Bible Readings for October 19, 2017

Today our passages are Jeremiah 33:1–34:22; 1 Timothy 4:1-16; Psalm 89:1-13; and Proverbs 25:23-24. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Steet, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

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Jeremiah 33-34:22 (Contemporary English Version)

Jeremiah 33

The LORD Promises To Give the Land Back to His People

 ^1-2I was still being held prisoner in the courtyard of the palace guards when the LORD told me:   I am the LORD, and I created the whole world. ^a] 3Ask me, and I will tell you things that you don't know and can't find out. ^4-5Many of the houses in Jerusalem and some of the buildings at the royal palace have been torn down to be used in repairing the walls to keep out the Babylonian attackers. ^b] Now there are empty spaces where the buildings once stood. But I am furious, and these spaces will be filled with the bodies of the people I kill. The people of Jerusalem will cry out to me for help, but they are evil, and I will ignore their prayers. ⁶Then someday, I will heal this place and my people as well, and let them enjoy unending peace. ^c] 7I will give this land to Israel and Judah once again, and I will make them as strong as they were before. ⁸They sinned and rebelled against me, but I will forgive them and take away their guilt. ⁹When that happens, all nations on earth will see the good things I have done for Jerusalem, and how I have given it complete peace. The nations will celebrate and praise and honor me, but they will also tremble with fear. ¹⁰Jeremiah, you say that this land is a desert without people or animals, and for now, you are right. The towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem are deserted, and people and animals are nowhere to be seen. But someday you will hear ¹¹happy voices and the sounds of parties and wedding celebrations. And when people come to my temple to offer sacrifices to thank me, you will hear them say:
   "We praise you,
   LORD All-Powerful!
   You are good to us,
   and your love never fails."
   The land will once again be productive. ^12-13Now it is empty, without people or animals. But when that time comes, shepherds will take care of their flocks in pastures near every town in the hill country, in the foothills to the west, in the Southern Desert, in the land of the Benjamin tribe, and around Jerusalem and the towns of Judah.
   I, the LORD, have spoken.
   

The LORD's Wonderful Promise

 ¹⁴The LORD said:   I made a wonderful promise to Israel and Judah, ^d] and the days are coming when I will keep it. ¹⁵I promise that the time will come
   when I will appoint a king
   from the family of David,
   a king who will be honest
   and rule with justice.
    ¹⁶In those days,
   Judah will be safe;
   Jerusalem will have peace
   and will be named,
   "The LORD Gives Justice."
    ¹⁷The king of Israel will be one of David's descendants, ¹⁸and there will always be priests from the Levi tribe serving at my altar and offering sacrifices to please me and to give thanks. ^e] 19Then the LORD told me:
    ²⁰I, the LORD, have an agreement with day and night, so they always come at the right time. You can't break the agreement I made with them, ²¹and you can't break the agreements I have made with David's family and with the priests from the Levi tribe who serve at my altar. A descendant of David will always rule as king of Israel, ²²and there will be more descendants of David and of the priests from the Levi tribe than stars in the sky or grains of sand on the beach.
    ²³The LORD also said:
    ²⁴You've heard foreigners insult my people by saying, "The LORD chose Israel and Judah, but now he has rejected them, and they are no longer a nation."
    ²⁵Jeremiah, I will never break my agreement with the day and the night or let the sky and the earth stop obeying my commands. ²⁶In the same way, I will never reject the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob or break my promise that they will always have a descendant of David as their king. I will be kind to my people Israel, and they will be successful again.
   

Jeremiah 34

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah

 ¹King Nebuchadnezzar ^f] had a large army made up of people from every kingdom in his empire. He and his army were attacking Jerusalem and all the nearby towns, when the LORD told me ²to say to King Zedekiah: ^g] I am the LORD, and I am going to let Nebuchadnezzar capture this city and burn it down. ³You will be taken prisoner and brought to Nebuchadnezzar, and he will speak with you face to face. Then you will be led away to Babylonia.    ⁴Zedekiah, I promise that you won't die in battle. ⁵You will die a peaceful death. People will mourn when you die, and they will light bonfires in your honor, just as they did for your ancestors, the kings who ruled before you.
    ⁶I went to Zedekiah and told him what the LORD had said. ⁷Meanwhile, the king of Babylonia was trying to break through the walls of Lachish, Azekah, and Jerusalem, the only three towns of Judah that had not been captured.
   

The People Break a Promise

 ^8-10King Zedekiah, ^h] his officials, and everyone else in Jerusalem made an agreement to free all Hebrew ^i] men and women who were slaves. No Jew would keep another as a slave. And so, all the Jewish slaves were given their freedom. ¹¹But those slave owners changed their minds and forced their former slaves back into slavery.    ¹²That's when the LORD told me to say to the people:
    ¹³I am the LORD God of Israel, and I made an agreement with your ancestors when I brought
   them out of Egypt, where they had been slaves. ¹⁴As part of this agreement, you must let a
   Hebrew slave go free after six years of service.
   Your ancestors did not obey me, ^15-16but you decided to obey me and do the right thing by
   setting your Hebrew slaves completely free. You even went to my temple, and in my name
   you made an agreement to set them free. But you have abused my name, because you broke
   your agreement and forced your former slaves back into slavery.
    ¹⁷You have disobeyed me by not giving your slaves their freedom. So I will give you
   freedom--the freedom to die in battle or from disease or hunger. I will make you disgusting to
   all other nations on earth.
    ¹⁸You asked me to be a witness when you made the agreement to set your slaves free. And
   as part of the ceremony you cut a calf into two parts, then walked between the parts. But you
   people of Jerusalem have broken that agreement as well as my agreement with Israel. So I
   will do to you what you did to that calf. ^19-20I will let your enemies take all of you prisoner,
   including the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the royal officials, the priests, and everyone
   else who walked between the two parts of the calf. These enemies will kill you and leave your
   bodies lying on the ground as food for birds and wild animals.
    ^21-22These enemies are King Nebuchadnezzar ^j] of Babylonia and his army. They have stopped attacking Jerusalem, but they want to kill King Zedekiah and his high officials. So I
   will command them to return and attack again. This time they will conquer the city and burn it
   down, and they will capture Zedekiah and his officials. I will also let them destroy the towns of
   Judah, so that no one can live there any longer.
   

Footnotes:

1. Jeremiah 33:1 the whole world: One ancient translation; Hebrew "it."
2. Jeremiah 33:4 have been torn down. . . Babylonian attackers: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
3. Jeremiah 33:6 let them enjoy unending peace: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
4. Jeremiah 33:14 Israel and Judah: See the note at 2.4.
5. Jeremiah 33:18 sacrifices to please me and to give thanks: See the notes at 14.12.
6. Jeremiah 34:1 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2.
7. Jeremiah 34:2 Zedekiah: See the note at 1.3.
8. Jeremiah 34:8 Zedekiah: See the note at 1.3.
9. Jeremiah 34:8 Hebrew: An earlier term for Israelite and Jewish.
10. Jeremiah 34:21 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2.

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1 Timothy 4:1-16 (Contemporary English Version)

1 Timothy 4

People Will Turn from Their Faith

 ¹God's Spirit clearly says that in the last days many people will turn from their faith. They will be fooled by evil spirits and by teachings that come from demons. ²They will also be fooled by the false claims of liars whose consciences have lost all feeling. These liars ³will forbid people to marry or to eat certain foods. But God created these foods to be eaten with thankful hearts by his followers who know the truth. ⁴Everything God created is good. And if you give thanks, you may eat anything. ⁵What God has said and your prayer will make it fit to eat.   

Paul's Advice to Timothy

 ⁶If you teach these things to other followers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus. You will show that you have grown up on the teachings about our faith and on the good instructions you have obeyed. ⁷Don't have anything to do with worthless, senseless stories. Work hard to be truly religious. ^8-9As the saying goes,   "Exercise is good
   for your body,
   but religion helps you
   in every way.
   It promises life
   now and forever."
   These words are worthwhile and should not be forgotten. ¹⁰We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, but especially of those who have faith. That's why we work and struggle so hard. ^a] 11Teach these things and tell everyone to do what you say. ¹²Don't let anyone make fun of you, just because you are young. Set an example for other followers by what you say and do, as well as by your love, faith, and purity.
    ¹³Until I arrive, be sure to keep on reading the Scriptures in worship, and don't stop preaching and teaching. ¹⁴Use the gift you were given when the prophets spoke and the group of church leaders ^b] blessed you by placing their hands on you. ¹⁵Remember these things and think about them, so everyone can see how well you are doing. ¹⁶Be careful about the way you live and about what you teach. Keep on doing this, and you will save not only yourself, but the people who hear you.

Footnotes:

1. 1 Timothy 4:10 struggle so hard: Some manuscripts have "are treated so badly."
2. 1 Timothy 4:14 group of church leaders: Or "group of elders" or "group of presbyters" or "group of priests." This translates one Greek word, and it is related to the one used in 5.17,19.

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Psalm 89:1-13 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 89

(A special psalm by Ethan the Ezrahite.)

The LORD's Agreement with David

 ¹Our LORD, I will sing   of your love forever.
   Everyone yet to be born
   will hear me praise
   your faithfulness.
    ²I will tell them,
   "God's love
   can always be trusted,
   and his faithfulness lasts
   as long as the heavens."
    ³You said, "David, my servant,
   is my chosen one,
   and this is the agreement
   I made with him:
    ⁴David, one of your descendants
   will always be king."
    ⁵Our LORD, let the heavens
   now praise your miracles,
   and let all of your angels
   praise your faithfulness.
    ⁶None who live in the heavens
   can compare with you.
    ⁷You are the most fearsome
   of all who live in heaven;
   all the others fear
   and greatly honor you.
    ⁸You are LORD God All-Powerful!
   No one is as loving
   and faithful as you are.
    ⁹You rule the roaring sea
   and calm its waves.
    ¹⁰You crushed the monster Rahab, ^a] and with your powerful arm
   you scattered your enemies.
    ¹¹The heavens and the earth
   belong to you.
   And so does the world
   with all its people
   because you created them
    ¹²and everything else. ^b] Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon
   gladly praise you.
    ¹³You are strong and mighty!
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 89:10 Rahab: Many people in the ancient world thought that the world was controlled by this sea monster that the Lord destroyed at the time of creation (see Isaiah 51.9).
2. Psalm 89:12 and everything else: The Hebrew text has " Zaphon and Yamin," which may either be the names of mountains or refer to the directions " north and south," with the meaning " everything from north to south."

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Proverbs 25:23-24 (Contemporary English Version)

²³As surely as rain blows in
   from the north,
   anger is caused
   by cruel words.
    ²⁴It's better to stay outside
   on the roof of your house
   than to live inside
   with a nagging wife.

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Verse of the Day

“Do what the LORD wants, and he will give you your heart's desire.” - Psalm 37:4

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Canadian statesman who served as the 15th Prime Minister of Canada (1968–1979 and 1980–1984), Pierre Trudeau wrote, “A country, after all, is not something you build as the pharaohs built the pyramids, and then leave standing there to defy eternity. A country is something that is built every day out of certain basic shared values.”

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A Joke for Today

A distraught senior citizen phoned her doctor's office. 'Is it true,' she wanted to know, 'that the medication you prescribed has to be taken for the rest of my life?' 

'Yes, I'm afraid so,' the doctor told her. 

There was a moment of silence before the senior lady replied, 'I'm wondering, then, just how serious is my condition because this prescription is marked 'NO REFILLS'.' 

Bible Readings for October 18, 2016

Today our passages are Jeremiah 31:27–32:44; 1 Timothy 3:1-16; Psalm 88:1-18; and Proverbs 25:20-22. The readings are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.

 

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Jeremiah 31:27-32:44 (The Message)

 ^27-28"Be ready. The time's coming"—God's Decree—"when I will plant people and animals in Israel and Judah, just as a farmer plants seed. And in the same way that earlier I relentlessly pulled up and tore down, took apart and demolished, so now I am sticking with them as they start over, building and planting.
 ²⁹"When that time comes you won't hear the old proverb anymore,
         Parents ate the green apples, their children got the stomachache.
³⁰"No, each person will pay for his own sin. You eat green apples, you're the one who gets sick.
 ^31-32"That's right. The time is coming when I will make a brand-new covenant with Israel and Judah. It won't be a repeat of the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant even though I did my part as their Master." God's Decree.
 ^33-34"This is the brand-new covenant that I will make with Israel when the time comes. I will put my law within them—write it on their hearts!—and be their God. And they will be my people. They will no longer go around setting up schools to teach each other about God. They'll know me firsthand, the dull and the bright, the smart and the slow. I'll wipe the slate clean for each of them. I'll forget they ever sinned!" God's Decree.

If This Ordered Cosmos Ever Fell to Pieces

 ³⁵God's Message, from the God who lights up the day with sun and
   brightens the night with moon and stars,
Who whips the ocean into a billowy froth,
   whose name is God-of-the-Angel-Armies:  ³⁶"If this ordered cosmos ever fell to pieces,
   fell into chaos before me"—God's Decree—
"Then and only then might Israel fall apart
   and disappear as a nation before me."
 ³⁷God's Message:
   "If the skies could be measured with a yardstick
   and the earth explored to its core,
Then and only then would I turn my back on Israel,
   disgusted with all they've done." God's Decree.
 ^38-40"The time is coming"—it's God's Decree—"when God's city will be rebuilt, rebuilt all the way from the Citadel of Hanamel to the Corner Gate. The master plan will extend west to Gareb Hill and then around to Goath. The whole valley to the south where incinerated corpses are dumped—a death valley if there ever was one!—and all the terraced fields out to the Brook Kidron on the east as far north as the Horse Gate will be consecrated to me as a holy place.
   "This city will never again be torn down or destroyed."

Jeremiah 32

Killing and Disease Are on Our Doorstep

 ^1-5 The Message Jeremiah received from God in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah. It was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was holding Jerusalem under siege. Jeremiah was shut up in jail in the royal palace. Zedekiah, king of Judah, had locked him up, complaining, "How dare you preach, saying, 'God says, I'm warning you: I will hand this city over to the king of Babylon and he will take it over. Zedekiah king of Judah will be handed over to the Chaldeans right along with the city. He will be handed over to the king of Babylon and forced to face the music. He'll be hauled off to Babylon where he'll stay until I deal with him. God's Decree. Fight against the Babylonians all you want—it won't get you anywhere.'"  ^6-7Jeremiah said, "God's Message came to me like this: Prepare yourself! Hanamel, your uncle Shallum's son, is on his way to see you. He is going to say, 'Buy my field in Anathoth. You have the legal right to buy it.'
 ⁸"And sure enough, just as God had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me while I was in jail and said, 'Buy my field in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, for you have the legal right to keep it in the family. Buy it. Take it over.' "That did it. I knew it was God's Message.
 ^9-12"So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I paid him seventeen silver shekels. I followed all the proper procedures: In the presence of witnesses I wrote out the bill of sale, sealed it, and weighed out the money on the scales. Then I took the deed of purchase—the sealed copy that contained the contract and its conditions and also the open copy—and gave them to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah. All this took place in the presence of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who had signed the deed, as the Jews who were at the jail that day looked on.
 ^13-15"Then, in front of all of them, I told Baruch, 'These are orders from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel: Take these documents—both the sealed and the open deeds—and put them for safekeeping in a pottery jar. For God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says, "Life is going to return to normal. Homes and fields and vineyards are again going to be bought in this country."'
 ^16-19"And then, having handed over the legal documents to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to God, 'Dear God, my Master, you created earth and sky by your great power—by merely stretching out your arm! There is nothing you can't do. You're loyal in your steadfast love to thousands upon thousands—but you also make children live with the fallout from their parents' sins. Great and powerful God, named God-of-the-Angel-Armies, determined in purpose and relentless in following through, you see everything that men and women do and respond appropriately to the way they live, to the things they do.
 ^20-23"'You performed signs and wonders in the country of Egypt and continue to do so right into the present, right here in Israel and everywhere else, too. You've made a reputation for yourself that doesn't diminish. You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders—a powerful deliverance!—by merely stretching out your arm. You gave them this land and solemnly promised to their ancestors a bountiful and fertile land. But when they entered the land and took it over, they didn't listen to you. They didn't do what you commanded. They wouldn't listen to a thing you told them. And so you brought this disaster on them.
 ^24-25"'Oh, look at the siege ramps already set in place to take the city. Killing and starvation and disease are on our doorstep. The Babylonians are attacking! The Word you spoke is coming to pass—it's daily news! And yet you, God, the Master, even though it is certain that the city will be turned over to the Babylonians, also told me, Buy the field. Pay for it in cash. And make sure there are witnesses.'"
 ^26-30Then God's Message came again to Jeremiah: "Stay alert! I am God, the God of everything living. Is there anything I can't do? So listen to God's Message: No doubt about it, I'm handing this city over to the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He'll take it. The attacking Chaldeans will break through and burn the city down: All those houses whose roofs were used as altars for offerings to Baal and the worship of who knows how many other gods provoked me. It isn't as if this were the first time they had provoked me. The people of Israel and Judah have been doing this for a long time—doing what I hate, making me angry by the way they live." God's Decree.
 ^31-35"This city has made me angry from the day they built it, and now I've had my fill. I'm destroying it. I can't stand to look any longer at the wicked lives of the people of Israel and Judah, deliberately making me angry, the whole lot of them—kings and leaders and priests and preachers, in the country and in the city. They've turned their backs on me—won't even look me in the face!—even though I took great pains to teach them how to live. They refused to listen, refused to be taught. Why, they even set up obscene god and goddess statues in the Temple built in my honor—an outrageous desecration! And then they went out and built shrines to the god Baal in the valley of Hinnom, where they burned their children in sacrifice to the god Molech—I can hardly conceive of such evil!—turning the whole country into one huge act of sin.
 ³⁶"But there is also this Message from me, the God of Israel, to this city of which you have said, 'In killing and starvation and disease this city will be delivered up to the king of Babylon':
 ^37-40"'Watch for this! I will collect them from all the countries to which I will have driven them in my anger and rage and indignation. Yes, I'll bring them all back to this place and let them live here in peace. They will be my people, I will be their God. I'll make them of one mind and heart, always honoring me, so that they can live good and whole lives, they and their children after them. What's more, I'll make a covenant with them that will last forever, a covenant to stick with them no matter what, and work for their good. I'll fill their hearts with a deep respect for me so they'll not even think of turning away from me.
 ⁴¹"'Oh how I'll rejoice in them! Oh how I'll delight in doing good things for them! Heart and soul, I'll plant them in this country and keep them here!'
 ^42-44"Yes, this is God's Message: 'I will certainly bring this huge catastrophe on this people, but I will also usher in a wonderful life of prosperity. I promise. Fields are going to be bought here again, yes, in this very country that you assume is going to end up desolate—gone to the dogs, unlivable, wrecked by the Babylonians. Yes, people will buy farms again, and legally, with deeds of purchase, sealed documents, proper witnesses—and right here in the territory of Benjamin, and in the area around Jerusalem, around the villages of Judah and the hill country, the Shephelah and the Negev. I will restore everything that was lost.' God's Decree."

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1 Timothy 3:1-16 (The Message)

1 Timothy 3

Leadership in the Church

 ^1-7If anyone wants to provide leadership in the church, good! But there are preconditions: A leader must be well-thought-of, committed to his wife, cool and collected, accessible, and hospitable. He must know what he's talking about, not be overfond of wine, not pushy but gentle, not thin-skinned, not money-hungry. He must handle his own affairs well, attentive to his own children and having their respect. For if someone is unable to handle his own affairs, how can he take care of God's church? He must not be a new believer, lest the position go to his head and the Devil trip him up. Outsiders must think well of him, or else the Devil will figure out a way to lure him into his trap.  ^8-13The same goes for those who want to be servants in the church: serious, not deceitful, not too free with the bottle, not in it for what they can get out of it. They must be reverent before the mystery of the faith, not using their position to try to run things. Let them prove themselves first. If they show they can do it, take them on. No exceptions are to be made for women—same qualifications: serious, dependable, not sharp-tongued, not overfond of wine. Servants in the church are to be committed to their spouses, attentive to their own children, and diligent in looking after their own affairs. Those who do this servant work will come to be highly respected, a real credit to this Jesus-faith.
 ^14-16I hope to visit you soon, but just in case I'm delayed, I'm writing this letter so you'll know how things ought to go in God's household, this God-alive church, bastion of truth. This Christian life is a great mystery, far exceeding our understanding, but some things are clear enough:

   He appeared in a human body,
      was proved right by the invisible Spirit,
       was seen by angels.
   He was proclaimed among all kinds of peoples,
      believed in all over the world,
       taken up into heavenly glory.

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Psalm 88:1-18 (The Message)

Psalm 88

A Korah Prayer of Heman

 ^1-9 God, you're my last chance of the day. I spend the night on my knees before you.
   Put me on your salvation agenda;
      take notes on the trouble I'm in.
   I've had my fill of trouble;
      I'm camped on the edge of hell.
   I'm written off as a lost cause,
      one more statistic, a hopeless case.
   Abandoned as already dead,
      one more body in a stack of corpses,
   And not so much as a gravestone—
      I'm a black hole in oblivion.
   You've dropped me into a bottomless pit,
      sunk me in a pitch-black abyss.
   I'm battered senseless by your rage,
      relentlessly pounded by your waves of anger.
   You turned my friends against me,
      made me horrible to them.
   I'm caught in a maze and can't find my way out,
      blinded by tears of pain and frustration.

 ^9-12 I call to you, God; all day I call.
      I wring my hands, I plead for help.
   Are the dead a live audience for your miracles?
      Do ghosts ever join the choirs that praise you?
   Does your love make any difference in a graveyard?
      Is your faithful presence noticed in the corridors of hell?
   Are your marvelous wonders ever seen in the dark,
      your righteous ways noticed in the Land of No Memory?

 ^13-18 I'm standing my ground, God, shouting for help,
      at my prayers every morning, on my knees each daybreak.
   Why, God, do you turn a deaf ear?
      Why do you make yourself scarce?
   For as long as I remember I've been hurting;
      I've taken the worst you can hand out, and I've had it.
   Your wildfire anger has blazed through my life;
      I'm bleeding, black-and-blue.
   You've attacked me fiercely from every side,
      raining down blows till I'm nearly dead.
   You made lover and neighbor alike dump me;
      the only friend I have left is Darkness.

 

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Proverbs 25:20-22 (The Message)

 ²⁰ Singing light songs to the heavyhearted
   is like pouring salt in their wounds.

 ^21-22 If you see your enemy hungry, go buy him lunch;
   if he's thirsty, bring him a drink.
Your generosity will surprise him with goodness,
   and God will look after you.

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Verse of the Day

“Trust the LORD! Be brave and strong and trust the LORD.” - Psalm 27:14

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

Canadian politician who served as the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968, to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980, to June 30, 1984, Pierre Trudeau wrote, “The past is to be respected and acknowledged, but not to be worshipped. It is our future in which we will find our greatness.”