Jer. 30

30:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah. 2“The Lord God of Israel says, ‘Write everything that I am about to tell you in a scroll. 3For I, the Lord, affirm that the time will come when I will reverse the plight of my people, Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors, and they will take possession of it once again.’”

4So here is what the Lord has to say about Israel and Judah.

5Yes, here is what he says:

“You hear cries of panic and of terror;

there is no peace in sight.

6Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully:

Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby?

Why then do I see all these strong men

grabbing their stomachs in pain like a woman giving birth?

And why do their faces

turn so deathly pale?

7Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is!

There has never been any like it.

It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob,

but some of them will be rescued out of it.

8When the time for them to be rescued comes,”

says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,

“I will rescue you from foreign subjugation.

I will deliver you from captivity.

Foreigners will then no longer subjugate them.

9But they will be subject to the Lord their God

and to the Davidic ruler whom I will raise up as king over them.

10So I, the Lord, tell you not to be afraid,

you descendants of Jacob, my servants.

Do not be terrified, people of Israel.

For I will rescue you and your descendants

from a faraway land where you are captives.

The descendants of Jacob will return to their land and enjoy peace.

They will be secure, and no one will terrify them.

11For I, the Lord, affirm that

I will be with you and will rescue you.

I will completely destroy all the nations where I scattered you.

But I will not completely destroy you.

I will indeed discipline you, but only in due measure.

I will not allow you to go entirely unpunished.”

12Moreover, the Lord says to the people of Zion:

“Your injuries are incurable;

your wounds are severe.

13There is no one to plead your cause.

There are no remedies for your wounds.

There is no healing for you.

14All your allies have abandoned you.

They no longer have any concern for you.

For I have attacked you like an enemy would.

I have chastened you cruelly.

For your wickedness is so great

and your sin is so much.

15Why do you complain about your injuries,

that your pain is incurable?

I have done all this to you

because your wickedness is so great

and your sin is so much.

16But all who destroyed you will be destroyed.

All your enemies will go into exile.

Those who plundered you will be plundered.

I will cause those who pillaged you to be pillaged.

17Yes, I will restore you to health.

I will heal your wounds.

I, the Lord, affirm it!

For you have been called an outcast,

Zion, whom no one cares for.”

18The Lord says:

“I will restore the ruined houses of the descendants of Jacob.

I will show compassion on their ruined homes.

Every city will be rebuilt on its former ruins.

Every fortified dwelling will occupy its traditional site.

19Out of those places you will hear songs of thanksgiving

and the sounds of laughter and merriment.

I will increase their number, and they will not dwindle away.

I will bring them honor, and they will no longer be despised.

20The descendants of Jacob will enjoy their former privileges.

Their community will be reestablished in my favor,

and I will punish all who try to oppress them.

21One of their own people will be their leader.

Their ruler will come from their own number.

I will invite him to approach me, and he will do so.

For no one would dare approach me on his own.

I, the Lord, affirm it!

22Then you will again be my people,

and I will be your God.

23Just watch! The wrath of the Lord

will come like a storm.

Like a raging storm it will rage down

on the heads of those who are wicked.

24The anger of the Lord will not turn back

until he has fully carried out his intended purposes.

In future days you will come to understand this.

Ps. 6

6:1 For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style; a psalm of David.

Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger.

Do not discipline me in your raging fury.

2Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am frail.

Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking.

3I am absolutely terrified,

and you, Lord—how long will this continue?

4Relent, Lord, rescue me!

Deliver me because of your faithfulness.

5For no one remembers you in the realm of death.

In Sheol who gives you thanks?

6I am exhausted as I groan.

All night long I drench my bed in tears;

my tears saturate the cushion beneath me.

7My eyes grow dim from suffering;

they grow weak because of all my enemies.

8Turn back from me, all you who behave wickedly,

for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

9The Lord has heard my appeal for mercy;

the Lord has accepted my prayer.

10They will be humiliated and absolutely terrified.

All my enemies will turn back and be suddenly humiliated.

Acts 18:1–17

18:1 After this Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. 2There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to depart from Rome. Paul approached them, 3and because he worked at the same trade, he stayed with them and worked with them (for they were tentmakers by trade). 4He addressed both Jews and Greeks in the synagogue every Sabbath, attempting to persuade them.

5Now when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul became wholly absorbed with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6When they opposed him and reviled him, he protested by shaking out his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am guiltless! From now on I will go to the Gentiles!” 7Then Paul left the synagogue and went to the house of a person named Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 8Crispus, the president of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard about it believed and were baptized. 9The Lord said to Paul by a vision in the night, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent 10because I am with you, and no one will assault you to harm you because I have many people in this city.” 11So he stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

12Now while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews attacked Paul together and brought him before the judgment seat, 13saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God in a way contrary to the law!” 14But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, I would have been justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews, 15but since it concerns points of disagreement about words and names and your own law, settle it yourselves. I will not be a judge of these things!” 16Then he had them forced away from the judgment seat. 17So they all seized Sosthenes, the president of the synagogue, and began to beat him in front of the judgment seat. Yet none of these things were of any concern to Gallio.