October 5

John 1:43-51

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

[43] The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” [44] Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. [45] Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” [46] Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” [47] Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” [48] Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” [49] Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” [50] Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” [51] And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

James 2:14-26

Faith Without Works Is Dead

[14] What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? [15] If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, [16] and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? [17] So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

[18] But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. [19] You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! [20] Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? [21] Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? [22] You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; [23] and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. [24] You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. [25] And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? [26] For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

From Dust to Dust

[16] Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. [17] I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. [18] I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. [19] For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. [20] All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. [21] Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? [22] So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?

Jeremiah 10

Idols and the Living God

[1] Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. [2] Thus says the LORD: 

    “Learn not the way of the nations,

        nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens

        because the nations are dismayed at them, 

    [3] for the customs of the peoples are vanity.

    A tree from the forest is cut down

        and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. 

    [4] They decorate it with silver and gold;

        they fasten it with hammer and nails

        so that it cannot move. 

    [5] Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,

        and they cannot speak;

    they have to be carried,

        for they cannot walk.

    Do not be afraid of them,

        for they cannot do evil,

        neither is it in them to do good.”

    [6] There is none like you, O LORD;

        you are great, and your name is great in might. 

    [7] Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?

        For this is your due;

    for among all the wise ones of the nations

        and in all their kingdoms

        there is none like you. 

    [8] They are both stupid and foolish;

        the instruction of idols is but wood! 

    [9] Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,

        and gold from Uphaz.

    They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;

        their clothing is violet and purple;

        they are all the work of skilled men. 

    [10] But the LORD is the true God;

        he is the living God and the everlasting King.

    At his wrath the earth quakes,

        and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

    [11] Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”

    [12] It is he who made the earth by his power,

        who established the world by his wisdom,

        and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. 

    [13] When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

        and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

    He makes lightning for the rain,

        and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. 

    [14] Every man is stupid and without knowledge;

        every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,

    for his images are false,

        and there is no breath in them. 

    [15] They are worthless, a work of delusion;

        at the time of their punishment they shall perish. 

    [16] Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,

        for he is the one who formed all things,

    and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;

        the LORD of hosts is his name.

    [17] Gather up your bundle from the ground,

        O you who dwell under siege! 

    [18] For thus says the LORD:

    “Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land

        at this time,

    and I will bring distress on them,

        that they may feel it.”

    [19] Woe is me because of my hurt!

        My wound is grievous.

    But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,

        and I must bear it.” 

    [20] My tent is destroyed,

        and all my cords are broken;

    my children have gone from me,

        and they are not;

    there is no one to spread my tent again

        and to set up my curtains. 

    [21] For the shepherds are stupid

        and do not inquire of the LORD;

    therefore they have not prospered,

        and all their flock is scattered.

    [22] A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—

        a great commotion out of the north country

    to make the cities of Judah a desolation,

        a lair of jackals.

    [23] I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself,

        that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. 

    [24] Correct me, O LORD, but in justice;

        not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

    [25] Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,

        and on the peoples that call not on your name,

    for they have devoured Jacob;

        they have devoured him and consumed him,

        and have laid waste his habitation.

Jeremiah 11

The Broken Covenant

[1] The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: [2] “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [3] You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant [4] that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, [5] that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, LORD.”

[6] And the LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. [7] For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. [8] Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

[9] Again the LORD said to me, “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. [10] They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. [11] Therefore, thus says the LORD, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. [12] Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. [13] For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.

[14] “Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. [15] What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult? [16] The LORD once called you ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed. [17] The LORD of hosts, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

    [18] The LORD made it known to me and I knew;

        then you showed me their deeds. 

    [19] But I was like a gentle lamb

        led to the slaughter.

    I did not know it was against me

        they devised schemes, saying,

    “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,

        let us cut him off from the land of the living,

        that his name be remembered no more.” 

    [20] But, O LORD of hosts, who judges righteously,

        who tests the heart and the mind,

    let me see your vengeance upon them,

        for to you have I committed my cause.

    [21] Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, “Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand”—[22] therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, [23] and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.”