Day 749 of 939
JER 2:14-37
JER 2:14-37 · 2CO 11:1-12
Not written yet
The reading for this day is below. The commentary has not been written and reviewed yet — it is added a book at a time, and every day is read by a person before it appears here.
JER 2:14-37
14Is Israel a slave? Was he born into slavery? Why then has he become prey? 15The young lions have roared at him; they have sounded their voices. They have laid waste his land; his cities lie in ruins, without inhabitant. 16The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head. 17Have you not brought this on yourself by forsaking the LORD your God when He led you in the way? 18Now what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile ? What will you gain on your way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates ? 19Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts. 20“For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute. 21I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine? 22Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD. 23“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping here and there, 24a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they will find her. 25You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’ 26As the thief is ashamed when he is caught, so the house of Israel is disgraced. They, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets 27say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Yet in the time of trouble, they say, ‘Rise up and save us!’ 28But where are the gods you made for yourselves? Let them rise up in your time of trouble and save you if they can; for your gods are as numerous as your cities, O Judah. 29Why do you bring a case against Me? You have all rebelled against Me,” declares the LORD. 30“I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.” 31You people of this generation, consider the word of the LORD: “Have I been a wilderness to Israel or a land of dense darkness? Why do My people say, ‘We are free to roam; we will come to You no more’? 32Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number. 33How skillfully you pursue love! Even the most immoral of women could learn from your ways. 34Moreover, your skirts are stained with the blood of the innocent poor, though you did not find them breaking in. But in spite of all these things 35you say, ‘I am innocent. Surely His anger will turn from me.’ Behold, I will judge you, because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ 36How impulsive you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria. 37Moreover, you will leave that place with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those you trust; you will not prosper by their help.”
Secondary reading — 2CO 11:1-12
1I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness, but you are already doing that. 2I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it very easily. 5I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.” 6Although I am not a polished speaker, I am certainly not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way possible. 7Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? 8I robbed other churches by accepting their support in order to serve you. 9And when I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have refrained from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so. 10As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 12But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast.