James 4; Jeremiah 27; Jeremiah 28; Psalms 132

James 4

1 What is the source of the wars and the fights among you? Don't they come from the cravings that are at war within you?

2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask.

3 You ask and don't receive because you ask wrongly, so that you may spend it on your desires for pleasure.

4 Adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world's friend becomes God's enemy.

5 Or do you think it's without reason the Scripture says that the Spirit He has caused to live in us yearns jealously?

6 But He gives greater grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

7 Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.

8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, double-minded people!

9 Be miserable and mourn and weep. Your laughter must change to mourning and your joy to sorrow.

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

11 Don't criticize one another, brothers. He who criticizes a brother or judges his brother criticizes the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.

12 There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

13 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit."

14 You don't even know what tomorrow will bring-what your life will be! For you are a bit of smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes.

15 Instead, you should say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."

16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

17 So, for the person who knows to do good and doesn't do it, it is a sin.

Jeremiah 27

1 At the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

2 "This is what the Lord said to me: Make fetters and yoke bars for yourself and put them on your neck.

3 Send [word] to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king of Tyre, and the king of Sidon through messengers who are coming to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem.

4 Command them [to go] to their masters, saying: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: This is what you must say to your masters:

5 By My great strength and outstretched arm, I made the earth, and the people, and animals on the face of the earth. I give it to anyone I please.

6 So now I have placed all these lands under the authority of My servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. I have even given him the wild animals to serve him.

7 All nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson until the time for his own land comes, and then many nations and great kings will enslave him.

8 "As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish by sword, famine, and plague"-[this is] the Lord's declaration-"until through him I have destroyed it.

9 But as for you, do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers who say to you: Don't serve the king of Babylon!

10 for they prophesy a lie to you so that you will be removed from your land. I will banish you, and you will perish.

11 But as for the nation that will put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave it in its own land, and that nation will till it and reside in it." [This is] the Lord's declaration.

12 I spoke to Zedekiah king of Judah in the same way: "Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, serve him and his people, and live!

13 Why should you and your people die by the sword, famine, or plague as the Lord has threatened against any nation that does not serve the king of Babylon?

14 Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are telling you, 'You must not serve the king of Babylon,' for they are prophesying a lie to you.

15 'I have not sent them'-[this is] the Lord's declaration-'and they are prophesying falsely in My name; therefore, I will banish you, and you will perish-you and the prophets who are prophesying to you.' "

16 Then I spoke to the priests and all these people, saying, "This is what the Lord says, 'Do not listen to the words of your prophets. They are prophesying to you, claiming: Look, very soon now the articles of the Lord's temple will be brought back from Babylon. They are prophesying a lie to you.

17 Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city become a ruin?

18 If they are indeed prophets and if the word of the Lord is with them, let them intercede with the Lord of Hosts not to let the articles that remain in the Lord's temple, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem go to Babylon.'

19 For this is what the Lord of Hosts says about the pillars, the sea, the water carts, and the rest of the articles that still remain in this city,

20 those Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take when he deported Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem.

21 Yes, this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about the articles that remain in the temple of the Lord, in the palace of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem:

22 'They will be brought to Babylon and will remain there until I attend to them again.' [This is] the Lord's declaration. 'Then I will bring them up and restore them to this place.' "

Jeremiah 28

1 In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur from Gibeon said to me in the temple of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people,

2 "This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

3 Within two years I will restore to this place all the articles of the Lord's temple that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took from here and transported to Babylon.

4 And I will restore to this place Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon'-[this is] the Lord's declaration-'for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.' "

5 The prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the temple of the Lord.

6 The prophet Jeremiah said, "Amen! May the Lord do so. May the Lord make the words you have prophesied come true and may He restore the articles of the Lord's temple and all the exiles from Babylon to this place!

7 Only listen to this message I am speaking in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people.

8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, disaster, and plague against many lands and great kingdoms.

9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace-only when the word of the prophet comes true will the prophet be recognized as one whom the Lord has truly sent."

10 The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke bar from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it.

11 In the presence of all the people Hananiah proclaimed, "This is what the Lord says: 'In this way, within two years I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from the neck of all the nations.' " Jeremiah the prophet then went on his way.

12 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after Hananiah the prophet had broken the yoke bar from the neck of Jeremiah the prophet:

13 "Go say to Hananiah: This is what the Lord says: You broke a wooden yoke bar, but in its place you will make an iron yoke bar.

14 For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations that they might serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and they will serve him. I have also put the wild animals under him."

15 The prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you, but you have led these people to trust in a lie.

16 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: 'I am about to send you off the face of the earth. You will die this year because you have spoken rebellion against the Lord.' "

17 And the prophet Hananiah died that year in the seventh month.

Psalms 132

1 Lord, remember David and all the hardships he endured,

2 and how he swore an oath to the Lord, making a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:

3 "I will not enter my house or get into my bed,

4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep or my eyelids to slumber

5 until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob."

6 We heard of [the ark] in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar.

7 Let us go to His dwelling place; let us worship at His footstool.

8 Arise, Lord, come to Your resting place, You and the ark [that shows] Your strength.

9 May Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and may Your godly people shout for joy.

10 Because of Your servant David, do not reject Your anointed one.

11 The Lord swore an oath to David, a promise He will not abandon: "I will set one of your descendants on your throne.

12 If your sons keep My covenant and My decrees that I will teach them, their sons will also sit on your throne, forever."

13 For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His home:

14 "This is My resting place forever; I will make My home here because I have desired it.

15 I will abundantly bless its food; I will satisfy its needy with bread.

16 I will clothe its priests with salvation, and its godly people will shout for joy.

17 There I will make a horn grow for David; I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.

18 I will clothe his enemies with shame, but the crown he wears will be glorious."