Let's read the Bible together in the next year. Today our passages are Jeremiah 6:15–8:7; Colossians 2:8-23; Psalm 78:1-31; and Proverbs 24:26. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.
Jeremiah 6:15-8:7 (Contemporary English Version)
15They should be ashamed
of their disgusting sins,
but they don't even blush.
And so, when I punish Judah,
they will end up on the ground,
dead like everyone else.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
of their disgusting sins,
but they don't even blush.
And so, when I punish Judah,
they will end up on the ground,
dead like everyone else.
I, the LORD, have spoken.
The People of Judah Rejected God's Way of Life
16The LORD said: My people, when you stood
at the crossroads,
I told you, "Follow the road
your ancestors took,
and you will find peace."
But you refused.
17I also sent prophets
to warn you of danger,
but when they sounded the alarm,
you paid no attention.
18So I tell all nations on earth,
"Watch what I will do!
19My people ignored me
and rejected my laws.
They planned to do evil,
and now the evil they planned
will happen to them."
20People of Judah,
you bring me incense from Sheba
and spices from distant lands.
You offer sacrifices of all kinds.
But why bother?
I hate these gifts of yours!
21So I will put stumbling blocks
in your path,
and everyone will die,
including parents and children,
neighbors and friends.
at the crossroads,
I told you, "Follow the road
your ancestors took,
and you will find peace."
But you refused.
17I also sent prophets
to warn you of danger,
but when they sounded the alarm,
you paid no attention.
18So I tell all nations on earth,
"Watch what I will do!
19My people ignored me
and rejected my laws.
They planned to do evil,
and now the evil they planned
will happen to them."
20People of Judah,
you bring me incense from Sheba
and spices from distant lands.
You offer sacrifices of all kinds.
But why bother?
I hate these gifts of yours!
21So I will put stumbling blocks
in your path,
and everyone will die,
including parents and children,
neighbors and friends.
An Army from the North
22The LORD said, "Look toward the north,
where a powerful nation
has prepared for war.
23Its well-armed troops are cruel
and never show mercy.
Their galloping horses sound
like ocean waves
pounding on the shore.
This army will attack you,
lovely Jerusalem."
24Then the people said,
"Just hearing about them
makes us tremble with fear,
and we twist and turn in pain
like a woman giving birth."
25The LORD said,
"Don't work in your fields
or walk along the roads.
It's too dangerous.
The enemy is well armed
26and attacks without warning.
So mourn, my people, as though
your only child had died.
Wear clothes made of sackcloth a] and roll in the ash pile."
where a powerful nation
has prepared for war.
23Its well-armed troops are cruel
and never show mercy.
Their galloping horses sound
like ocean waves
pounding on the shore.
This army will attack you,
lovely Jerusalem."
24Then the people said,
"Just hearing about them
makes us tremble with fear,
and we twist and turn in pain
like a woman giving birth."
25The LORD said,
"Don't work in your fields
or walk along the roads.
It's too dangerous.
The enemy is well armed
26and attacks without warning.
So mourn, my people, as though
your only child had died.
Wear clothes made of sackcloth a] and roll in the ash pile."
The LORD's People Must Be Tested
The LORD said:
27Jeremiah, test my people as though they were metal.
28And you'll find they are hard
like bronze and iron.
They are stubborn rebels,
always spreading lies.
29Silver can be purified
in a fiery furnace,
30but my people are too wicked
to be made pure,
and so I have rejected them.
28And you'll find they are hard
like bronze and iron.
They are stubborn rebels,
always spreading lies.
29Silver can be purified
in a fiery furnace,
30but my people are too wicked
to be made pure,
and so I have rejected them.
Jeremiah 7
Jeremiah Speaks in the Temple
(Jeremiah 26.1-6)
1-3The LORD told me to stand by the gate of the temple b] and to tell the people who were going in that the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said: Pay attention, people of Judah! Change your ways and start living right, then I will let you keep on living in your own country. c] 4Don't fool yourselves! My temple is here in Jerusalem, but that doesn't mean I will protect you. 5I will keep you safe only if you change your ways. Be fair and honest with each other. 6Stop taking advantage of foreigners, orphans, and widows. Don't kill innocent people. And stop worshiping other gods. 7Then I will let you enjoy a long life in this land I gave your ancestors. 8But just look at what is happening! You put your trust in worthless lies. 9You steal and murder; you lie in court and are unfaithful in marriage. You worship idols and offer incense to Baal, when these gods have never done anything for you. 10And then you come into my temple and worship me! Do you think I will protect you so that you can go on sinning? 11You are thieves, and you have made my temple your hideout. But I've seen everything you have done. 12Go to Shiloh, where my sacred tent once stood. Take a look at what I did there. My people Israel sinned, and so I destroyed Shiloh!
13While you have been sinning, I have been trying to talk to you, but you refuse to listen. 14Don't think this temple will protect you. Long ago I told your ancestors to build it and worship me here, but now I have decided to tear it down, just as I destroyed Shiloh. 15And as for you, people of Judah, I'm going to send you away from my land, just as I sent away the people of Ephraim and the other northern tribes.
13While you have been sinning, I have been trying to talk to you, but you refuse to listen. 14Don't think this temple will protect you. Long ago I told your ancestors to build it and worship me here, but now I have decided to tear it down, just as I destroyed Shiloh. 15And as for you, people of Judah, I'm going to send you away from my land, just as I sent away the people of Ephraim and the other northern tribes.
Punishment for Worshiping Other Gods
16Jeremiah, don't pray for these people! I, the LORD, would refuse to listen. 17Do you see what the people of Judah are doing in their towns and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18Children gather firewood, their fathers build fires, and their mothers mix dough to bake bread for the goddess they call the Queen of Heaven. d]They even offer wine sacrifices to other gods, just to insult me. 19But they are not only insulting me; they are also insulting themselves by doing these shameful things. 20And now, I, the LORD All-Powerful, will flood Judah with my fiery anger until nothing is left--no people or animals, no trees or crops.
It Is Useless To Offer Sacrifices
21The LORD told me to say to the people of Judah: I am the LORD All-Powerful, the God of Israel, but I won't accept sacrifices from you. So don't even bother bringing them to me. You might as well just cook the meat for yourselves.
22At the time I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I didn't command them to offer sacrifices to me. 23Instead, I told them, "If you listen to me and do what I tell you, I will be your God, you will be my people, and all will go well for you." 24But your ancestors refused to listen. They were stubborn, and whenever I wanted them to go one way, they always went the other. 25Ever since your ancestors left Egypt, I have been sending my servants the prophets to speak for me. 26But you have ignored me and become even more stubborn and sinful than your ancestors ever were!
22At the time I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, I didn't command them to offer sacrifices to me. 23Instead, I told them, "If you listen to me and do what I tell you, I will be your God, you will be my people, and all will go well for you." 24But your ancestors refused to listen. They were stubborn, and whenever I wanted them to go one way, they always went the other. 25Ever since your ancestors left Egypt, I have been sending my servants the prophets to speak for me. 26But you have ignored me and become even more stubborn and sinful than your ancestors ever were!
Slaughter Valley
The LORD said:
27Jeremiah, no matter what you do, the people won't listen. 28So you must say to them: People of Judah, I am the LORD your God, but you have refused to obey me, and you didn't change when I punished you. And now, you no longer even pretend to be faithful to me.
29Shave your head bald
and throw away the hair.
Sing a funeral song
on top of a barren hill.
You people have made me angry,
and I have abandoned you.
30You have disobeyed me by putting your disgusting idols in my temple, and now the temple itself is disgusting to me. 31At Topheth in Hinnom Valley you have built altars where you kill your children and burn them as sacrifices to other gods. I would never think of telling you to do this. 32So watch out! Someday that place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. It will be called Slaughter Valley, because you will bury your dead there until you run out of room, 33and then bodies will lie scattered on the ground. Birds and wild animals will come and eat, and no one will be around to scare them off. 34When I am finished with your land, there will be deathly silence in the empty ruins of Jerusalem and the towns of Judah--no happy voices, no sounds of parties or wedding celebrations.
29Shave your head bald
and throw away the hair.
Sing a funeral song
on top of a barren hill.
You people have made me angry,
and I have abandoned you.
30You have disobeyed me by putting your disgusting idols in my temple, and now the temple itself is disgusting to me. 31At Topheth in Hinnom Valley you have built altars where you kill your children and burn them as sacrifices to other gods. I would never think of telling you to do this. 32So watch out! Someday that place will no longer be called Topheth or Hinnom Valley. It will be called Slaughter Valley, because you will bury your dead there until you run out of room, 33and then bodies will lie scattered on the ground. Birds and wild animals will come and eat, and no one will be around to scare them off. 34When I am finished with your land, there will be deathly silence in the empty ruins of Jerusalem and the towns of Judah--no happy voices, no sounds of parties or wedding celebrations.
Jeremiah 8
1Then the bones of the dead kings of Judah and their officials will be dug up, along with the bones of the priests, the prophets, and everyone else in Jerusalem 2who loved and worshiped the sun, moon, and stars. These bones will be scattered and left lying on the ground like trash, where the sun and moon and stars can shine on them. 3Some of you people of Judah will be left alive, but I will force you to go to foreign countries, and you will wish you were dead. I, the LORD God All-Powerful, have spoken.
The People Took the Wrong Road
4The LORD said: People of Jerusalem,
when you stumble and fall,
you get back up,
and if you take a wrong road,
you turn around and go back. e] 5So why do you refuse
to come back to me?
Why do you hold so tightly
to your false gods?
6I listen carefully,
but none of you admit
that you've done wrong.
Without a second thought,
you run down the wrong road f] like cavalry troops
charging into battle.
7Storks, doves, swallows,
and thrushes
all know when it's time
to fly away for the winter
and when to come back.
But you, my people,
don't know what I demand.
Footnotes:- Jeremiah 6:26 sackcloth: See the note at 4.8.
- Jeremiah 7:1 temple: The Hebrew text has "house of the LORD," another name for the temple.
- Jeremiah 7:1 let you. . . own country: Or "live here with you."
- Jeremiah 7:18 Queen of Heaven: Probably another name for the goddess Astarte.
- Jeremiah 8:4 if you take. . . go back: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- Jeremiah 8:6 you run down the wrong road: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
when you stumble and fall,
you get back up,
and if you take a wrong road,
you turn around and go back. e] 5So why do you refuse
to come back to me?
Why do you hold so tightly
to your false gods?
6I listen carefully,
but none of you admit
that you've done wrong.
Without a second thought,
you run down the wrong road f] like cavalry troops
charging into battle.
7Storks, doves, swallows,
and thrushes
all know when it's time
to fly away for the winter
and when to come back.
But you, my people,
don't know what I demand.
Footnotes:
- Jeremiah 6:26 sackcloth: See the note at 4.8.
- Jeremiah 7:1 temple: The Hebrew text has "house of the LORD," another name for the temple.
- Jeremiah 7:1 let you. . . own country: Or "live here with you."
- Jeremiah 7:18 Queen of Heaven: Probably another name for the goddess Astarte.
- Jeremiah 8:4 if you take. . . go back: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- Jeremiah 8:6 you run down the wrong road: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Colossians 2:8-23 (Contemporary English Version)
8Don't let anyone fool you by using senseless arguments. These arguments may sound wise, but they are only human teachings. They come from the powers of this world a] and not from Christ.
9God lives fully in Christ.
10And you are fully grown because you belong to Christ, who is over every power and authority.
11Christ has also taken away your selfish desires, just as circumcision removes flesh from the body.
12And when you were baptized, it was the same as being buried with Christ. Then you were raised to life because you had faith in the power of God, who raised Christ from death.
13You were dead, because you were sinful and were not God's people. But God let Christ make you b] alive, when he forgave all our sins.
14God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross.
15There Christ defeated all powers and forces. He let the whole world see them being led away as prisoners when he celebrated his victory.
16Don't let anyone tell you what you must eat or drink. Don't let them say that you must celebrate the New Moon festival, the Sabbath, or any other festival.
17These things are only a shadow of what was to come. But Christ is real!
18Don't be cheated by people who make a show of acting humble and who worship angels. c] They brag about seeing visions. But it is all nonsense, because their minds are filled with selfish desires.
19They are no longer part of Christ, who is the head of the whole body. Christ gives the body its strength, and he uses its joints and muscles to hold it together, as it grows by the power of God.
9God lives fully in Christ.
10And you are fully grown because you belong to Christ, who is over every power and authority.
11Christ has also taken away your selfish desires, just as circumcision removes flesh from the body.
12And when you were baptized, it was the same as being buried with Christ. Then you were raised to life because you had faith in the power of God, who raised Christ from death.
13You were dead, because you were sinful and were not God's people. But God let Christ make you b] alive, when he forgave all our sins.
14God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross.
15There Christ defeated all powers and forces. He let the whole world see them being led away as prisoners when he celebrated his victory.
16Don't let anyone tell you what you must eat or drink. Don't let them say that you must celebrate the New Moon festival, the Sabbath, or any other festival.
17These things are only a shadow of what was to come. But Christ is real!
18Don't be cheated by people who make a show of acting humble and who worship angels. c] They brag about seeing visions. But it is all nonsense, because their minds are filled with selfish desires.
19They are no longer part of Christ, who is the head of the whole body. Christ gives the body its strength, and he uses its joints and muscles to hold it together, as it grows by the power of God.
Christ Brings New Life
20You died with Christ. Now the forces of the universe d] don't have any power over you. Why do you live as if you had to obey such rules as, 21"Don't handle this. Don't taste that. Don't touch this."?
22After these things are used, they are no longer good for anything. So why be bothered with the rules that humans have made up?
23Obeying these rules may seem to be the smart thing to do. They appear to make you love God more and to be very humble and to have control over your body. But they don't really have any power over our desires.
Footnotes:- Colossians 2:8 powers of this world: Spirits and unseen forces were thought to control human lives and were believed to be connected with the movements of the stars.
- Colossians 2:13 you: See the note at 1.7.
- Colossians 2:18 worship angels: Or " worship with angels (in visions of heaven)."
- Colossians 2:20 forces of the universe: See the note at 2.8.
22After these things are used, they are no longer good for anything. So why be bothered with the rules that humans have made up?
23Obeying these rules may seem to be the smart thing to do. They appear to make you love God more and to be very humble and to have control over your body. But they don't really have any power over our desires.
Footnotes:
- Colossians 2:8 powers of this world: Spirits and unseen forces were thought to control human lives and were believed to be connected with the movements of the stars.
- Colossians 2:13 you: See the note at 1.7.
- Colossians 2:18 worship angels: Or " worship with angels (in visions of heaven)."
- Colossians 2:20 forces of the universe: See the note at 2.8.
Psalm 78:1-31 (Contemporary English Version)
Psalm 78
(A special psalm by Asaph.)
What God Has Done for His People
1My friends, I beg you to listen as I teach.
2I will give instruction
and explain the mystery
of what happened long ago.
3These are things we learned
from our ancestors,
4and we will tell them
to the next generation.
We won't keep secret
the glorious deeds
and the mighty miracles
of the LORD.
5God gave his Law
to Jacob's descendants,
the people of Israel.
And he told our ancestors
to teach their children,
6so that each new generation
would know his Law
and tell it to the next.
7Then they would trust God
and obey his teachings,
without forgetting anything
God had done.
8They would be different
from their ancestors,
who were stubborn, rebellious,
and unfaithful to God.
9The warriors from Ephraim
were armed with arrows,
but they ran away
when the battle began.
10They broke their agreement
with God,
and they turned their backs
on his teaching.
11They forgot all he had done,
even the mighty miracles
12he did for their ancestors
near Zoan a] in Egypt. 13God made a path in the sea
and piled up the water
as he led them across.
14He guided them during the day
with a cloud,
and each night he led them
with a flaming fire.
15God made water flow
from rocks
he split open
in the desert,
and his people drank freely,
as though from a lake.
16He made streams gush out
like rivers from rocks.
17But in the desert,
the people of God Most High
kept sinning and rebelling.
18They stubbornly tested God
and demanded from him
what they wanted to eat.
19They challenged God by saying,
"Can God provide food
out here in the desert?
20It's true God struck the rock
and water gushed out
like a river,
but can he give his people
bread and meat?"
21When the LORD heard this,
he was angry and furious
with Jacob's descendants,
the people of Israel.
22They had refused to trust him,
and they had doubted
his saving power.
23But God gave a command
to the clouds,
and he opened the doors
in the skies.
24From heaven he sent grain
that they called manna. b] 25He gave them more than enough,
and each one of them ate
this special food.
26God's mighty power
brought a strong wind
from the southeast,
27and it brought birds
that covered the ground,
like sand on the beach.
28Then God made the birds fall
in the camp of his people
near their tents.
29God gave his people
all they wanted,
and each of them ate
until they were full.
30But before they had swallowed
the last bite,
31God became angry and killed
the strongest
and best
from the families of Israel.
Footnotes:- Psalm 78:12 Zoan: A city in the eastern part of the Nile Delta.
- Psalm 78:24 manna: When the people of Israel were wandering through the desert, the Lord gave them a special kind of food to eat. It tasted like a wafer and was called " manna," which in Hebrew means, " What is this?"
2I will give instruction
and explain the mystery
of what happened long ago.
3These are things we learned
from our ancestors,
4and we will tell them
to the next generation.
We won't keep secret
the glorious deeds
and the mighty miracles
of the LORD.
5God gave his Law
to Jacob's descendants,
the people of Israel.
And he told our ancestors
to teach their children,
6so that each new generation
would know his Law
and tell it to the next.
7Then they would trust God
and obey his teachings,
without forgetting anything
God had done.
8They would be different
from their ancestors,
who were stubborn, rebellious,
and unfaithful to God.
9The warriors from Ephraim
were armed with arrows,
but they ran away
when the battle began.
10They broke their agreement
with God,
and they turned their backs
on his teaching.
11They forgot all he had done,
even the mighty miracles
12he did for their ancestors
near Zoan a] in Egypt. 13God made a path in the sea
and piled up the water
as he led them across.
14He guided them during the day
with a cloud,
and each night he led them
with a flaming fire.
15God made water flow
from rocks
he split open
in the desert,
and his people drank freely,
as though from a lake.
16He made streams gush out
like rivers from rocks.
17But in the desert,
the people of God Most High
kept sinning and rebelling.
18They stubbornly tested God
and demanded from him
what they wanted to eat.
19They challenged God by saying,
"Can God provide food
out here in the desert?
20It's true God struck the rock
and water gushed out
like a river,
but can he give his people
bread and meat?"
21When the LORD heard this,
he was angry and furious
with Jacob's descendants,
the people of Israel.
22They had refused to trust him,
and they had doubted
his saving power.
23But God gave a command
to the clouds,
and he opened the doors
in the skies.
24From heaven he sent grain
that they called manna. b] 25He gave them more than enough,
and each one of them ate
this special food.
26God's mighty power
brought a strong wind
from the southeast,
27and it brought birds
that covered the ground,
like sand on the beach.
28Then God made the birds fall
in the camp of his people
near their tents.
29God gave his people
all they wanted,
and each of them ate
until they were full.
30But before they had swallowed
the last bite,
31God became angry and killed
the strongest
and best
from the families of Israel.
Footnotes:
- Psalm 78:12 Zoan: A city in the eastern part of the Nile Delta.
- Psalm 78:24 manna: When the people of Israel were wandering through the desert, the Lord gave them a special kind of food to eat. It tasted like a wafer and was called " manna," which in Hebrew means, " What is this?"
Proverbs 24:26 (Contemporary English Version)
26Giving an honest answer
is a sign
of true friendship.
is a sign
of true friendship.
Thought for the Day
“So always trust the LORD because he is forever our mighty rock.” (Isaiah 26:4 - Contemporary English Version) Our God is unchanging and eternal. Even when the world around us seems confused and chaotic, our God is solid and secure. In him we can always trust.
“So always trust the LORD because he is forever our mighty rock.” (Isaiah 26:4 - Contemporary English Version) Our God is unchanging and eternal. Even when the world around us seems confused and chaotic, our God is solid and secure. In him we can always trust.
Quote for the Day
Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography, Thor Heyerdahl wrote, “One learns more from listening than speaking. And both the wind and the people who continue to live close to nature still have much to tell us which we cannot hear within university walls.”
Joke for Today
How To Annoy Your Co-Workers...
1) Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.
2) Find out where your boss shops and buy exactly the same outfits. Wear them one day after your boss does. This is especially effective if your boss is a different gender than you.
3) Make up nicknames for all your co-workers and refer to them only by these names. 'That's a good point, Sparky.''No, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with you there, Cha-cha.'
4) Send e-mail to the rest of the company telling them exactly what you're doing. For example: 'If anyone needs me, I'll be in the bathroom.'
5) Hi-Lite your shoes. Tell people you haven't lost them as much since you did this.
6) While sitting at your desk, soak your fingers in Palmolive. Call everyone Madge.
7) Hang mosquito netting around your cubicle. When you emerge to get coffee, a printout, or whatever, slap yourself at random the whole way.
8) Put a chair facing a printer. Sit there all day and tell people you're waiting for your document.
9) Every time someone asks you to do something, anything, ask him or her if they want fries with that.
10) Send e-mail back and forth to yourself, engaging yourself in an intellectual debate. Forward the mail to a co-worker and ask her to settle the disagreement.
11) Encourage your colleagues to join you in a little synchronized chair-dancing.
12) Put your trash can on your desk. Label it 'IN'.
13) Develop an unnatural and hysterical fear of staplers.
14) Send e-mail messages saying there's free pizza, donuts, or cake in the lunchroom. When people drift back to work complaining that they found none, lean back, pat your stomach, and say, 'Oh you've got to be faster than that.'
15) Put decaf in the coffeemaker for three weeks. Once everyone has withdrawn from caffeine addiction, switch to espresso.
A Prayer Request
As Christians, we can offer specific daily prayers for our community, nation and world. Below is the need that we're laying before God today.
That American businesses, unions and government officials would be ethical in all tax reporting and financial transactions.
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