2 Timothy 4; Jeremiah 11; Jeremiah 12; Psalms 124

2 Timothy 4

1 Before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom, I solemnly charge you:

2 proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching.

3 For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will accumulate teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear something new.

4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.

5 But as for you, keep a clear head about everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close.

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

8 In the future, there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved His appearing.

9 Make every effort to come to me soon,

10 for Demas has deserted me, because he loved this present world, and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

11 Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you, for he is useful to me in the ministry.

12 I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

13 When you come, bring the cloak I left in Troas with Carpus, as well as the scrolls, especially the parchments.

14 Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his works.

15 Watch out for him yourself, because he strongly opposed our words.

16 At my first defense, no one came to my assistance, but everyone deserted me. May it not be counted against them.

17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the proclamation might be fully made through me, and all the Gentiles might hear. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.

18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and will bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.

20 Erastus has remained at Corinth; Trophimus I left sick at Miletus.

21 Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers.

22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you!

Jeremiah 11

1 [This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

2 "Listen to the words of this covenant, and tell them to the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.

3 You must tell them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let a curse be on the man who does not obey the words of this covenant,

4 which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace. I declared: 'Obey Me, and do everything that I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God,'

5 in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give [them] a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today." I answered, "Amen, Lord."

6 The Lord said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out.

7 For I strongly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt until today, warning them time and time again: Obey My voice.

8 Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded [them] to do."

9 The Lord said to me, "A conspiracy has been discovered among the men of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem.

10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors who refused to obey My words and have followed other gods to worship them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah broke My covenant I made with their ancestors.

11 "Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to bring on them disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not hear them.

12 Then the cities of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods they have been burning incense to, but they certainly will not save them in their time of disaster.

13 Your gods are indeed as numerous as your cities, Judah, and the altars you have set up to Shame-altars to burn incense to Baal-as numerous as the streets of Jerusalem.

14 "As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me at the time of their disaster.

15 What [right] does My beloved have to be in My house, having carried out so many evil schemes? Can holy meatprevent your disaster so you can rejoice?

16 The Lord named you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit. He has set fire to it, and its branches are consumed with a great roaring sound.

17 "The Lord of Hosts who planted you has decreed disaster against you, because of the harm the house of Israel and the house of Judah brought on themselves, provoking Me to anger by burning incense to Baal."

18 The Lord informed me, so I knew. Then You helped me to see their deeds,

19 for I was like a docile lamb led to slaughter. I didn't know that they had devised plots against me: "Let's destroy the tree with its fruit; let's cut him off from the land of the living so that his name will no longer be remembered."

20 But, Lord of Hosts, who judges righteously, who tests heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance on them, for I have presented my case to You.

21 Therefore, here is what the Lord says concerning the people of Anathoth who want to take your life. They warn, "You must not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will certainly die at our hand."

22 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: "I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine.

23 They will have no remnant, for I will bring disaster on the people of Anathoth [in] the year of their punishment."

Jeremiah 12

1 You will be righteous, Lord, even if I bring a case against You. Yet, I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? [Why] do the treacherous live at ease?

2 You planted them, and they have taken root. They have grown and produced fruit. You are ever on their lips, but far from their conscience.

3 As for You, You know me, Lord; You see me. You test whether my heart is with You. Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter, and set them apart for the day of killing.

4 How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? Because of the evil of its residents, animals and birds have been swept away, for [the people] have said, "He cannot see what our end will be."

5 If you have raced with runners and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?

6 Even your brothers-your own father's household- even they were treacherous to you; even they have cried out loudly after you. Do not have confidence in them, though they speak well of you.

7 I have abandoned My house; I have deserted My inheritance. I have given the love of My life into the hand of her enemies.

8 My inheritance has acted toward Me like a lion in the forest. She has roared against Me. Therefore, I hate her.

9 Is My inheritance like a hyena to Me? Are birds of prey circling her? Go, gather all the wild animals; bring them to devour [her].

10 Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard; they have trampled My plot of land. They have turned My desirable plot into a desolate wasteland.

11 They have made it a desolation. It mourns, desolate, before Me. All the land is desolate, but no one takes it to heart.

12 Over all the barren heights in the wilderness the destroyers have come, for the Lord has a sword that devours from one end of the earth to the other. No one has peace.

13 They have sown wheat but harvested thorns. They have exhausted themselves but have no profit. Be put to shame by your harvests because of the Lord's burning anger.

14 This is what the Lord says: "Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from among them.

15 After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.

16 If they will diligently learn the ways of My people-to swear by My name, 'As the Lord lives,' just as they taught My people to swear by Baal-they will be built up among My people.

17 However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation." [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration.

Psalms 124

1 If the Lord had not been on our side- let Israel say-

2 If the Lord had not been on our side when men attacked us,

3 then they would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger against us.

4 Then the waters would have engulfed us; the torrent would have swept over us;

5 the raging waters would have swept over us.

6 Praise the Lord, who has not let us be ripped apart by their teeth.

7 We have escaped like a bird from the hunter's net; the net is torn, and we have escaped.

8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.