Jer. 36

36:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah: 2“Get a scroll. Write on it everything I have told you to say about Israel, Judah, and all the other nations since I began to speak to you in the reign of Josiah until now. 3Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about all the disaster I intend to bring on them, they will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. If they do, I will forgive their sins and the wicked things they have done.”

4So Jeremiah summoned Baruch son of Neriah. Then, Baruch wrote down in a scroll all the Lord’s words that he had told to Jeremiah as they came from his mouth. 5Then Jeremiah told Baruch, “I am no longer allowed to go into the Lord’s temple. 6So you go there the next time all the people of Judah come in from their towns to fast in the Lord’s temple. Read out loud where all of them can hear you what I told you the Lord said, which you wrote in the scroll. 7Perhaps then they will ask the Lord for mercy and will all stop doing the evil things they have been doing. For the Lord has threatened to bring great anger and wrath against these people.”

8So Baruch son of Neriah did exactly what the prophet Jeremiah told him to do. He read what the Lord had said from the scroll in the temple of the Lord. 9All the people living in Jerusalem and all the people who came into Jerusalem from the towns of Judah observed a fast before the Lord. The fast took place in the ninth month of the fifth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was ruling over Judah. 10At that time Baruch went into the temple of the Lord. He stood in the entrance of the room of Gemariah the son of Shaphan who had been the royal secretary. That room was in the upper court near the entrance of the New Gate. There, where all the people could hear him, he read from the scroll what Jeremiah had said.

11Micaiah, who was the son of Gemariah and the grandson of Shaphan, heard Baruch read from the scroll everything the Lord had said. 12He went down to the chamber of the royal secretary in the king’s palace and found all the court officials in session there. Elishama the royal secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Achbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials were seated there. 13Micaiah told them everything he had heard Baruch read from the scroll in the hearing of the people. 14All the officials sent Jehudi, who was the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch. They ordered him to tell Baruch, “Come here and bring with you the scroll you read in the hearing of the people.” So Baruch son of Neriah went to them, carrying the scroll in his hand. 15They said to him, “Please sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch sat down and read it to them. 16When they had heard it all, they expressed their alarm to one another. Then they said to Baruch, “We must certainly give the king a report about everything you have read!” 17Then they asked Baruch, “How did you come to write all these words? Do they actually come from Jeremiah’s mouth?” 18Baruch answered, “Yes, they came from his own mouth. He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them down in ink on this scroll.” 19Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah must go and hide. You must not let anyone know where you are.”

20The officials put the scroll in the room of Elishama, the royal secretary, for safekeeping. Then they went to the court and reported everything to the king. 21The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. He went and got it from the room of Elishama, the royal secretary. Then he himself read it to the king and all the officials who were standing around him. 22Since it was the ninth month of the year, the king was sitting in his winter quarters. A fire was burning in the firepot in front of him. 23As soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king would cut them off with a penknife and throw them on the fire in the firepot. He kept doing so until the whole scroll was burned up in the fire. 24Neither he nor any of his attendants showed any alarm when they heard all that had been read. Nor did they tear their clothes to show any grief or sorrow. 25The king did not even listen to Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah, who had urged him not to burn the scroll. 26He also ordered Jerahmeel, who was one of the royal princes, Seraiah son of Azriel, and Shelemiah son of Abdeel to arrest the scribe Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. However, the Lord hid them.

27The Lord’s message came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll with the words Baruch had written down at Jeremiah’s dictation. 28“Get another scroll and write on it everything that was written on the original scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned. 29Tell King Jehoiakim of Judah, ‘The Lord says, “You burned the scroll. You asked Jeremiah, ‘How dare you write in this scroll that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and wipe out all the people and animals on it?’” 30So the Lord says concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah, “None of his line will occupy the throne of David. His dead body will be thrown out to be exposed to scorching heat by day and frost by night. 31I will punish him and his descendants and the officials who serve him for the wicked things they have done. I will bring on them, the citizens of Jerusalem and the people of Judah, all the disaster that I told them about and that they ignored.”’” 32Then Jeremiah got another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah. As Jeremiah dictated, Baruch wrote on this scroll everything that had been on the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned in the fire. They also added on this scroll several other messages of the same kind.

Ps. 16

16:1 A prayer of David.

Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you.

2I say to the Lord, “You are the Lord,

my only source of well-being.”

3As for God’s chosen people who are in the land,

and the leading officials I admired so much—

4their troubles multiply;

they desire other gods.

I will not pour out drink offerings of blood to their gods,

nor will I make vows in the name of their gods.

5Lord, you give me stability and prosperity;

you make my future secure.

6It is as if I have been given fertile fields

or received a beautiful tract of land.

7I will praise the Lord who guides me;

yes, during the night I reflect and learn.

8I constantly trust in the Lord;

because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

9So my heart rejoices

and I am happy;

my life is safe.

10You will not abandon me to Sheol;

you will not allow your faithful follower to see the Pit.

11You lead me in the path of life.

I experience absolute joy in your presence;

you always give me sheer delight.

Acts 21:37–22:5

21:37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commanding officer, “May I say something to you?” The officer replied, “Do you know Greek? 38Then you’re not that Egyptian who started a rebellion and led the 4,000 men of the ‘Assassins’ into the wilderness sometime ago?” 39Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Please allow me to speak to the people.” 40When the commanding officer had given him permission, Paul stood on the steps and gestured to the people with his hand. When they had become silent, he addressed them in Aramaic,

22:1 “Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense that I now make to you.” 2(When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter.) Then Paul said, 3“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated with strictness under Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors, and was zealous for God just as all of you are today. 4I persecuted this Way even to the point of death, tying up both men and women and putting them in prison, 5as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to make arrests there and bring the prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. (NET Bible)