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Jeremiah 14-16 (Listen)

Famine, Sword, and Pestilence

14:1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:

“Judah mourns,
  and her gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
  and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
Her nobles send their servants for water;
  they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
  they return with their vessels empty;
they are ashamed and confounded
  and cover their heads.
Because of the ground that is dismayed,
  since there is no rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
  they cover their heads.
Even the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
  because there is no grass.
The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
  they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
  because there is no vegetation.

“Though our iniquities testify against us,
  act, O Lord, for your name's sake;
for our backslidings are many;
  we have sinned against you.
O you hope of Israel,
  its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
  like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
Why should you be like a man confused,
  like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
  and we are called by your name;
  do not leave us.”

Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
“They have loved to wander thus;
  they have not restrained their feet;
therefore the Lord does not accept them;
  now he will remember their iniquity
  and punish their sins.”

The Lord said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Lying Prophets

Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds. Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although I did not send them, and who say, ‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.

“You shall say to them this word:
‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
  and let them not cease,
for the virgin daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,
  with a very grievous blow.
If I go out into the field,
  behold, those pierced by the sword!
And if I enter the city,
  behold, the diseases of famine!
For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land
  and have no knowledge.’”

Have you utterly rejected Judah?
  Does your soul loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
  so that there is no healing for us?
We looked for peace, but no good came;
  for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
  and the iniquity of our fathers,
  for we have sinned against you.
Do not spurn us, for your name's sake;
  do not dishonor your glorious throne;
  remember and do not break your covenant with us.
Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain?
  Or can the heavens give showers?
Are you not he, O Lord our God?
  We set our hope on you,
  for you do all these things.

The Lord Will Not Relent

15:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’

I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.

“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
  or who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
  to ask about your welfare?
You have rejected me, declares the Lord;
  you keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
  I am weary of relenting.
I have winnowed them with a winnowing fork
  in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
  they did not turn from their ways.
I have made their widows more in number
  than the sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of young men
  a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
  fall upon them suddenly.
She who bore seven has grown feeble;
  she has fainted away;
her sun went down while it was yet day;
  she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
  before their enemies,
     declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah's Complaint

Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. The Lord said, “Have I not [1] set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? Can one break iron, iron from the north, and bronze?

“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as spoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

O Lord, you know;
  remember me and visit me,
  and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
  know that for your sake I bear reproach.
Your words were found, and I ate them,
  and your words became to me a joy
  and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name,
  O Lord, God of hosts.
I did not sit in the company of revelers,
  nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone, because your hand was upon me,
  for you had filled me with indignation.
Why is my pain unceasing,
  my wound incurable,
  refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me like a deceitful brook,
  like waters that fail?

Therefore thus says the Lord:
“If you return, I will restore you,
  and you shall stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
  you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
  but you shall not turn to them.
And I will make you to this people
  a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
  but they shall not prevail over you,
for I am with you
  to save you and deliver you,
     declares the Lord.
I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
  and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”

Famine, Sword, and Death

16:1 The word of the Lord came to me: “You shall not take a wife, nor shall you have sons or daughters in this place. For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land: They shall die of deadly diseases. They shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. They shall perish by the sword and by famine, and their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.

“For thus says the Lord: Do not enter the house of mourning, or go to lament or grieve for them, for I have taken away my peace from this people, my steadfast love and mercy, declares the Lord. Both great and small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or cut himself or make himself bald for them. No one shall break bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother. You shall not go into the house of feasting to sit with them, to eat and drink. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

“And when you tell this people all these words, and they say to you, ‘Why has the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? What is our iniquity? What is the sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’ then you shall say to them: ‘Because your fathers have forsaken me, declares the Lord, and have gone after other gods and have served and worshiped them, and have forsaken me and have not kept my law, and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. Therefore I will hurl you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’

The Lord Will Restore Israel

“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers.

“Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the Lord, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes. But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”

O Lord, my strength and my stronghold,
  my refuge in the day of trouble,
to you shall the nations come
  from the ends of the earth and say:
“Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies,
  worthless things in which there is no profit.
Can man make for himself gods?
  Such are not gods!”

“Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the Lord.”

1 Timothy 5 (Listen)

Instructions for the Church

5:1 Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, [2] and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. For some have already strayed after Satan. If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. (No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.) The sins of some men are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden.

Footnotes

[1] 15:11 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
[2] 5:9 Or a woman of one man