Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 02 November 2013

a bit brief this morning.  A bit cool here, not cold, as things here are measured, but cool certainly.  Cats are fed, just had breakfast, sucking up some coffee at the kitchen table.  This 5-year-old netbook continues to chug along (thank You, Lord!), which is good as I could not afford to replace it.  Try to do some work around the house, then going to a nearby village to see Wife's cousin's daughter who is in town for a couple days, all the way from central South Carolina.  Haven't seen her in 20-some years.  When we'd left the area, she was a kid in junior high school.  Now she's a single mom with some issues in life.  As is her mother, and her mother's sister and ........  At the risk of being condemned as an evil person, I am not convinced that this is A Good Thing Always.  Not for her, not for the kid(s).  Whether it's better or worse than the sort of serial monogamy, I don't know.  Got a Brother-in-Law who has been married nine times, four of them to the same woman.  This is good?  Don't think so.  On the other hand, she's now posting christian messages on her FaceBook page.  Perhaps she's growing up?
And we've still not decided where to attend church services in the morning.  Had been holding a date open to accompany one of those cousins when her son got out of jail.  He's out, but have not heard word on the issue yet.  Is this a glimpse of the future?

The morning's Old Testament reading is chapters 33, 34, 35 of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 33

1	Moreover the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison, saying,
2	Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
3	Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
4	For thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword;
5	They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but it is to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from this city.
6	Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
7	And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.
8	And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
9	And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.
10	Thus saith the LORD; Again there shall be heard in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast,
11	The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD.
12	Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Again in this place, which is desolate without man and without beast, and in all the cities thereof, shall be an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
13	In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth them, saith the LORD.
14	Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
15	In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
16	In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.
17	For thus saith the LORD; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;
18	Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.
19	And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying,
20	Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season;
21	Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.
22	As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites that minister unto me.
23	Moreover the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,
24	Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, The two families which the LORD hath chosen, he hath even cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.
25	Thus saith the LORD; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;
26	Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob and David my servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them.

Jeremiah 34

1	The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,
2	Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
3	And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
4	Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword:
5	But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.
6	Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
7	When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.
8	This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
9	That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.
10	Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.
11	But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
12	Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
13	Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,
14	At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
15	And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
16	But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
17	Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
18	And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,
19	The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;
20	I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
21	And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you.
22	Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.

Jeremiah 35

1	The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,
2	Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.
3	Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;
4	And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:
5	And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.
6	But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:
7	Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.
8	Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;
9	Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
10	But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
11	But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.
12	Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
13	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.
14	The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.
15	I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.
16	Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:
17	Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.
18	And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:
19	Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

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The New Testament reading is chapter 3 in the Epistle to Titus, completing the letter.

Titus 3

1	Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
2	To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.
3	For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
4	But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5	Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6	Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7	That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8	This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
9	But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
10	A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
11	Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.
12	When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter.
13	Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them.
14	And let our's also learn to maintain good works for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.
15	All that are with me salute thee. Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.

 

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 01 November, 2013

Just got back from eye Doctor's office.  Dear Wife is now nearly two YEARS into the application process for Social Security Disability.  Not sure why the process is strung out for so long, am seeing a lot of people who have been granted the SSDI status for things like alcoholism, morbid obesity, agoraphobia, and general laziness.  She's already been adjudged legally blind by two physicians, this will make three.  Among other things, he detected cataracts in both eyes and glaucoma in one.  Plus plaquenil bodies in both that are obscuring the retina.  On top of that, she's in a bad stage of advanced autoimmune diseases such as lupus that are killing her by inches.  She needs 18 separate pills every morning just to stay alive.  This is a photo I took yesterday of the morning's lot.  They ain't cheap, trust me on this.  I have now some $18 to last until the 20th, and she's running low on some of these, and we no longer have ANY medical insurance at all.


My posts about having the faith and determination to press on regardless, are not made from a position of ease or comfort.  We've been in some very tough situations, and are in one now.  How we get through, I don't know.  We will.  Somehow.



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The Old Testament reading is chapters 31 and 32 of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 31

1	At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
2	Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
3	The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
4	Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
5	Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
6	For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.
7	For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
8	Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.
9	They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
10	Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
11	For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.
12	Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
13	Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14	And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
15	Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
16	Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.
17	And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border.
18	I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
19	Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
20	Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
21	Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin of Israel, turn again to these thy cities.
22	How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
23	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their captivity; The LORD bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
24	And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks.
25	For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.
26	Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.
27	Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast.
28	And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD.
29	In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.
30	But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31	Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32	Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33	But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34	And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
35	Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
36	If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
37	Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.
38	Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the city shall be built to the LORD from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner.
39	And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath.
40	And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto the LORD; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.

Jeremiah 32

1	The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar.
2	For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house.
3	For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;
4	And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes;
5	And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the LORD: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper.
6	And Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
7	Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.
8	So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the LORD, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
9	And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.
10	And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.
11	So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open:
12	And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.
13	And I charged Baruch before them, saying,
14	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.
15	For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.
16	Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD, saying,
17	Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
18	Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the LORD of hosts, is his name,
19	Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
20	Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and among other men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day;
21	And hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror;
22	And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;
23	And they came in, and possessed it; but they obeyed not thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them:
24	Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.
25	And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
26	Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
27	Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?
28	Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:
29	And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger.
30	For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil before me from their youth: for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the LORD.
31	For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face,
32	Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
33	And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
34	But they set their abominations in the house, which is called by my name, to defile it.
35	And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
36	And now therefore thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence;
37	Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
38	And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
39	And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
40	And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
41	Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
42	For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.
43	And fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, It is desolate without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.
44	Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the LORD.

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The New Testament passage is chapter 2 of Titus

Titus 2

1	But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:
2	That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
3	The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
4	That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
5	To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
6	Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.
7	In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
8	Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.
9	Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again;
10	Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.
11	For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12	Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13	Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14	Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
15	These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 31 October 2013

for anyone who has been lost in a cave for a couple months, today is celebrated (if you can call it that) as All Hallows Eve, shortened in common usage as Hallowe'en.  Generally the apostrophe is forgotten.  Depending on one's locale, it may be accompanied by kids (and, sometimes, those legally adult who don't act like it) dressed in ghoulish costumes such as zombies, sorcerers, witches, the dead, the undead, and all the stuff of nightmares.  Or as funny creatures of someone's sense of humor leads.  And generally it is accompanied by demands for sweets.  Vandalism of various sorts is not unknown.  I've known people long ago who were seriously into black magic and weird pagan cults who referred to this night as being the second most negative night of the year, second only to Walpurgisnacht for the spirits of evil to run loose.  Can't comment on that and don't really want to.  But it has always been for me a bit of wonder that normally Christian people go out tonight and act like heathens.  And encourage their kids to do so as well, sending the tradition on another generation.

Phone has been ringing constantly for the last few days, had two calls already this morning, from executive recruiters ("headhunters" in common parlance) wanting to talk about jobs in a variety of roles, some quite highly compensated (meaning twice what I'd been drawing in Alabama), including some nearly in walking distance from the home we just left.  (shakes head).  Others are nearer our new location.  One is about 50 miles off, but almost entirely on a freeway, so it wouldn't be too bad.  For that much money I could be tempted.

The morning's Old Testament reading continues in Jeremiah, chapters 29 and 30.  The disasters, the judgment of the Lord that Jeremiah, and Isaiah before him, had warned has come to pass.  The nation is captive, the leaders hauled off in chains, much death and slaughter and misery and pain.  All from obstinate refusal to obey the Lord.  All from those who persisted in doing what was right, or at least fashionable, in their own eyes.  To repeat, it can happen again.  The attitudes and general behavior of the nation were little different from what I see all around.
Yet note this as well.  Though disaster and judgement came, there was also the promise of another day.  The Lord is God of second chances.  I have reason to know, and am not alone in that.

Jeremiah 29

1	Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon;
2	(After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)
3	By the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon) saying,
4	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon;
5	Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
6	Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.
7	And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
8	For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed.
9	For they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them, saith the LORD.
10	For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
11	For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12	Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13	And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
14	And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
15	Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;
16	Know that thus saith the LORD of the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the people that dwelleth in this city, and of your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity;
17	Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
18	And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them:
19	Because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the LORD, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but ye would not hear, saith the LORD.
20	Hear ye therefore the word of the LORD, all ye of the captivity, whom I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon:
21	Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;
22	And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The LORD make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
23	Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.
24	Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, saying,
25	Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying,
26	The LORD hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the LORD, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks.
27	Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Anathoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you?
28	For therefore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is long: build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
29	And Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet.
30	Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
31	Send to all them of the captivity, saying, Thus saith the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite; Because that Shemaiah hath prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused you to trust in a lie:
32	Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.

Jeremiah 30

1	The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2	Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.
3	For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.
4	And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah.
5	For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.
6	Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
7	Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
8	For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him:
9	But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.
10	Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid.
11	For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.
12	For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.
13	There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.
14	All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.
15	Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.
16	Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.
17	For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
18	Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwellingplaces; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.
19	And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.
20	Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish all that oppress them.
21	And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD.
22	And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
23	Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.
24	The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he hath done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.

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The New Testament reading is chapter 1 in the small letter to Titus.

Titus 1

1	Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
2	In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
3	But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;
4	To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
5	For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:
6	If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
7	For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
8	But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
9	Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
10	For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
11	Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
12	One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
13	This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
14	Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
15	Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
16	They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.