Jeremiah 9

Translation: ESV

1 Oh that my head were waters,

    and my eyes a fountain of tears,

that I might weep day and night

    for the slain of the daughter of my people!

2 Oh that I had in the desert

    a travelers' lodging place,

that I might leave my people

    and go away from them!

For they are all adulterers,

    a company of treacherous men.

3 They bend their tongue like a bow;

    falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land;

for they proceed from evil to evil,

    and they do not know me, declares the Lord.

4 Let everyone beware of his neighbor,

    and put no trust in any brother,

for every brother is a deceiver,

    and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.

5 Everyone deceives his neighbor,

    and no one speaks the truth;

they have taught their tongue to speak lies;

    they weary themselves committing iniquity.

6 Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,

    they refuse to know me, declares the Lord.

7 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:

“Behold, I will refine them and test them,

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

8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow;

    it speaks deceitfully;

with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor,

    but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.

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

    and shall I not avenge myself

    on a nation such as this?

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

    and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness,

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

    and the lowing of cattle is not heard;

both the birds of the air and the beasts

    have fled and are gone.

11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,

    a lair of jackals,

and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,

    without inhabitant.”

12 Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13 And the Lord says: “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, 14 but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them poisonous water to drink. 16 I will scatter them among the nations whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”

17 Thus says the Lord of hosts:

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

    send for the skillful women to come;

18 let them make haste and raise a wailing over us,

    that our eyes may run down with tears

    and our eyelids flow with water.

19 For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:

    ‘How we are ruined!

    We are utterly shamed,

because we have left the land,

    because they have cast down our dwellings.’”

20 Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,

    and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;

teach to your daughters a lament,

    and each to her neighbor a dirge.

21 For death has come up into our windows;

    it has entered our palaces,

cutting off the children from the streets

    and the young men from the squares.

22 Speak: “Thus declares the Lord,

‘The dead bodies of men shall fall

    like dung upon the open field,

like sheaves after the reaper,

    and none shall gather them.’”

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23 Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,

24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

25 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

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Psalm 137 (MT: Psalm 138)

Translation: ESV

Give Thanks to the Lord

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Of David.

1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

    before the gods I sing your praise;

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2 I bow down toward your holy temple

    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

    for you have exalted above all things

    your name and your word.

3 On the day I called, you answered me;

    my strength of soul you increased.

4 All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,

    for they have heard the words of your mouth,

5 and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

    for great is the glory of the Lord.

6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,

    but the haughty he knows from afar.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

    you preserve my life;

you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

    and your right hand delivers me.

8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;

   your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

    Do not forsake the work of your hands.

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Job 42

Translation: ESV

Job's Confession and Repentance

1 Then Job answered the Lord and said:

2 “I know that you can do all things,

    and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’

Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,

    things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;

    I will question you, and you make it known to me.’

5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

    but now my eye sees you;

6 therefore I despise myself,

    and repent in dust and ashes.”

The Lord Rebukes Job's Friends

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7 After the Lord had spoken these words to Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.

8 Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the Lord had told them, and the Lord accepted Job's prayer.

The Lord Restores Job's Fortunes

10 And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold.

12 And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15 And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man, and full of days.

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Philemon 1

Translation: ESV

Greeting

1 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon's Love and Faith

4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. 7 For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

Paul's Plea for Onesimus

8 Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9 yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10 I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

17 So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.

21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.

Final Greetings

23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24 and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

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25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

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Psalm 30 (MT: Psalm 31)

Translation: ESV

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

To the choirmaster. 

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A Psalm of David.

1 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 hate 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.

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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,

    “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.

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24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

    all you who wait for the Lord!

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Jeremiah 30

Translation: DRA

1 This is the word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying:

2 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, saying: Write thee all the words that I have spoken to thee, in a book.

3 For behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Juda, saith the Lord: and I will cause them to return to the land which I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.

4 And these are the words that the Lord hath spoken to Israel and to Juda:

5 For thus saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of terror: there is fear and no peace.

6 Ask ye, and see if a man bear children? why then have I seen every man with his hands on his loins, like a woman in labour, and all faces are turned yellow?

7 Alas, for that day is great, neither is there the like to it; and it is the time of tribulation to Jacob, but he shall be saved out of it.

8 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst his bands: and strangers shall no more rule over him:

9 But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up to them.

10 Therefore fear thou not, my servant Jacob, saith the Lord, neither be dismayed, O Israel: for behold, I will save thee from a country afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity: and Jacob shall return, and be at rest, and abound with all good things, and there shall be none whom he may fear:

11 For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: for I will utterly consume all the nations, among which I have scattered thee: but I will not utterly consume thee: but I will chastise thee in judgment, that thou mayst not seem to thyself innocent.

12 For thus saith the Lord: Thy bruise is incurable, thy wound is very grievous.

13 There is none to judge thy judgment to bind it up: thou hast no healing medicines.

14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee, and will not seek after thee: for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with a cruel chastisement: by reason of the multitude of thy iniquities, thy sins are hardened.

15 Why criest thou for thy affliction? thy sorrow is incurable: for the multitude of thy iniquity, and for thy hardened sins I have done these things to thee.

16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured: and all thy enemies shall be carried into captivity: and they that waste thee shall be wasted, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

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17 For I will close up thy scar, and will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord. Because they have called thee, O Sion, an outcast: This is she that hath none to seek after her.

18 Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring back the captivity of the pavilions of Jacob, and will have pity on his houses, and the city shall be built in her high place, and the temple shall be founded according to the order thereof.

19 And out of them shall come forth praise, and the voice of them that play: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be made few: and I will glorify them, and they shall not be lessened.

20 And their children shall be as from the beginning, and their assembly shall be permanent before me: and I will visit against all that afflict them.

21 And their leader shall be of themselves: and their prince shall come forth from the midst of them: and I will bring him near, and he shall come to me: for who is this that setteth his heart to approach to me, saith the Lord?

22 And you shall be my people: and I will be your God.

23 Behold the whirlwind of the Lord, his fury going forth, a violent storm, it shall rest upon the head of the wicked.

24 The Lord will not turn away the wrath of his indignation, till he have executed and performed the thought of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand these things.

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