Jeremiah 14–17
14:1The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
2“Judah mourns,and her gates languish;her people lament on the ground,and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.3Her nobles send their servants for water;they come to the cisterns;they find no water;they return with their vessels empty;they are ashamed and confoundedand cover their heads.4Because of the ground that is dismayed,since there is no rain on the land,the farmers are ashamed;they cover their heads.5Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawnbecause there is no grass.6The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;they pant for air like jackals;their eyes failbecause there is no vegetation. 7“Though our iniquities testify against us,act, O LORD, for your name’s sake;for our backslidings are many;we have sinned against you.8O you hope of Israel,its savior in time of trouble,why should you be like a stranger in the land,like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?9Why should you be like a man confused,like a mighty warrior who cannot save?Yet you, O LORD, are in the midst of us,and we are called by your name;do not leave us.” 10Thus says the LORD concerning this people:“They have loved to wander thus;they have not restrained their feet;therefore the LORD does not accept them;now he will remember their iniquityand punish their sins.”
11The LORD said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”
13Then I said: “Ah, Lord GOD, behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” 14And the LORD said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. 15Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although I did not send them, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. 16And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.
17“You shall say to them this word:‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,and let them not cease,for the virgin daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,with a very grievous blow.18If I go out into the field,behold, those pierced by the sword!And if I enter the city,behold, the diseases of famine!For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the landand have no knowledge.’” 19Have you utterly rejected Judah?Does your soul loathe Zion?Why have you struck us downso that there is no healing for us?We looked for peace, but no good came;for a time of healing, but behold, terror.20We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD,and the iniquity of our fathers,for we have sinned against you.21Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake;do not dishonor your glorious throne;remember and do not break your covenant with us.22Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain?Or can the heavens give showers?Are you not he, O LORD our God?We set our hope on you,for you do all these things.
15:1Then the LORD said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! 2And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD:
“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,and those who are for the sword, to the sword;those who are for famine, to famine,and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’
3I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.
5“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,or who will grieve for you?Who will turn asideto ask about your welfare?6You have rejected me, declares the LORD;you keep going backward,so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—I am weary of relenting.7I have winnowed them with a winnowing forkin the gates of the land;I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;they did not turn from their ways.8I have made their widows more in numberthan the sand of the seas;I have brought against the mothers of young mena destroyer at noonday;I have made anguish and terrorfall upon them suddenly.9She who bore seven has grown feeble;she has fainted away;her sun went down while it was yet day;she has been shamed and disgraced.And the rest of them I will give to the swordbefore their enemies,declares the LORD.”
10Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. 11The LORD said, “Have I not set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? 12Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze?
13“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as spoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. 14I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”
15O LORD, you know;remember me and visit me,and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.In your forbearance take me not away;know that for your sake I bear reproach.16Your words were found, and I ate them,and your words became to me a joyand the delight of my heart,for I am called by your name,O LORD, God of hosts.17I did not sit in the company of revelers,nor did I rejoice;I sat alone, because your hand was upon me,for you had filled me with indignation.18Why is my pain unceasing,my wound incurable,refusing to be healed?Will you be to me like a deceitful brook,like waters that fail? 19Therefore thus says the LORD:“If you return, I will restore you,and you shall stand before me.If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,you shall be as my mouth.They shall turn to you,but you shall not turn to them.20And I will make you to this peoplea fortified wall of bronze;they will fight against you,but they shall not prevail over you,for I am with youto save you and deliver you,declares the LORD.21I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”
16:1The word of the LORD came to me: 2“You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. 3For thus says the LORD concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land: 4They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.
5“For thus says the LORD: Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament or grieve for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, my steadfast love and mercy, declares the LORD. 6Both great and small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or cut himself or make himself bald for them. 7No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother. 8You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. 9For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.
10“And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?’ 11then you shall say to them: ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the LORD, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, 12and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. 13Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’
14“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.
16“Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. 17For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. 18But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”
19O LORD, my strength and my stronghold,my refuge in the day of trouble,to you shall the nations comefrom the ends of the earth and say:“Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies,worthless things in which there is no profit.20Can man make for himself gods?Such are not gods!”
21“Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the LORD.”
17:1“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars, 2while their children remember their altars and their Asherim, beside every green tree and on the high hills, 3on the mountains in the open country. Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. 4You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”
5Thus says the LORD:“Cursed is the man who trusts in manand makes flesh his strength,whose heart turns away from the LORD.6He is like a shrub in the desert,and shall not see any good come.He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,in an uninhabited salt land. 7“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,whose trust is the LORD.8He is like a tree planted by water,that sends out its roots by the stream,and does not fear when heat comes,for its leaves remain green,and is not anxious in the year of drought,for it does not cease to bear fruit.” 9The heart is deceitful above all things,and desperately sick;who can understand it?10“I the LORD search the heartand test the mind,to give every man according to his ways,according to the fruit of his deeds.” 11Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch,so is he who gets riches but not by justice;in the midst of his days they will leave him,and at his end he will be a fool. 12A glorious throne set on high from the beginningis the place of our sanctuary.13O LORD, the hope of Israel,all who forsake you shall be put to shame;those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth,for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water.
14Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed;save me, and I shall be saved,for you are my praise.15Behold, they say to me,“Where is the word of the LORD?Let it come!”16I have not run away from being your shepherd,nor have I desired the day of sickness.You know what came out of my lips;it was before your face.17Be not a terror to me;you are my refuge in the day of disaster.18Let those be put to shame who persecute me,but let me not be put to shame;let them be dismayed,but let me not be dismayed;bring upon them the day of disaster;destroy them with double destruction!
19Thus said the LORD to me: “Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20and say: ‘Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21Thus says the LORD: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. 22And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. 23Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction.
24“‘But if you listen to me, declares the LORD, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. 26And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the Shephelah, from the hill country, and from the Negeb, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the LORD. 27But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.’”
Mark 16
16:1When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
[Some of the earliest manuscripts do not include 16:9–20.]
9[[Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
12After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
14Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]]
Psalm 21
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
21:1O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices,and in your salvation how greatly he exults!2You have given him his heart’s desireand have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah3For you meet him with rich blessings;you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.4He asked life of you; you gave it to him,length of days forever and ever.5His glory is great through your salvation;splendor and majesty you bestow on him.6For you make him most blessed forever;you make him glad with the joy of your presence.7For the king trusts in the LORD,and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved. 8Your hand will find out all your enemies;your right hand will find out those who hate you.9You will make them as a blazing ovenwhen you appear.The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath,and fire will consume them.10You will destroy their descendants from the earth,and their offspring from among the children of man.11Though they plan evil against you,though they devise mischief, they will not succeed.12For you will put them to flight;you will aim at their faces with your bows. 13Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength!We will sing and praise your power.
Proverbs 14:17–20
17A man of quick temper acts foolishly,and a man of evil devices is hated.18The simple inherit folly,but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.19The evil bow down before the good,the wicked at the gates of the righteous.20The poor is disliked even by his neighbor,but the rich has many friends.
