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The Sword or the Cross? (audio) David Eells 2/23/25 Please be patient with me and I will share something that just may save your physical and eternal life. If you are not willing to believe only what the scriptures say concerning your relationship to this evil world and its God-ordained plan in your life, you don't need to waste your time with this revelation. When Peter used the sword to keep Jesus from going to the cross, He said, “All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword”. Even though the true saints will not agree with much that is about to happen in this world, they will not take “the sword” of man and break their covenant with God as the apostates and their leadership will. God's plan for His people is demonstrated by Jesus. (Joh.12:23) And Jesus answereth them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. (24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit. (25) He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. (Loseing our life is mostly losing our carnal self life to partake of the life of Christ.) (26) If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will the Father honor. As Jesus was a seed sown in the dirt of this earth, so must we be. The wicked of this world are the dirt that puts to death the fleshly husk of the seed so that the inner life may come forth and bear fruit. As a lamb does not struggle with a wolf, the seed does not struggle with the dirt but permits it to fulfill its purpose. (Luk.10:3)...I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. In God's plan wolves devour the flesh of the lambs. He uses the wicked to chasten His children. (2Sam.7:14) I will be his father, and he shall be my son: if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men. (2Cor.4:11) For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (16) Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. (17) For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory. The glory of God will be manifested in those who will “resist not him that is evil” but will “turn the other cheek” and permit the dirt to do its job. No one else can drive the nails, friend. You are unable to do it and other Christians shouldn't do it. It is God's plan to use the harlot and the beast to crucify our old man. (Act.2:23) Him (Jesus), being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay. (4:27) For of a truth in this city against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together, (28) to do whatsoever thy hand and thy council foreordained to come to pass. Through death to self at their hands, the world will see Jesus in us and we will be enabled to fulfill the great commission. (1Pet.4:1) Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; (2) that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. In the days when God's people were ruled over by the Roman beast it was written: (Rom.13:1) Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the [powers] that be are ordained of God. (2) Therefore he that resisteth the power, withstandeth the ordinance of God: and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment. Though Christians are forbidden to take the mark and image of the beast, they are also forbidden to take up arms against secular nations over them. This puts the people of God in a position of weakness like Jesus when He submitted to His cross instead of fighting. (Note: Some falsely say that the U.S. is not typed in the Scriptures. In Revelation, we see that Babylon is the Queen of the world, an end-time world superpower, a very rich nation that trades with the whole world. Both Revelation and Daniel say it is the head of all the nations and was called the “great eagle” in Ezekiel 17. Jeremiah 25 shows that it will bring destruction to the Middle East and then fall in what appears to be a nuclear attack from the nations. Revelation 18 says this will be in one hour of one day. Who, with common sense, would not see that this ancient eagle lives again in our day and has been secretly ruled by a satanic, corrupt, and perverted deep state? Most recently Babylon is being conquered by our modern day Cyrus who ruled in ancient times as Media-Persia. Using Babylon and her king as a type of the U.S. and her President, God warned his people to submit to her as far as secular matters go. (Jer.27:5) I have made the earth, the men and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it unto whom it seemeth right unto me. (6) And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant.... (7) And all the nations shall serve him.... (8) And it shall come to pass, that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. This has happened. (9) But as for you (Christians), hearken ye not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: (10) for they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.... (12) And I spake to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. (13) Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? The modern day apostate leadership has served Babylon turning against the Word of the Lord. And the rebels have been chastened by their “sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence”. (14) And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you. (15) For I have not sent them, saith the Lord, but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that ye may perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you. And these depopulationists have murdered the apostates who trust in man's vaccines rather than the clear Word. Also we will see that true Christians are not to take up arms in the worlds wars. Our kingdom is not of this world as Jesus said. That is not to say that God doesn't have mercy on ignorance. In this way God will cleanse His body of those that refuse to obey and go to their cross. We are now close to the beginning of the first 3 ½ years of the tribulation in Revelation 12 where the dragon/serpent chases the woman Church into their wilderness refuge to be taught of the Man-child. What brings us to our cross? Jesus said, “Love your enemies”, not shoot them, and “turn the other cheek”, not make war on them. God will chasten the Christians who “take the sword”. Our Lord said, “All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword”. I am certainly not excusing the government's actions in any of this but if David Koresh, the leader of the Davidians' stronghold in Waco, Texas, in early 1993 had not broken God's covenant and stored up that arsenal with the intent to use it against the government, he and his followers would still be alive. Bear witness that God did not defend them. God will bring the U.S. against His people and their apostate leaders because they have ignored His covenant. (Hos.8:1) [Set] the trumpet to thy mouth. As an eagle [he cometh] against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law. (2) They shall cry unto me, My God, we Israel know thee. (3) Israel hath cast off that which is good: the enemy shall pursue him. (4) They have set up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. In the days of Jesus, the apostate people of God were in bondage to the Roman beast for their rebellion against the Word. These stiff-necked people of God were in constant revolution against the Romans and paying a great penalty for it. (Mar.15:6) Now at the feast he used to release unto them one prisoner, whom they asked of him. (7) And there was one called Barabbas, [lying] bound with them that had made insurrection (revolution), men who in the insurrection had committed murder. (8) And the multitude went up and began to ask him [to do] as he was wont to do unto them. (9) And Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? (10) For he perceived that for envy the chief priests had delivered him up. (11) But the chief priests stirred up the multitude, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. (Jn.18:40) They cried out therefore again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Notice that Barabbas and many with him were in prison for making a revolution against the Romans. Jesus suffered in the place of this Jewish patriot. In like manner, the true body of Christ will suffer innocently because of “Christian” patriots who will revolt against the beast. In another type, Barabbas was chosen out of all the Jews that were in prison with him to be released. Barabbas means “son of the father”. Because Jesus went to the cross, a remnant of these people who truly are “sons of the Father” will be forgiven and saved. Militant patriots do not understand what the Holy Spirit showed in this text, that killing Romans or Americans is “murder” and that those who steal from them are “robbers”. Remember, God did not defend almost 1000 very religious patriots whom the Romans destroyed. In 66 A.D. when the Jews rebelled against the Romans, they captured this mountain 1000 meters above the Judean wilderness. In a well-supplied, seemingly impregnable fortress, the Jews attempted for seven years to hold out against the Roman beast. In a clear type, all but a remnant of seven committed suicide and brought an end to the worldly state of Israel. “Christian” rebels in our day will, in effect, commit suicide by fighting against the beast and bringing an end to the worldly state of the Church. The Timothy McVeigh's of this world are not patriots in God's kingdom. The real heroes are those who leave worldly governments up to God and choose their cross over rebelling against His Word. Like Jesus, Paul gives us a type of how innocent Christians in our day will be falsely accused as rebels and imprisoned or killed. In Acts 21:38, a chief captain said to him, “Art thou not then the Egyptian, who before these days stirred up to sedition and led out into the wilderness the four thousand men of the Assassins?” Notice once again that an Egyptian, representing the old carnal man, was leading Jews to kill Romans. The “Christians” who are led of the old man today will fight against the beast. God will not tolerate those who call themselves patriots in order to rebel against governments and God's Word. (Rom.13:1) Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God.... (2) Therefore he that resisteth the power, withstandeth the ordinance of God: and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment. Let our Cyrus do his job to take down Babylon while we preach the gospel to all, which is our job. Jesus gave us permission to “flee” like sheep before the wolves, but not to fight in the flesh as wolves. (Mat.10:16) Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (23) But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. Notice that this persecution will spread the Word through the cities of God's people and He will come. Praise His Name! While the carnal people of God were having their revolution against the government, Jesus and the disciples were having a spiritual revolution against their flesh. Jesus said, “Think not that I came to send peace on the earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword (the Word). For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law: and a man's foes [shall be] they of his own household” (Mat.10:34-36). Notice when you get saved they are often on the other side until they get saved. Tertullus, speaking against Paul's spiritual revolution, said, “For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of insurrections (revolutions) among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5). They always call us a sect or cult for obeying the Word. Jesus and Paul's revolution was to use the Word to separate the chosen from the carnal church of his day. Neither of them had anything to do with wrestling with a flesh and blood beast system. That was the harlot's revolution. We are to be patriots of the Lord's kingdom, not the U.S. Like Jesus, “My kingdom is not of this world”. Because they would not obey Jesus, the Jews were led by their deceiving leadership to their own destruction and that of their city in 70 A.D. This was also the cause of its destruction in other times. (Ezr.4:19) And I decreed, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein. (5:12) But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven unto wrath, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house, and carried the people away into Babylon. Every beast kingdom was raised up by God to chasten and bring into bondage and crucifixion His rebellious people and so it is with the Babylon of our day. Our warfare is not with flesh and blood men but with the demon principalities and powers that rule them (Eph.6:12). (Mat.5:38) Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: (39) but I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Jas.4:7)...resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Many will fight to keep from going into captivity but only God determines if one needs this for their maturing. (Rev.13:9) If any man hath an ear, let him hear. (10) If any man [is] for captivity, into captivity he goeth: if any man shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Only God gives authority to the beast to bring His people into bondage or death. M. Cox relates a dream he had concerning these principles. I had a dream so real that every time I think about it, it becomes more vivid just as if I was there. I was sleeping in our small farmhouse with a few other people one night. Sometime in the dead of the night all of a sudden I heard the thunderous boom of these military helicopters and airplanes. Then this helicopter landed right beside our house. All the occupants of our house were rounded up and taken away by the helicopter, probably to prison work farms. I was just standing there amazed, thinking these people never resisted, or tried to run away. And they all acted like I wasn't there. I thought that they had forgotten me. Soon after they left, another helicopter came. They were probably told that they had forgotten one of the occupants. I was naturally scared so I hid under the bed, shaking like a leaf with my legs sticking out. The soldiers didn't have any U.N. symbol but were probably a makeshift multi-national army. A black and a white soldier had yellow torches and machine guns with them. They were looking and thrashing everywhere trying to look for me. The black soldier was looking under the bed I was under. The funny thing was I was right in front of him with my feet sticking out but it appeared he couldn't see me. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I was invisible to the soldiers. They couldn't see me. After a while, the soldiers left frustrated at not being able to find me. I must say that the fear and terror of the situation was unbelievable. A few days later this helicopter came and sprayed this chemical and the surrounding place turned all brown. They probably had been given orders to let no survivors that they couldn't find live. Anyway, even before they sprayed I noticed that the surrounding vegetation looked brownish, maybe from nuclear fallout. Miraculously, with all this happening I was still alive and the dream ended there. Notice that God's people did not resist and only those who needed captivity were taken. We should not put it beyond God's ability to supernaturally hide those who do not need more crucifixion. If He could translate me halfway around the world to preach, He can certainly make us invisible to the enemy. Bob Aicardi also had a dream like this. I found myself cautiously walking the floors of a very large government building, which was occupied by foreign troops, and I knew that as an American I was not supposed to be there. I was noticed by a worker, who set off an intruder alert. Down the corridor, the entrance doors slammed shut and locked. As I walked up to the doors they opened and I passed through to escape. Once outside, perimeter guards were alerted and were all about. I walked through them as invisible and saw another man doing the same thing. I said to him, “Isn't the blood of Jesus wonderful?” We see that not only can God protect those who are mature but He can also give rest to those who need to submit to their cross. (Joh.19:11) Jesus answered him, Thou wouldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above. Like our Lord, we are to receive everything as from God and leave retaliation up to Him. (Rom.12:17) Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. (18) If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. (19) Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath [of God]: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. (20) But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. (21) Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Our old man wants to live by defending self and retaliating, but our obedience to these commands crucifies that carnal nature in us. Satan seeks through well-meaning people to keep us from this cross. (Mat.16:21) From that time began Jesus to show unto his disciples, that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up. (22) And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee. (23) But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men. Notice that Peter, by the spirit of Satan was a stumbling block by trying to dissuade Jesus from going to His cross. Peter later took the sword, to try to enforce his way and again met with rebuke. (24) Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (25) For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. Even when we are at our best, the hidden carnal nature must be crucified. (1Pet.2:20) For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted [for it], ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer [for it], ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. (21) For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps: (22) who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: (23) who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed [himself] to him that judgeth righteously. What could be clearer? We are to follow in Jesus' steps by cooperating with God's process of using the harlot religious system and the beast kingdom to bring us to the cross. We are not to resist them by force. The laws of our kingdom do not permit us to fight in the flesh to escape captivity. (Joh.18:36) Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. In the days leading up to a civil war in the midst of the One World Order, many will stand up against the U.S. as the king of the South. Included among these are some of God's people who will try to impose their vision of the kingdom of God in the U.S. by violent methods, but they will be killed. (Dan.11:14) And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the children of the violent among thy people shall lift themselves up to establish the vision; but they shall fall. God will not permit fleshly methods to have any success so that His people learn to walk in the Spirit. (12:7)...It shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of (self in) the holy people, all these things shall be finished. Notice that our temptation to use our own power must be crucified. (Zec.4:6)...Not by (our) might, nor by (our) power, but by my Spirit, saith Lord of hosts. War is of the world and is motivated by lust, not God. (Jas.4:1) Whence [come] wars and whence [come] fightings among you? [come they] not hence, [even] of your pleasures that war in your members? (2) Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not. Those who join with the world to make war on their enemies are enemies of the cross and of God. (4) Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God. Those who preach peace and safety and refuse to cooperate with God in this process of falling to the earth to die will be cut off. (Amo.9:8) Behold, the eyes of the Lord are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; save that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. (9) For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, like as [grain] is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least kernel fall upon the earth. (10) All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, The evil shall not overtake nor meet us. We are coming to the same tribulation days of sifting as it was with Peter. (Luk.22:31) Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: (32) but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not. Even though Peter initially denied the Lord, he got back up and became a strong leader who gave up his old life. Satan is ordained of the Lord to sift the disciples to get the husk that is his, so that God may have the pure fruit of Christ. Here is a prophecy through Thomas S. Gibson that relates the persecution the U.S. will bring against Christianity to separate the true saints from the tares. Thus says the Lord, repent and listen to the Word of God. Note that there shall be persecutions arising in all places, throughout the U.S. and Canada, and through Europe. These nations shall rise up in persecutions against My people. It shall purge the Church. Those of Mine, that are truly Mine, who walk in power and are committed to Me, they shall stand in this persecution no matter what it brings. But listen to Me, and heed Me. For thus saith the Lord, I am God, and I am allowing this, for it shall purge My Church. For there are many that shall quickly deny Me, shall quickly deny the truth, quickly revert to a world religion, shall quickly deny the power of the Word; they deny the truth of the Word. They shall quickly deny many things, and they shall become politically correct for the day and the age that they live. For they do not want to be in persecutions and they do not want to stand against the world. They love the world, and they are part of the world, and they were never part of Me. But they have a form of Godliness in the Church, and they were in the Church, shining as Christians and looking as Christians in outward appearance, but in their heart they were not of Me. This shall purge the Church and bring to pass what I have said; I will separate the sheep from the goats; that is, My people from the world. God is sovereign in the happenings of history in order to show us what will happen in the latter days, for, “That which hath been is that which shall be”. In the time of the tribulation of Christ's day, Rome had swallowed up the people of God. Through Babylon's type we see that the U.S. would swallow up the people of God before her fall. (Jer.51:34) Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath, like a monster, swallowed me up, he hath filled his maw with my delicacies; he hath cast me out. (35) The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. Because Babylonish U.S. tried to save herself by sacrificing God's lambs on the altar of religious unity and political correctness, God will take vengeance on her. (36) Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry. (37) And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant. ... (41) How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! (42) The sea (of men) is come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. (43) Her cities are become a desolation. by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence Please also listen to the audio series Honor the king? and How Shall We Die? and read Torment to Those Who Fight Back.   The Militant Apostates Rebel God is raising up the beast kingdom of the tribulation to crucify us as their forefathers crucified our Master. At the same time, the beast will purge Christianity of those who refuse to go to their cross of death to self. At first you may think I am wrong about this but if you will bear with me you will be overwhelmed with proof from God's Word. This is God's M.O. Because Christians do not stick to their command of spreading the Great Commission a competition has raised up which is unhealthy for us. When God is fighting against our enemies with His angels we are seen as guiltless and there is no competition between us and the world, which ruins our witness. The devil is being permitted by God to stir up competition so that paranoid, disobedient Christians will fight this government in the flesh and be destroyed. The Lord said to me once that “Spirits of paranoia will stir up Christians to fight against this country. In this way I will cleanse my Church of those that refuse to obey and go to their cross.” Conspiracy addicts are the prime spreaders of this paranoia. But we are to fear nothing but God who “works all things after the counsel of His will.” (Isa.8:11) For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, (12) Say ye not, A conspiracy, concerning all whereof this people shall say, A conspiracy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be in dread [thereof]. (13) The Lord of hosts, him shall ye sanctify; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. You ask, “But David, what about the Deep State Illuminati conspiracy that has taken over our government to bring war and their New World Order?” Fear “him who worketh all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph.1:11). The Deep State Illuminati are nothing without God's permission. They and many others like them are sent by God to deceive those who do not love truth and to judge those who need it. Therefore, we are not to wrestle with flesh and blood but principalities and powers. Physically we are to permit them to cleanse the body.  (2Th.2:9) [even he,] whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, (10) and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (11) And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: (12) that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. “The lowest of men” are raised up to lead the beast to crucify rebellious Christians. We need them. (Pro.16:4) The Lord hath made everything for its own end (Hebrew: His own purpose); Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Some say, “But I know some of these conspiracies are real”. I do, too, but the flesh is stirred up to fight when we think on the conspiracies, rather than the promises and the way of the cross. We are taught to study Truth rather than the evil in conspiracies because Truth has power unto Godliness, which delivers from evil. (Rom.16:19)....I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple unto that which is evil. Those who are taught to recognize counterfeit bills don't study counterfeits because there are too many possibilities. They study the real bills. That way they can recognize all counterfeits. The Word gives us eyes to see all errors. Some waste all their time studying evil governments and have no faith. But what we bind on earth is bound in heaven and He has given us authority over all the power of the enemy. All secular governments are evil just as the one in Jesus' day but He stuck to the business of the Father, taught the Word, and let patriots like Barabbas fight with flesh and blood to their own destruction. I also know that the beast government will persecute and crucify the saints when the time comes. I say along with Jesus, “Not my will, but thine be done”. If we are not willing to give up our carnal life in order to be obedient to the Word, then we will not be counted worthy of a heavenly life. Any who stir up God's people to take the sword will be guilty of their blood when they die by the sword, as the Word says will surely happen. Antichristian militant “Christians” will not stand for their rights being taken away and will fight against their governments. What do you think they will do when world law is imposed and the mark of the beast is inevitable? Civil war. States are seeing their Constitutional authority undermined by the socialistic moves of the past Obama and Biden administrations and the Deep State shadow government. Also, a litany of leftist, global U.N. treaties that were resisted by more conservative administrations are waiting in the wings to give sovereignty to the U.N. beast over families, women, and children, opposing free trade, opposing democracy and Christian freedom, bringing intrusive emissions laws, etc. The last three leftist presidents were just the men to open the flood gates. But God through the saints confession has and will cast down the dominion of Satan. Rev 12:7  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels;  8  and they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9  And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him. 10  And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before our God day and night. 11  And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death. Militia's of conservatives, including many of God's people, have already trained and armed to fight against the U.S. government but look what God can do! Satan, who starts wars is cast down. Presidential voting fraud fiascos revealed the underlying dangerous polarization between conservatives and liberals. Ammunition sales rose significantly as did talk of civil insurrection and state secession. Much of this was by conservatives. Congressmen were openly warning of civil violence. Ammunition and gun sales began to get worse when the Obama and Biden administrations took the country in a sharp left turn. Clearly, the fear of where we are going and the conspiracies are corrupting people's minds and taking away their peace. Whether you agree with their militant thinking or not, all Christians will be blamed for these excesses. The liberal news media, although wounded now, will gladly continue to sway popular opinion against their historic enemy, the conservative Christians. Left-wing harlot “Christianity” will, of course, join in this attack proclaiming to be the true heirs of Christ, while they sleep with the beast in their politically correct tolerance of other faiths. What happened to the Jews in WWII will happen to the Christians and, ultimately, what happened to Germany will happen in the world. The world will become more antichrist and increasingly hate, persecute, kill, and bring God's carnal people into bondage. Oh, because of the recent successes you don't believe this? Read Revelation 12 and 13, which speaks of persecution and leads to the mark of the beast, without which many will be put to death and go to heaven. Ezekiel, as a type of the Man-child, prophesied that the apostate leadership of God's people would be brought into bondage by the “great eagle”, as a type of the U.S. He also saw and warned that part of that leadership would lead part of God's people to rebel against the “great eagle” to their own destruction. (Eze.17:2) Son of man...speak a parable unto the house of Israel; (3)...A great eagle with great wings...came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar: (God's people were likened in Scripture to the tall cedar evergreens of Lebanon because of their properties of eternal life.) (4) he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs thereof (the immature leadership of Christianity), and carried it unto a land of traffic (Babylon); he set it in a city of merchants (Babylon). The top apostate leadership of Christianity, typed by Zedekiah, was taken into bondage in Babylon and his sons were killed and his eyes were put out, and he was put to death. (5) He took also of the seed of the land (God's people), and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters.... God's people will be put “beside many waters”, which are the peoples of the world depicted by the “many waters” that the harlot sits upon in Revelation 17:1,15. Therefore the people of God, righteous or apostate, were taken into bondage and put under the authority of the religious harlot, as it was in Jesus' day. (6) And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature (the harlot cannot overcome to lift herself from the earthly), whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine. The false prophet leadership of the harlot will rule with the ten kings as the little horn among the ten horns in the U.N. beast under the “great eagle”. The Lord confirms this interpretation in the text. (12) Say now to the rebellious house... Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and brought them to him to Babylon. The nations with the “great eagle” at the head will confirm a covenant with this false prophet leadership of God's New Testament people, uniting them with the false religions in the U.N.. (13) And he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land. Notice in these verses that the king and all of the princes of Israel were called “him” meaning they are a corporate False Prophet. This covenant will be hidden from the apostates and their leaders. They will fulfill the type of the Jews in Jesus' day, who didn't realize that they had made a covenant with the beast to crucify the saints. To keep the peace, the Roman beast gave the apostates authority over the saints. History repeats. The strong delusion of the letter of the Word has already convinced the false leadership of Christianity of a fairytale covenant between a man called the antichrist and the letter Jews. Meanwhile, the real covenant will be fulfilled in the spirit under their noses. To them this could not be the covenant because they have not yet been raptured and their antichrist hasn't shown up. This covenant with the beast will make God's apostate people preach an even more impotent gospel because it is a covenant of tolerance for all false religions and all sinners in a vain effort to bring peace to the world. (14) That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. The apostates will be permitted to stand in the world as the base kingdom of the religious harlot. We just saw the word “covenant” mentioned in verses thirteen and fourteen. It was at this point in my revelation that the Spirit said to me, “From the first mention of the word “covenant” in verse thirteen count. How many verses does the word “covenant” cover?” Thirteen is the number in Scripture that stands for apostasy and rebellion. Including verse thirteen, the word “covenant” covers seven verses (13-19). I was impressed that this represents the seven years of the covenant of the beast in the Tribulation. Then I heard, “How many times is the word “covenant” spoken in those verses?” “Covenant” is mentioned six times in these seven verses. Six is the number of man and of the beast. As we saw, the sixth book, sixth chapter, sixth verse and sixth word of the New Testament is “man” (Rom.6:6). It was at this point the Spirit directed me to count, “How many verses before the “covenant” is broken?” In the “midst” of the fourth verse the words “covenant he brake” are spoken. That makes 3 ½ verses or years before the break and 3 ½ verses or years after the break. The covenant is broken “in the midst of the seven” years. (16) As I live, saith the Lord, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he (the apostate leadership) brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. This also is in the “midst of the seven” verses, which is a quote from the Hebrew in Daniel 9:27. “And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one seven: and in the midst of the seven (Hebrew) he (beast) shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease”. Notice in these two verses that the apostate rebel leadership of God's people will break the covenant so the beast will cause the “sacrifice” to cease. At the time when the crowns of authority will be taken from the seven heads and given to the ten horns, the beast will make the mark compulsive. This will be a vain attempt to enforce peace by identifying those who are in covenant with the beast and those who are enemies and/or commit crimes. This will cause both true Christians and militants to be enemies of the state. The U.S. already has created the literal mark and is exporting it to the world. The U.S. will use its persuasion over the beast kingdom to make the mark compulsive in the midst of the Tribulation. Many apostate Christians will take it and become reprobated. What is left of their life of submitting their “bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God” will cease as an “abomination that maketh desolate”. In this same text we see the nature of this rebellion which breaks the covenant of peace. (15) But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape? This covenant is broken when the rebellious people of God, who were told by God to submit to Babylon, as we shall see, instead went to another “great eagle with great wings”, Egypt, for strength to fight with arms against her. (Eze.17:7) There was also another great eagle with great wings and...this vine did bend its roots toward him. Notice that the same terminology is given to describe a second eagle. This is because both of these great eagles represent the U.S. Foolish Christians in the U.S. will go down to Egypt to fight with her when they see their rights being taken away or, for some when they see the mark coming. What does Egypt represent? God's people came out of Egypt and were baptized in the Red Sea where the Egyptians, representing the old man, died. To go back to Egypt spiritually is to trust in the strength of the old man, the arm of the flesh. (Isa.30:1) Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that make a league, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin, (2) that set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt! (3) Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion. Some of God's foolish people with a conservative patriotic faction of this nation will take up arms to fight against it. This pits the “great eagle” against the “great eagle”, or civil war. God asked the question in our seven verse text: “shall he break the covenant, and yet escape” (Eze.17:15)? God's answer to this question is that these rebels will be crushed: (17) Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war.... (18) For he hath despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet hath done all these things; he shall not escape.... (21) And all his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and ye shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it. When Peter used the sword to keep Jesus from going to the cross, He said, “All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Mat.26:52). Even though the true saints will not obey the religious aspects of this peace covenant, they will not take “the sword” of man and break their covenant with God as the apostates and their leadership will. The last of the seven verses says this. (19) Therefore thus saith the Lord: As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, I will even bring it upon his own head. The righteous will keep God's covenant even if it costs them their physical life but the self-willed will rebel. Some religious people say the mark of God trumps the mark of the beast, and that because they believe in once saved always saved. After bringing apostate Israel as a type of the Christians under his dominion in the beginning of what we would call the tribulation, Nebuchadnezzar appointed the Zedekiah administration to rule over them. This is the “he” above who rebelled with a large portion of Israel. Jeremiah, who represented the Man-child, prophesied against these apostate rebels in the parable of the two baskets of figs. (Jer.24:8) And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus saith the Lord, So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt, (9) I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. (10) And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers. On the other, hand those who submitted to the Word of the Lord through the Man-child Jeremiah were the blessed of the Lord. (24:4) And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, (5) Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good. (Notice that this captivity is going to be “for good” to the “good figs” who obey the Word and refuse to rebel.) (6) For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land (Notice Father will bring them to the New Jerusalem and land because Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the former apostate Jerusalem and land.): and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. (7) And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. All we have to do is replace the church in the Ezekiel 17 parable of civil rebellion above with natural Israel and we see another more natural interpretation, which is being attempted now. The U.S., which is at the head of the nations, is pushing Israel hard to give up land and make a covenant with the nations around them. Israel's natural ally in the United States is the apostate Christians and Jews who militantly support her. Since this ultimately will be a political and religious covenant both of these interpretations are coming to pass at the same time. It is certainly true that the beast is forcing both Israel and the Christians to give up their land now. Beastly laws are forcing Christians out of the moral ground that they have held on to issues such as abortion, sexuality, schooling, displays of Christian heritage, etc. In the U.S., this holy ground has been held since the more Christian times of the founding fathers. Eventually Israel and the apostate Christians will rebel against this covenant and turn to the militant arm of flesh represented by the great eagle of Egypt. Then they will both find themselves a burdensome stone that have something in common; the ire of the nations. Perhaps this is God's plan to infuse more Christian influence into Israel so that the elect among them will be saved and come out. Now I would like to share a few revelations that warn of these things.   Survivalism Coming in Evil Times G.W. - 08/22/2012 (David's notes in red) I had a dream where David and I were sitting and talking in what I believe represented the world. As we talked, there was complete and utter chaos going on all around us. It appeared that the whole world was turned upside down and was shaking. Several major catastrophic events had occurred. (Eve saw seven major earthquakes go around the world. The shakings are coming now to prove what is not to be trusted in: governments, nationalism, personal strength, religion, money, people, etc. Heb.12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not when they refused him that warned [them] on earth, much more [shall not] we [escape] who turn away from him that [warneth] from heaven: (If we don't obey God's voice, we will be shaken and judged.) 26 whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more will I make to tremble not the earth only, but also the heaven. 27 And this [word], Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that have been made, that those things which are not shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: 29 for our God is a consuming fire. The people who were around us started to act completely insane. They were worse than animals because animals have some sense of control. These people were consumed by fear of the shaking that they were experiencing. It was almost like everything was falling apart all around and nothing was holding together. (Shakings like natural disasters, failed economy and incomes, loss of food and basic services, no health care, crime, martial law, war, terrorism, no fixes in sight, etc., will cause men's hearts to fail them. Luk.21:25 And there shall be signs in sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the billows; 26 men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. David said, “I told you they would act like this”. As he said this, a hysterical young girl started to try and grab me (persecution from immature Christianity). It was apparent that she had no sense of sanity left. (She acted like a drowning person who would pull someone under to save herself.) (They will fall for the beast promises of a worldly fix, like a covenant with many.) It was apparent to me that the girl possessed no inward thoughts; her whole focus had become grabbing and groping (with the intent to destroy) everything around her. As the unfolding happened, I began to think about relationships I had when people would lose control when the pressure was too much, but it was nothing compared to this. Everywhere I went there was disorder. It was the basic breakdown of every fundamental element of society. I saw people on the floor shaking for excessive drunkenness and cliques forming that were full of evil and worldly behavior. (When domestic dogs lose the moral compass of a master, they revert back to the pack mentality to survive. It's us against them, guns and crime for survivalism.) One of the people looked like an old Popeye (I can't remember in the dream what he was doing). (Popeye was the worldly hero who was endowed with worldly strength to solve every problem.) I could discern before ever knowing the guy that things were not right with him. But I wanted to give people the benefit of the doubt and a chance. In the end, he proved just as corrupt as everyone else. (Those who are strong and righteous in the world's eyes will fail for not having the spiritual answer to their problems.) I thought to myself, I knew I shouldn't have been hanging out with that guy. What was I thinking? I knew he would do this. (Let us not be influenced by their ways of seeking help or solutions.) At the end of the dream, I remember tasting blood in my mouth and it was very painful. I took my hand to wipe my mouth of the blood and when I looked down on my hand, there were little white meat particles on my hand, instead of blood. (A warning to not devour one another, as the strong in the world will do to save themselves. Gal.5:15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.) These coming times are to separate the wheat from the tares. The wheat will not compromise their convictions and will endure the trial trusting in the Lord and holding to His Word. Mat.13:40 As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire; so shall it be in the end of the world. 41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things (not numeric) that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity, 42 and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. 43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears, let him hear. Don't be bribed by your need to break God's Word. He has given all authority to you to receive your needs by His Word. Php.4:19 And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Inflation and the War on the Saints Jerod Thomas - 10/22/2010 (David's notes in red) There was this dollar bill that was about the size of a small computer monitor, like a 17-inch screen. (Strangely enough I have an enlarged hundred dollar bill and I just measured it at 17 inches long.) And, interestingly enough, it had what looked like a screen because I could see images forming out of it. Words were forming out of it. I saw one of the words was “punishment”. I also saw this country (the U.S.) and the face of Benjamin Franklin. (Benjamin's face is on the $100 bill. Will the punishment of the U.S. be that what a dollar would buy would soon cost $100, as the value drops and they print more and more creating inflation?) Then I saw Cain, Abel's brother. Cain's eyes were bloodshot and he looked like a character from a western movie. He had shot his gun. (Cain, who “was of the evil one” [1Jn.3:12], slew the chosen seed, as it will be in these days.) He had a very strong spirit on his face. It was the spirit of murder and then his eyeballs disappeared and I was able to see inside of his eye sockets; it was as if I was staring into the very depths of his soul. It was pure darkness, literally. It was pitch black. Mat 6:22-23 The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness! And then I saw an image of Satan as that darkness. He was in an elevator, as in that “Devil” movie (2010) that just came out in theaters. (The seven-headed, ten-horned body of the dragon in Revelation 12 represents a corporate Cain, the body of all lost mankind inhabited by Satan. These will attempt to devour the woman Church.) It was the most awful, defiling presence I had ever felt from demons. Satan was trying to scare and consume me with that spirit of murder and through my fear I would have given in, but I didn't want to wake up out of my sleep and run because I felt the LORD was with me and I wanted to fight that devil. (Through murder, Satan will attempt to intimidate the saints into obedience to him, which is the spiritual mark of the beast.) My voice was different because I was in the middle of a war and that war was resisting the devil, and I spoke with a very aggressive and raspy voice, and I said to that devil, “God is greater!” Then that devil left. Jas.4:7 ... Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Luk.10:19 Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Praise God Almighty that I was able to experience this and triumph through Him. To Him be the glory and honor, dominion and power now and forevermore, in Jesus' name, Amen. What Is Inflation? A simple commonly used definition of the word inflation is simply “an increase in the price you pay for goods”. In other words, a decline in the purchasing power of your money”. But there is more to inflation than that. There is “Price Inflation” and “Monetary Inflation”. Technically, Price Inflation is when prices get higher or it takes more money to buy the same item. Monetary Inflation is an increase in the money supply which generally results in price inflation. This acts as a “hidden tax” on the consumers in that country. Monetary inflation is commonly referred to as the government “printing money” although the actual process is a bit more complex than just cranking up the printing presses the effects are essentially the same. As the money supply increases, the currency loses its purchasing power and the price of goods and services increases. This process usually takes 18 months to two years, so the government is able to spend the newly minted dollars at the old value before consumers realize that they have been cheated into accepting something that will purchase less than they originally thought it would. Summary: When inflation skyrockets and poverty is everywhere, men become desperate and crimes against humanity become rampant. Governments who are looking for scapegoats and want to cut someone out of their meager benefits will find that the god of this world, who has taken them over, will anoint them with reasons to blame and persecute the Christians. The dragon/beast is coming to make war on the saints. Make sure you have your armor on.

"Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans." - Jeremiah 24:5

Everyone has spent weeks now discussing campus protests over Israel's war in Gaza. The right all the sudden doesn't like free speech. The left all the sudden isn't encouraging protests like they did in 2020. In short, we all know Congress is owned by the Jewish lobby. However, regardless of how you feel about the Israel-Gaza situation, I'd like to posit a new thought to you: Can't Americans find a better way to protest? ***You can check out Ladies Love Politics website to read a transcript/references of this episode at www.ladieslovepolitics.com. Be sure to follow the Ladies Love Politics channel on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Truth Social, Brighteon Social, Threads, and Twitter. Background Music Credit:Music: Hang for Days - Silent Partner https://youtu.be/A41A0XeU2ds REFERENCES: Watch the Movie Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEY1Xgx3zD0 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0155919/

Has there been a paradigm shift in US policy towards Israel since the beginning of the war with Hamas? What is US policy towards Hezbollah in the North? Is the Biden administration out of touch with the reality in the Middle East?Caroline Glick talks with the Center for Security Policy's David Wurmser to discuss all of this and more!

Old Testament: Jeremiah 23–24 Jeremiah 23–24 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 110 Psalm 110 (Listen) Sit at My Right Hand A Psalm of David. 110   The LORD says to my Lord:    “Sit at my right hand,  until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2   The LORD sends forth from Zion    your mighty scepter.    Rule in the midst of your enemies!3   Your people will offer themselves freely    on the day of your power,1    in holy garments;2  from the womb of the morning,    the dew of your youth will be yours.34   The LORD has sworn    and will not change his mind,  “You are a priest forever    after the order of Melchizedek.” 5   The Lord is at your right hand;    he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.6   He will execute judgment among the nations,    filling them with corpses;  he will shatter chiefs4    over the wide earth.7   He will drink from the brook by the way;    therefore he will lift up his head. Footnotes [1] 110:3 Or on the day you lead your forces [2] 110:3 Masoretic Text; some Hebrew manuscripts and Jerome on the holy mountains [3] 110:3 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [4] 110:6 Or the head (ESV) New Testament: Romans 16 Romans 16 (Listen) Personal Greetings 16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant1 of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert2 to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,3 my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,4 and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers5 who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. Final Instructions and Greetings 17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,6 and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.7 Doxology 25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. Footnotes [1] 16:1 Or deaconess [2] 16:5 Greek firstfruit [3] 16:7 Or Junias [4] 16:7 Or messengers [5] 16:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 17 [6] 16:18 Greek their own belly [7] 16:23 Some manuscripts insert verse 24: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (ESV)

Old Testament: Jeremiah 23–24 Jeremiah 23–24 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) New Testament: 1 John 2:18–3:3 1 John 2:18–3:3 (Listen) Warning Concerning Antichrists 18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.1 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us2—eternal life. 26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. Children of God 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. 3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears3 we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Footnotes [1] 2:20 Some manuscripts you know everything [2] 2:25 Some manuscripts you [3] 3:2 Or when it appears (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 110 Psalm 110 (Listen) Sit at My Right Hand A Psalm of David. 110   The LORD says to my Lord:    “Sit at my right hand,  until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2   The LORD sends forth from Zion    your mighty scepter.    Rule in the midst of your enemies!3   Your people will offer themselves freely    on the day of your power,1    in holy garments;2  from the womb of the morning,    the dew of your youth will be yours.34   The LORD has sworn    and will not change his mind,  “You are a priest forever    after the order of Melchizedek.” 5   The Lord is at your right hand;    he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.6   He will execute judgment among the nations,    filling them with corpses;  he will shatter chiefs4    over the wide earth.7   He will drink from the brook by the way;    therefore he will lift up his head. Footnotes [1] 110:3 Or on the day you lead your forces [2] 110:3 Masoretic Text; some Hebrew manuscripts and Jerome on the holy mountains [3] 110:3 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [4] 110:6 Or the head (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 26:28 Proverbs 26:28 (Listen) 28   A lying tongue hates its victims,    and a flattering mouth works ruin. (ESV)

Morning: Jeremiah 23–24 Jeremiah 23–24 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Evening: 2 Timothy 2 2 Timothy 2 (Listen) A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus 2 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men,1 who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for:   If we have died with him, we will also live with him;12   if we endure, we will also reign with him;  if we deny him, he also will deny us;13   if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. A Worker Approved by God 14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God2 not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,3 a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” 20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,4 he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord's servant5 must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. Footnotes [1] 2:2 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women, depending on the context [2] 2:14 Some manuscripts the Lord [3] 2:15 That is, one approved after being tested [4] 2:21 Greek from these things [5] 2:24 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface (ESV)

Jeremiah 23–25 Jeremiah 23–25 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Seventy Years of Captivity 25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. 4 You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.' 7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. 8 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” The Cup of the Lord's Wrath 15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon5 shall drink. 27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.' 28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.' 30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:   “‘The LORD will roar from on high,    and from his holy habitation utter his voice;  he will roar mightily against his fold,    and shout, like those who tread grapes,    against all the inhabitants of the earth.31   The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,    for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;  he is entering into judgment with all flesh,    and the wicked he will put to the sword,      declares the LORD.' 32   “Thus says the LORD of hosts:  Behold, disaster is going forth    from nation to nation,  and a great tempest is stirring    from the farthest parts of the earth! 33 “And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground. 34   “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,    and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,  for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,    and you shall fall like a choice vessel.35   No refuge will remain for the shepherds,    nor escape for the lords of the flock.36   A voice—the cry of the shepherds,    and the wail of the lords of the flock!  For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,37     and the peaceful folds are devastated    because of the fierce anger of the LORD.38   Like a lion he has left his lair,    for their land has become a waste  because of the sword of the oppressor,    and because of his fierce anger.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil [5] 25:26 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon (ESV)

 * Does the Fig Tree Represent Israel? Jesus warned by parable that after His three years of earthly ministry to Israel, that nation would have one more year of mercy to accept their resurrected Messiah, otherwise He would cut off their national covenant. Luke 13:6-9 "He also spoke this parable: 'A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, 'Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?' But he answered and said to him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.'" Jesus came for the three years of His earthly ministry to Israel! As He said in Mat. 15:24, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (That is, Jesus died for the sin of the world, but He was sent by His Father specifically to "the house of Israel!") Thus it was from Israel that Christ sought for the fruit of faith, and found none. And it was Israel He threatened to cut off. So, a year after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, national Israel had utterly rejected its Savior. Thus as a nation, Israel lost its status with God under the Covenant of Circumcision.  * Who was Cut Off in Romans 11? The Apostle Paul explains in Romans 11 (vv. 15, 21-25, 30) that Israel was cut off for unbelief, and yet, that God is able to graft them back in again, and He will, when the fullness of the Gentiles (the Body of Christ) comes in! DeMar says that Romans 11 teaches the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise that salvation would come to the Gentiles, however what he misses is that God's hope was to bring salvation to the Gentiles through national Israel! However, since they rejected their Messiah, God brought salvation to the Gentiles in spite of Israel, for the Gentiles "have now obtained mercy through their [Israel's] disobedience," and "their [Israel's] being cast away is the reconciling of the world!" Gary DeMar agreed that national Israel was cut off from their covenant relationship with God, but then He added that they would never be grafted back in again. However, Paul wrote that we "should not be ignorant," and should realize that though they were cut off, "God is able to graft them in again," for what "has happened to Israel [has happened only] until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in!"  * Does the Bible Represent Israel with a Fig Tree? As heard in Part I, Gary DeMar disagrees with Bob and others who say that the Bible frequently uses a "fig tree" as a symbol of national Israel. But consider this excerpt from Bob Enyart's best-selling manuscript, The Plot:  - "I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstfruits on the fig tree..." Hosea 9:10  - "Thus said the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Like these good figs, so... are [those] carried away captive from Judah...  I will bring them back to this land...  And as the bad figs... are... Jerusalem...'"  Jer. 24:5-8  - [The Lord will make Israel] like rotten figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.  Jer. 29:17  - [A nation] has laid waste My vine, And ruined My fig tree [describing Israel's destruction].  Joel 1:7 Both the vine and the fig tree sprout from the earth, from the soil beneath the land of Israel.  God expected Israel, the people of the promised land, to bear fruit to Him just as both the vine and the fig tree (Song 2:13) bear fruit.  Working with these symbols, God would sometimes bless or curse the fruit of the vine and the fig tree as a sign of His regard for Israel.  God used good fruit or bad fruit in prophecy to represent His intentions toward the Jews.  (Scripture commonly includes figs representing the blessing or cursing, etc., of the land of Israel as in Joel 1:12; 2:18 with 22-23; Num. 13:23; 20:5; Deut. 8:8; 1 Kings 4:25; Jer. 5:17; 8:13; Hosea 2:12; Amos 4:9; Haggai 2:19; Micah 4:4-5 and Zech. 3:10.) [End of Excerpt] (This is part two of our three part discussion! So you'll want to listen also to Gary DeMar & Bob Enyart Pt 1 and Gary DeMar & Bob Enyart Pt 3.) * Thanks to You!: Our annual BEL February telethon is going great thanks to our listeners! Already they have given 53% ($13,325) of the vital telethon goal of $25,000! Today's Resource: If you would like to help keep Bob Enyart Live airing for another year on the most powerful Christian radio station in America, the 50,000-watt AM 670 KLTT, please consider giving to the BEL Telethon either online, or by calling the BEL Cabin at 800-8Enyart (836-9278), or you can subscribe to the BEL Bible Study Albums, Bob's monthly Sermons, or our brand new service, the BEL Televised Classics! The mailman will deliver DVDs to your door of 4, 8, or 16 classic BEL TV shows a month for $24.99, $34.99 or $49.99 (only $3.13 per show)! Just call us or click BEL Televised Classics!

In this continuing study I take a look at the Rapture Doctrine. Is this a Pre-Trib, as taught in most mainstream Churches are do Christians go through the Tribulation Period? I compare Thessalonians to Matthew 24 along with Revelation. I venture into Paul's writings to explore what he has to say, along with what Yahweh says in Ezekiel. I also ask the listeners to grab a pencil and paper as we create charts for comparison as we get deeper into this study. In this Part 49 I continue our study in this Matthew 24 verse 32. I begin with a recap of what we have discovered up to this point in our Rapture study. This morning Yahshua Messiah will be teaching us The Parable of the Fig Tree32           Now learn a parable of the fig tree = Take a likeness, or comparison from the fig tree, which was a tree well known in Judea; and the putting forth of its branches, leaves, and fruit, fell under the observation of everyone.So what did Yahshua Messiah say? Learn! Not maybe! Other words, ‘from the fig tree learns its parable'.when its branch is yet tender = through the influence of the sun, and the motion of the sap, which was bound up, and solid in the winter season: and putteth forth leaves = from the tender branches, which swell, and open, and put forth buds, leaves, and fruit: ye know the summer is nigh = spring being already come: the fig tree putting forth her green figs, is a sign that the winter is past, the spring is come, and summer is at hand; see Son. 2:11.Summer = the seed is planted in the spring (May 14, 1948) harvested in the fall, “Feast of Tabernacles'. Now do you understand, why Yahshua Messiah tells us, “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter” verse 20?The Fig Tree is the Sign of His ComingYahshua Messiah gives us an important sign to look for concerning his coming: the fig tree. The sign of his coming and the end of the age is the fig tree:The Fig Tree Is IsraelThere are two obvious questions concerning this parable: who or what is the fig tree and how long is a generation? The answer to the first question is unmistakably Israel.Hosea 9:10; I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season. Joel 1:6-7; For a nation has come up against My land, strong, and without number; His teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a fierce lion. He has laid waste My vine, And ruined My fig tree; He has stripped it bare and thrown it away; Its branches are made white.  Jeremiah 24:2, 3, 5, 8 One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so bad. Then Yahweh said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad. Thus says Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place for their own good, into the land of the Chaldeans. And as the bad figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad surely thus says Yahweh so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.  Yahshua Messiah continues the connection of Israel with a fig tree during the final stage of His ministry. Keep in mind that Yahshua Messiah had been ministering in Israel for about three years when He gave this parable. Have any questions? Feel free to email me at keitner@netzero.net

Psalms and Wisdom: Song of Solomon 6:4–12 Song of Solomon 6:4–12 (Listen) Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other He 4   You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,    lovely as Jerusalem,    awesome as an army with banners.5   Turn away your eyes from me,    for they overwhelm me—  Your hair is like a flock of goats    leaping down the slopes of Gilead.6   Your teeth are like a flock of ewes    that have come up from the washing;  all of them bear twins;    not one among them has lost its young.7   Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate    behind your veil.8   There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,    and virgins without number.9   My dove, my perfect one, is the only one,    the only one of her mother,    pure to her who bore her.  The young women saw her and called her blessed;    the queens and concubines also, and they praised her. 10   “Who is this who looks down like the dawn,    beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,    awesome as an army with banners?” She 11   I went down to the nut orchard    to look at the blossoms of the valley,  to see whether the vines had budded,    whether the pomegranates were in bloom.12   Before I was aware, my desire set me    among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.1 Footnotes [1] 6:12 Or chariots of Ammi-Nadib (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Judges 8 Judges 8 (Listen) Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna 8 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. 2 And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger1 against him subsided when he said this. 4 And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. 5 So he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 6 And the officials of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” 7 So Gideon said, “Well then, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” 8 And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9 And he said to the men of Penuel, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.” 10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword. 11 And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt secure. 12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic. 13 Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. 14 And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. 15 And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?'” 16 And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. 17 And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. 18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” 19 And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” 20 So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. Gideon's Ephod 22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.” 24 And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25 And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. 26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels2 of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. 27 And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. 28 So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. The Death of Gideon 29 Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. 30 Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring,3 for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. 32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. 34 And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, 35 and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel. Footnotes [1] 8:3 Hebrew their spirit [2] 8:26 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams [3] 8:30 Hebrew who came from his own loins (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 24 Jeremiah 24 (Listen) The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror1 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Hebrews 7 Hebrews 7 (Listen) The Priestly Order of Melchizedek 7 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. 4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers,1 though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. Jesus Compared to Melchizedek 11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him,   “You are a priest forever,    after the order of Melchizedek.” 18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. 20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:   “The Lord has sworn    and will not change his mind,  ‘You are a priest forever.'” 22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. 23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost2 those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. Footnotes [1] 7:5 Or brothers and sisters [2] 7:25 That is, completely; or at all times (ESV)

With family: Judges 11:12–40; Acts 15 Judges 11:12–40 (Listen) 12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” 13 And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” 14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites 15 and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, 16 but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17 Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,' but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. 18 “Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. 19 Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,' 20 but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. 21 And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. 22 And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23 So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? 24 Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. 25 Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? 26 While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? 27 I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” 28 But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him. Jephthah's Tragic Vow 29 Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever1 comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it2 up for a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand. 33 And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. 34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.” 36 And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” 37 So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. 39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year. Footnotes [1] 11:31 Or whoever [2] 11:31 Or him (ESV) Acts 15 (Listen) The Jerusalem Council 15 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.1 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” 12 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, 16   “‘After this I will return,  and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;  I will rebuild its ruins,     and I will restore it,17   that the remnant2 of mankind may seek the Lord,    and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,    says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.' 19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” The Council's Letter to Gentile Believers 22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers3 who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you4 with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” 30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.5 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. Paul and Barnabas Separate 36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Footnotes [1] 15:3 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 22 [2] 15:17 Or rest [3] 15:23 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 32, 33, 36 [4] 15:24 Some manuscripts some persons from us have troubled you [5] 15:33 Some manuscripts insert verse 34: But it seemed good to Silas to remain there (ESV) In private: Jeremiah 24; Mark 10 Jeremiah 24 (Listen) The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror1 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Mark 10 (Listen) Teaching About Divorce 10 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. 2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.' 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,1 8 and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” Let the Children Come to Me 13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. The Rich Young Man 17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is2 to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,3 “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time 32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” The Request of James and John 35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,4 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave5 of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus 46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Footnotes [1] 10:7 Some manuscripts omit and hold fast to his wife [2] 10:24 Some manuscripts add for those who trust in riches [3] 10:26 Some manuscripts to one another [4] 10:43 Greek diakonos [5] 10:44 Or bondservant, or servant (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface) (ESV)

In this episode of Keeping it Israel, Jeff talks to Isaac Karasenti from his home in Haifa Israel. Isaac tells the story about his ancestors getting kicked out of Spain and moving to Israel. He then talks about a tour of Israel in June 2024 that has never been attempted before - and it will be filmed to become our 13th Season of the First Century TV show! You are invited! More details to come on our website!First Century Foundations is a Charity that supports ministries in Jerusalem and many other parts of the country of Israel. Our mission is to turn hearts around the world toward the land, people and God of Israel. LEARN MORE ABOUT US HERE.You can watch this entire episode on OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL! Make sure you subscribe so you can be notified of First Century Foundations' regular uploads!Support the showIf you enjoy our podcast, please consider supporting the show HERE so that our Bible-based message about Israel can continue. God blesses those who bless Israel! We agree with God's Word that He will bless you richly in return!

Jeremiah 23–25 Jeremiah 23–25 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Seventy Years of Captivity 25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. 4 You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.' 7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. 8 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” The Cup of the Lord's Wrath 15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon5 shall drink. 27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.' 28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.' 30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:   “‘The LORD will roar from on high,    and from his holy habitation utter his voice;  he will roar mightily against his fold,    and shout, like those who tread grapes,    against all the inhabitants of the earth.31   The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,    for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;  he is entering into judgment with all flesh,    and the wicked he will put to the sword,      declares the LORD.' 32   “Thus says the LORD of hosts:  Behold, disaster is going forth    from nation to nation,  and a great tempest is stirring    from the farthest parts of the earth! 33 “And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground. 34   “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,    and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,  for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,    and you shall fall like a choice vessel.35   No refuge will remain for the shepherds,    nor escape for the lords of the flock.36   A voice—the cry of the shepherds,    and the wail of the lords of the flock!  For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,37     and the peaceful folds are devastated    because of the fierce anger of the LORD.38   Like a lion he has left his lair,    for their land has become a waste  because of the sword of the oppressor,    and because of his fierce anger.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil [5] 25:26 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon (ESV)

I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. Israel will blossom like the lily (NLT) Hosea 14 : 5

5 Lent First Psalm: Psalm 31 Psalm 31 (Listen) Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 31   In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;    let me never be put to shame;    in your righteousness deliver me!2   Incline your ear to me;    rescue me speedily!  Be a rock of refuge for me,    a strong fortress to save me! 3   For you are my rock and my fortress;    and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me;4   you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,    for you are my refuge.5   Into your hand I commit my spirit;    you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God. 6   I hate1 those who pay regard to worthless idols,    but I trust in the LORD.7   I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,    because you have seen my affliction;    you have known the distress of my soul,8   and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;    you have set my feet in a broad place. 9   Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;    my eye is wasted from grief;    my soul and my body also.10   For my life is spent with sorrow,    and my years with sighing;  my strength fails because of my iniquity,    and my bones waste away. 11   Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,    especially to my neighbors,  and an object of dread to my acquaintances;    those who see me in the street flee from me.12   I have been forgotten like one who is dead;    I have become like a broken vessel.13   For I hear the whispering of many—    terror on every side!—  as they scheme together against me,    as they plot to take my life. 14   But I trust in you, O LORD;    I say, “You are my God.”15   My times are in your hand;    rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!16   Make your face shine on your servant;    save me in your steadfast love!17   O LORD, let me not be put to shame,    for I call upon you;  let the wicked be put to shame;    let them go silently to Sheol.18   Let the lying lips be mute,    which speak insolently against the righteous    in pride and contempt. 19   Oh, how abundant is your goodness,    which you have stored up for those who fear you  and worked for those who take refuge in you,    in the sight of the children of mankind!20   In the cover of your presence you hide them    from the plots of men;  you store them in your shelter    from the strife of tongues. 21   Blessed be the LORD,    for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me    when I was in a besieged city.22   I had said in my alarm,2    “I am cut off from your sight.”  But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy    when I cried to you for help. 23   Love the LORD, all you his saints!    The LORD preserves the faithful    but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.24   Be strong, and let your heart take courage,    all you who wait for the LORD! Footnotes [1] 31:6 Masoretic Text; one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome You hate [2] 31:22 Or in my haste (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalm 35 Psalm 35 (Listen) Great Is the Lord Of David. 35   Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;    fight against those who fight against me!2   Take hold of shield and buckler    and rise for my help!3   Draw the spear and javelin1    against my pursuers!  Say to my soul,    “I am your salvation!” 4   Let them be put to shame and dishonor    who seek after my life!  Let them be turned back and disappointed    who devise evil against me!5   Let them be like chaff before the wind,    with the angel of the LORD driving them away!6   Let their way be dark and slippery,    with the angel of the LORD pursuing them! 7   For without cause they hid their net for me;    without cause they dug a pit for my life.28   Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it!  And let the net that he hid ensnare him;    let him fall into it—to his destruction! 9   Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD,    exulting in his salvation.10   All my bones shall say,    “O LORD, who is like you,  delivering the poor    from him who is too strong for him,    the poor and needy from him who robs him?” 11   Malicious3 witnesses rise up;    they ask me of things that I do not know.12   They repay me evil for good;    my soul is bereft.413   But I, when they were sick—    I wore sackcloth;    I afflicted myself with fasting;  I prayed with head bowed5 on my chest.14     I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;  as one who laments his mother,    I bowed down in mourning. 15   But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;    they gathered together against me;  wretches whom I did not know    tore at me without ceasing;16   like profane mockers at a feast,6    they gnash at me with their teeth. 17   How long, O Lord, will you look on?    Rescue me from their destruction,    my precious life from the lions!18   I will thank you in the great congregation;    in the mighty throng I will praise you. 19   Let not those rejoice over me    who are wrongfully my foes,  and let not those wink the eye    who hate me without cause.20   For they do not speak peace,    but against those who are quiet in the land    they devise words of deceit.21   They open wide their mouths against me;    they say, “Aha, Aha!    Our eyes have seen it!” 22   You have seen, O LORD; be not silent!    O Lord, be not far from me!23   Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication,    for my cause, my God and my Lord!24   Vindicate me, O LORD, my God,    according to your righteousness,    and let them not rejoice over me!25   Let them not say in their hearts,    “Aha, our heart's desire!”  Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.” 26   Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether    who rejoice at my calamity!  Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor    who magnify themselves against me! 27   Let those who delight in my righteousness    shout for joy and be glad    and say evermore,  “Great is the LORD,    who delights in the welfare of his servant!”28   Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness    and of your praise all the day long. Footnotes [1] 35:3 Or and close the way [2] 35:7 The word pit is transposed from the preceding line; Hebrew For without cause they hid the pit of their net for me; without cause they dug for my life [3] 35:11 Or Violent [4] 35:12 Hebrew it is bereavement to my soul [5] 35:13 Or my prayer shall turn back [6] 35:16 The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain (ESV) Old Testament: Jeremiah 24 Jeremiah 24 (Listen) The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror1 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) New Testament: Romans 9:19–33 Romans 9:19–33 (Listen) 19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea,   “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,'    and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.'”26   “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,'    there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.'” 27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel1 be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted,   “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,    we would have been like Sodom    and become like Gomorrah.” Israel's Unbelief 30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness2 did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written,   “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;    and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” Footnotes [1] 9:27 Or children of Israel [2] 9:31 Greek a law of righteousness (ESV) Gospel: John 9:1–17 John 9:1–17 (Listen) Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind 9 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” (ESV)

It's Time to Gather into the Ark It's Time to Gather into the Ark (Part 1) Eve Brast - 06/22/2014 (David's notes in red) Father gave me this dream and also gave a confirmation dream to my son Noah on the same night. I had a dream inside a dream. {Gen.41:32} And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh, it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. In this dream, my son Noah and I were standing in front of a large doorway that looked like a drawbridge for a castle. (Jesus is the doorway into the kingdom of Heaven. {Joh.10:9} I am the door; by me (or through the Word) if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture. {Jer.30:21} And their prince shall be of themselves, and their ruler shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is he that hath had boldness to approach unto me? saith Jehovah. {Joh.6:44} No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him: and I will raise him up in the last day. (We enter into the ark of safety by abiding in Christ.) The drawbridge was the entrance into a huge ark that had several levels and many rooms or cubicles in it. Noah was standing on my right. (In real life, Noah is 17 years old, which is the number of preservation in time of judgment [like Joseph was when his brothers sold him into bondage]). {Mat.24:37} ... As [were] the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. This ark had been prepared by God Himself for many, many years. It looked very old and rugged on the outside. (Because it represents abiding in the ancient Word of God, Jesus.) (The works of man had nothing to do with this ark.) {1Ki.6:7} And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready at the quarry; and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building. {Ecc.1:9} That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. I heard the voice of the Lord behind us say, "I want you and Noah to call all the members of your family and tell them it is time to gather into the ark. For in seven days, I will send such a rain as has never been seen before upon men. The time has come when no man can work". (The arm of the flesh won't save during the tribulation.) {Act.3:25} Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. (After the seven days of the tribulation, a flood will destroy those who persecuted God's people during the trib.) {Gen.7:4} For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth.... (10) And it came to pass after the seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. {Joh.9:4} We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. In this dream, it had not rained in so long that all the people on earth did not even know what rain was anymore. {Hos.5:15} I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me earnestly. {6:3} I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me earnestly. {Jer.5:24} Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; that preserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. So I asked the Lord, "What will be the sign of these things? What sign will You give me? I fear many won't listen to me or believe Your Words. They don't believe in rain anymore". He said, "Tomorrow I will send a rain that they will believe that I sent you and they will believe your words". (Notice the Lord said that He said He would send "a rain" which would cause them to believe the warnings of a coming flood. This first rain will be the outpouring of the Spirit and revival. Those that receive this will believe that the great flood of judgment will come after seven years/days. The Exodus 4 text gives an example of God dealing with His people in this way:) {Exo.4:1-9} Then Moses said, "What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you'. The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, "A staff". Then He said, "Throw it on the ground". So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. But the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand and grasp it by its tail" - so he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand "that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you". The LORD furthermore said to him, "Now put your hand into your bosom". So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. Then He said, "Put your hand into your bosom again". So he put his hand into his bosom again, and when he took it out of his bosom, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. "If they will not believe you or heed the witness of the first sign, they may believe the witness of the last sign. "But if they will not believe even these two signs or heed what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground". (I noticed that the last sign was water poured out on the ground that turned to blood. This is the sign that the unbelieving wicked received in the flood waters of judgment, death.) {8:23} And I will put a division between my people and thy people: by to-morrow shall this sign be. After this, I woke up from the dream inside the dream and found that Noah and I were again standing in front of the drawbridge-like door in front of the ark. I told Noah, "The Lord has commanded us to gather our family members, for the time has come to enter into His ark. (According to type, there were eight saved -- the number of Jesus -- the family of God.) The time has come when no man can work. He is sending a terrible rain upon men, such as has never been seen before". (After the family is gathered into the ark during the trib, the flood will come upon the persecutors of God's people. A lesser flood is about to come upon these people now at the beginning of the trib and a revival will begin.) {Isa.34:8} For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. {9} And the streams of [Edom] shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. If you would like to understand the relationship of the Day of the Lord to the Tribulation, read Hidden Manna for the End Times.) Noah asked me, "How will they believe us? It hasn't rained for thousands of years". (Meaning the sign that would cause them to believe hasn't happened in about 2000 years. This represents the former rain of the Holy Spirit anointing which fell upon those in the upper room at Pentecost.) I said, "Tomorrow God will send a rain so that they will believe our words". (This rain will begin with the anointing of the first-fruits Man-child.) (The timing of this dream is signified by the word "Tomorrow", meaning this dream's fulfillment will start the day before the outpouring and trib, which is when they began to enter the ark for the seven days.) So we went and called all our family members by just calling out to the world because our family members were all over the world. (The called are among all the peoples of the world.) A small handful of people gathered with us in front of the ark, maybe six or seven. (This could represent the seven others of Noah's family or the seven churches in Revelation.) Each one was of a different nationality. The ones I remember and were focused on were three different young people. The first one was a young African woman about 19 years old, the second was a Middle Eastern girl about 10 and then a young Asian boy about five. (Could this be a sequence of revivals from oldest to youngest?) The African girl was dressed in a sheer, light-colored dress, the Middle Eastern girl was dressed in some type of woven loose robe and she had a turban-like headdress. The Asian boy seemed to be wearing light simple clothing, like a tunic. The others were kind of fuzzy in the background. Our family members then said, "You said the Lord would send us a rain as a sign". I replied, "Yes, the Lord told me, 'Tomorrow I will send a rain so they will believe your words'". Immediately after I spoke, it began to rain upon us (it was a small, short rain); after this, we all entered the ark. (The revival will be just enough to bring the first fruits into the ark.) Once we got inside the ark, it was all see-through. We could see through the floor and the ceilings into all the different levels, and we could see through the walls to the outside, too. (Because the ark is spiritual and not physical.) We could see all the people outside who weren't a part of our family. (The Holy Spirit brings discernment of who is in the Kingdom, regardless of what men claim.) They were angry and unbelieving of the message we had announced while calling out to all our family members, to gather into the ark because God made sure that everybody heard the message. (The angry and critical Edomites, though they are fleshly sons of Abraham, will not be of the chosen seed because they have sold their birthright through a root of bitterness, according to Hebrews 12:14-17) But only our family obeyed and gathered to enter into the ark with us. {1Th.5:9} God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. We stood inside the center of the ark watching all the people outside going about their business and murmuring and grumbling. (The murmurers died in the wilderness tribulation and did not enter into the promised land.) They were saying, "What rain? There's no such thing as rain! They're crazy!" {2Th.2:10-12} because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Apparently, only myself and my family had experienced the rain that the Lord had promised. The other people were shaking their heads and waving us off with their arms. {Luk.10:21} I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes. We watched as the people outside the ark pushed old, wooden wheelbarrows around that were full of mud bricks and they were dragging around stubborn mules with ropes that were loaded down with heavy burdens of straw. (Like stubborn mules, they served the old man of Egypt, the flesh, and refused the baptism of his death in the Red Sea.) The people were all skinny and covered with dirt and sweat and wearing mud-stained, sleeveless, tattered tunics or just loin cloths. (They are consumed with the works of the flesh.) Their skin was wrinkled and scorched brown from the sun and lack of rain. (Living under the curse, rather than the Holy Spirit.) They looked all dry and shriveled, like people who were dehydrated. (Not filled with life-giving water.) The earth also was dusty and dry. {Isa.24:6} Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are found guilty: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. During the seven days that we were observing what was going on outside the ark, there was a third group of people who were hazy-looking. It seemed that they alternated between a solid form and a hazy cloudy appearance. (They would fade in and out between faith and double-mindedness.) They would appear clear to me when they had faith and believed our message because they would face the same direction as we were, but then when doubt and unbelief would come, they would turn back toward the door leading back outside and they would fade to a cloudy haze and I couldn't make out the details of their form anymore. (Fading in and out speaks of them being unstable. {Jas.1:6} But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. {7} For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord; {8} a doubleminded man, unstable in all his ways. These people would come into the ark but then start questioning the rain or doubting their beliefs and they would leave the ark (where the flood of judgment will destroy them). Ultimately, some stayed but others left and were unable to come back in. (Heb.6:4) For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, (5) and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, (6) and [then] fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (7) For the land which hath drunk the rain (of the Word) that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receiveth blessing from God: (8) but if it beareth thorns and thistles, it is rejected (Greek: "reprobated") and nigh unto a curse; whose end is to be burned. The young African woman asked me during this time, "Are you sure about this great rain?" And Noah and I both replied, "Yes. Just be patient". And this satisfied her. {Joh.6:39} And this is the will of him that sent me, that of all that which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. (40) For this is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son, and believeth on him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. (44) No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him: and I will raise him up in the last day. Then, suddenly, no one could come in or go out anymore. (The Lord had closed the door and those who were in stayed in and those that were outside could not come back. {1Co.9:24} Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain. {25} And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they [do it] to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. {26} I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air: {27} but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected [reprobated]. This all happened behind us because the door was behind us. This could mean that it has already closed for the first fruits since the door was behind us. I only saw and sensed these things in the Spirit and in visions while observing the things that were going on with the slaves outside the walls of the ark in front of us. Noah and I and our family members never looked back.) {Luk.9:62} But Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Then the sky started to become very dark with rain clouds. Great fear fell on all the slaves outside. They dropped their wheelbarrows and let go of the ropes of their mules and started running around because of the storm clouds that were gathering over their heads. I could hear screams of terror and the cries of the people. Once the clouds reached their darkest point, water poured from the sky in such volume that we had never seen before, so much so that all we could see were sheets of water flowing down the outside walls of the ark. (The water represents the greatest judgment of catastrophes poured out since the flood.) {1Co.15:22} For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (23) But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits; then they that are Christ's, at his coming. (24) Then [cometh] the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power. (25) For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet. (26) The last enemy that shall be abolished is death. I then had an open vision at this point in the dream, of windy, storm-tossed waters with people drowning and few remaining survivors climbing onto rocks, exhausted by the water, with their forearms up, trying to block the pelting water from their faces. They knew they were all going to die. {Act.3:20} And that he may send the Christ who hath been appointed for you, [even] Jesus: (21) whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all (of God's elect). {Isa.34:8} For the Lord hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. {2Pe.3:10} But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (The great and terrible day/year of the Lord.) {Isa.63:4} For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come. (6) And I trod down the peoples in mine anger, and made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. The end. I was awakened out of this dream (in real life) by my son Noah, who came over to our bedroom and laid down in my husband's spot in our king-sized bed that God recently provided for us to replace our old, queen-sized bed, which we in turn handed down to Elijah and Josiah. (This represents promotion for the first-fruits company.) Noah told me, "Mom, it's raining outside and we won't be able to work at the outdoor flea market today. It's supposed to rain until 1:00". (Father had told me in the dream that "the time has come when no man can work".) I was amazed at this real-life confirmation after my dream. The Lord had told me in the dream that He would send a rain tomorrow so my family members would believe His Word. There was only 10% chance of rain today and it was very unexpected. My son Noah rarely ever comes over to wake me up. (A symbol of the confirmation to come of the outpouring that will convince many of the coming judgment on the wicked.) I later told Noah that I had an awesome dream last night and before I could tell it to him, he said, "Wait! I also had an awesome dream last night!" I said, "Okay, you tell me yours first". (This is only the second time Noah has been given a dream from the Lord, so far.)     Noah's Dream 6/22/14 (Eve's notes in green) I dreamed I was small, about my youngest brother Josiah's age. (8 years. This represents Christ in the Man-child [who is small because this is a small number of people].) I was playing in the woods. {Psa.104:16} The trees of Jehovah are filled with moisture , The cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted; I met a little girl with shoulder-length blonde hair. (The Bride.) We grew up together and then were married. (God raised them up to be the first fruits of His inheritance, His first fruits harvest.) Then I went to visit my real dad, Robert (Man-child caught up to the throne) ("Robert" means "bright shining fame") who had a big beautiful mansion by the beach. {Gen.22:17} that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. My dad told me that he and his wife were moving and that I could have the mansion. (The Bride and Man-child will inherit the Father's mansion prepared for them from the foundation of the world.) In the dream, I was very wealthy because I had received a very large inheritance from somewhere. (Through the faith of the Holy Spirit outpouring: {Mar.11:24} Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever [what an inheritance] ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.) So I bought the mansion and we moved into it. (The blood of Christ and His atonement for us, as well as abiding in Him makes us entitled to all His benefits [including the life and ministry of Jesus]. This is our wealthy inheritance.) After this, my wife and I adopted two children. (The born-again Jews and the Gentiles who make up the true Church in these days. Also, the two witnesses of the end-time tribulation who are the spiritual children of the Man-child and Bride companies.) Then the scene changed. I was riding my mountain bike down the street where I currently live on Callender Road and I looked back and knew somehow that my mom and stepdad (Representing those caught up in the mother church and false prophet leadership?) had lost their property because they were financially broke and had no money, and the mobile homes weren't there anymore. Then I told them they could all come to live with me in the mansion, if they paid for the water and electricity. Then they moved in with me. (If the apostates repent and wash their minds with the water of the Word, then they can receive the power of Christ to inherit all His promises. Inheriting the promises comes with a price of death to self.) Then the scene changed and I was back in the mansion. My mom's uncle Mark (meaning "war-like") and an old man (the old man of the flesh who is always at war with our spirit man) were sitting in a room next to the dining room. I turned and looked out the window and saw what seemed to be my stepdad down on all fours with his head buried in the sand. (False shepherds who are not truly anointed to lead God's people and are beastly in their nature and blind because their head is buried in the sand. The false shepherds only have eyes of lust for the seed of Abraham, who are not theirs; they are thieves and robbers, as Jesus said.) Then I turned to the old man who had a lottery ticket in his hand. (Those who walk in the flesh are great at taking chances with their lives and others) He scratched it off in front of me but he didn't win. He then explained to me how he had been trying to win the lottery his whole life, but had been unsuccessful. (By their own works they attempt to win the inheritance, but it is reserved for those who have given up their old life.) (Our old man is always trying to illegally possess and inherit the land but praise God he will not win, if we hold fast our confession that it waiver not.) {Gal.5:16-21} But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would. But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these : fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. End. (I feel this dream confirms the dream that Father gave me above. Our Father will preserve us and cause us to inherit all His blessings [all His promises] for the coming time of tribulation and economic uncertainty.) (Eve received a text we have received many times about the children of Judah and Israel returning to Zion's authority.) {Jer.31} At that time, saith Jehovah, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. (God will restore all of spiritual Israel to spiritual Judah and together they will serve the Lord.) Thus saith Jehovah, The people that were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest. Jehovah appeared of old unto me,'saying , Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again will I build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: again shalt thou be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry. Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy the fruit thereof. For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the hills of Ephraim (they who had rebelled from the house of David and Zion) shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto Jehovah our God. For thus saith Jehovah, Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Jehovah, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall they return hither. They shall come with weeping; and with supplications (repentance) will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born. (The second born son of the Church which has received what the first born Israel rejected.) Hear the word of Jehovah, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off; and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as shepherd doth his flock. For Jehovah hath ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow unto the goodness of Jehovah, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuseth to be comforted for her children, because they are not. (In Matthew, these children were killed when the Dragon leadership sought to devour the Man-child, Jesus, but failed.) Thus saith Jehovah: Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith Jehovah; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope for thy latter end, saith Jehovah; and thy children shall come again to their own border. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art Jehovah my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a darling child? for as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearneth for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith Jehovah. Set thee up waymarks, make thee guide-posts; set thy heart toward the highway, even the way by which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. How long wilt thou go hither and thither, O thou backsliding daughter? for Jehovah hath created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man. (They will gather around the Man-child ministry of Jesus.) Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity: Jehovah bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, O mountain of holiness. And Judah and all the cities thereof shall dwell therein together, the husbandmen, and they that go about with flocks. For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful (repented) soul have I replenished. Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me. Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. (The fallen understanding of men and the Beast.) And it shall come to pass that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant, saith Jehovah. (The chosen among them will bear fruit.) In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge. But everyone shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith Jehovah. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Jehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more. Thus saith Jehovah, who giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirreth up the sea, so that the waves thereof roar; Jehovah of hosts is his name: If these ordinances depart from before me, saith Jehovah, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith Jehovah: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith Jehovah. Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that the city shall be built to Jehovah from the tower of Hananel unto the gate of the corner. And the measuring line shall go out further straight onward unto the hill Gareb, and shall turn about unto Goah. And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto Jehovah; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever. Another text we have received many times emphasizes that it is the chosen who return: {Jer.24:1} Jehovah showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs set before the temple of Jehovah, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. {2} One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. {3} Then said Jehovah unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. {4} And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, {5} Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good. {6} For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. {7} And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. {8} And as the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus saith Jehovah, So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes (the false leadership), and the residue of (apostate) Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt, {9} I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. {10} And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers. The Tribulation Is at the Door It's Time to Gather into the Ark (Part 2) Eve Brast - 06/27/2014 (David's notes in red) This dream is a confirmation to the previous dream called It's Time to Gather into the Ark (Part 1). (The command, "It's time to gather into the ark", Eve, a type of the Bride of the last Adam, received as a type of Noah and his family. Notice the command was given at the beginning of the seven days which represent the 70th week of Daniel, the seven years of tribulation. It will take the seven day/years to get everyone into the ark. {Gen.7:1} And Jehovah said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. {2} Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, the male and his female; and of the beasts that are not clean two, the male and his female: {3} of the birds also of the heavens, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. {4} For yet seven days [Notice that Noah didn't know when the beginning of the seven days was until the beginning and we will not know the day nor the hour until then], and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the ground. [Notice after the seven day/years the flood of wrath came upon the wicked that was far greater than the tribulation.] {5} And Noah did according unto all that Jehovah commanded him.) He also carried over into this dream below the 10-year-old Israeli girl with the turbine headdress that was one of my family members in the ark dream. This connects the two dreams. {Jer.30:1-11} The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Thus speaketh Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For, lo, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will turn again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith Jehovah; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. And these are the words that Jehovah spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith Jehovah: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child: wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail (bearing the fruit of "Christ in you the hope of glory"), and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. (Jacob was Israel and represents the Church in tribulation.) And it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will break his (the Beast) yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds; and strangers shall no more make him their bondman (they will no longer be ruled over by apostate leaders); but they shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king (a reformer ministry is coming, Jesus manifested in the David Man-child ministry), whom I will raise up unto them. Therefore fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith Jehovah; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity (to the beastly world); and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to save thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished. I dreamed that I was standing in the living room of my father's old mobile home where we currently live. (This represents standing in faith in our mobile tabernacle in the wilderness tribulation.) (We will dwell in the temporary mobile temple or tabernacle of this body for seven more days.) {Lev.23:39-44} Howbeit on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruits of the land, ye shall keep the feast of Jehovah seven days: on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. And ye shall take you on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before Jehovah your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto Jehovah seven days in the year: it is a statute for ever throughout your generations; ye shall keep it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths (tabernacles) seven days (the 70th week of Daniel/seven years); all that are home-born in Israel shall dwell in booths; that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt (and into the wilderness tribulation of seven day/years): I am Jehovah your God. And Moses declared unto the children of Israel the set feasts of Jehovah. (On the eighth day they tore down the temporary tabernacle and went to their permanent house or body in Heaven.) I was facing east toward the front room of the mobile home. (This represents having our eyes on the coming of Jesus the Son of God who is the light of the world. Having our eyes continually on His coming in us enables us to come into His likeness so that we can abide in the ark of safety and rest. (The Lord is coming in those who believe the gospel. The epiphaneia comes before the parousia. The first-fruits of which will be the Man-child ministry to lead God's people into the wilderness tribulation. {2Co.3:18} But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.) {Eze.43:1-9} Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east. And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shined with his glory. And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city; and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. And the glory of Jehovah came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. And the Spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of Jehovah filled the house. And I heard one speaking unto me out of the house; and a man stood by me. And he said unto me, Son of man, this is the place of my throne (the sanctified body of Christ and individual believer), and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, and by the dead bodies of their kings in their high places (Denominational idolatry with their perceived founders. They claim Wesley, Moody, Luther, etc.); in their setting of their threshold by my threshold, and their door-post beside my door-post (their religious leaders are not God), and there was but the wall between me and them; and they have defiled my holy name by their abominations which they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger. Now let them put away their whoredom, and the dead bodies of their kings, far from me; and I will dwell in the midst of them forever. The sun (representing the Son) was shining through a light-colored thick woven curtain that was hanging from the north-facing living room window to my left. (The sun shines on this curtain in the temporary dwelling place in which we abide.) Suddenly, I was aware of a rumbling sound. (This sounded like an earthquake, not a tornado.) (Just before the tribulation will come a swarm of earthquakes as a sign of the coming of the Lord in His Man-child ministry of Revelation 12. {Rev.8:5} And the angel taketh the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake. {6} And the seven angels that had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. {7} And the first (trump of tribulation) sounded.. A spiritual worldwide battle against spiritual Jerusalem, as the Dragon sought to devour the Man-child and take the Bride of Jerusalem, will be thwarted. {Isa.29:6} She shall be visited of Jehovah of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire. {7} And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her and her stronghold, and that distress her, shall be as a dream, a vision of the night. {8} And it shall be as when a hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty (the Dragon failed to devour the Man-child and take the Bride): or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion.) But I also looked in the direction toward that window and saw the shadows of the leaves of a very large tree blowing around in the turbulence of great winds. (Earthquake judgment on America.) I thought in the dream, "Nebuchadnezzar's tree!" (This is the tree in Nebuchadnezzar's dream that Daniel gave the interpretation to. [It represented him and his kingdom of Babylon.]) Then the shadows of the leaves of this tree were replaced by the shadow of a large, very tall, tornado pillar that was right outside the window. (The tribulation is at the door!) I went over and pulled the curtain back and everything outside was gray with storm clouds. The tree had disappeared and this thick, very dark, tornado pillar from the north was spinning in its place right outside the window. (Father is sending judgment to Babylon and it will start very soon. This tornado represents the first year of the tribulation.) {Dan.4:10-18} Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, and, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth; and the height thereof was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth. The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was food for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the birds of the heavens dwelt in the branches thereof, and all flesh was fed from it. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven. He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves, and scatter its fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from its branches. Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven: and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. (A time is a year; hence, seven years of madness for the leader of Babylonish America.) The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones; to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the lowest of men. This dream I, king Nebuchadnezzar, have seen; and thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation; but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee. (It went on to say that he ate the grass of the field for the seven times which is the flesh of God's people, for Peter said, "All flesh is as grass".) I then hurried to the east-facing window in the forward-most room of the mobile home. I pulled the string to the evergreen-colored blinds that were on the east window. (This room, in real life, is our study and where I listen to the UBM Bible studies. The desk and computer set under this window and also cause me to face east when sitting at the desk. {2Ti.2:15} Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. {1Th.4:11} and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands, even as we charged you; (We momentarily jump ahead in time to the end of the tribulation.) What is interesting about this window is that my husband, Eddie, boarded over it with a large cork board that he uses to tack up important messages and papers on. (This is as the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem, a type of the Bride, is closed up until the coming of the Messiah after the tribulation.) {Eze.46:1-10} Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days (of man's works); but on the sabbath day (when they enter into rest from their works of flesh) it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate without (i.e. the Messiah shall come when they enter the rest by faith in the promises, as in Hebrews 4:3,10), and shall stand by the post of the gate; and the priests shall prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening (the end of the seven days/years). And the people of the land shall worship at the door of that gate before Jehovah on the sabbaths and on the new moons. And the burnt-offering that the prince shall offer unto Jehovah shall be on the sabbath day six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish; and the meal-offering shall be an ephah for the ram, and the meal-offering for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah. And on the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish: and he shall prepare a meal-offering, an ephah for the bullock, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs according as he is able, and a hin of oil to an ephah. (Could this offering of beastly flesh be the Armageddon war?) And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof. But when the people of the land shall come before Jehovah in the appointed feasts, he that entereth by the way of the north gate to worship shall go forth by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth straight before him. (Those who enter will not leave as they came because of the sacrifice of their flesh.) And the prince, when they go in, shall go in the midst of them; and when they go forth, they shall go forth together. (The Bride and Groom will go to the Marriage Supper, which is in the Groom's home after the seven days of the Marriage Feast or tribulation.) As I pulled the string to the evergreen-colored blinds that were on the east window and saw six more very tall tornado pillars, each a little further in the distance than the one before it. (The seven tornados representing the seven years of tribulation.) They were staggered in a zigzag pattern, so that I could see each one clearly. They were very tall and thin-like pillars and reached up into the heavens as far as I could see. {Mat.24:22} ... And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened.. (For the elect's sake, the ark will lift off but the rest of the world will feel the wrath of God in the year-long Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, which comes after the seven years, "as were the days of Noah". {Isa.34:8} For Jehovah hath a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.) (These tornados represent the other six years in succession of tribulation judgment to follow the first. They will progressively destroy worldwide Babylon.) The desk and computer in the study were transparent in the dream and the cork board was not over the window (The Bride will be able to see into the future, symbolized by the transparency of the physical, to the time of the coming of the Lord.), so I was able to easily go to the window to look out because I could walk right through the desk and computer. {Eze.46:1-10} Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath day it shall be opened, and on the day of the new moon it shall be opened. And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate; (Those who study to show themselves approved will have eyes to see and ears to hear and will clearly see what is coming ahead because they partake of the spiritual food which is the word of God.) (Now, "no man knoweth the day or hour" of the coming of the Lord now.. But when the trib starts at the first tornado we will be able to count the days until Jesus' coming, for they are counted in Noah's days and Daniel's days and they are the same number. This can be clearly seen in our book, Hidden Manna for the End Times.) The sky also was filled with very dark storm clouds. The tornado pillars were tearing up a huge metropolis of tall buildings and skyscrapers that our mobile home was floating above. (This represents living above the curse, abiding in heavenly places in the ark of Christ. Also, the towers and skyscrapers represent worldwide Babylon.) I looked down toward the base of all these skyscrapers and saw all the people running around down on the streets of the metropolis in confusion and fear. (Confusion is the meaning of Babylon. God will once again confound the language of the world in order to destroy their one world Babylonish order. Not understanding one another, there will be world war. "The things that have been are the things that shall be".) {Gen.11:1-9} And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And Jehovah said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do. Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So Jehovah scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city. Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because Jehovah did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did Jehovah scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. After I had looked out both these windows, my family members, who were children living in the mobile home with me, were alerted and aware that something bad was happening outside (the ark). "The 10-year old Israeli girl with the turbine headdress" (from my previous dream, It's Time to Gather into the Ark [Part 1]) who had been standing in the living room with me asked, "What's happening?" I said, "Nothing. It has begun. Just pray. I must go pray and intercede". (I said "nothing" because I didn't want to cast down the child's faith and also to encourage her that we were all perfectly safe.) {Heb.10:19-25} Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having a great priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water, let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised: and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works; not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh. I then went back to the very back room of the mobile home where my son Noah sleeps. (This represents the least who becomes the greatest.) {Eph.3:8} Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, was this grace given, to preach unto the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.... There was nothing in his room except his bed in the middle of the room. (The first fruits have learned to rest and abide in Christ through their own wilderness experience before the tribulation begins.) I saw Noah standing at the head of the bed with a game controller in his hand and he was also facing eastward. (Noah represents the Man-child ministers who will be anointed soon with the latter rain anointing. (To rule in the earth and lead the family into the ark of Jesus, the Word.) They will have control and command, just as Jesus the first Man-child had during his ministry. (And Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc.) He turned and looked at me and grinned. He seemed totally at peace, relaxed and in control. (It seemed to me in the dream that Noah's controller was directing the tornado pillars. Noah's controller is the power of Christ in him as his head.) {Rev.5:9} And they sing a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou was slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood [men] of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, {10} and madest them [to be] unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon earth. Who is learning this "new song" who reigns on the earth? The 144,000 Man-child ministry typed here as Noah in control in the tribulation. {14:1} And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. (The Greek for "name" means "nature, character and authority". "On their foreheads" means in their renewed minds.) {2} And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and the voice which I heard [was] as [the voice] of harpers harping with their harps: {3} and they sing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders: and no man could learn the song save the hundred and forty and four thousand, [even] they that had been purchased out of the earth.) I went and curled up in a loose fetal position on my right side and began to pray and intercede for all those outside. (God's power is made perfect in weakness and the salvation of Christ is all-encompassing and is able to meet all our needs when we become as a little child.) {2Co.12:9} And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. {13:4} for he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth through the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him through the power of God toward you. I had my eyes closed as I was interceding and had a vision of the first tornado (first year of tribulation) as it passed through the living room from north to south. {Jer.4:6} Set up a standard toward Zion: flee for safety, stay not; for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. But, the tornado became transparent as it touched the mobile home and passed through, causing no damage and without even shaking the mobile home. (The ark of safety, abiding in Jesus, the Word, the secret place of the most High, Psalm 91, preserves the faithful even while it was still on the earth.) I was amazed that I could hear its intensity but could feel none of its physical effects. {Psa.46:5} God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her at the dawn of the morning. (Those who abide in Christ will not be shaken.) End. {Pro.11:4} Riches profit not in the day of wrath (nothing physical can save in tribulation); But righteousness delivereth from death. {5} The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way; But the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness. {6} The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them; But the treacherous shall be taken in their own iniquity. {Rom.2:5} but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; {6} who will render to every man according to his works: {7} to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life: {8} but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, [shall be] wrath and indignation, {9} tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek. This morning when I opened my Bible it opened to Hosea and my eyes fell on chapter 12 :1, as I began to read I heard the Spirit say, "This is for your dream". I am including chapter 11 also. {Hos.11} When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt. The more the prophets called them, the more they went from them: they sacrificed unto the Baalim (another Elohim/Jesus), and burned incense to graven images. Yet I taught Ephraim to walk; I took them on my arms; but they knew not that I healed them. I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love; and I was to them as they that lift up the yoke on their jaws; and I laid food before them. They shall not return into the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian shall be their king, because they refused to return to me. And the sword shall fall upon their cities, and shall consume their bars, and devour them, because of their own counsels. And my people are bent on backsliding from me: though they call them to him that is on high, none at all will exalt him. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how'shall I cast thee off, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how'shall I set thee as Zeboiim? my heart is turned within me, my compassions are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee; and I will not come in wrath. They shall walk after Jehovah, who will roar like a lion; for he will roar, and the children shall come trembling from the west. They shall come trembling as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria; and I will make them to dwell in their houses, saith Jehovah. Ephraim compasseth me about with falsehood, and the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the Holy One. {Hos.12} Ephraim (second-born son of Joseph, a type of Jesus) feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he continually multiplieth lies and desolation; and they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt. Jehovah hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he had power with God: yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him at Beth-el, and there he spake with us, even Jehovah, the God of hosts; Jehovah is his memorial name . Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep kindness and justice, and wait for thy God continually. He is a trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress. And Ephraim said, Surely I am become rich, I have found me wealth: in all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that were sin. But I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast. I have also spoken unto the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes (or parables Ezekiel 17:2). Is Gilead iniquity? they are altogether false; in Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field. And Jacob fled into the field of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep . And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. Ephraim hath provoked to anger most bitterly: therefore shall his blood be left upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him. {Eze.17:2} Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel....   SERVICES Ubbs Outreach Friday Night Worship CONTACT Share Your Testimony Request Prayer Technical Support Questions   SUPPORT US We are a non-profit organisation based in United States. Our goal is to empower and equip people to discover more about Christianity and point them to a life of happiness, peace and purpose. Donate

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Old Testament: Jeremiah 23–24 Jeremiah 23–24 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 110 Psalm 110 (Listen) Sit at My Right Hand A Psalm of David. 110   The LORD says to my Lord:    “Sit at my right hand,  until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2   The LORD sends forth from Zion    your mighty scepter.    Rule in the midst of your enemies!3   Your people will offer themselves freely    on the day of your power,1    in holy garments;2  from the womb of the morning,    the dew of your youth will be yours.34   The LORD has sworn    and will not change his mind,  “You are a priest forever    after the order of Melchizedek.” 5   The Lord is at your right hand;    he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.6   He will execute judgment among the nations,    filling them with corpses;  he will shatter chiefs4    over the wide earth.7   He will drink from the brook by the way;    therefore he will lift up his head. Footnotes [1] 110:3 Or on the day you lead your forces [2] 110:3 Masoretic Text; some Hebrew manuscripts and Jerome on the holy mountains [3] 110:3 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [4] 110:6 Or the head (ESV) New Testament: Romans 16 Romans 16 (Listen) Personal Greetings 16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant1 of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert2 to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,3 my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,4 and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers5 who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. Final Instructions and Greetings 17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,6 and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.7 Doxology 25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. Footnotes [1] 16:1 Or deaconess [2] 16:5 Greek firstfruit [3] 16:7 Or Junias [4] 16:7 Or messengers [5] 16:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 17 [6] 16:18 Greek their own belly [7] 16:23 Some manuscripts insert verse 24: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (ESV)

Old Testament: Jeremiah 23–24 Jeremiah 23–24 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) New Testament: 1 John 2:18–3:3 1 John 2:18–3:3 (Listen) Warning Concerning Antichrists 18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.1 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us2—eternal life. 26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. Children of God 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. 3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears3 we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Footnotes [1] 2:20 Some manuscripts you know everything [2] 2:25 Some manuscripts you [3] 3:2 Or when it appears (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 110 Psalm 110 (Listen) Sit at My Right Hand A Psalm of David. 110   The LORD says to my Lord:    “Sit at my right hand,  until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2   The LORD sends forth from Zion    your mighty scepter.    Rule in the midst of your enemies!3   Your people will offer themselves freely    on the day of your power,1    in holy garments;2  from the womb of the morning,    the dew of your youth will be yours.34   The LORD has sworn    and will not change his mind,  “You are a priest forever    after the order of Melchizedek.” 5   The Lord is at your right hand;    he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.6   He will execute judgment among the nations,    filling them with corpses;  he will shatter chiefs4    over the wide earth.7   He will drink from the brook by the way;    therefore he will lift up his head. Footnotes [1] 110:3 Or on the day you lead your forces [2] 110:3 Masoretic Text; some Hebrew manuscripts and Jerome on the holy mountains [3] 110:3 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [4] 110:6 Or the head (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 26:28 Proverbs 26:28 (Listen) 28   A lying tongue hates its victims,    and a flattering mouth works ruin. (ESV)

Morning: Jeremiah 23–24 Jeremiah 23–24 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Evening: 2 Timothy 2 2 Timothy 2 (Listen) A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus 2 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men,1 who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for:   If we have died with him, we will also live with him;12   if we endure, we will also reign with him;  if we deny him, he also will deny us;13   if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. A Worker Approved by God 14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God2 not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,3 a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” 20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,4 he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord's servant5 must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. Footnotes [1] 2:2 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women, depending on the context [2] 2:14 Some manuscripts the Lord [3] 2:15 That is, one approved after being tested [4] 2:21 Greek from these things [5] 2:24 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface (ESV)

Jeremiah 23–25 Jeremiah 23–25 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Seventy Years of Captivity 25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. 4 You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.' 7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. 8 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” The Cup of the Lord's Wrath 15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon5 shall drink. 27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.' 28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.' 30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:   “‘The LORD will roar from on high,    and from his holy habitation utter his voice;  he will roar mightily against his fold,    and shout, like those who tread grapes,    against all the inhabitants of the earth.31   The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,    for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;  he is entering into judgment with all flesh,    and the wicked he will put to the sword,      declares the LORD.' 32   “Thus says the LORD of hosts:  Behold, disaster is going forth    from nation to nation,  and a great tempest is stirring    from the farthest parts of the earth! 33 “And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground. 34   “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,    and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,  for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,    and you shall fall like a choice vessel.35   No refuge will remain for the shepherds,    nor escape for the lords of the flock.36   A voice—the cry of the shepherds,    and the wail of the lords of the flock!  For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,37     and the peaceful folds are devastated    because of the fierce anger of the LORD.38   Like a lion he has left his lair,    for their land has become a waste  because of the sword of the oppressor,    and because of his fierce anger.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil [5] 25:26 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Song of Solomon 6:4–12 Song of Solomon 6:4–12 (Listen) Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other He 4   You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,    lovely as Jerusalem,    awesome as an army with banners.5   Turn away your eyes from me,    for they overwhelm me—  Your hair is like a flock of goats    leaping down the slopes of Gilead.6   Your teeth are like a flock of ewes    that have come up from the washing;  all of them bear twins;    not one among them has lost its young.7   Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate    behind your veil.8   There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,    and virgins without number.9   My dove, my perfect one, is the only one,    the only one of her mother,    pure to her who bore her.  The young women saw her and called her blessed;    the queens and concubines also, and they praised her. 10   “Who is this who looks down like the dawn,    beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,    awesome as an army with banners?” She 11   I went down to the nut orchard    to look at the blossoms of the valley,  to see whether the vines had budded,    whether the pomegranates were in bloom.12   Before I was aware, my desire set me    among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.1 Footnotes [1] 6:12 Or chariots of Ammi-Nadib (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Judges 8 Judges 8 (Listen) Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna 8 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. 2 And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger1 against him subsided when he said this. 4 And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. 5 So he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 6 And the officials of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” 7 So Gideon said, “Well then, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” 8 And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9 And he said to the men of Penuel, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.” 10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword. 11 And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt secure. 12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic. 13 Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. 14 And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. 15 And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?'” 16 And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. 17 And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. 18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” 19 And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” 20 So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. Gideon's Ephod 22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.” 24 And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25 And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. 26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels2 of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. 27 And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. 28 So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. The Death of Gideon 29 Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. 30 Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring,3 for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. 32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. 34 And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, 35 and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel. Footnotes [1] 8:3 Hebrew their spirit [2] 8:26 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams [3] 8:30 Hebrew who came from his own loins (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 24 Jeremiah 24 (Listen) The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror1 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Hebrews 7 Hebrews 7 (Listen) The Priestly Order of Melchizedek 7 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. 4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers,1 though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. Jesus Compared to Melchizedek 11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him,   “You are a priest forever,    after the order of Melchizedek.” 18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. 20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:   “The Lord has sworn    and will not change his mind,  ‘You are a priest forever.'” 22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. 23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost2 those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. Footnotes [1] 7:5 Or brothers and sisters [2] 7:25 That is, completely; or at all times (ESV)

With family: Judges 11:12–40; Acts 15 Judges 11:12–40 (Listen) 12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” 13 And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” 14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites 15 and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, 16 but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17 Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,' but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. 18 “Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. 19 Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,' 20 but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. 21 And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. 22 And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23 So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? 24 Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. 25 Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? 26 While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? 27 I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” 28 But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him. Jephthah's Tragic Vow 29 Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever1 comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it2 up for a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand. 33 And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. 34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.” 36 And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” 37 So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. 39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year. Footnotes [1] 11:31 Or whoever [2] 11:31 Or him (ESV) Acts 15 (Listen) The Jerusalem Council 15 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.1 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” 12 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, 16   “‘After this I will return,  and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;  I will rebuild its ruins,     and I will restore it,17   that the remnant2 of mankind may seek the Lord,    and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,    says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.' 19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” The Council's Letter to Gentile Believers 22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers3 who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you4 with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” 30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.5 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. Paul and Barnabas Separate 36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Footnotes [1] 15:3 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 22 [2] 15:17 Or rest [3] 15:23 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 32, 33, 36 [4] 15:24 Some manuscripts some persons from us have troubled you [5] 15:33 Some manuscripts insert verse 34: But it seemed good to Silas to remain there (ESV) In private: Jeremiah 24; Mark 10 Jeremiah 24 (Listen) The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror1 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Mark 10 (Listen) Teaching About Divorce 10 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. 2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.' 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,1 8 and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” Let the Children Come to Me 13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. The Rich Young Man 17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is2 to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,3 “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time 32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” The Request of James and John 35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,4 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave5 of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus 46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Footnotes [1] 10:7 Some manuscripts omit and hold fast to his wife [2] 10:24 Some manuscripts add for those who trust in riches [3] 10:26 Some manuscripts to one another [4] 10:43 Greek diakonos [5] 10:44 Or bondservant, or servant (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface) (ESV)

Jeremiah 23–25 Jeremiah 23–25 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Seventy Years of Captivity 25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. 4 You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.' 7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. 8 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” The Cup of the Lord's Wrath 15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon5 shall drink. 27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.' 28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.' 30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:   “‘The LORD will roar from on high,    and from his holy habitation utter his voice;  he will roar mightily against his fold,    and shout, like those who tread grapes,    against all the inhabitants of the earth.31   The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,    for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;  he is entering into judgment with all flesh,    and the wicked he will put to the sword,      declares the LORD.' 32   “Thus says the LORD of hosts:  Behold, disaster is going forth    from nation to nation,  and a great tempest is stirring    from the farthest parts of the earth! 33 “And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground. 34   “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,    and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,  for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,    and you shall fall like a choice vessel.35   No refuge will remain for the shepherds,    nor escape for the lords of the flock.36   A voice—the cry of the shepherds,    and the wail of the lords of the flock!  For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,37     and the peaceful folds are devastated    because of the fierce anger of the LORD.38   Like a lion he has left his lair,    for their land has become a waste  because of the sword of the oppressor,    and because of his fierce anger.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil [5] 25:26 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon (ESV)

Old Testament: Jeremiah 23–24 Jeremiah 23–24 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) New Testament: 1 John 2:18–3:3 1 John 2:18–3:3 (Listen) Warning Concerning Antichrists 18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.1 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us2—eternal life. 26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. Children of God 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. 3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears3 we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Footnotes [1] 2:20 Some manuscripts you know everything [2] 2:25 Some manuscripts you [3] 3:2 Or when it appears (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 110 Psalm 110 (Listen) Sit at My Right Hand A Psalm of David. 110   The LORD says to my Lord:    “Sit at my right hand,  until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2   The LORD sends forth from Zion    your mighty scepter.    Rule in the midst of your enemies!3   Your people will offer themselves freely    on the day of your power,1    in holy garments;2  from the womb of the morning,    the dew of your youth will be yours.34   The LORD has sworn    and will not change his mind,  “You are a priest forever    after the order of Melchizedek.” 5   The Lord is at your right hand;    he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.6   He will execute judgment among the nations,    filling them with corpses;  he will shatter chiefs4    over the wide earth.7   He will drink from the brook by the way;    therefore he will lift up his head. Footnotes [1] 110:3 Or on the day you lead your forces [2] 110:3 Masoretic Text; some Hebrew manuscripts and Jerome on the holy mountains [3] 110:3 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [4] 110:6 Or the head (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 26:28 Proverbs 26:28 (Listen) 28   A lying tongue hates its victims,    and a flattering mouth works ruin. (ESV)

Old Testament: Jeremiah 23–24 Jeremiah 23–24 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 110 Psalm 110 (Listen) Sit at My Right Hand A Psalm of David. 110   The LORD says to my Lord:    “Sit at my right hand,  until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2   The LORD sends forth from Zion    your mighty scepter.    Rule in the midst of your enemies!3   Your people will offer themselves freely    on the day of your power,1    in holy garments;2  from the womb of the morning,    the dew of your youth will be yours.34   The LORD has sworn    and will not change his mind,  “You are a priest forever    after the order of Melchizedek.” 5   The Lord is at your right hand;    he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.6   He will execute judgment among the nations,    filling them with corpses;  he will shatter chiefs4    over the wide earth.7   He will drink from the brook by the way;    therefore he will lift up his head. Footnotes [1] 110:3 Or on the day you lead your forces [2] 110:3 Masoretic Text; some Hebrew manuscripts and Jerome on the holy mountains [3] 110:3 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [4] 110:6 Or the head (ESV) New Testament: Romans 16 Romans 16 (Listen) Personal Greetings 16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant1 of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert2 to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,3 my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,4 and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers5 who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. Final Instructions and Greetings 17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,6 and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.7 Doxology 25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. Footnotes [1] 16:1 Or deaconess [2] 16:5 Greek firstfruit [3] 16:7 Or Junias [4] 16:7 Or messengers [5] 16:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 17 [6] 16:18 Greek their own belly [7] 16:23 Some manuscripts insert verse 24: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (ESV)

Morning: Jeremiah 23–24 Jeremiah 23–24 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Evening: 2 Timothy 2 2 Timothy 2 (Listen) A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus 2 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men,1 who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for:   If we have died with him, we will also live with him;12   if we endure, we will also reign with him;  if we deny him, he also will deny us;13   if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. A Worker Approved by God 14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God2 not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,3 a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” 20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,4 he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord's servant5 must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. Footnotes [1] 2:2 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women, depending on the context [2] 2:14 Some manuscripts the Lord [3] 2:15 That is, one approved after being tested [4] 2:21 Greek from these things [5] 2:24 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Song of Solomon 6:4–12 Song of Solomon 6:4–12 (Listen) Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other He 4   You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,    lovely as Jerusalem,    awesome as an army with banners.5   Turn away your eyes from me,    for they overwhelm me—  Your hair is like a flock of goats    leaping down the slopes of Gilead.6   Your teeth are like a flock of ewes    that have come up from the washing;  all of them bear twins;    not one among them has lost its young.7   Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate    behind your veil.8   There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,    and virgins without number.9   My dove, my perfect one, is the only one,    the only one of her mother,    pure to her who bore her.  The young women saw her and called her blessed;    the queens and concubines also, and they praised her. 10   “Who is this who looks down like the dawn,    beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,    awesome as an army with banners?” She 11   I went down to the nut orchard    to look at the blossoms of the valley,  to see whether the vines had budded,    whether the pomegranates were in bloom.12   Before I was aware, my desire set me    among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.1 Footnotes [1] 6:12 Or chariots of Ammi-Nadib (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Judges 8 Judges 8 (Listen) Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna 8 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. 2 And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger1 against him subsided when he said this. 4 And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. 5 So he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 6 And the officials of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” 7 So Gideon said, “Well then, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” 8 And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9 And he said to the men of Penuel, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.” 10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword. 11 And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt secure. 12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic. 13 Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. 14 And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. 15 And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?'” 16 And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. 17 And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. 18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” 19 And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” 20 So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. Gideon's Ephod 22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.” 24 And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25 And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. 26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels2 of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. 27 And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. 28 So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. The Death of Gideon 29 Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. 30 Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring,3 for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. 32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. 34 And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, 35 and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel. Footnotes [1] 8:3 Hebrew their spirit [2] 8:26 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams [3] 8:30 Hebrew who came from his own loins (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 24 Jeremiah 24 (Listen) The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror1 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Hebrews 7 Hebrews 7 (Listen) The Priestly Order of Melchizedek 7 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. 4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers,1 though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. Jesus Compared to Melchizedek 11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him,   “You are a priest forever,    after the order of Melchizedek.” 18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. 20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:   “The Lord has sworn    and will not change his mind,  ‘You are a priest forever.'” 22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. 23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost2 those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. Footnotes [1] 7:5 Or brothers and sisters [2] 7:25 That is, completely; or at all times (ESV)

With family: Judges 11:12–40; Acts 15 Judges 11:12–40 (Listen) 12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” 13 And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” 14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites 15 and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, 16 but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17 Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,' but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. 18 “Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. 19 Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,' 20 but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. 21 And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. 22 And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23 So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? 24 Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. 25 Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? 26 While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? 27 I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” 28 But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him. Jephthah's Tragic Vow 29 Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever1 comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD's, and I will offer it2 up for a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand. 33 And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. 34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.” 36 And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” 37 So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. 39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year. Footnotes [1] 11:31 Or whoever [2] 11:31 Or him (ESV) Acts 15 (Listen) The Jerusalem Council 15 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.1 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” 12 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, 16   “‘After this I will return,  and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;  I will rebuild its ruins,     and I will restore it,17   that the remnant2 of mankind may seek the Lord,    and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,    says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.' 19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” The Council's Letter to Gentile Believers 22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers3 who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you4 with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” 30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.5 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. Paul and Barnabas Separate 36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Footnotes [1] 15:3 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 22 [2] 15:17 Or rest [3] 15:23 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 32, 33, 36 [4] 15:24 Some manuscripts some persons from us have troubled you [5] 15:33 Some manuscripts insert verse 34: But it seemed good to Silas to remain there (ESV) In private: Jeremiah 24; Mark 10 Jeremiah 24 (Listen) The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror1 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Mark 10 (Listen) Teaching About Divorce 10 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. 2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.' 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,1 8 and the two shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” Let the Children Come to Me 13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. The Rich Young Man 17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is2 to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,3 “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time 32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” The Request of James and John 35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,4 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave5 of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus 46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Footnotes [1] 10:7 Some manuscripts omit and hold fast to his wife [2] 10:24 Some manuscripts add for those who trust in riches [3] 10:26 Some manuscripts to one another [4] 10:43 Greek diakonos [5] 10:44 Or bondservant, or servant (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface) (ESV)

Jeremiah 23–25 Jeremiah 23–25 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.' Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you'; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.'” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!' 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.' 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?' you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.' 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,' I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD' you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?' or ‘What has the LORD spoken?' 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,' thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,'” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.'” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Seventy Years of Captivity 25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. 4 You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.' 7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. 8 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” The Cup of the Lord's Wrath 15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon5 shall drink. 27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.' 28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.' 30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:   “‘The LORD will roar from on high,    and from his holy habitation utter his voice;  he will roar mightily against his fold,    and shout, like those who tread grapes,    against all the inhabitants of the earth.31   The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,    for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;  he is entering into judgment with all flesh,    and the wicked he will put to the sword,      declares the LORD.' 32   “Thus says the LORD of hosts:  Behold, disaster is going forth    from nation to nation,  and a great tempest is stirring    from the farthest parts of the earth! 33 “And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground. 34   “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,    and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,  for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,    and you shall fall like a choice vessel.35   No refuge will remain for the shepherds,    nor escape for the lords of the flock.36   A voice—the cry of the shepherds,    and the wail of the lords of the flock!  For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,37     and the peaceful folds are devastated    because of the fierce anger of the LORD.38   Like a lion he has left his lair,    for their land has become a waste  because of the sword of the oppressor,    and because of his fierce anger.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil [5] 25:26 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon (ESV)

5 Lent First Psalm: Psalm 31 Psalm 31 (Listen) Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 31   In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;    let me never be put to shame;    in your righteousness deliver me!2   Incline your ear to me;    rescue me speedily!  Be a rock of refuge for me,    a strong fortress to save me! 3   For you are my rock and my fortress;    and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;4   you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,    for you are my refuge.5   Into your hand I commit my spirit;    you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God. 6   I hate1 those who pay regard to worthless idols,    but I trust in the LORD.7   I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,    because you have seen my affliction;    you have known the distress of my soul,8   and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;    you have set my feet in a broad place. 9   Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;    my eye is wasted from grief;    my soul and my body also.10   For my life is spent with sorrow,    and my years with sighing;  my strength fails because of my iniquity,    and my bones waste away. 11   Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach,    especially to my neighbors,  and an object of dread to my acquaintances;    those who see me in the street flee from me.12   I have been forgotten like one who is dead;    I have become like a broken vessel.13   For I hear the whispering of many—    terror on every side!—  as they scheme together against me,    as they plot to take my life. 14   But I trust in you, O LORD;    I say, “You are my God.”15   My times are in your hand;    rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!16   Make your face shine on your servant;    save me in your steadfast love!17   O LORD, let me not be put to shame,    for I call upon you;  let the wicked be put to shame;    let them go silently to Sheol.18   Let the lying lips be mute,    which speak insolently against the righteous    in pride and contempt. 19   Oh, how abundant is your goodness,    which you have stored up for those who fear you  and worked for those who take refuge in you,    in the sight of the children of mankind!20   In the cover of your presence you hide them    from the plots of men;  you store them in your shelter    from the strife of tongues. 21   Blessed be the LORD,    for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me    when I was in a besieged city.22   I had said in my alarm,2    “I am cut off from your sight.”  But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy    when I cried to you for help. 23   Love the LORD, all you his saints!    The LORD preserves the faithful    but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.24   Be strong, and let your heart take courage,    all you who wait for the LORD! Footnotes [1] 31:6 Masoretic Text; one Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome You hate [2] 31:22 Or in my haste (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalm 35 Psalm 35 (Listen) Great Is the Lord Of David. 35   Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;    fight against those who fight against me!2   Take hold of shield and buckler    and rise for my help!3   Draw the spear and javelin1    against my pursuers!  Say to my soul,    “I am your salvation!” 4   Let them be put to shame and dishonor    who seek after my life!  Let them be turned back and disappointed    who devise evil against me!5   Let them be like chaff before the wind,    with the angel of the LORD driving them away!6   Let their way be dark and slippery,    with the angel of the LORD pursuing them! 7   For without cause they hid their net for me;    without cause they dug a pit for my life.28   Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it!  And let the net that he hid ensnare him;    let him fall into it—to his destruction! 9   Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD,    exulting in his salvation.10   All my bones shall say,    “O LORD, who is like you,  delivering the poor    from him who is too strong for him,    the poor and needy from him who robs him?” 11   Malicious3 witnesses rise up;    they ask me of things that I do not know.12   They repay me evil for good;    my soul is bereft.413   But I, when they were sick—    I wore sackcloth;    I afflicted myself with fasting;  I prayed with head bowed5 on my chest.14     I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;  as one who laments his mother,    I bowed down in mourning. 15   But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;    they gathered together against me;  wretches whom I did not know    tore at me without ceasing;16   like profane mockers at a feast,6    they gnash at me with their teeth. 17   How long, O Lord, will you look on?    Rescue me from their destruction,    my precious life from the lions!18   I will thank you in the great congregation;    in the mighty throng I will praise you. 19   Let not those rejoice over me    who are wrongfully my foes,  and let not those wink the eye    who hate me without cause.20   For they do not speak peace,    but against those who are quiet in the land    they devise words of deceit.21   They open wide their mouths against me;    they say, “Aha, Aha!    Our eyes have seen it!” 22   You have seen, O LORD; be not silent!    O Lord, be not far from me!23   Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication,    for my cause, my God and my Lord!24   Vindicate me, O LORD, my God,    according to your righteousness,    and let them not rejoice over me!25   Let them not say in their hearts,    “Aha, our heart’s desire!”  Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.” 26   Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether    who rejoice at my calamity!  Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor    who magnify themselves against me! 27   Let those who delight in my righteousness    shout for joy and be glad    and say evermore,  “Great is the LORD,    who delights in the welfare of his servant!”28   Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness    and of your praise all the day long. Footnotes [1] 35:3 Or and close the way [2] 35:7 The word pit is transposed from the preceding line; Hebrew For without cause they hid the pit of their net for me; without cause they dug for my life [3] 35:11 Or Violent [4] 35:12 Hebrew it is bereavement to my soul [5] 35:13 Or my prayer shall turn back [6] 35:16 The meaning of the Hebrew phrase is uncertain (ESV) Old Testament: Jeremiah 24 Jeremiah 24 (Listen) The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror1 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) New Testament: Romans 9:19–33 Romans 9:19–33 (Listen) 19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea,   “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’    and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”26   “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’    there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” 27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel1 be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, 28 for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted,   “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,    we would have been like Sodom    and become like Gomorrah.” Israel’s Unbelief 30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness2 did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written,   “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;    and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” Footnotes [1] 9:27 Or children of Israel [2] 9:31 Greek a law of righteousness (ESV) Gospel: John 9:1–17 John 9:1–17 (Listen) Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind 9 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” (ESV)

Readings for Monday, March 22, 2021 “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” -- John 9:4-5 Morning Psalm 119:73-80 73 Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments. 74 Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word. 75 I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have humbled me. 76 Let your steadfast love become my comfort according to your promise to your servant. 77 Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight. 78 Let the arrogant be put to shame, because they have subverted me with guile; as for me, I will meditate on your precepts. 79 Let those who fear you turn to me, so that they may know your decrees. 80 May my heart be blameless in your statutes, so that I may not be put to shame. Psalm 145 1 I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. 2 Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. 4 One generation shall laud your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. 5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. 6 The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed, and I will declare your greatness. 7 They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. 8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made. 10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your faithful shall bless you. 11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom, and tell of your power, 12 to make known to all people your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds. 14 The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. 15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. 16 You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing. 17 The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings. 18 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them. 20 The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. 21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever. Midday Jeremiah 24:1-10 24 The Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. This was after King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the artisans, and the smiths, and had brought them to Babylon. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes upon them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord ; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who live in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror, an evil thing, to all the kingdoms of the earth—a disgrace, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they are utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their ancestors. Romans 9:19-33 19 You will say to me then, “Why then does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who indeed are you, a human being, to argue with God? Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects of wrath that are made for destruction; 23 and what if he has done so in order to make known the riches of his glory for the objects of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 including us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? 25 As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,' and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.'” 26 “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,' there they shall be called children of the living God.” 27 And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the children of Israel were like the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved; 28 for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth quickly and decisively.” 29 And as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of hosts had not left survivors to us, we would have fared like Sodom and been made like Gomorrah.” 30 What then are we to say? Gentiles, who did not strive for righteousness, have attained it, that is, righteousness through faith; 31 but Israel, who did strive for the righteousness that is based on the law, did not succeed in fulfilling that law. 32 Why not? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written, “See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” John 9:1-17 9 As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes, 7 saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.” 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.” Evening Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore. Psalm 6 1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror. 3 My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O Lord —how long? 4 Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise? 6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eyes waste away because of grief; they grow weak because of all my foes. 8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame. You can also find all of today's readings at PCUSA.org. The Daily Lectionary podcast is a ministry of First Presbyterian Church of Plattsburgh, NY, read by Pastor Timothy J. Luoma.

Old Testament: Jeremiah 23–24 Jeremiah 23–24 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.’ 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) New Testament: 1 John 2:18–3:3 1 John 2:18–3:3 (Listen) Warning Concerning Antichrists 18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.1 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us2—eternal life. 26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. Children of God 28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. 3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears3 we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Footnotes [1] 2:20 Some manuscripts you know everything [2] 2:25 Some manuscripts you [3] 3:2 Or when it appears (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 110 Psalm 110 (Listen) Sit at My Right Hand A Psalm of David. 110   The LORD says to my Lord:    “Sit at my right hand,  until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2   The LORD sends forth from Zion    your mighty scepter.    Rule in the midst of your enemies!3   Your people will offer themselves freely    on the day of your power,1    in holy garments;2  from the womb of the morning,    the dew of your youth will be yours.34   The LORD has sworn    and will not change his mind,  “You are a priest forever    after the order of Melchizedek.” 5   The Lord is at your right hand;    he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.6   He will execute judgment among the nations,    filling them with corpses;  he will shatter chiefs4    over the wide earth.7   He will drink from the brook by the way;    therefore he will lift up his head. Footnotes [1] 110:3 Or on the day you lead your forces [2] 110:3 Masoretic Text; some Hebrew manuscripts and Jerome on the holy mountains [3] 110:3 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [4] 110:6 Or the head (ESV) Proverb: Proverbs 26:28 Proverbs 26:28 (Listen) 28   A lying tongue hates its victims,    and a flattering mouth works ruin. (ESV)

Old Testament: Jeremiah 23–24 Jeremiah 23–24 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.’ 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 110 Psalm 110 (Listen) Sit at My Right Hand A Psalm of David. 110   The LORD says to my Lord:    “Sit at my right hand,  until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2   The LORD sends forth from Zion    your mighty scepter.    Rule in the midst of your enemies!3   Your people will offer themselves freely    on the day of your power,1    in holy garments;2  from the womb of the morning,    the dew of your youth will be yours.34   The LORD has sworn    and will not change his mind,  “You are a priest forever    after the order of Melchizedek.” 5   The Lord is at your right hand;    he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.6   He will execute judgment among the nations,    filling them with corpses;  he will shatter chiefs4    over the wide earth.7   He will drink from the brook by the way;    therefore he will lift up his head. Footnotes [1] 110:3 Or on the day you lead your forces [2] 110:3 Masoretic Text; some Hebrew manuscripts and Jerome on the holy mountains [3] 110:3 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain [4] 110:6 Or the head (ESV) New Testament: Romans 16 Romans 16 (Listen) Personal Greetings 16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant1 of the church at Cenchreae, 2 that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. 3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert2 to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,3 my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,4 and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers5 who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you. Final Instructions and Greetings 17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites,6 and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 21 Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22 I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. 23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.7 Doxology 25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. Footnotes [1] 16:1 Or deaconess [2] 16:5 Greek firstfruit [3] 16:7 Or Junias [4] 16:7 Or messengers [5] 16:14 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 17 [6] 16:18 Greek their own belly [7] 16:23 Some manuscripts insert verse 24: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen (ESV)

Morning: Jeremiah 23–24 Jeremiah 23–24 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.’ 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Evening: 2 Timothy 2 2 Timothy 2 (Listen) A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus 2 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men,1 who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for:   If we have died with him, we will also live with him;12   if we endure, we will also reign with him;  if we deny him, he also will deny us;13   if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. A Worker Approved by God 14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God2 not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,3 a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” 20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,4 he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant5 must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. Footnotes [1] 2:2 The Greek word anthropoi can refer to both men and women, depending on the context [2] 2:14 Some manuscripts the Lord [3] 2:15 That is, one approved after being tested [4] 2:21 Greek from these things [5] 2:24 For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface (ESV)

Jeremiah 9-10

Jeremiah 23–25 Jeremiah 23–25 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.’ 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Seventy Years of Captivity 25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. 4 You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. 8 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath 15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon5 shall drink. 27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.’ 28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.’ 30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:   “‘The LORD will roar from on high,    and from his holy habitation utter his voice;  he will roar mightily against his fold,    and shout, like those who tread grapes,    against all the inhabitants of the earth.31   The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,    for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;  he is entering into judgment with all flesh,    and the wicked he will put to the sword,      declares the LORD.’ 32   “Thus says the LORD of hosts:  Behold, disaster is going forth    from nation to nation,  and a great tempest is stirring    from the farthest parts of the earth! 33 “And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground. 34   “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,    and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,  for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,    and you shall fall like a choice vessel.35   No refuge will remain for the shepherds,    nor escape for the lords of the flock.36   A voice—the cry of the shepherds,    and the wail of the lords of the flock!  For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,37     and the peaceful folds are devastated    because of the fierce anger of the LORD.38   Like a lion he has left his lair,    for their land has become a waste  because of the sword of the oppressor,    and because of his fierce anger.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil [5] 25:26 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon (ESV)

Psalms and Wisdom: Song of Solomon 6:4–12 Song of Solomon 6:4–12 (Listen) Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other He 4   You are beautiful as Tirzah, my love,    lovely as Jerusalem,    awesome as an army with banners.5   Turn away your eyes from me,    for they overwhelm me—  Your hair is like a flock of goats    leaping down the slopes of Gilead.6   Your teeth are like a flock of ewes    that have come up from the washing;  all of them bear twins;    not one among them has lost its young.7   Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate    behind your veil.8   There are sixty queens and eighty concubines,    and virgins without number.9   My dove, my perfect one, is the only one,    the only one of her mother,    pure to her who bore her.  The young women saw her and called her blessed;    the queens and concubines also, and they praised her. 10   “Who is this who looks down like the dawn,    beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,    awesome as an army with banners?” She 11   I went down to the nut orchard    to look at the blossoms of the valley,  to see whether the vines had budded,    whether the pomegranates were in bloom.12   Before I was aware, my desire set me    among the chariots of my kinsman, a prince.1 Footnotes [1] 6:12 Or chariots of Ammi-Nadib (ESV) Pentateuch and History: Judges 8 Judges 8 (Listen) Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna 8 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they accused him fiercely. 2 And he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger1 against him subsided when he said this. 4 And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. 5 So he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 6 And the officials of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” 7 So Gideon said, “Well then, when the LORD has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” 8 And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9 And he said to the men of Penuel, “When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.” 10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword. 11 And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt secure. 12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic. 13 Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. 14 And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. 15 And he came to the men of Succoth and said, “Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?’” 16 And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. 17 And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. 18 Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.” 19 And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you.” 20 So he said to Jether his firstborn, “Rise and kill them!” But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. 21 Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, “Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength.” And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels. Gideon’s Ephod 22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” 23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.” 24 And Gideon said to them, “Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) 25 And they answered, “We will willingly give them.” And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. 26 And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels2 of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. 27 And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. 28 So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon. The Death of Gideon 29 Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. 30 Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring,3 for he had many wives. 31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. 32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites. 33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. 34 And the people of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, 35 and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel. Footnotes [1] 8:3 Hebrew their spirit [2] 8:26 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams [3] 8:30 Hebrew who came from his own loins (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Jeremiah 24 Jeremiah 24 (Listen) The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror1 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Gospels and Epistles: Hebrews 7 Hebrews 7 (Listen) The Priestly Order of Melchizedek 7 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever. 4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! 5 And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers,1 though these also are descended from Abraham. 6 But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives. 9 One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, 10 for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him. Jesus Compared to Melchizedek 11 Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well. 13 For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is witnessed of him,   “You are a priest forever,    after the order of Melchizedek.” 18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. 20 And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath, 21 but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him:   “The Lord has sworn    and will not change his mind,  ‘You are a priest forever.’” 22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. 23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost2 those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. Footnotes [1] 7:5 Or brothers and sisters [2] 7:25 That is, completely; or at all times (ESV)

With family: Judges 11:12–40; Acts 15 Judges 11:12–40 (Listen) 12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” 13 And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” 14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites 15 and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, 16 but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17 Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh. 18 “Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. 19 Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,’ 20 but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. 21 And the LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. 22 And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23 So then the LORD, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? 24 Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the LORD our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. 25 Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? 26 While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? 27 I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” 28 But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him. Jephthah’s Tragic Vow 29 Then the Spirit of the LORD was upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed on to Mizpah of Gilead, and from Mizpah of Gilead he passed on to the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever1 comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD’s, and I will offer it2 up for a burnt offering.” 32 So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD gave them into his hand. 33 And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. 34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.” 36 And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the LORD; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the LORD has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” 37 So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. 39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year. Footnotes [1] 11:31 Or whoever [2] 11:31 Or him (ESV) Acts 15 (Listen) The Jerusalem Council 15 But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question. 3 So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.1 4 When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. 5 But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” 6 The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. 7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. 10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” 12 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, 16   “‘After this I will return,  and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen;  I will rebuild its ruins,     and I will restore it,17   that the remnant2 of mankind may seek the Lord,    and all the Gentiles who are called by my name,    says the Lord, who makes these things 18 known from of old.’ 19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers 22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, 23 with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers3 who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. 24 Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you4 with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, 25 it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: 29 that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” 30 So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. 31 And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. 32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 And after they had spent some time, they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them.5 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. Paul and Barnabas Separate 36 And after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38 But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. Footnotes [1] 15:3 Or brothers and sisters; also verse 22 [2] 15:17 Or rest [3] 15:23 Or brothers and sisters; also verses 32, 33, 36 [4] 15:24 Some manuscripts some persons from us have troubled you [5] 15:33 Some manuscripts insert verse 34: But it seemed good to Silas to remain there (ESV) In private: Jeremiah 24; Mark 10 Jeremiah 24 (Listen) The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror1 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Footnotes [1] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil (ESV) Mark 10 (Listen) Teaching About Divorce 10 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. 2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife,1 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” Let the Children Come to Me 13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. The Rich Young Man 17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is2 to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,3 “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time 32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” The Request of James and John 35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,4 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave5 of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus 46 And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. 47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” 50 And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabbi, let me recover my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Footnotes [1] 10:7 Some manuscripts omit and hold fast to his wife [2] 10:24 Some manuscripts add for those who trust in riches [3] 10:26 Some manuscripts to one another [4] 10:43 Greek diakonos [5] 10:44 Or bondservant, or servant (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface) (ESV)

Jeremiah 23–25 Jeremiah 23–25 (Listen) The Righteous Branch 23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. 3 Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. 5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ 7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 8 but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he1 had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.” Lying Prophets 9 Concerning the prophets:   My heart is broken within me;    all my bones shake;  I am like a drunken man,    like a man overcome by wine,  because of the LORD    and because of his holy words.10   For the land is full of adulterers;    because of the curse the land mourns,    and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.  Their course is evil,    and their might is not right.11   “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;    even in my house I have found their evil,      declares the LORD.12   Therefore their way shall be to them    like slippery paths in the darkness,    into which they shall be driven and fall,  for I will bring disaster upon them    in the year of their punishment,      declares the LORD.13   In the prophets of Samaria    I saw an unsavory thing:  they prophesied by Baal    and led my people Israel astray.14   But in the prophets of Jerusalem    I have seen a horrible thing:  they commit adultery and walk in lies;    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,    so that no one turns from his evil;  all of them have become like Sodom to me,    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”15   Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:  “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food    and give them poisoned water to drink,  for from the prophets of Jerusalem    ungodliness has gone out into all the land.” 16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. 17 They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” 18   For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD    to see and to hear his word,    or who has paid attention to his word and listened?19   Behold, the storm of the LORD!    Wrath has gone forth,  a whirling tempest;    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.20   The anger of the LORD will not turn back    until he has executed and accomplished    the intents of his heart.  In the latter days you will understand it clearly. 21   “I did not send the prophets,    yet they ran;  I did not speak to them,    yet they prophesied.22   But if they had stood in my council,    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,  and they would have turned them from their evil way,    and from the evil of their deeds. 23 “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself 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 have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ 26 How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, 27 who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? 28 Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. 29 Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD. 33 “When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the LORD?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,2 and I will cast you off, declares the LORD.’ 34 And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35 Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 36 But ‘the burden of the LORD’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the LORD,’” 39 therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up3 and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. 40 And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’” The Good Figs and the Bad Figs 24 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the LORD said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.” 4 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 5 “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes on them for 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 pluck them up. 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. 8 “But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror4 to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” Seventy Years of Captivity 25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened. 4 You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. 8 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.” The Cup of the Lord's Wrath 15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon5 shall drink. 27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.’ 28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.’ 30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:   “‘The LORD will roar from on high,    and from his holy habitation utter his voice;  he will roar mightily against his fold,    and shout, like those who tread grapes,    against all the inhabitants of the earth.31   The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,    for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;  he is entering into judgment with all flesh,    and the wicked he will put to the sword,      declares the LORD.’ 32   “Thus says the LORD of hosts:  Behold, disaster is going forth    from nation to nation,  and a great tempest is stirring    from the farthest parts of the earth! 33 “And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground. 34   “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,    and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,  for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,    and you shall fall like a choice vessel.35   No refuge will remain for the shepherds,    nor escape for the lords of the flock.36   A voice—the cry of the shepherds,    and the wail of the lords of the flock!  For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,37     and the peaceful folds are devastated    because of the fierce anger of the LORD.38   Like a lion he has left his lair,    for their land has become a waste  because of the sword of the oppressor,    and because of his fierce anger.” Footnotes [1] 23:8 Septuagint; Hebrew I [2] 23:33 Septuagint, Vulgate; Hebrew What burden? [3] 23:39 Or surely forget you [4] 24:9 Compare Septuagint; Hebrew horror for evil [5] 25:26 Hebrew Sheshach, a code name for Babylon (ESV)

Welcome to Honey In The Rock, your daily dose of inspiration and encouragement. In this episode we shall be studying Deuteronomy 34. We shall also listen to a sermon by Reverend William Marrion Branham titled, Israel And The Church #4 53-0328. I hope you find it to be a blessing.

'A Bow, A Ship & A Prophet' -  The Arabian environment -  Traveling protocol in Arabia -  Nephi describes the wilderness journey 'like' the Children of Israel - Like the Liahona, the Egyptian god of the wilderness, Min, had two arrows for migration. -  Laman  & Lemuel say the people of Jerusalem 'are a righteous people'. -  Nephi teaches of 'The Redeemer' to Laman and Lemuel -  This is an 'axial' period in history throughout the world -  Is the 'Promised Land' of the Americas as exclusive in history as we think? -  Nephi uses Isaiah to preach of Christ   www.cwicmedia.com www.facebook.com/cwicmedia    Study Group www.cwicmedia.com/study-group    Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families LDS Mormon

THE THEME FOR THIS PRELUDE IS: THE FIGS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN EATEN OF BABYLON --THEY CANNOT BE BROUGHT FORTH OUT OF HIS MOUTH--- AS THE LORD HAS PROMISED----THE LORD GOD WILL BRING FORTH OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABYLON THAT WHICH BABYLON HAVE SWALLOWED UP ( JEREMIAH 51:34,44)-----: MANKIND'S CHALLENGE IS FIRST TO ADMIT--THAT THE LORD GOD WRITETH HIS STORIES IN THE HEAVENS---AND THAT THE LORD GOD FOUNDED HIS TROOP IN THE EARTH---GOOD FIGS THAT CAN BE EATEN----GOOD FIGS HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THEY HAVE BEEN CARRIED AWAY INTO BABYLON----THEY HAVE BEEN DEVOURED OF BABYLON----BABYLON HATH FILLED HIS BELLY WITH THE LORD GOD DELICATES (JEREMIAH 51:41) --IT IS THE LORD GOD WILLTHAT ALL MEN BE SAVED---AND COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF TRUTH------THAT AFTER SEVENTY YEARS THE LORD GOD WILL PUNISH BEL IN BABYLON (JEREMIAH 25:12)----THE LORD GOD WILL VISIT HIS PEOPLE--AND PERFORM--- THE LORD GOD ---GOOD WORD ---TOWARD YOU--- IN CAUSING YOU --TO RETURN UNTO THIS PLACEJEREMIAH 24:1-3 THE LORD SHOWED ME, AND, BEHOLD, TWO BASKETS OF FIGS WERE SET BEFORE THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD, AFTER THAT NEBUCHADREZZAR KIND OF BABYLON HAD CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE JECONIAH THE SON OF JEHOIAKIM KING OF JUDAH, AND THE PRINCES OF JUDAH, WITH THE CARPENTERS AND SMITHS, FROM JERUSALEM, AND HAD BROUGHT THEM TO BABYLON. 2 ONE BASKET HAD VERY GOOD FIGS, EVEN LIKE THE FIGS THAT ARE FIRST RIPE: AND THE OTHER BASKET HAD VERY NAUGHTY FIGS, WHICH COULD NOT BE EATEN, THEY WERE SO BAD. 3 THEN SAID THE LORD UNTO ME, WHAT SEEST THOU, JEREMIAH? AND I SAID, FIGS; THE GOOD FIGS, VERY GOOD; AND THE EVIL, VERY EVIL, THAT CANNOT BE EATEN, THEY ARE SO EVIL.---VS-----JEREMIAH 51:44 AND THE LORD GOD WILL PUNISH BEL IN BABYLON, AND THE LORD GOD WILL BRING FORTH OUT OF HIS MOUTH THAT WHICH HE HATH SWALLOWED UP: AND THE NATIONS SHALL NOT FLOW TOGETHER ANY MORE UNTO BABYLON: YEA, THE WALL OF BABYLON SHALL FALL. ----VS----FIGS THAT CANNOT BE EATEN---EXAMPLE-JEREMIAH 29:16-17 KNOW THAT THUS SAITH THE LORD OF THE king THAT SITTETH UPON THE THRONE OF DAVID, AND OF ALL THE PEOPLE THAT DWELLETH IN THIS CITY, AND OF YOUR BRETHERN THAT ARE NOT GONE FORTH WITH YOU INTO CAPTIVITY; 17 THUS SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS; BEHOLD, THE LORD GOD WILL SEND UPON THEM THE SWORD, THE FAMINE, AND THE PESTILENCE, AND WILL MAKE THEM LIKE VILE FIGS, THAT CANNOT BE EATEN, THEY ARE SO EVIL. AND REMEMBER ---NOT A FAMINE OF BREAD, NOR A THIRST FOR WATER, BUT OF HEARING THE WORDS OF THE LORD:(AMOS 8:11) ---VS---THE GOOD FIGS EXAMPLE---JEREMIAH 24:5 THUS SAITH THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL: LIKE THESE GOOD FIGS, SO WILL THE LORD GOD ACKNOWLEDGE THEM THAT ARE CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE OF JUDAH, WHOM THE LORD GOD HAVE SENT OUT OF THIS PLACE INTO THE LAND OF THE CHALDEANS FOR THEIR GOOD---"AND NOW A QUESTION--WHOM HAVE THE LORD GOD CAUSED TO BE CARRIED CAPTIVE FROM JERUSALEM UNTO BABYLON"---VS---THE LETTER OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH --JEREMIAH 29: 1,5,6,7 1 NOW THESE ARE THE WORDS OF THE LETTER THAT JEREMIAH THE PROPHET SENT FROM JERUSALEM UNTO THE RESIDUE OF THE ELDERS WHICH WERE CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVES, AND TO THE PRIESTS AND TO THE PROPHETS AND ALL THE PEOPLE WHOM NEBUCHADNEZZAR HAD CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVE FROM JERUSALEM TO BABYLON.5 BUILD YE HOUSES, AND DWELL IN THEM; AND PLANT GARDENS, AND EAT THE FRUIT OF THEM;6 TAKE YE WIVES, AND BEGET SONS AND DAUGHTERS; AND TAKE WIVES FOR YOUR SONS, AND GIVE YOUR DAUGHTERS TO HUSBANDS, THAT THEY MAY BEAR SONS AND DAUGHTERS; THAT YE MAY BE INCREASED THERE, AND NOT DIMINISHED. 7 AND SEEK THE PEACE OF THE CITY WHITHER THE LORD GOD HAVE CAUSED YOU TO BE CARRIED AWAY CAPTIVES AND PRAY UNTO THE LORD FOR IT: FOR IN THE PEACE THEREOF SHALL YE HAVE PEACE. ---AND NOW A QUESTION--UNTO WHOM HAVE THE LORD CAUSED TO BE CARRIED AWAY FROM JERUSALEM UNTO BABYLON ---VS---THAT AFTER SEVENTY YEARS ARE ACCOMPLISHED--JEREMIAH 29:10-13,15 FOR THUS SAITH THE LORD, THAT AFTER SEVENTY YEARS BE ACCOMPLISHED AT BABYLON THE LORD WILL VISIT YOU, AND PERFORM HIS GOOD WORD TOWARD YOU, IN CAUSING YOU

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} Welcome to another Bible in the News, this is John Billington with you this week.  The Daily Mail ran the headline “Trumpquake,” and called it a “seismic election creating shockwaves on both sides of the Atlantic.”  Well it may be a shock to America, to Europe and really the entire world but in Israel a Trump presidency may be the most earth shattering.  In the book of Daniel 4:17 we read that “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.”  There are times that God allows a leader to have power because it is what the people want and honestly deserve.  We can think of Saul in this light.  But there are also times when God puts in power those that will accomplish his purpose.

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.0px Helvetica; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} Welcome to another Bible in the News, this is John Billington with you this week.  The Daily Mail ran the headline “Trumpquake,” and called it a “seismic election creating shockwaves on both sides of the Atlantic.”  Well it may be a shock to America, to Europe and really the entire world but in Israel a Trump presidency may be the most earth shattering.  In the book of Daniel 4:17 we read that “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.”  There are times that God allows a leader to have power because it is what the people want and honestly deserve.  We can think of Saul in this light.  But there are also times when God puts in power those that will accomplish his purpose.

People tend to be quick to judge others, but then in one fashion or another, they do the same.

I recently had the good fortune to travel to Israel with Nir and Guy, the founders of Puzzle Israel. And had some of my favorite travel experiences. We chat about our trip and the creation of Puzzle Israel.

The Lord relates the absolute sinful wickedness of Israel to Sodom and Gomorrah. The persistant and unrepentant rebellion against the Lord's commands and religion hipocracy has angered the Lord such that he relates them to the most wicked cities in the history of the world that bore the direct wrath of God.