Day 331 – November 27, 2022

Jeremiah 49-52

​¹ All the leaders of the army, Johanan and Azariah the son of Mahseiah, and all the people, from the least to the greatest, ² came to Jeremiah the prophet and said to him, “Let our supplication now come before your face, and pray to the Lord your God concerning those who remain, for we few are left out of the many, as your eyes see. ³ Let the Lord your God proclaim to us the way wherein we should walk and the thing we should do.” ⁴ Then Jeremiah said to them, “I hear you. Behold, I will pray to the Lord our God according to your words, and it shall come to pass, whatever word the Lord shall answer I will declare to you. I will not conceal any word from you.” ⁵ They said to Jeremiah, “Let the Lord be between us as a righteous and faithful witness, if we will do every word the Lord sends us, ⁶ and whether it be good or evil, we will heed the voice of the Lord our God to whom we send you, that it may be beneficial for us; for we will heed the voice of the Lord our God.”
⁷ So it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after ten days. ⁸ Thus he called Johanan, and all the leaders of the army, and all the people, from the least even to the greatest, ⁹ and said to them, “Thus says the Lord: ¹⁰ ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, I will build you up and not pull you down. I will plant you and not pluck you up; for I will put an end to the calamities I did to you. ¹¹ Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you fear. Do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ‘because I am with you to deliver you, and to save you from his hand. ¹² I will show you compassion and have mercy on you. I will return you to your land.’
¹³ “But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land, so as not to heed the voice of the Lord; ¹⁴ for we shall go into the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor be hungry for bread, and there we will dwell’; ¹⁵ then hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord: ‘If you have set your face to Egypt to enter and dwell there, ¹⁶ then it shall be that the sword you feared shall find you in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you have regard shall overtake you in Egypt; and there you shall die. ¹⁷ So all the men and all the foreigners who set their faces to the land of Egypt to dwell there, they shall die by the sword and famine. Not one of them shall escape from the evils I will bring upon them.’
¹⁸ “For thus says the Lord: ‘As My anger fell upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall My anger fall upon you when you enter Egypt. You shall be as an impassable land and under the authority of others. You shall be as a curse and a disgrace, and you shall see this place no more.’ ¹⁹ These are the words the Lord said concerning you, O remnant of Judah: ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ So now, know this as a certainty, ²⁰ that you did evil in your souls when you sent to me, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord, and according to all the Lord speaks to you we will do.’ ²¹ But you did not heed the voice of the Lord which He sent me for you. ²² So now you shall die by the sword and by famine in the place you desire to go and dwell.”
Jeremiah Brought to Egypt
​¹ Then it came to pass, as Jeremiah ceased speaking to the people all the words of the Lord for which the Lord sent him to them, even all these words, ² that Azariah the son of Mahseiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the men who spoke to Jeremiah said, “That is a lie. The Lord did not send you to us, saying, ‘Do not enter Egypt to dwell there.’ ³ But Baruch the son of Neriah set you against us that you might deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, to kill us or to send us as captives to Babylon.” ⁴ So Johanan, all the leaders of the army, and all the people refused to heed the voice of the Lord, to dwell in the land of Judah. ⁵ Thus Johanan and all the leaders of the army took the entire remnant of Judah who returned to dwell in the land: ⁶ the mighty men, the women and children, the daughters of the king, and the souls Nebuzaradan left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, together with Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. ⁷ They entered Egypt; for they did not heed the voice of the Lord, but entered Tahpanhes.
⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, ⁹ “Take for yourself large stones and hide them in the entrance, at the gate to the house of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah. ¹⁰ Then you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon. He will set his throne upon these stones you hid and spread his weapons upon them. ¹¹ He shall enter in and strike the land of Egypt. He shall deliver some for death, and those for captivity to captivity, and those for the sword to the sword. ¹² He shall kindle a fire in the houses of their gods and shall burn them. He will carry them away captive, and search the land of Egypt as a shepherd searches his garment for lice; then he shall go from there in peace. ¹³ He shall break into pieces the pillars of the sun in On, and he shall burn their houses with fire.” ’ ”
The Disobedient Jews Are Judged in Egypt
​¹ The word came to Jeremiah for all the Jews dwelling in the land of Egypt and staying in Migdol, and in Tahpanhes, and in the land of Pathros, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘You saw all the calamities I brought upon Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. Behold, they are desolate without inhabitants because of their evils ³ which they committed to provoke Me, by burning incense to other gods they did not know. ⁴ Yet early in the morning, I sent you My servants the prophets. I sent them, saying, “Do not do this deed of defilement which I hate.” ⁵ But they did not listen to Me, nor did they incline their ear to turn from their evils of burning incense to other gods. ⁶ So My wrath and anger fell upon them and was kindled in the cities of Judah and outside Jerusalem. They became as a desolation and impassable, as it is this day.’
⁷ “So now, thus says the Lord Almighty: ‘Why do you commit great evils against your souls, to cut off your man and woman, and your child and infant, from the midst of Judah? Your evils did not leave one of you as a remnant, ⁸ because you provoked Me with the works of your hands by burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, in which you entered to dwell. You cut yourself off so as to become a curse and a disgrace among all the nations of the earth. ⁹ Have you forgotten the evils of your fathers, the evils of the kings of Judah, the evils of your rulers, and the evils of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and outside Jerusalem? ¹⁰ They have not ceased even to this day, nor have they cleaved to My statutes, which I gave in the presence of their fathers.’
¹¹ “Therefore, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I set My face against you ¹² to destroy all the remnant in Egypt. They shall fall by the sword and by famine; and they shall die, from the least to the greatest. They shall be as a disgrace, a destruction, and a curse. ¹³ I shall visit those who dwell in the land of Egypt as I visited Jerusalem with the sword, famine, and death. ¹⁴ Of those left in Judah and who dwell in the land of Egypt, there shall not be any of them who shall return to the land of Judah, to which they hope in their hearts to return; but only those who escape shall return.’ ”
¹⁵ Then all the men who knew their wives burned incense to other gods, and all the great assembly of women, and all the people who stayed in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, ¹⁶ “As for the word you spoke to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you. ¹⁷ For we will certainly do every word which proceeds from our mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink-offerings to her, as we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, have done in the cities of Judah and outside Jerusalem. For we were full of bread; and we were well-off and saw no calamities. ¹⁸ But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven, we are all diminished and have died by sword and famine. ¹⁹ But while we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes to her and pour out drink-offerings to her without our husbands?”
²⁰ Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people: the mighty men, the women, and all the people conversing with him, saying, ²¹ “Did not the Lord remember the incense you burned in the cities of Judah and outside Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and rulers, and the people of the land, and did it not come into His heart? ²² The Lord could no longer bear with your evil deeds and with the abominations you committed. Thus your land became as a desolation, as impassable, and as a curse, as it is this day. ²³ Because you burned incense and sinned against the Lord, and did not heed the voice of the Lord, nor walked in His ordinances, His law, and His testimonies—therefore, these calamities came upon you.”
²⁴ Jeremiah also said to the people and to the women, “Hear the word of the Lord. ²⁵ Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘You wives spoke with your mouth and fulfilled with your hands, saying, “We will surely keep the confessions we made, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.” You certainly stood fast and performed your confessions.’ ²⁶ Therefore hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ‘Behold, I swore by My great name,’ says the Lord, ‘that My name shall no more be in the mouth of everyone of Judah, to say, “The Lord and Master lives in all the land of Egypt.” ²⁷ For behold, I have watched over them to harm them, and not to do them good. For all the men of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt shall die by sword and famine, until they cease to be. ²⁸ Yet those few in number who escape the sword shall return to the land of Judah. But the remnant of Judah who stayed in the land of Egypt to dwell there shall know whose word will remain steadfast. ²⁹ This shall be a sign for you that I will visit you for evil.’ ³⁰ Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will give Hophra king of Egypt into the hands of his enemy and into the hands of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his enemy who sought his life.’ ”
A Promise to Baruch
³¹ The word Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah when he wrote these words in the book from the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, ³² “Thus the Lord spoke to you, O Baruch: ³³ ‘Because you said, “Alas! alas! for the Lord added pain upon pain to me. I laid down in groaning, but found no rest.’ ” ³⁴ Thus you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I pull down those whom I built up, and I pluck up those whom I planted. ³⁵ So will you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them, for behold, I will bring calamities upon all flesh,” says the Lord. “But I will give you life, as finding a treasure in every place, wherever you go.” ’ ”
The Death of Zedekiah
​¹ Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. ² Then it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem. They surrounded it with a fortress and encircled it with stones. ³ The city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah, ⁴ on the ninth day of the month. The famine became severe in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
⁵ Then the city was broken through, and all the men of war went out at night by way of the gate, between the wall and the outwork, next to the garden of the king; for at the time the Chaldeans surrounded the entire city. They went by the road to Arabah. ⁶ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the country beyond Jericho; and all his servants were scattered from him. ⁷ They took the king and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah; and he pronounced judgment against him. ⁸ In Riblah, the king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah and all the rulers of Judah before his eyes. ⁹ He blinded the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in shackles; and the king of Babylon brought him to Babylon, and placed him in the mill house until he died.
Destruction of Jerusalem Reviewed
¹⁰ Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who served before the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. ¹¹ He burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house, and all the houses of the city. Every great house he burned with fire. ¹² Then the army of the Chaldeans, with the captain of the guard, pulled down every wall round about Jerusalem. ¹³ But the captain of the guard left the remnant of the people to be vinedressers and farmers.
¹⁴ The Chaldeans also broke in pieces the bronze pillars of the house of the Lord, and the pedestals and the bronze Sea in the house of the Lord, and they carried all their bronze to Babylon. ¹⁵ The captain of the guard also took away the rim, the bowl, the meat-hooks, and all the brazen vessels in which they ministered, ¹⁶ and the basins, the snuffers, the oil-funnels, the candlesticks, the censers, the golden cups, and the silver cups, ¹⁷ and two pillars, the one Sea, and the twelve bronzed calves under the Sea, which King Solomon made for the house of the Lord, and the bronze artifacts which were beyond measure.
¹⁸ As for the pillars, the height of one pillar was thirty-five cubits, and a line of twelve cubits measured the circumference. It was four fingers in thickness. ¹⁹ And a bronze border was upon them, and the length was five cubits, the height of one border. Around the capital was a network and pomegranates, all made of bronze. Similarly, the second pillar had eight pomegranates for each of the twelve cubits. ²⁰ There were ninety-six pomegranates on each side, and all the pomegranates all around on the network were one hundred.
The Captives Are Brought to Babylon
²¹ The captain of the guard took the chief priest, the second priest, and the three who kept the door, ²² and one eunuch who was over the men of war, and seven men found in the city who were renowned before the presence of the king, the scribe of the armies who communicated to the people of the land, and sixty men of the people of the land found in the midst of the city. ²³ So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²⁴ Then the king of Babylon put them to death at Riblah, in the land of Hamath.
  Jehoiachin Freed from Prison
²⁵ Now it came to pass that in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fourth day of the month, Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the year which he reigned, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out from the house where he was imprisoned. ²⁶ He spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. ²⁷ He also changed his prison garment, and Jehoiachin ate his food in the presence of the king all the days of his life. ²⁸ His appointed portion was always given to him by the king of Babylon, from day to day until his death.

Psalm 118:65–80

⁶⁵ O Lord, You dealt with Your servant in goodness,
According to Your word.
⁶⁶ Teach me goodness, instruction, and knowledge,
For I believe Your commandments.
⁶⁷ Before I was humbled, I transgressed;
Therefore, I kept Your teaching.
⁶⁸ You are good, O Lord, and in Your goodness
Teach me Your ordinances.
⁶⁹ The unrighteousness of the arrogant multiplied against me,
But I will search out Your commandments with my whole heart.
⁷⁰ Their heart was curdled like milk,
But I meditated on Your law.
⁷¹ It is good for me that You humbled me,
That I might learn Your ordinances.
⁷² The law of Your mouth is good for me,
Rather than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
⁷³ Your hands made and fashioned me;
Instruct me, and I will learn Your commandments.
⁷⁴ Those who fear You will see me and be glad,
Because I hope in Your words.
⁷⁵ I know, O Lord, Your judgments are righteousness,
And You humbled me with truth.
⁷⁶ Let Your mercy be for my comfort,
According to Your teaching to Your servant.
⁷⁷ Let Your compassions come to me, and I shall live;
For Your law is my meditation.
⁷⁸ Let the arrogant be shamed, for they transgressed unjustly against me;
But I shall meditate on Your commandments.
⁷⁹ Let those who fear You turn to me,
And those who know Your testimonies.
⁸⁰ Let my heart be blameless in Your ordinances,
That I may not be disappointed.

Proverbs 26:6–9

⁶ He shall drink reproach at his own feet
Who sends a word through an undiscerning messenger.
⁷ Remove the motion of the legs
And a proverb from the mouth of men without discernment.
⁸ He who binds a stone in a sling
Is like one who gives glory to a man without discernment.
⁹ Thorny plants grow in the hand of a drunkard
And slavery in the hand of men without discernment.

1 Peter 3

​¹ Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives,
² when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.
³ Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel—
⁴ rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
⁵ For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands,
⁶ as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.
A Word to Husbands
⁷ Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
Called to Blessing
⁸ Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous;
⁹ not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
¹⁰ For
“He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain his tongue from evil,
And his lips from speaking deceit.
¹¹ Let him turn away from evil and do good;
Let him seek peace and pursue it.
¹² For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers;
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Suffering for Right and Wrong
¹³ And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?
¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”
¹⁵ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
¹⁶ having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
¹⁷ For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
Christ’s Suffering and Ours
¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
¹⁹ by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
²⁰ who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
²¹ There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
²² who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.