Jer. 18

18:1 The Lord said to Jeremiah: 2“Go down at once to the potter’s house. I will speak to you further there.” 3So I went down to the potter’s house and found him working at his wheel. 4Now and then there would be something wrong with the pot he was molding from the clay with his hands. So he would rework the clay into another kind of pot as he saw fit.

5Then the Lord’s message came to me, 6“I, the Lord, say: ‘O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay? In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter’s hand.’ 7There are times, Jeremiah, when I threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a nation or kingdom. 8But if that nation I threatened stops doing wrong, I will cancel the destruction I intended to do to it. 9And there are times when I promise to build up and establish a nation or kingdom. 10But if that nation does what displeases me and does not obey me, then I will cancel the good I promised to do to it. 11So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem this: The Lord says, ‘I am preparing to bring disaster on you! I am making plans to punish you. So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing. Correct the way you have been living and do what is right.’ 12But they just keep saying, ‘We do not care what you say! We will do whatever we want to do! We will continue to behave wickedly and stubbornly!’”

13Therefore, the Lord says,

“Ask the people of other nations

whether they have heard of anything like this.

Israel should have been like a virgin,

but she has done something utterly revolting!

14Does the snow ever completely vanish from the rocky slopes of Lebanon?

Do the cool waters from those distant mountains ever cease to flow?

15Yet my people have forgotten me

and offered sacrifices to worthless idols.

This makes them stumble along in the way they live

and leave the old reliable path of their fathers.

They have left them to walk in bypaths,

in roads that are not smooth and level.

16So their land will become an object of horror.

People will forever hiss out their scorn over it.

All who pass that way will be filled with horror

and will shake their heads in derision.

17I will scatter them before their enemies

like dust blowing in front of a burning east wind.

I will turn my back on them and not look favorably on them

when disaster strikes them.”

18Then some people said, “Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God’s word. Come on! Let’s bring charges against him and get rid of him! Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says.”

19Then I said,

“Lord, pay attention to me.

Listen to what my enemies are saying.

20Should good be paid back with evil?

Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me.

Just remember how I stood before you

pleading on their behalf

to keep you from venting your anger on them.

21So let their children die of starvation.

Let them be cut down by the sword.

Let their wives lose their husbands and children.

Let the older men die of disease

and the younger men die by the sword in battle.

22Let cries of terror be heard in their houses

when you send bands of raiders unexpectedly to plunder them.

For they have virtually dug a pit to capture me

and have hidden traps for me to step into.

23But you, Lord, know

all their plots to kill me.

Do not pardon their crimes!

Do not ignore their sins as though you had erased them.

Let them be brought down in defeat before you.

Deal with them while you are still angry!”

Ps. 138

138:1 By David.

I will give you thanks with all my heart;

before the heavenly assembly I will sing praises to you.

2I will bow down toward your holy temple

and give thanks to your name,

because of your loyal love and faithfulness,

for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky.

3When I cried out for help, you answered me.

You made me bold and energized me.

4Let all the kings of the earth give thanks to you, O Lord,

when they hear the words you speak.

5Let them sing about the Lord’s deeds,

for the Lord’s splendor is magnificent.

6Though the Lord is exalted, he looks after the lowly,

and from far away humbles the proud.

7Even when I must walk in the midst of danger, you revive me.

You oppose my angry enemies,

and your right hand delivers me.

8The Lord avenges me.

O Lord, your loyal love endures.

Do not abandon those whom you have made.

Acts 11:1–18

11:1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers took issue with him, 3saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and shared a meal with them.” 4But Peter began and explained it to them point by point, saying, 5“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, an object something like a large sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came to me. 6As I stared I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and wild birds. 7I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter; slaughter and eat!’ 8But I said, ‘Certainly not, Lord, for nothing defiled or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth!’ 9But the voice replied a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!’ 10This happened three times, and then everything was pulled up to heaven again. 11At that very moment, three men sent to me from Caesarea approached the house where we were staying. 12The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13He informed us how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter, 14who will speak a message to you by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ 15Then as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he did on us at the beginning. 16And I remembered the word of the Lord, as he used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17Therefore if God gave them the same gift as he also gave us after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder God?” 18When they heard this, they ceased their objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted the repentance that leads to life even to the Gentiles.”