John 3:22-36
[22]
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside,
and he remained there with them and was baptizing. [23] John also was
baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and
people were coming and being baptized [24] (for John had not yet been
put in prison).
[25]
Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over
purification. [26] And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who
was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is
baptizing, and all are going to him.” [27] John answered, “A person
cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. [28]
You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I
have been sent before him.’ [29] The one who has the bride is the
bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him,
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine
is now complete. [30] He must increase, but I must decrease.”
[31]
He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to
the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is
above all. [32] He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no
one receives his testimony. [33] Whoever receives his testimony sets his
seal to this, that God is true. [34] For he whom God has sent utters
the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. [35] The
Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. [36]
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
James 5:1-6
[1]
Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon
you. [2] Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. [3]
Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence
against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up
treasure in the last days. [4] Behold, the wages of the laborers who
mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against
you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord
of hosts. [5] You have lived on the earth in luxury and in
self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
[6] You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not
resist you.
Ecclesiastes 7:15-29
[15]
In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who
perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs
his life in his evildoing. [16] Be not overly righteous, and do not make
yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? [17] Be not overly
wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? [18] It
is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not
your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.
[19] Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.
[20] Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
[21]
Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your
servant cursing you. [22] Your heart knows that many times you yourself
have cursed others.
[23]
All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was
far from me. [24] That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep;
who can find it out?
[25]
I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the
scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the
foolishness that is madness. [26] And I find something more bitter than
death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are
fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her.
[27] Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one
thing to another to find the scheme of things—[28] which my soul has
sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I
found, but a woman among all these I have not found. [29] See, this
alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many
schemes.
Jeremiah 23
[1]
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!”
declares the LORD. [2] Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,
concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my
flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them.
Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. [3]
Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries
where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and
they shall be fruitful and multiply. [4] I will set shepherds over them
who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed,
neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD.
[5]
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up
for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal
wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. [6] In
his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this
is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’
[7]
“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they
shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of
Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ [8] but ‘As the LORD lives who brought
up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north
country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then
they shall dwell in their own land.”
[9] Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me;
all my bones shake;
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the LORD
and because of his holy words.
[10] For the land is full of adulterers;
because of the curse the land mourns,
and the pastures of the wilderness are dried up.
Their course is evil,
and their might is not right.
[11] “Both prophet and priest are ungodly;
even in my house I have found their evil,
declares the LORD.
[12] Therefore their way shall be to them
like slippery paths in the darkness,
into which they shall be driven and fall,
for I will bring disaster upon them
in the year of their punishment,
declares the LORD.
[13] In the prophets of Samaria
I saw an unsavory thing:
they prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.
[14] But in the prophets of Jerusalem
I have seen a horrible thing:
they commit adultery and walk in lies;
they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
so that no one turns from his evil;
all of them have become like Sodom to me,
and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”
[15] Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets:
“Behold, I will feed them with bitter food
and give them poisoned water to drink,
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
[16] Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the
prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak
visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. [17] They
say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be
well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart,
they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”
[18] For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD
to see and to hear his word,
or who has paid attention to his word and listened?
[19] Behold, the storm of the LORD!
Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
[20] The anger of the LORD will not turn back
until he has executed and accomplished
the intents of his heart.
In the latter days you will understand it clearly.
[21] “I did not send the prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
[22] But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
and they would have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their deeds.
[23] “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away?
[24] Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?
declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.
[25] I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my
name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ [26] How long shall
there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who
prophesy the deceit of their own heart, [27] who think to make my people
forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as
their fathers forgot my name for Baal? [28] Let the prophet who has a
dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word
faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. [29]
Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that
breaks the rock in pieces? [30] Therefore, behold, I am against the
prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. [31]
Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their
tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.’ [32] Behold, I am against
those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them
and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I
did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at
all, declares the LORD.
[33]
“When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is
the burden of the LORD?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden, and
I will cast you off, declares the LORD.’ [34] And as for the prophet,
priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the LORD,’ I will
punish that man and his household. [35] Thus shall you say, every one to
his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the LORD
answered?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ [36] But ‘the burden of the
LORD’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man’s own word,
and you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of hosts, our
God. [37] Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the LORD answered
you?’ or ‘What has the LORD spoken?’ [38] But if you say, ‘The burden
of the LORD,’ thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have said these words,
“The burden of the LORD,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not
say, The burden of the LORD,” [39] therefore, behold, I will surely lift
you up and cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave
to you and your fathers. [40] And I will bring upon you everlasting
reproach and perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”
Jeremiah 24
[1]
After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from
Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with
the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had
brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me this vision: behold, two
baskets of figs placed before the temple of the LORD. [2] One basket had
very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad
figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. [3] And the LORD said to me,
“What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good,
and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”
[4]
Then the word of the LORD came to me: [5] “Thus says the LORD, the God
of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles
from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the
Chaldeans. [6] I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring
them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I
will plant them, and not pluck them up. [7] I will give them a heart to
know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their
God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
[8]
“But thus says the LORD: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot
be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the
remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in
the land of Egypt. [9] I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of
the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the
places where I shall drive them. [10] And I will send sword, famine, and
pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the
land that I gave to them and their fathers.”
Jeremiah 25
[1]
The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in
the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was
the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), [2] which Jeremiah
the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem: [3] “For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of
Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the LORD
has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not
listened. [4] You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear,
although the LORD persistently sent to you all his servants the
prophets, [5] saying, ‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and
evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and
your fathers from of old and forever. [6] Do not go after other gods to
serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your
hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ [7] Yet you have not listened to me,
declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of
your hands to your own harm.
[8]
“Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my
words, [9] behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares
the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I
will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all
these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make
them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. [10] Moreover, I
will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the
voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the
millstones and the light of the lamp. [11] This whole land shall become
a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon
seventy years. [12] Then after seventy years are completed, I will
punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans,
for their iniquity, declares the LORD, making the land an everlasting
waste. [13] I will bring upon that land all the words that I have
uttered against it, everything written in this book, which Jeremiah
prophesied against all the nations. [14] For many nations and great
kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will recompense them
according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
[15]
Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this
cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you
drink it. [16] They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the
sword that I am sending among them.”
[17]
So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand, and made all the nations to
whom the LORD sent me drink it: [18] Jerusalem and the cities of Judah,
its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a
hissing and a curse, as at this day; [19] Pharaoh king of Egypt, his
servants, his officials, all his people, [20] and all the mixed tribes
among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the
land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of
Ashdod); [21] Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; [22] all the kings of
Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the
sea; [23] Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who cut the corners of their hair;
[24] all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who
dwell in the desert; [25] all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam,
and all the kings of Media; [26] all the kings of the north, far and
near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on
the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon shall drink.
[27]
“Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the
sword that I am sending among you.’
[28]
“And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you
shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! [29]
For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my
name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am
summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares
the LORD of hosts.’
[30] “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:
“‘The LORD will roar from on high,
and from his holy habitation utter his voice;
he will roar mightily against his fold,
and shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
[31] The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;
he is entering into judgment with all flesh,
and the wicked he will put to the sword,
declares the LORD.’
[32] “Thus says the LORD of hosts:
Behold, disaster is going forth
from nation to nation,
and a great tempest is stirring
from the farthest parts of the earth!
[33] “And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one
end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered,
or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.
[34] “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,
and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,
for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,
and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
[35] No refuge will remain for the shepherds,
nor escape for the lords of the flock.
[36] A voice—the cry of the shepherds,
and the wail of the lords of the flock!
For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,
[37] and the peaceful folds are devastated
because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
[38] Like a lion he has left his lair,
for their land has become a waste
because of the sword of the oppressor,
and because of his fierce anger.”
