The Call of Jeremiah
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 h“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, iI do not know how to speak, for I am jonly a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, kyou shall speak.
8 lDo not be afraid of them,
for I am mwith you to deliver you,
declares the Lord.”
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and ntouched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,
“Behold, oI have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to ppluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
7 But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, kyou shall speak.
8 lDo not be afraid of them,
for I am mwith you to deliver you,
declares the Lord.”
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and ntouched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,
“Behold, oI have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to ppluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, qwhat do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond1 branch.” 12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”
13 The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” 14 Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the rnorth disaster2 shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I am calling sall the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall tset his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in uforsaking me. They have vmade offerings to other gods and worshiped the wworks of their own hands. 17 But you, xdress yourself for work;3 arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18 And I, behold, yI make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and zbronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”
Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent
1 dIn you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
elet me never be put to shame!
2 fIn your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!
3 Be to me a grock of refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
hyou are he who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is icontinually of you.
7 I have been as a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day.
9 jDo not cast me off in the time of old age;
kforsake me not when my strength is spent.
10 For my enemies speak concerning me;
those who lwatch for my life mconsult together
11 and nsay, “God has forsaken him;
pursue and seize him,
for there is none to deliver him.”
12 O God, obe not far from me;
O my God, pmake haste to help me!
13 May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
with scorn and disgrace may they be qcovered
who seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for rtheir number is past my knowledge.
16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So seven to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
19 tYour righteousness, O God,
ureaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, vwho is like you?
20 wYou who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will xrevive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.
22 yI will also praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy,
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have redeemed.
24 And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been put to shame and disappointed
who sought to do me hurt.
31 But yearnestly desire the higher gifts.
And I will show you a still more excellent way.
The Way of Love
1 If I zspeak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have aprophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all bknowledge, and if I have all cfaith, dso as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I egive away all I have, and if I deliver up my body fto be burned,1 but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is gpatient and hkind; love idoes not envy or boast; it is not jarrogant 5 or rude. kIt does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;2 6 it does not lrejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I mgave up childish ways. 12 For now we nsee in a mirror dimly, but then oface to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as pI have been fully known.
13 qSo now rfaith, hope, and love abide, these three; but sthe greatest of these is love.
Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon
31 nAnd he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, 32 and they were oastonished at his teaching, for his word possessed pauthority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 “Ha!1 What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I qknow who you are—the rHoly One of God.” 35 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be ssilent and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And treports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.
Jesus Heals Many
38 uAnd he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.
40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would vnot allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the wChrist.
Jesus Preaches in Synagogues
42 xAnd when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, “I must ypreach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.2
