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Bible Reading for August 17

Jeremiah Chapter 18

1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee
to hear my words.

3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work
on the wheels.

4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the
potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter
to make it.

5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the
LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine
hand, O house of Israel.

7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a
kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil,
I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning
a kingdom, to build and to plant it;

10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will
repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I frame
evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every
one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own
devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

13 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath
heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of
the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place
be forsaken?

15 Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to
vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the
ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;

16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.

17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will
shew them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.

18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for
the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor
the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue,
and let us not give heed to any of his words.

19 Give heed to me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of them that
contend with me.

20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my
soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to
turn away thy wrath from them.

21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their
blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of
their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let
their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid
snares for my feet.

23 Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me:
forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight,
but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time
of thine anger.

Jeremiah Chapter 19

1 Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of
the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests;

2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the
entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee,

3 And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and
inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.

4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their
fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place
with the blood of innocents;

5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with
fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:

6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place
shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but
The valley of slaughter.

7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place;
and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by
the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give
to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that
passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.

9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of
their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in
the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek
their lives, shall straiten them.

10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with
thee,

11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I
break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till
there be no place to bury.

12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the
inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:

13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah,
shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon
whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and
have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.

14 Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to
prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD'S house; and said to all
the people,

15 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring
upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have
pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they
might not hear my words.

Jeremiah Chapter 20

1 Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in
the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.

2 Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that
were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.

3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah
out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called
thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib.

4 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself,
and to all thy friends: and they shall fall by the sword of their
enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into
the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into
Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.

5 Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the
labours thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the
treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their
enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.

6 And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into
captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and
shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast
prophesied lies.

7 O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger
than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.

8 For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because
the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.

9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his
name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my
bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say
they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting,
saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against
him, and we shall take our revenge on him.

11 But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my
persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be
greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion
shall never be forgotten.

12 But, O LORD of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins
and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I
opened my cause.

13 Sing unto the LORD, praise ye the LORD: for he hath delivered the
soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.

14 Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my
mother bare me be blessed.

15 Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man
child is born unto thee; making him very glad.

16 And let that man be as the cities which the LORD overthrew, and
repented not: and let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting
at noontide;

17 Because he slew me not from the womb; or that my mother might have
been my grave, and her womb to be always great with me.

18 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labour and sorrow, that
my days should be consumed with shame?

Jeremiah Chapter 21

1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah
sent unto him Pashur the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah the son of
Maaseiah the priest, saying,

2 Enquire, I pray thee, of the LORD for us; for Nebuchadrezzar king of
Babylon maketh war against us; if so be that the LORD will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.

3 Then said Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah:

4 Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold, I will turn back the
weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the
king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without
the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.

5 And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with
a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.

6 And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast:
they shall die of a great pestilence.

7 And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah,
and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from
the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and
into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them
with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity,
nor have mercy.

8 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I
set before you the way of life, and the way of death.

9 He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the
famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto
him for a prey.

10 For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good,
saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon,
and he shall burn it with fire.

11 And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of
the LORD;

12 O house of David, thus saith the LORD; Execute judgment in the
morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the
oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench
it, because of the evil of your doings.

13 Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of
the plain, saith the LORD; which say, Who shall come down against us? or
who shall enter into our habitations?

14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith
the LORD: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall
devour all things round about it.

Jeremiah Chapter 22

1 Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and
speak there this word,

2 And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon
the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter
in by these gates:

3 Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and
deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong,
do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither
shed innocent blood in this place.

4 For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates
of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots
and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

5 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the
LORD, that this house shall become a desolation.

6 For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou art
Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon: yet surely I will make thee a wilderness, and cities which are not inhabited.

7 And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his
weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into
the fire.

8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man
to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?

9 Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the
LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.

10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him
that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.

11 For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of
Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out
of this place; He shall not return thither any more:

12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and
shall see this land no more.

13 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his
chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and
cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.

15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy
father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well
with him?

16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him:
was not this to know me? saith the LORD.

17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and
for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

18 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah
king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or,
Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!

19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth
beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

20 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry
from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed.

21 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; but thou saidst, I will not
hear. This hath been thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not
my voice.

22 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness.

23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how
gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman
in travail!

24 As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of
Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;

25 And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and
into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.

27 But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they
not return.

28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is
no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast
into a land which they know not?

29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall
not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting
upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

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