We Need Worship in Our Prayers

“…saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’”

REVELATION 5:12

 

PONDER THIS

A woman was once trapped in an apartment building. A brave fireman saw her at the window screaming for help, so he climbed a ladder to rescue her, taking her in his arms and bringing her down that ladder. He saved her life. Later, she went to the firehouse to thank that fireman. They got acquainted, began to date, got married, and I trust, lived happily ever after.

When she was in that window saying, “Help me! Save me!” that’s like praying, “God, I’ve got a need. I need you.” When we call on God for help when we’re in trouble, that is petition. We need to do that, to call on God for what we need. When the woman went to the firehouse to say thank you, that’s like praise and thanksgiving. We need to do that too. We ought to come to God, thank Him, glorify Him, and praise Him for what He has done for us. But we also need to worship Him. When the woman and the fireman fell in love and got married, she didn’t just love him because he had rescued her but for who he was. Out of that love, she gave all of her to all of him. That is like worship.

This is where many of us fall short. Sometimes our prayers are for help and salvation, which is wonderful. Sometimes we’re saying, “Thank you, Lord, for what you’ve done,” and that’s great too. But how many times have we simply come to God and said, “O God, I just pour out my heart in love to you.” That is true worship. And we need to do it more.

When was the last time you truly worshiped God?

How can you worship God on a regular basis?

PRACTICE THIS

Meet up with a friend and worship God together.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Purpose of Prosperity

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. (Ephesians 4:28)

There are three levels of how to live with material things: (1) you can steal to get them; (2) or you can work to get them; (3) or you can work to get in order to give.

Too many professing Christians live on level two. We glorify work over against stealing and mooching, and feel we have acted virtuously if we have spurned stealing and mooching, and given ourselves to an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. That’s not a bad thing. Work is better than stealing and mooching. But that’s not what the apostle calls us to.

Almost all the forces of our culture urge us to live on level two: work to get. But the Bible pushes us relentlessly to level three: work to get to give. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Why does God bless us with abundance? So we can have enough to live on, and then use the rest for all manner of good works that alleviate spiritual and physical misery — temporal and eternal suffering. Enough for us; abundance for others.

The issue is not how much a person makes. Big industry and big salaries are a fact of our times, and they are not necessarily evil. The evil is in being deceived into thinking that a large salary must be accompanied by a lavish lifestyle.

God has made us to be conduits of his grace. The danger is in thinking the conduit should be lined with gold. It shouldn’t. Copper will do. Copper can carry unbelievable riches to others. And in the very process of that giving we enjoy the greatest blessing (Acts 20:35).

John Piper 

October 17

John 5:31-47

[31] If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. [32] There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. [33] You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. [34] Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. [35] He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. [36] But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. [37] And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, [38] and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. [39] You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, [40] yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. [41] I do not receive glory from people. [42] But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. [43] I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. [44] How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? [45] Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. [46] For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. [47] But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

1 Peter 2:9-17

[9] But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. [10] Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

[11] Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. [12] Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Submission to Authority

[13] Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, [14] or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. [15] For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. [16] Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. [17] Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Song of Solomon 2

    [1] I am a rose of Sharon,

        a lily of the valleys.

He

    [2] 

    As a lily among brambles,

        so is my love among the young women.

She

    [3] 

    As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,

        so is my beloved among the young men.

    With great delight I sat in his shadow,

        and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 

    [4] 

    He brought me to the banqueting house,

        and his banner over me was love. 

    [5] 

    Sustain me with raisins;

        refresh me with apples,

        for I am sick with love. 

    [6] 

    His left hand is under my head,

        and his right hand embraces me! 

    [7] 

    I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

        by the gazelles or the does of the field,

    that you not stir up or awaken love

        until it pleases.

The Bride Adores Her Beloved

    [8] The voice of my beloved!

        Behold, he comes,

    leaping over the mountains,

        bounding over the hills. 

    [9] My beloved is like a gazelle

        or a young stag.

    Behold, there he stands

        behind our wall,

    gazing through the windows,

        looking through the lattice. 

    [10] My beloved speaks and says to me:

    “Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

        and come away, 

    [11] for behold, the winter is past;

        the rain is over and gone. 

    [12] The flowers appear on the earth,

        the time of singing has come,

    and the voice of the turtledove

        is heard in our land. 

    [13] The fig tree ripens its figs,

        and the vines are in blossom;

        they give forth fragrance.

    Arise, my love, my beautiful one,

        and come away. 

    [14] O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,

        in the crannies of the cliff,

    let me see your face,

        let me hear your voice,

    for your voice is sweet,

        and your face is lovely. 

    [15] Catch the foxes for us,

        the little foxes

    that spoil the vineyards,

        for our vineyards are in blossom.”

    [16] My beloved is mine, and I am his;

        he grazes among the lilies. 

    [17] Until the day breathes

        and the shadows flee,

    turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle

        or a young stag on cleft mountains.

Jeremiah 47

Judgment on the Philistines

[1] The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down Gaza.

    [2] “Thus says the LORD:

    Behold, waters are rising out of the north,

        and shall become an overflowing torrent;

    they shall overflow the land and all that fills it,

        the city and those who dwell in it.

    Men shall cry out,

        and every inhabitant of the land shall wail. 

    [3] At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,

        at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,

    the fathers look not back to their children,

        so feeble are their hands, 

    [4] because of the day that is coming to destroy

        all the Philistines,

    to cut off from Tyre and Sidon

        every helper that remains.

    For the LORD is destroying the Philistines,

        the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor. 

    [5] Baldness has come upon Gaza;

        Ashkelon has perished.

    O remnant of their valley,

        how long will you gash yourselves? 

    [6] Ah, sword of the LORD!

        How long till you are quiet?

    Put yourself into your scabbard;

        rest and be still! 

    [7] How can it be quiet

        when the LORD has given it a charge?

    Against Ashkelon and against the seashore

        he has appointed it.”

Jeremiah 48

Judgment on Moab

[1] Concerning Moab. 

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 

    “Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste!

        Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;

    the fortress is put to shame and broken down; 

    [2]     the renown of Moab is no more.

    In Heshbon they planned disaster against her:

        ‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’

    You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence;

        the sword shall pursue you.

    [3] “A voice! A cry from Horonaim,

        ‘Desolation and great destruction!’ 

    [4] Moab is destroyed;

        her little ones have made a cry. 

    [5] For at the ascent of Luhith

        they go up weeping;

    for at the descent of Horonaim

        they have heard the distressed cry of destruction. 

    [6] Flee! Save yourselves!

        You will be like a juniper in the desert! 

    [7] For, because you trusted in your works and your treasures,

        you also shall be taken;

    and Chemosh shall go into exile

        with his priests and his officials. 

    [8] The destroyer shall come upon every city,

        and no city shall escape;

    the valley shall perish,

        and the plain shall be destroyed,

        as the LORD has spoken.

    [9] “Give wings to Moab,

        for she would fly away;

    her cities shall become a desolation,

        with no inhabitant in them.

    [10] “Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.

    [11] “Moab has been at ease from his youth

        and has settled on his dregs;

    he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,

        nor has he gone into exile;

    so his taste remains in him,

        and his scent is not changed.

    [12] “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his jars in pieces. [13] Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

    [14] “How do you say, ‘We are heroes

        and mighty men of war’? 

    [15] The destroyer of Moab and his cities has come up,

        and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter,

        declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. 

    [16] The calamity of Moab is near at hand,

        and his affliction hastens swiftly. 

    [17] Grieve for him, all you who are around him,

        and all who know his name;

    say, ‘How the mighty scepter is broken,

        the glorious staff.’

    [18] “Come down from your glory,

        and sit on the parched ground,

        O inhabitant of Dibon!

    For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;

        he has destroyed your strongholds. 

    [19] Stand by the way and watch,

        O inhabitant of Aroer!

    Ask him who flees and her who escapes;

        say, ‘What has happened?’ 

    [20] Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;

        wail and cry!

    Tell it beside the Arnon,

        that Moab is laid waste.

    [21] “Judgment has come upon the tableland, upon Holon, and Jahzah, and Mephaath, [22] and Dibon, and Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, [23] and Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, [24] and Kerioth, and Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. [25] The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, declares the LORD.

[26] “Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the LORD, so that Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he too shall be held in derision. [27] Was not Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him you wagged your head?

    [28] “Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock,

        O inhabitants of Moab!

    Be like the dove that nests

        in the sides of the mouth of a gorge. 

    [29] We have heard of the pride of Moab—

        he is very proud—

    of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance,

        and the haughtiness of his heart. 

    [30] I know his insolence, declares the LORD;

        his boasts are false,

        his deeds are false. 

    [31] Therefore I wail for Moab;

        I cry out for all Moab;

        for the men of Kir-hareseth I mourn. 

    [32] More than for Jazer I weep for you,

        O vine of Sibmah!

    Your branches passed over the sea,

        reached to the Sea of Jazer;

    on your summer fruits and your grapes

        the destroyer has fallen. 

    [33] Gladness and joy have been taken away

        from the fruitful land of Moab;

    I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;

        no one treads them with shouts of joy;

        the shouting is not the shout of joy.

    [34] “From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. [35] And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the LORD, him who offers sacrifice in the high place and makes offerings to his god. [36] Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of Kir-hareseth. Therefore the riches they gained have perished.

[37] “For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. On all the hands are gashes, and around the waist is sackcloth. [38] On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like a vessel for which no one cares, declares the LORD. [39] How it is broken! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab has become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.”

    [40] For thus says the LORD:

    “Behold, one shall fly swiftly like an eagle

        and spread his wings against Moab; 

    [41] the cities shall be taken

        and the strongholds seized.

    The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day

        like the heart of a woman in her birth pains; 

    [42] Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people,

        because he magnified himself against the LORD. 

    [43] Terror, pit, and snare

        are before you, O inhabitant of Moab!

    declares the LORD. 

    [44] He who flees from the terror

        shall fall into the pit,

    and he who climbs out of the pit

        shall be caught in the snare.

    For I will bring these things upon Moab,

        the year of their punishment,

    declares the LORD.

    [45] “In the shadow of Heshbon

        fugitives stop without strength,

    for fire came out from Heshbon,

        flame from the house of Sihon;

    it has destroyed the forehead of Moab,

        the crown of the sons of tumult. 

    [46] Woe to you, O Moab!

        The people of Chemosh are undone,

    for your sons have been taken captive,

        and your daughters into captivity. 

    [47] Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab

        in the latter days, declares the LORD.”

    Thus far is the judgment on Moab.

Do You Want to Be Filled with Real Joy?

The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.’” JOHN 4:19-23

 

PONDER THIS

Do you know what’s wrong with the Church today? We have forgotten how to worship. Some people today say if you want to build a great church, talk to the people about their needs on Sunday morning. Then, help meet those needs. When they talk about their needs, they’re talking about their emotional, psychological, and physical needs.

So many of our worship services across America have left theology and gone to me-ology. Rather than worshiping God, we come and turn our eyes inward, seeking to find life. But Jesus said, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). If you want to be miserable, turn your life inward. If you want to be filled with joy, turn your life upward. Look into the face of God and learn to worship.

Now, we’ve studied and read this morning about a woman at a well who was miserable. She was miserable because she had never learned to worship. She was self-centered. She was a slave to sin. She was a religious woman, but religion had never helped her. This is why Jesus taught this woman about worship. Whether you are up and out or down and out, you need to learn to worship God.

What does it look like to worship God?

What are some ways you can be self-centered instead of Christ-centered? How does this affect the way you worship God?

PRACTICE THIS

Go outside and worship God for who He is and what He has done.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Fear and Hope in God’s Jealousy

“The Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14)

God is infinitely jealous for the honor of his name, and responds with terrible wrath against those whose hearts should belong to him but go after other things, like a spouse running after another lover.

For example, in Ezekiel 16:38–40 he says to faithless Israel,

“I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your vaulted chamber. . . . They shall strip you of your clothes and take your beautiful jewels and leave you naked and bare. They shall bring up a crowd against you, and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.”

I urge you to listen to this warning. The jealousy of God for your undivided love and devotion will always have the last say. Whatever lures your affections away from God with deceptive attraction will come back to strip you bare and cut you in pieces.

It is a horrifying thing to use your God-given life to commit adultery against the Almighty.

But for those of you who have been truly united to Christ and who keep your vows to forsake all others and cleave only to him and live for his honor — for you the jealousy of God is a great comfort and a great hope.

Since God is infinitely jealous for the honor of his name, anything and anybody who threatens the good of his faithful wife will be opposed with divine omnipotence. That’s good news for the faithful wife — the faithful people of God.

God’s jealousy is a great threat to those who play the harlot and sell their heart to the world and make a cuckold out of God (James 4:3–4). But his jealousy is a great comfort to those who keep their covenant vows and become strangers and exiles in the world.

John Piper 

October 16

John 5:16-30

[16] And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. [17] But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

Jesus Is Equal with God

[18] This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

The Authority of the Son

[19] So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. [20] For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. [21] For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. [22] For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, [23] that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. [24] Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

[25] “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. [26] For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. [27] And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. [28] Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice [29] and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Witnesses to Jesus

[30] “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

1 Peter 2:1-8

A Living Stone and a Holy People

[1] So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. [2] Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—[3] if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

[4] As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, [5] you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. [6] For it stands in Scripture: 

    “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,

        a cornerstone chosen and precious,

    and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

    [7] So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, 

    “The stone that the builders rejected

        has become the cornerstone,”

    [8] and 

    “A stone of stumbling,

        and a rock of offense.”

    They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

Song of Solomon 1

[1] The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.

The Bride Confesses Her Love

She

    [2] Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!

    For your love is better than wine; 

    [3]     your anointing oils are fragrant;

    your name is oil poured out;

        therefore virgins love you. 

    [4] Draw me after you; let us run.

        The king has brought me into his chambers.

    Others

    We will exult and rejoice in you;

        we will extol your love more than wine;

        rightly do they love you.

    She

    [5] I am very dark, but lovely,

        O daughters of Jerusalem,

    like the tents of Kedar,

        like the curtains of Solomon. 

    [6] Do not gaze at me because I am dark,

        because the sun has looked upon me.

    My mother’s sons were angry with me;

        they made me keeper of the vineyards,

        but my own vineyard I have not kept! 

    [7] Tell me, you whom my soul loves,

        where you pasture your flock,

        where you make it lie down at noon;

    for why should I be like one who veils herself

        beside the flocks of your companions?

    Solomon and His Bride Delight in Each Other

He

    [8] If you do not know,

        O most beautiful among women,

    follow in the tracks of the flock,

        and pasture your young goats

        beside the shepherds’ tents.

    [9] I compare you, my love,

        to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots. 

    [10] Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,

        your neck with strings of jewels.

    Others

    [11] We will make for you ornaments of gold,

        studded with silver.

    She

    [12] While the king was on his couch,

        my nard gave forth its fragrance. 

    [13] My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh

        that lies between my breasts. 

    [14] My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms

        in the vineyards of Engedi.

    He

    [15] Behold, you are beautiful, my love;

        behold, you are beautiful;

        your eyes are doves.

    She

    [16] Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful.

    Our couch is green; 

    [17]     the beams of our house are cedar;

        our rafters are pine.

Jeremiah 44

Judgment for Idolatry

[1] The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at Migdol, at Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of Pathros, [2] “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, [3] because of the evil that they committed, provoking me to anger, in that they went to make offerings and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. [4] Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ [5] But they did not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. [6] Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day. [7] And now thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil against yourselves, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? [8] Why do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, making offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become a curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? [9] Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, the evil of the kings of Judah, the evil of their wives, your own evil, and the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? [10] They have not humbled themselves even to this day, nor have they feared, nor walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.

[11] “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. [12] I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine they shall be consumed. From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, and they shall become an oath, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. [13] I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, [14] so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, except some fugitives.”

[15] Then all the men who knew that their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: [16] “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you. [17] But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. [18] But since we left off making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” [19] And the women said, “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands’ approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

[20] Then Jeremiah said to all the people, men and women, all the people who had given him this answer: [21] “As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them? Did it not come into his mind? [22] The LORD could no longer bear your evil deeds and the abominations that you committed. Therefore your land has become a desolation and a waste and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day. [23] It is because you made offerings and because you sinned against the LORD and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.”

[24] Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. [25] Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You and your wives have declared with your mouths, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made, to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! [26] Therefore hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the LORD, that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, ‘As the Lord GOD lives.’ [27] Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. All the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. [28] And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. [29] This shall be the sign to you, declares the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for harm: [30] Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”

Jeremiah 45

Message to Baruch

[1] The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: [2] “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: [3] You said, ‘Woe is me! For the LORD has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary with my groaning, and I find no rest.’ [4] Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the LORD: Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. [5] And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the LORD. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”

Jeremiah 46

Judgment on Egypt

[1] The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

[2] About Egypt. Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

    [3] “Prepare buckler and shield,

        and advance for battle! 

    [4] Harness the horses;

        mount, O horsemen!

    Take your stations with your helmets,

        polish your spears,

        put on your armor! 

    [5] Why have I seen it?

    They are dismayed

        and have turned backward.

    Their warriors are beaten down

        and have fled in haste;

    they look not back—

        terror on every side!

    declares the LORD.

    [6] “The swift cannot flee away,

        nor the warrior escape;

    in the north by the river Euphrates

        they have stumbled and fallen.

    [7] “Who is this, rising like the Nile,

        like rivers whose waters surge? 

    [8] Egypt rises like the Nile,

        like rivers whose waters surge.

    He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,

        I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’ 

    [9] Advance, O horses,

        and rage, O chariots!

    Let the warriors go out:

        men of Cush and Put who handle the shield,

        men of Lud, skilled in handling the bow. 

    [10] That day is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts,

        a day of vengeance,

        to avenge himself on his foes.

    The sword shall devour and be sated

        and drink its fill of their blood.

    For the Lord GOD of hosts holds a sacrifice

        in the north country by the river Euphrates. 

    [11] Go up to Gilead, and take balm,

        O virgin daughter of Egypt!

    In vain you have used many medicines;

        there is no healing for you. 

    [12] The nations have heard of your shame,

        and the earth is full of your cry;

    for warrior has stumbled against warrior;

        they have both fallen together.”

    [13] The word that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:

    [14] “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in Migdol;

        proclaim in Memphis and Tahpanhes;

    say, ‘Stand ready and be prepared,

        for the sword shall devour around you.’ 

    [15] Why are your mighty ones face down?

        They do not stand

        because the LORD thrust them down. 

    [16] He made many stumble, and they fell,

        and they said one to another,

    ‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people

        and to the land of our birth,

        because of the sword of the oppressor.’ 

    [17] Call the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,

        ‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’

    [18] “As I live, declares the King,

        whose name is the LORD of hosts,

    like Tabor among the mountains

        and like Carmel by the sea, shall one come. 

    [19] Prepare yourselves baggage for exile,

        O inhabitants of Egypt!

    For Memphis shall become a waste,

        a ruin, without inhabitant.

    [20] “A beautiful heifer is Egypt,

        but a biting fly from the north has come upon her. 

    [21] Even her hired soldiers in her midst

        are like fattened calves;

    yes, they have turned and fled together;

        they did not stand,

    for the day of their calamity has come upon them,

        the time of their punishment.

    [22] “She makes a sound like a serpent gliding away;

        for her enemies march in force

    and come against her with axes

        like those who fell trees. 

    [23] They shall cut down her forest,

    declares the LORD,

        though it is impenetrable,

    because they are more numerous than locusts;

        they are without number. 

    [24] The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;

        she shall be delivered into the hand of a people from the north.”

    [25] The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon Amon of Thebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt and her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. [26] I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Afterward Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old, declares the LORD.

    [27] “But fear not, O Jacob my servant,

        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. 

    [28] Fear not, O Jacob my servant,

    declares the LORD,

        for I am with you.

    I will make a full end of all the nations

        to which I have driven 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.”