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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
November 13 - Bible-in-a-Year
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Jeremiah 21-22
Chapter 21
Jeremiah's Message for Zedekiah
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when (C1)King Zedekiah sent to him (C2)Pashhur the son of Malchijah and (C3)Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying,2 "Please (C1)inquire of the LORD in our behalf, because (C2)Nebuchadnezzar king of (C3)Babylon is making war against us; perhaps the LORD will deal with us (C4)in accordance with all His (F1)wonderful acts, so that the enemy will withdraw from us."
3 But Jeremiah said to them, "You shall say to Zedekiah as follows:4 'This is what the LORD, the God of Israel says: "Behold, I am going to (C1)turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you are making war against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will (C2)gather them into the middle of this city.5 "And I (C1)Myself will make war against you with an (C2)outstretched hand and a mighty arm, and in (C3)anger, wrath, and great indignation.6 "I will also strike the inhabitants of this city, both the people and the animals; they will die of a great (C1)plague.7 "Then afterward," declares the LORD, "(C1)I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people, that is, those who survive in this city from the plague, the sword, and the famine, over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to their enemies, and to those who seek their lives; and he will strike and kill them with the edge of the sword. He (C2)will not spare them nor have pity nor compassion."'
8 "You shall also say to this people, 'This is what the LORD says: "Behold, I am (C1)setting before you the way of life and the way of death.9 "Anyone who (C1)stays in this city will die by the (C2)sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who leaves and goes over to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as plunder.10 "For I have (C1)set My face against this city for harm and not for good," declares the LORD. "It will be (C2)handed over to the king of Babylon and he will (C3)burn it with fire."'
11 "Then say to the household of the (C1)king of Judah, 'Hear the word of the LORD,12 (C1)house of David, this is what the LORD says: "(C2)Administer justice (F1)every (C3)morning;
And save the person who has been robbed from the (F2)power of his oppressor,
(C4)So that My wrath will not spread like fire
And (C5)burn, with no one to extinguish it,
Because of the evil of their deeds.
13 "Behold, (C1)I am against you, you inhabitant of the (C2)valley,
You (F1)rocky plain," declares the LORD,
"You who say, '(C3)Who will come down against us?
Or who will enter our dwellings?'
14 "But I will punish you (C1)according to the (F1)results of your deeds," declares the LORD,
"And I will (C2)kindle a fire in its forest
So that it may devour all its surroundings."'"
Chapter 22
Warning of Jerusalem's Fall
1 This is what the LORD says: "Go down to the house of the king of Judah and there speak this word,2 and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who (C1)sits on David's throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates.3 'This is what the LORD says: "(C1)Do justice and righteousness, and save one who has been robbed from the power of his (C2)oppressor. And (C3)do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not (C4)shed innocent blood in this place.4 "For if you will indeed perform this (F1)instruction, then (C1)kings will enter the gates of this house, sitting (F2)in David's place on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, the king himself, his servants, and his people.5 "(C1)But if you will not obey these words, I (C2)swear by Myself," declares the LORD, "that this house will become a place of ruins."'"6 For this is what the LORD says concerning the house of the king of Judah: "You are like (C1)Gilead to Me,
Like the summit of Lebanon;
Yet most assuredly I will make you a (C2)wilderness,
Cities that are not inhabited.
7 "For I will set apart (C1)destroyers against you,
Each with his weapons;
And they will (C2)cut down your choicest cedars
And (C3)throw them on the fire.
8 "Many nations will pass by this city; and they will (C1)say to one another, 'Why has the LORD done this to this great city?'9 "Then they will (F1)answer, 'Because they (C1)abandoned the covenant of the LORD their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.'"
10 (C1)Do not weep for the dead or mourn for him,
But weep deeply for the one who goes away;
For (C2)he will never return
Or see his native land.
11 For this is what the LORD says regarding (F1)(C1)Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of his father Josiah, who went out from this place: "He will never return there;12 but in the place where they took him into exile, there he will (C1)die and he will not see this land again.
Messages about the Kings
13 "Woe to him who builds his house (C1)without righteousness,
And his upstairs rooms without justice,
Who uses his neighbor's services without pay
And (C2)does not give him his wages,
14 Who says, 'I will (C1)build myself a large house
With spacious upstairs rooms,
And cut out its windows,
(F1)Paneling it with (C2)cedar and painting it (F2)bright red.'
15 "Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar?
Did your father not eat and drink
And (C1)do justice and righteousness?
Then it was (C2)well for him.
16 "He pled the cause of the (C1)afflicted and the poor,
Then it was well.
(C2)Is that not what it means to know Me?"
Declares the LORD.
17 "But your eyes and your heart
Are intent only upon your own (C1)dishonest gain,
And on (C2)shedding innocent blood,
And on practicing oppression and extortion."
18 Therefore this is what the LORD says regarding (C1)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: "They will not (C2)mourn for him:
'(C3)Oh, my brother!' or, 'Oh, sister!'
They will not mourn for him:
'Oh, for the master!' or, 'Oh, for his splendor!'
19 "He will be (C1)buried with a donkey's burial,
Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.
20 "Go up to Lebanon and cry out,
And raise your voice in Bashan;
Cry out also from (C1)Abarim,
For all your (C2)lovers have been crushed.
21 "I spoke to you in your prosperity;
But (C1)you said, 'I will not listen!'
(C2)This has been your way (C3)from your youth,
That you have not obeyed My voice.
22 "The wind will sweep away all your (C1)shepherds,
And your (C2)lovers will go into captivity;
Then you will certainly be (C3)ashamed and humiliated
Because of all your wickedness.
23 "You who live in Lebanon,
Nested in the cedars,
How you will groan when sharp pains come on you,
(C1)Pain like a woman in childbirth!
24 "As I live," declares the LORD, "even if (F1)(C1)Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a (C2)signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull (F1)you (F2)off;25 and I will (C1)hand you over to those who are seeking your life, yes, to those of whom you are frightened, that is, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans.26 "I will (C1)hurl you and your (C2)mother who gave birth to you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die.27 "But as for the land to which they long to return, they will not return to it.
28 "Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar?
Or is he an (C1)undesirable vessel?
Why have he and his descendants been (C2)hurled out
And cast into a (C3)land that they had not known?
29 "(C1)O land, land, land,
Hear the word of the LORD!
'Write this man down as (C1)childless,
A man who will (C2)not prosper in his days;
For no man among his (C3)descendants will prosper
Sitting on the throne of David
Or ruling again in Judah.'"
Psalms 129
Chapter 129
Prayer for the Overthrow of Zion's Enemies.
1 "(F1)Many times they have (C1)attacked me from my (C2)youth up,"
(C3)Let Israel say,
2 "(F1)Many times they have attacked me from my youth up;
Yet they have (C1)not prevailed against me.
3 "The plowers plowed upon my back;
They lengthened their furrows."
4 The LORD (C1)is righteous;
He has cut up the (C2)ropes of the wicked.
5 May all who (C1)hate Zion
Be (C2)put to shame and turned backward;
6 May they be like (C1)grass upon the housetops,
Which withers before it (F1)grows up;
7 With which the harvester does not fill his (F1)hand,
Or the binder of sheaves his (F2)(C1)arms;
8 Nor do those who pass by say,
"The (C1)blessing of the LORD be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the LORD."
James 1
Chapter 1
The Testing of Your Faith
1 (F1)(C1)James, a (C2)bond-servant of God and (C3)of the Lord Jesus Christ,
2 (C1)Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter (C2)various (F1)trials,3 knowing that (C1)the testing of your (C2)faith produces (F1)(C3)endurance.4 And let (F1)(C1)endurance have its perfect (F2)result, so that you may be (F3)(C2)perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you (C1)lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and (F1)without reproach, and (C2)it will be given to him.6 But he must (C1)ask in faith (C2)without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, (C3)driven and tossed by the wind.7 For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,8 being a (F1)(C1)double-minded man, (C2)unstable in all his ways.
9 (C1)Now the brother or sister of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position;10 but the rich person is to glory in his (F1)humiliation, because (C1)like (F2)flowering grass he will pass away.11 For the sun rises with (C1)its scorching heat and (C2)withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so also the rich person, in the midst of his pursuits, will die out.
12 (C1)Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has (F1)been approved, he will receive (C2)the crown of life which the Lord (C3)has promised to those who (C4)love Him.13 No one is to say when he is tempted, "(C1)I am being tempted (F1)by God"; for God cannot be tempted (F2)by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.15 Then (C1)when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and (C2)sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.16 (C1)Do not be (F1)deceived, (C2)my beloved brothers and sisters.17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is (C1)from above, coming down from (C2)the Father of lights, (C3)with whom there is no variation or (F1)shifting shadow.18 In the exercise of (C1)His will He (C2)gave us birth by (C3)the word of truth, so that we would be (F1)a kind of (C4)first fruits (F2)among His creatures.
19 (F1)(C1)You know this, (C2)my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, (C3)slow to speak, and (C4)slow to anger;20 for a man's (C1)anger does not bring about the righteousness of God.21 Therefore, (C1)ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all (F1)that remains of wickedness, in (F2)humility receive (C2)the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.22 (C1)But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his (F1)natural face (C1)in a mirror;24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, (F1)he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.25 But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, (C1)the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but (F1)an active doer, this person will be (C2)blessed in (F2)what he does.
26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not (F1)(C1)bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person's religion is worthless.27 Pure and undefiled religion (C1)in the sight of our God and Father is this: to (C2)visit (C3)orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained (F1)by (C4)the world.
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995,2020 by The Lockman Foundation
