

Jeremiah 1: (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Jeremiah 1

1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, who was one of the priests from Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.

The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah, and continued through the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, up to the time of the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

The Call of Jeremiah

The word of the Lord came to me.

Before I formed you in the womb, I knew [1] you,
and before you were born, I set you apart.
I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.

But I said, “Ah, Lord God! I really do not know how to speak! I am only a child!”

The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone to whom I send you and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, because I am with you, and I will rescue you, declares the Lord.”

Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. The Lord said to me:

There! I have now placed my words in your mouth.

10 Look, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms
to uproot and to tear down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.

Jeremiah’s First Visions

11 Again the word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

I answered, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”

12 The Lord said to me, “That is correct. You have observed accurately. And this vision means that I am watching [2] over my word to fulfill it.”

13 The word of the Lord came to me a second time: “What do you see?”

I answered, “I see a boiling pot tipped away from the north.”

14 Then the Lord said to me:

Disaster will boil over from the north on everyone who lives in the land.

15 Listen, I am summoning all the clans from the northern kingdoms, declares the Lord. They will come, and each one will set up his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem. They will come against all the surrounding walls and against all the cities of Judah. 16 I will pronounce my judgments against Judah because of their wickedness. They have abandoned me. They have made burnt offerings to other gods, and they have bowed down to the work of their own hands.

17 Now you, get ready. [3] Rise up and tell them everything I am commanding you. Do not be frightened by them, or I will frighten you in their presence.

18 Look, today I have made you like a fortified city, like an iron pillar, and like bronze walls, to take a stand against the whole land. Stand against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.

19 They will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, because I am with you to rescue you, declares the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 1:5 Or chose
  2. Jeremiah 1:12 The Hebrew word shokēd, watching, sounds like the Hebrew word shakēd, almond tree.
  3. Jeremiah 1:17 Literally gird your loins, that is, hike up your robes




The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – March 11

Through My Bible Yr 2 – March 11

Matthew 18:1-35 (EHV)


Through My Bible – MARCH 11

Matthew 18:1-35 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 18

Who Is the Greatest?

At that time the disciples approached Jesus and asked, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus called a little child, had him stand in the middle of them, and said, “Amen I tell you: Unless you are turned and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives a little child like this one in my name receives me.

“But, if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, [1] it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of temptations to sin. Temptations must come, but woe to that person through whom the temptation comes!

“If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, [2] cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to be thrown into the eternal fire with two hands or two feet. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to be thrown into hell fire with two eyes. 10 See to it that you do not look down on one of these little ones, because I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 11 For the Son of Man came to save what was lost. [3]

The Lost Sheep

12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go looking for the one that wandered away? 13 If he finds it—Amen I tell you—he rejoices more over that one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not wander away. 14 In the same way, your Father in heaven does not want even one of these little ones to perish.

Show Your Brother His Sin

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his sin just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every matter [4] may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ [5] 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And, if he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as an unbeliever or a tax collector. 18 Amen I tell you: Whatever you bind on earth will be [6] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Amen I tell you again: If two of you on earth agree to ask for anything, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven. 20 In fact where two or three have gathered together in my name, there I am among them.”

The Unmerciful Servant

21 Then Peter came up and asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother when he sins against me? As many as seven times?”

22 Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but I tell you as many as seventy-seven times. [7] 23 For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle them, a man who owed him ten thousand talents [8] was brought to him. 25 Because the man was not able to pay the debt, his master ordered that he be sold, along with his wife, children, and all that he owned to repay the debt.

26 “Then the servant fell down on his knees in front of him, saying, ‘Master, be patient with me, and I will pay you everything!’ 27 The master of that servant had pity on him, released him, and forgave him the debt.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii. [9] He grabbed him and began choking him, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’

29 “So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, saying, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!’ 30 But he refused. Instead he went off and threw the man into prison until he could pay back what he owed.

31 “When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were very distressed. They went and reported to their master everything that had taken place.

32 “Then his master called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt when you begged me to. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you?’ 34 His master was angry and handed him over to the jailers until he could pay back everything he owed.

35 “This is what my heavenly Father will also do to you unless each one of you forgives his brother from his heart.”



Footnotes

  1. Matthew 18:6 Or stumble. The Greek skandalizo could mean to stumble into sin or fall from faith.
  2. Matthew 18:8 Or stumble. The Greek skandalizo could mean to stumble into sin or fall from faith.
  3. Matthew 18:11 Some witnesses to the text omit verse 11. See Luke 19:10.
  4. Matthew 18:16 Or word, fact, charge, or statement
  5. Matthew 18:16 Deuteronomy 19:15
  6. Matthew 18:18 Or will have been
  7. Matthew 18:22 Or seventy times seven
  8. Matthew 18:24 Ten thousand talents was an enormous amount equal to sixty million days’ wages. Each talent was worth six thousand denarii. A denarius was one day’s wage.
  9. Matthew 18:28 This was one hundred days’ wages, since one denarius was equal to one day’s wage.


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – March 10

Through My Bible Yr 2 – March 10

Matthew 17:14-27 (EHV)


Through My Bible – MARCH 1

Matthew 17:14-27 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 17

Jesus Heals a Boy With a Demon

14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt in front of him. 15 “Lord,” he said, “have mercy on my son because he has seizures and is suffering terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they were not able to cure him.”

17 Jesus answered, “O unbelieving and perverse generation! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it went out of the boy, and he was cured from that hour.

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why were we unable to drive it out?”

20 He said to them, “Because of your little faith. [1] Amen I tell you: If you have faith like a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. 21 But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” [2]

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection Again

22 While they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. 23 They will kill him, but on the third day he will be raised.” And they were greatly distressed.

A Coin in a Fish’s Mouth

24 When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the temple tax [3] came to Peter and said, “Doesn’t your teacher pay the temple tax?” 25 He said, “Yes.”

When he came into the house, Jesus spoke first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect tolls or a tax? From their own sons or from others?”

26 Peter said to him, “From others.”

Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are exempt. 27 But, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take the first fish that you pull up. When you open its mouth, you will find a silver coin. [4] Take that coin and give it to them for me and for you.”



Footnotes

  1. Matthew 17:20 Some witnesses to the text read your unbelief.
  2. Matthew 17:21 A few witnesses to the text omit verse 21.
  3. Matthew 17:24 The two-drachma tax
  4. Matthew 17:27 stater coin, worth four drachmas


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.



Through My Bible Yr 2 – March 9

Through My Bible Yr 2 – March 9

Matthew 16:21 – 17:13 (EHV)


Through My Bible – MARCH 9

Matthew 16:21 – 17:13 (EHV)

See series: Through My Bible

Matthew 16

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection

21 From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised again.

22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “May you receive mercy, Lord! This will never happen to you.”

23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a snare [1] to me because you are not thinking the things of God, but the things of men.”

Take Up the Cross

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25 In fact whoever wants to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 After all, what will it benefit a person if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul? Or what can a person give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father together with his angels, and then he will repay everyone according to his actions. 28 Amen I tell you: Some who are standing here will certainly not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Matthew 17

The Transfiguration

Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James; and he led them up onto a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured in front of them. His face was shining like the sun. His clothing became as white as the light. Just then, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus.

Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them. Just then, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.”

When the disciples heard this, they fell face down and were terrified. Jesus approached and as he touched them, he said, “Get up, and do not be afraid.” When they opened their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Do not tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

10 His disciples asked him, “Then why do the experts in the law say that Elijah must come first?”

11 Jesus answered them, “Yes, Elijah is coming and will restore all things, [2] 12 but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him. Instead they did to him whatever they desired. In the same way the Son of Man will also suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.



Footnotes

  1. Matthew 16:23 Or stumbling block
  2. Matthew 17:11 Malachi 4:5-6


The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.