Jeremiah 49 (Listen)

Judgment on Ammon

49 Concerning the Ammonites.

Thus says the LORD:

  “Has Israel no sons?
    Has he no heir?
  Why then has Milcom¹ dispossessed Gad,
    and his people settled in its cities?
2   Therefore, behold, the days are coming,
    declares the LORD,
  when I will cause the battle cry to be heard
    against Rabbah of the Ammonites;
  it shall become a desolate mound,
    and its villages shall be burned with fire;
  then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,
    says the LORD.
3   “Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!
    Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!
  Put on sackcloth,
    lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!
  For Milcom shall go into exile,
    with his priests and his officials.
4   Why do you boast of your valleys,²
    O faithless daughter,
  who trusted in her treasures, saying,
    ‘Who will come against me?’
5   Behold, I will bring terror upon you,
    declares the Lord GOD of hosts,
    from all who are around you,
  and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him,
    with none to gather the fugitives.

6 “But afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the LORD.”

Judgment on Edom

7 Concerning Edom.

Thus says the LORD of hosts:

  “Is wisdom no more in Teman?
    Has counsel perished from the prudent?
    Has their wisdom vanished?
8   Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,
    O inhabitants of Dedan!
  For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,
    the time when I punish him.
9   If grape gatherers came to you,
    would they not leave gleanings?
  If thieves came by night,
    would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
10   But I have stripped Esau bare;
    I have uncovered his hiding places,
    and he is not able to conceal himself.
  His children are destroyed, and his brothers,
    and his neighbors; and he is no more.
11   Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;
    and let your widows trust in me.”

12 For thus says the LORD: “If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. 13 For I have sworn by myself, declares the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.”

14   I have heard a message from the LORD,
    and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
  “Gather yourselves together and come against her,
    and rise up for battle!
15   For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
    despised among mankind.
16   The horror you inspire has deceived you,
    and the pride of your heart,
  you who live in the clefts of the rock,³
    who hold the height of the hill.
  Though you make your nest as high as the eagle's,
    I will bring you down from there,
      declares the LORD.

17 “Edom shall become a horror. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. 18 As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities were overthrown, says the LORD, no man shall dwell there, no man shall sojourn in her. 19 Behold, like a lion coming up from the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him⁴ run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd can stand before me? 20 Therefore hear the plan that the LORD has made against Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of Teman: Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. 21 At the sound of their fall the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. 22 Behold, one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains.”

Judgment on Damascus

23 Concerning Damascus:

  “Hamath and Arpad are confounded,
    for they have heard bad news;
  they melt in fear,
    they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
24   Damascus has become feeble, she turned to flee,
    and panic seized her;
  anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
    as of a woman in labor.
25   How is the famous city not forsaken,
    the city of my joy?
26   Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares,
    and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,
      declares the LORD of hosts.
27   And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.”

Judgment on Kedar and Hazor

28 Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down.

  Thus says the LORD:
  “Rise up, advance against Kedar!
    Destroy the people of the east!
29   Their tents and their flocks shall be taken,
    their curtains and all their goods;
  their camels shall be led away from them,
    and men shall cry to them: ‘Terror on every side!’
30   Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,
    O inhabitants of Hazor!
      declares the LORD.
  For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
    has made a plan against you
    and formed a purpose against you.
31   “Rise up, advance against a nation at ease,
    that dwells securely,
      declares the LORD,
  that has no gates or bars,
    that dwells alone.
32   Their camels shall become plunder,
    their herds of livestock a spoil.
  I will scatter to every wind
    those who cut the corners of their hair,
  and I will bring their calamity
    from every side of them,
      declares the LORD.
33   Hazor shall become a haunt of jackals,
    an everlasting waste;
  no man shall dwell there;
    no man shall sojourn in her.”

Judgment on Elam

34 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah.

35 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might. 36 And I will bring upon Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of Elam shall not come. 37 I will terrify Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, my fierce anger, declares the LORD. I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, 38 and I will set my throne in Elam and destroy their king and officials, declares the LORD.

39 “But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Elam, declares the LORD.”

(ESV)

Psalm 119:25–32 (Listen)

Daleth

25   My soul clings to the dust;
    give me life according to your word!
26   When I told of my ways, you answered me;
    teach me your statutes!
27   Make me understand the way of your precepts,
    and I will meditate on your wondrous works.
28   My soul melts away for sorrow;
    strengthen me according to your word!
29   Put false ways far from me
    and graciously teach me your law!
30   I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
    I set your rules before me.
31   I cling to your testimonies, O LORD;
    let me not be put to shame!
32   I will run in the way of your commandments
    when you enlarge my heart!¹

(ESV)

2 Corinthians 3–4 (Listen)

Ministers of the New Covenant

3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our¹ hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.²

4 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.

12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one³ turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord⁴ is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,⁵ are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.⁶ For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

The Light of the Gospel

4 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God,⁷ we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice⁸ cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants⁹ for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Treasure in Jars of Clay

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.

13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self¹⁰ is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

(ESV)