Day 292 of 365

Jer 26:1–27:22

26:1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word from the Lord, saying,

26:2 "Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the Lord's house, and speak to all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not diminish a word.

26:3 It may be they will listen, and turn every man from his evil way; that I may relent of the evil which I purpose to do to them because of the evil of their doings.

26:4 You shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you,

26:5 to listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I send to you, even rising up early and sending them, but you have not listened;

26:6 then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.'"

26:7 The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.

26:8 It happened, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, that the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold on him, saying, "You shall surely die.

26:9 Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, 'This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant?'" All the people were gathered to Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

26:10 When the princes of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king's house to the house of the Lord; and they sat in the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house.

26:11 Then spoke the priests and the prophets to the princes and to all the people, saying, "This man is worthy of death; for he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears."

26:12 Then spoke Jeremiah to all the princes and to all the people, saying, "The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.

26:13 Now therefore amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you.

26:14 But as for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as is good and right in your eyes.

26:15 Only know for certain that, if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city, and on its inhabitants; for of a truth the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears."

26:16 Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets: "This man is not worthy of death; for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God."

26:17 Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying,

26:18 "Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest."'

26:19 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord, and entreat the favor of the Lord, and the Lord relented of the disaster which he had pronounced against them? Thus should we commit great evil against our own souls.

26:20 "There was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kiriath Jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land according to all the words of Jeremiah:

26:21 and when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men, and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death; but when Uriah heard it, he was afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt:

26:22 and Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, Elnathan the son of Achbor, and certain men with him, into Egypt;

26:23 and they fetched forth Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people."

26:24 But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

27:1 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

27:2 "Thus says the Lord to me: Make bonds and bars, and put them on your neck;

27:3 and send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the children of Ammon, and to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah;

27:4 and give them a command to their masters, saying, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, You shall tell your masters:

27:5 "I have made the earth, the men and the animals that are on the surface of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it to whom it seems right to me.

27:6 Now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the animals of the field also have I given him to serve him.

27:7 All the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his own land come: and then many nations and great kings shall make him their bondservant.

27:8 It shall happen, that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, says the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand.

27:9 But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon':

27:10 for they prophesy a lie to you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and you should perish.

27:11 But the nation that shall bring their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him, that nation will I let remain in their own land, says the Lord; and they shall till it, and dwell therein."'"

27:12 I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, "Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live.

27:13 Why will you die, you and your people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord has spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon?

27:14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon'; for they prophesy a lie to you.

27:15 'For I have not sent them,' says the Lord, 'but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you, and the prophets who prophesy to you.'"

27:16 Also I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, "Thus says the Lord: 'Do not listen to the words of your prophets who prophesy to you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon; for they prophesy a lie to you.

27:17 Do not listen to them; serve the king of Babylon, and live: why should this city become a desolation?'

27:18 But if they be prophets, and if the word of the Lord be with them, let them now make intercession to the Lord of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, do not go to Babylon.

27:19 For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue of the vessels that are left in this city,

27:20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take, when he carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem;

27:21 yes, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem:

27:22 'They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be, until the day that I visit them,' says the Lord; 'then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place.'"

Gal 4:1–31

1 But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a bondservant, though he is lord of all;

2 but is under guardians and stewards until the day appointed by the father.

3 So we also, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental principles of the world.

4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent out his Son, born to a woman, born under the law,

5 that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.

6 And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!"

7 So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God.

8 However at that time, not knowing God, you were in bondage to those who by nature are not gods.

9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental principles, to which you desire to be in bondage all over again?

10 You observe days, months, seasons, and years.

11 I am afraid for you, that I might have wasted my labor for you.

12 I beg you, brothers, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong,

13 but you know that because of weakness of the flesh I preached the Good News to you the first time;

14 and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not despise nor reject; but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

15 Where was the blessing you enjoyed? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.

16 So then, have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?

17 They zealously seek you, but for no good purpose; they desire to alienate you, that you may be zealous for them.

18 But it is always good to be zealous in a good cause, and not only when I am present with you.

19 My children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ is formed in you-

20 but I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

21 Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?

22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the handmaid, and one by the free woman.

23 However, the son by the handmaid was born according to the flesh, but the son by the free woman was born through promise.

24 These things contain an allegory, for these are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children to bondage, which is Hagar.

25 For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answers to the Jerusalem that exists now, for she is in bondage with her children.

26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.

27 For it is written, "Rejoice, you barren who do not bear. Break forth and shout, you that do not travail. For more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband."

28 Now you, brothers, as Isaac was, are children of promise.

29 But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.

30 However what does the Scripture say? "Throw out the handmaid and her son, for the son of the handmaid will not inherit with the son of the free woman."

31 So then, brothers, we are not children of a handmaid, but of the free woman.

Ps 121:1–8

1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade on your right hand.

6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all evil. He will keep your soul.

8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in, from this time forth, and forevermore.