Jer. 5:1–13

5:1 The Lord said,

“Go up and down through the streets of Jerusalem.

Look around and see for yourselves.

Search through its public squares.

See if any of you can find a single person

who deals honestly and tries to be truthful.

If you can, then I will not punish this city.

2These people make promises in the name of the Lord.

But the fact is, what they swear to is really a lie.”

3Lord, I know you look for faithfulness.

But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse.

Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.

They have become as hardheaded as a rock.

They refuse to change their ways.

4I thought, “Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way.

They act like fools because they do not know what the Lord demands.

They do not know what their God requires of them.

5I will go to the leaders

and speak with them.

Surely they know what the Lord demands.

Surely they know what their God requires of them.”

Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority

and refuse to submit to him.

6So like a lion from the thicket, their enemies will kill them.

Like a wolf from the rift valley, they will destroy them.

Like a leopard, they will lie in wait outside their cities

and totally destroy anyone who ventures out.

For they have rebelled so much

and done so many unfaithful things.

7The Lord asked,

“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem?

Your people have rejected me

and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all.

Even though I supplied all their needs, they were like an unfaithful wife to me.

They went flocking to the houses of prostitutes.

8They are like lusty, well-fed stallions.

Each of them lusts after his neighbor’s wife.

9I will surely punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord.

“I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!”

10The Lord commanded the enemy,

“March through the vineyards of Israel and Judah and ruin them.

But do not destroy them completely.

Strip off their branches

for these people do not belong to the Lord.

11For the nations of Israel and Judah

have been very unfaithful to me,”

says the Lord.

12“These people have denied what the Lord says.

They have said, ‘That is not so!

No harm will come to us.

We will not experience war and famine.

13The prophets will prove to be full of wind.

The Lord has not spoken through them.

So, let what they say happen to them.’”

Ps. 119:137–144

119:137 צ (Tsade)

You are just, O Lord,

and your judgments are fair.

138The rules you impose are just

and absolutely reliable.

139My zeal consumes me,

for my enemies forget your instructions.

140Your word is absolutely pure,

and your servant loves it.

141I am insignificant and despised,

yet I do not forget your precepts.

142Your justice endures,

and your law is reliable.

143Distress and hardship confront me,

yet I find delight in your commands.

144Your rules remain just.

Give me insight so that I can live.

Acts 2:14–41

2:14 But Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them: “You men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, know this and listen carefully to what I say. 15In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel:

17‘And in the last days it will be,’ God says,

‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people,

and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,

and your young men will see visions,

and your old men will dream dreams.

18Even on my servants, both men and women,

I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

19And I will perform wonders in the sky above

and miraculous signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and clouds of smoke.

20The sun will be changed to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.

21And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

22“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man clearly attested to you by God with powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed among you through him, just as you yourselves know— 23this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. 24But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death because it was not possible for him to be held in its power. 25For David says about him,

‘I saw the Lord always in front of me,

for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken.

26Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced;

my body also will live in hope,

27because you will not leave my soul in Hades,

nor permit your Holy One to experience decay.

28You have made known to me the paths of life;

you will make me full of joy with your presence.’

29“Brothers, I can speak confidently to you about our forefather David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30So then, because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants on his throne, 31David by foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his body experience decay. 32This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it. 33So then, exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out what you both see and hear. 34For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says,

‘The Lord said to my lord,

“Sit at my right hand

35until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’

36Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.”

37Now when they heard this, they were acutely distressed and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What should we do, brothers?” 38Peter said to them, “Repent, and each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” 40With many other words he testified and exhorted them saying, “Save yourselves from this perverse generation!” 41So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added.