Jeremiah 2
God’s Charges against Israel
1 Again the Lord said, “Thus says the Lord:
2 ‘I remember your compassion and youth and your love and maturity, so as to follow the Holy One of Israel,’ says the Lord.†
3 ‘Israel, the beginning of His harvest, was holy to the Lord. All who devour him shall transgress, and evils will come upon them,’ ” says the Lord.
The Worship of Baal
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all families of the house of Israel.
5 Thus says the Lord: “What transgression have your fathers found in Me, so as to go far from Me, to follow after vain and worthless things?
6 They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord, who led us out of the land of Egypt, who guided us in the wilderness, in an unknown and untrodden land, a land that was waterless and barren, in which no one traversed and where no son of man dwelt?’
7 I brought you into Carmel to eat its fruit and its good things, but you entered and defiled My land, and made My heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’ But those who handle the law did not trust Me, and the shepherds acted profanely toward Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after unprofitable things.
9 “Therefore I will yet bring charges against you,” says the Lord, “and I will bring charges against the sons of your sons.
10 For pass by the islands of Chettim and see. Send to Kedar and consider diligently. See if such things happened,†
11 whether nations will change their gods; though they are not gods. But My people changed their glory to a glory from which they will not profit.
12 Heaven was amazed at this and was exceedingly horror-struck,” says the Lord.
13 “For My people have committed two evils: They forsook Me, the fountain of living water, and hewed for themselves broken cisterns, unable to hold water.†
Forsaking the Lord
14 “Is not Israel a slave or household servant?
15 The young lions roared at him with their growl and made his land desolate, and her cities were demolished, no longer livable.
16 Also the sons of Memphis and Tahpanhes know you and mock you.
17 By forsaking Me, did you not bring these things upon yourself?” says the Lord your God.
18 “Now, what concern of yours is the road to Egypt, or drinking the waters of the Nile? Why concern yourself about the road to Assyria, or drinking the water of his rivers?
19 Your own rebellion will chastise you, and your vices will convict you. You will know and experience the bitterness of your forsaking Me,” says the Lord your God. “But I have taken no joy in you,” says the Lord your God,
20 “for from of old you have splintered your yoke and have broken your chain to pieces. You have said, ‘I will not serve You, but I will go to every high hill and under every shade tree to indulge in my fornication.’
21 I planted a fruitful vine for you, one most healthy and sweet, yet you turned it into a vine unknown to Me, with a taste of bitterness.
22 Though you wash in soap and evermore use lye on yourself, still you remain defiled in your wrongdoings before Me,” says the Lord.
23 “In what way will you say, ‘I was not a disciple of Baal, nor am I defiled’? Consider your ways, which lead you to the common burial place. Know what you have done, for Baal’s voice cries out late in the day.†
24 He extends his ways over the waters of the desert, for he is borne along as by the wind in the desires of his soul. He is given over to them. Who will turn him back? All who seek him will not grow weary, but they will find him in his humiliation.
25 Therefore, turn your feet away from this uneven path and from the thirst in your mouth, for he says, ‘I will act like a man,’ because he loves strangers and goes after them.
26 “The sons of Israel, their kings and rulers, their priests and even their prophets shall be ashamed, like the shame of a thief when he is caught.
27 For they said to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to the stone, ‘You have begotten me.’ They have turned their backs to Me, and not their faces; yet in the time of their evils, they will say, ‘Arise and save us.’
28 But where are the gods you made for yourself? Will they arise and save you when you are in oppression? For in the same number as you have cities, O Judah, you have gods, and according to the number of thoroughfares in Jerusalem, they sacrifice to Baal.
Denial of Sin
29 “Why do you speak to Me? All of you have been ungodly, and all of you have acted lawlessly against Me,” says the Lord.
30 “In vain I struck your children, for you accepted no chastisement. Like a destroying lion, a sword devoured your prophets, but you did not fear.”
31 Hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord: “Was I really a desert to Israel, or a barren land? Then why did My people say, ‘We will not be dominated, and no more will we come to You’?
32 Can a bride forget her ornaments, or a virgin her breast-band? Yet for days without number My people forget Me.
33 Yet what good will you practice in your ways so as to seek love? None. But you also did evil so as to defile your ways.
34 The death of innocent souls was found at your hands. I did not find them by digging in the earth, but under every oak tree.
35 Yet you said, ‘But I am innocent, so let Your anger turn from me.’ Behold, I pass judgment against you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 Why did you deal so very contemptuously so as to repeat your ways? But you will be ashamed of Egypt as you were of Assyria.†
37 For you will go out henceforth with your hands on your head, because the Lord rejected your hope; and you will not prosper in it.
Psalms 105
1 Alleluia. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His mercy endures forever.
2 Who shall tell the mighty deeds of the Lord, Who shall make all His praises heard?
3 Blessed are those who keep His judgment, And do righteousness at all times.
4 Remember us, O Lord, because of the goodwill of Your people; Visit us with Your salvation,
5 So as to see it in the goodness of Your chosen ones; So as to be glad with the joy of Your nation, So as to praise You in the midst of Your inheritance.
6 We sinned with our fathers; We committed lawlessness; we acted wrongfully.
7 Our fathers did not understand Your wonders in Egypt; They did not remember the multitude of Your mercy, But rebelled when they went up to the Red Sea.
8 But He saved them because of His name, So they might know His power;
9 And He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up; And He led them in the sea as though it were a desert.
10 He saved them from the hands of those who hated them, And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy;
11 So the water covered those who afflicted them; There was not one left among them.
12 Then they believed His words And sang His praise.
13 They were quick to forget His works; They did not wait for His counsel;
14 And they desired exceedingly in the desert, And tempted God in a waterless place.
15 So He gave them their request And fully satisfied their souls.
Proverbs of Solomon 23
Understanding and Priorities
1 If you sit down to dine at a table of princes, Understand carefully the things put before you;†
2 And apply your hand, Knowing you should prepare certain things;
3 And if you are insatiable, do not desire its delicacies, For these things belong to a false life.
4 If you are poor, do not measure yourself with a rich man, But keep away from this in your thinking;
5 If you fix your eye on him, he will disappear, For wings like an eagle’s are prepared for him, And he returns to the house of his master.
Hebrews 2
Beware of Willful Negligence
1 Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.†
2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward,
3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?
5 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels.†
6 But one testified in a certain place, saying: “What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? †
7 You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands.
8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.†
Why God Became Man
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.†
11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,
12 saying: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”
13 And again: “I will put My trust in Him.” And again: “Here am I and the children whom God has given Me.”
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,†
15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.†
16 For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham.
17 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.†
18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.