Jer. 15:1–9

15:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I would not feel pity for them! Get them away from me! Tell them to go away! 2If they ask you, ‘Where should we go?’ tell them the Lord says this:

‘Those who are destined to die of disease will go to death by disease.

Those who are destined to die in war will go to death in war.

Those who are destined to die of starvation will go to death by starvation.

Those who are destined to go into exile will go into exile.’

3“I will punish them in four different ways: I will have war kill them; I will have dogs drag off their dead bodies; I will have birds and wild beasts devour and destroy their corpses. 4I will make all the people in all the kingdoms of the world horrified at what has happened to them because of what Hezekiah’s son Manasseh, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.”

5The Lord cried out,

“Who in the world will have pity on you, Jerusalem?

Who will grieve over you?

Who will stop long enough

to inquire about how you are doing?

6I, the Lord, say: ‘You people have deserted me;

you keep turning your back on me.’

So I have unleashed my power against you and have begun to destroy you.

I have grown tired of feeling sorry for you!”

7The Lord continued,

“In every town in the land I will purge them

like straw blown away by the wind.

I will destroy my people.

I will kill off their children.

I will do so because they did not change their behavior.

8Their widows will become in my sight more numerous

than the grains of sand on the seashores.

At noontime I will bring a destroyer

against the mothers of their young men.

I will cause anguish and terror

to fall suddenly upon them.

9The mother who had seven children will grow faint.

All the breath will go out of her.

Her pride and joy will be taken from her in the prime of their life.

It will seem as if the sun had set while it was still day.

She will suffer shame and humiliation.

I will cause any of them who are still left alive

to be killed in war by the onslaughts of their enemies,”

says the Lord.

Ps. 133

133:1 A song of ascents; by David.

Look! How good and how pleasant it is

when brothers truly live in unity.

2It is like fine oil poured on the head,

which flows down the beard—

Aaron’s beard,

and then flows down his garments.

3It is like the dew of Hermon,

which flows down upon the hills of Zion.

Indeed, that is where the Lord has decreed

a blessing will be available—eternal life.

Acts 9:19–31

9:19 and after taking some food, his strength returned.

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, 20and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “This man is the Son of God.” 21All who heard him were amazed and were saying, “Is this not the man who in Jerusalem was ravaging those who call on this name, and who had come here to bring them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22But Saul became more and more capable, and was causing consternation among the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

23Now after some days had passed, the Jews plotted together to kill him, 24but Saul learned of their plot against him. They were also watching the city gates day and night so that they could kill him. 25But his disciples took him at night and let him down through an opening in the wall by lowering him in a basket.

26When he arrived in Jerusalem, he attempted to associate with the disciples, and they were all afraid of him because they did not believe that he was a disciple. 27But Barnabas took Saul, brought him to the apostles, and related to them how he had seen the Lord on the road, that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. 28So he was staying with them, associating openly with them in Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. 29He was speaking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews, but they were trying to kill him. 30When the brothers found out about this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

31Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria experienced peace and thus was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, the church increased in numbers.