October 12

John 4:15-26

[15] The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

[16] Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” [17] The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; [18] for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” [19] The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. [20] Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” [21] Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. [22] You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. [23] But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. [24] God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” [25] The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” [26] Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

James 5:13-20

The Prayer of Faith

[13] Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. [14] Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. [15] And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. [16] Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. [17] Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. [18] Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

[19] My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, [20] let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Ecclesiastes 9

Death Comes to All

[1] But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. [2] It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. [3] This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. [4] But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. [5] For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. [6] Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.

Enjoy Life with the One You Love

[7] Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.

[8] Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.

[9] Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. [10] Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

Wisdom Better Than Folly

[11] Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. [12] For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.

[13] I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. [14] There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. [15] But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. [16] But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.

[17] The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. [18] Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

Jeremiah 30

Restoration for Israel and Judah

[1] The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: [2] “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. [3] For behold, days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the LORD, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.”

[4] These are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah:

    [5] “Thus says the LORD:

    We have heard a cry of panic,

        of terror, and no peace. 

    [6] Ask now, and see,

        can a man bear a child?

    Why then do I see every man

        with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor?

        Why has every face turned pale? 

    [7] Alas! That day is so great

        there is none like it;

    it is a time of distress for Jacob;

        yet he shall be saved out of it.

    [8] “And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him. [9] But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

    [10] “Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, declares the LORD,

        nor be dismayed, O Israel;

    for behold, I will save you from far away,

        and your offspring from the land of their captivity.

    Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,

        and none shall make him afraid. 

    [11] For I am with you to save you,

    declares the LORD;

    I will make a full end of all the nations

        among whom I scattered you,

        but of you I will not make a full end.

    I will discipline you in just measure,

        and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

    [12] “For thus says the LORD:

    Your hurt is incurable,

        and your wound is grievous. 

    [13] There is none to uphold your cause,

        no medicine for your wound,

        no healing for you. 

    [14] All your lovers have forgotten you;

        they care nothing for you;

    for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,

        the punishment of a merciless foe,

    because your guilt is great,

        because your sins are flagrant. 

    [15] Why do you cry out over your hurt?

        Your pain is incurable.

    Because your guilt is great,

        because your sins are flagrant,

        I have done these things to you. 

    [16] Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured,

        and all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;

    those who plunder you shall be plundered,

        and all who prey on you I will make a prey. 

    [17] For I will restore health to you,

        and your wounds I will heal,

    declares the LORD,

    because they have called you an outcast:

        ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’

    [18] “Thus says the LORD:

    Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob

        and have compassion on his dwellings;

    the city shall be rebuilt on its mound,

        and the palace shall stand where it used to be. 

    [19] Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,

        and the voices of those who celebrate.

    I will multiply them, and they shall not be few;

        I will make them honored, and they shall not be small. 

    [20] Their children shall be as they were of old,

        and their congregation shall be established before me,

        and I will punish all who oppress them. 

    [21] Their prince shall be one of themselves;

        their ruler shall come out from their midst;

    I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me,

        for who would dare of himself to approach me?

    declares the LORD. 

    [22] And you shall be my people,

        and I will be your God.”

    [23] Behold the storm of the LORD!

        Wrath has gone forth,

    a whirling tempest;

        it will burst upon the head of the wicked. 

    [24] The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back

        until he has executed and accomplished

        the intentions of his mind.

    In the latter days you will understand this.

Jeremiah 31

The LORD Will Turn Mourning to Joy

[1] “At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”

    [2] Thus says the LORD:

    “The people who survived the sword

        found grace in the wilderness;

    when Israel sought for rest, 

    [3]     the LORD appeared to him from far away.

    I have loved you with an everlasting love;

        therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. 

    [4] Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

        O virgin Israel!

    Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines

        and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. 

    [5] Again you shall plant vineyards

        on the mountains of Samaria;

    the planters shall plant

        and shall enjoy the fruit. 

    [6] For there shall be a day when watchmen will call

        in the hill country of Ephraim:

    ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion,

        to the LORD our God.’”

    [7] For thus says the LORD:

    “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

        and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;

    proclaim, give praise, and say,

        ‘O LORD, save your people,

        the remnant of Israel.’ 

    [8] Behold, I will bring them from the north country

        and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth,

    among them the blind and the lame,

        the pregnant woman and she who is in labor, together;

        a great company, they shall return here. 

    [9] With weeping they shall come,

        and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back,

    I will make them walk by brooks of water,

        in a straight path in which they shall not stumble,

    for I am a father to Israel,

        and Ephraim is my firstborn.

    [10] “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations,

        and declare it in the coastlands far away;

    say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,

        and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ 

    [11] For the LORD has ransomed Jacob

        and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. 

    [12] They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,

        and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD,

    over the grain, the wine, and the oil,

        and over the young of the flock and the herd;

    their life shall be like a watered garden,

        and they shall languish no more. 

    [13] Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,

        and the young men and the old shall be merry.

    I will turn their mourning into joy;

        I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. 

    [14] I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,

        and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,

    declares the LORD.”

    [15] Thus says the LORD:

    “A voice is heard in Ramah,

        lamentation and bitter weeping.

    Rachel is weeping for her children;

        she refuses to be comforted for her children,

        because they are no more.”

    [16] Thus says the LORD:

    “Keep your voice from weeping,

        and your eyes from tears,

    for there is a reward for your work,

    declares the LORD,

        and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. 

    [17] There is hope for your future,

    declares the LORD,

        and your children shall come back to their own country. 

    [18] I have heard Ephraim grieving,

    ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,

        like an untrained calf;

    bring me back that I may be restored,

        for you are the LORD my God. 

    [19] For after I had turned away, I relented,

        and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh;

    I was ashamed, and I was confounded,

        because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ 

    [20] Is Ephraim my dear son?

        Is he my darling child?

    For as often as I speak against him,

        I do remember him still.

    Therefore my heart yearns for him;

        I will surely have mercy on him,

    declares the LORD.

    [21] “Set up road markers for yourself;

        make yourself guideposts;

    consider well the highway,

        the road by which you went.

    Return, O virgin Israel,

        return to these your cities. 

    [22] How long will you waver,

        O faithless daughter?

    For the LORD has created a new thing on the earth:

        a woman encircles a man.”

    [23] Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes: 

    “‘The LORD bless you, O habitation of righteousness,

        O holy hill!’

    [24] And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. [25] For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

[26] At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

[27] “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. [28] And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD. [29] In those days they shall no longer say: 

    “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,

        and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

    [30] But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

The New Covenant

[31] “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, [32] not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. [33] For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [34] And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

    [35] Thus says the LORD,

    who gives the sun for light by day

        and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,

    who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

        the LORD of hosts is his name: 

    [36] “If this fixed order departs

        from before me, declares the LORD,

    then shall the offspring of Israel cease

        from being a nation before me forever.”

    [37] Thus says the LORD:

    “If the heavens above can be measured,

        and the foundations of the earth below can be explored,

    then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel

        for all that they have done,

    declares the LORD.”

    [38] “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when the city shall be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. [39] And the measuring line shall go out farther, straight to the hill Gareb, and shall then turn to Goah. [40] The whole valley of the dead bodies and the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook Kidron, to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, shall be sacred to the LORD. It shall not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”