Jer. 13:15–27

13:15 Then I said to the people of Judah:

“Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant!

For the Lord has spoken.

16Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him.

Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster.

Do it before you stumble into distress

like a traveler on the mountains at twilight.

Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for

into the darkness and gloom of exile.

17But if you will not pay attention to this warning,

I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.

I will weep bitterly, and my eyes will overflow with tears

because you, the Lord’s flock, will be carried into exile.”

18The Lord told me:

“Tell the king and the queen mother,

‘Surrender your thrones,

for your glorious crowns

will be removed from your heads.

19The gates of the towns in southern Judah will be shut tight.

No one will be able to go in or out of them.

All Judah will be carried off into exile.

They will be completely carried off into exile.’”

20Then I said,

“Look up, Jerusalem, and see

the enemy that is coming from the north.

Where now is the flock of people that were entrusted to your care?

Where now are the ‘sheep’ that you take such pride in?

21What will you say when the Lord appoints as rulers over you those allies

that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such?

Then anguish and agony will grip you

like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.

22You will probably ask yourself,

‘Why have these things happened to me?

Why have I been treated like a disgraced adulteress

whose skirt has been torn off and her limbs exposed?’

It is because you have sinned so much.

23But there is little hope for you ever doing good,

you who are so accustomed to doing evil.

Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin?

Can a leopard remove its spots?

24“The Lord says,

‘That is why I will scatter your people like chaff

that is blown away by a desert wind.

25This is your fate,

the destiny to which I have appointed you

because you have forgotten me

and have trusted in false gods.

26So I will pull your skirt up over your face

and expose you to shame like a disgraced adulteress!

27People of Jerusalem, I have seen your adulterous worship,

your shameless prostitution to, and your lustful pursuit of, other gods.

I have seen your disgusting acts of worship

on the hills throughout the countryside.

You are doomed to destruction!

How long will you continue to be unclean?’”

Ps. 131

131:1 A song of ascents, by David.

O Lord, my heart is not proud,

nor do I have a haughty look.

I do not have great aspirations,

or concern myself with things that are beyond me.

2Indeed, I have calmed and quieted myself

like a weaned child with its mother;

I am content like a young child.

3O Israel, hope in the Lord

now and forevermore!

Acts 8:26–40

8:26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) 27So he got up and went. There he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28and was returning home, sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah. 29Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30So Philip ran up to it and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” 31The man replied, “How in the world can I, unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32Now the passage of scripture the man was reading was this:

“He was led like a sheep to slaughter,

and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

33In humiliation justice was taken from him.

Who can describe his posterity?

For his life was taken away from the earth.”

34Then the eunuch said to Philip, “Please tell me, who is the prophet saying this about—himself or someone else?” 35So Philip started speaking, and beginning with this scripture proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. 36Now as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water! What is to stop me from being baptized?” 38So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any more, but went on his way rejoicing. 40Philip, however, found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through the area, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.