Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 09 November 2013

Late and it's been a rough day for a lot of people around here.  Last night we turned in early.  Heard what sounded like helicopters going overhead.  Figured we were wrong, there were several and we're not near a military base that has any.  And there are two manufacturing plants withing half a mile, figured we were just hearing stuff going on there.
We were wrong.  Got the word when we started to wake this morning of a horrible wreck not two miles away.  First reports had two dead, later updated to three.  A two vehicle head-on crash, one vehicle carrying four members of a local high school football team that were supposed to be playing in the first round of playoffs this afternoon.  Instead, their families are making funeral arrangements.  Driver of the other vehicle is also dead, his son injured and in the hospital.  Bad.  The sounds we heard were indeed helicopters, Life Flight type helicopters, bearing those seriously injured off to nearby hospitals and trauma centers.  As I said above, this was a rough day for a lot of people around here.  Football game was cancelled, naturally enough, though the latest update is that it will be played on Monday.
And, lest we forget, Monday is also the 11th day of the 11th month.  We used to call it Armistice Day, marking the end of World War I.  The "War to End All Wars", as the (previously) worst president in American history, Woodrow Wilson, called it.  He was wrong, of course, as we've seen, but then he was wrong about nearly everything.  We're still paying for many of those things and are likely to do so for the foreseeable future.  Anyway, now we call it Veteran's Day, in part because there are pretty few around who took an active role in a war that ended 95 years ago.  Almost as few as those who know what WW-1 was all about, and won't learn it from any of this "Common Core" garbage.  But we have lots of veterans, more every day.  In an earlier day, school kids memorized a bit of poetry called "In Flanders Fields" that commemorated the dead in that war.  They generally don't do that any more, I guess it;s not considered to be 'progressive' enough, or something.  Flanders of course is an area of Europe where some of the ghastly casualties of that war were suffered.  Most people don't know that, either.  A shame that so many gave so much for so little effect.



 In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

These days, if you're lucky, you can find someone from the local VFW selling paper poppies outside the WalMart.  This is progress???

The Old Testament reading for the day is chapters 51 and 52 of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 51

1	Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
2	And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.
3	Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
4	Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and they that are thrust through in her streets.
5	For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
6	Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.
7	Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
8	Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
9	We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10	The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
11	Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
12	Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
13	O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
14	The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
15	He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.
16	When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.
17	Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18	They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
19	The portion of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts is his name.
20	Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
21	And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;
22	With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;
23	I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.
24	And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.
25	Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
26	And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.
27	Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
28	Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.
29	And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
30	The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
31	One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
32	And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
33	For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, it is time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.
34	Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.
35	The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
36	Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
37	And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
38	They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps.
39	In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.
40	I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.
41	How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
42	The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
43	Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
44	And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
45	My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.
46	And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
47	Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48	Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.
49	As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
50	Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
51	We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.
52	Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
53	Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.
54	A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
55	Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
56	Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.
57	And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
58	Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
59	The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince.
60	So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.
61	And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;
62	Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.
63	And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:
64	And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 52

1	Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
2	And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that Jehoiakim had done.
3	For through the anger of the LORD it came to pass in Jerusalem and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
4	And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about.
5	So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.
6	And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people of the land.
7	Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain.
8	But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.
9	Then they took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment upon him.
10	And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.
11	Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.
12	Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,
13	And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire:
14	And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.
15	Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.
16	But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.
17	Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.
18	The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.
19	And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away.
20	The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
21	And concerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.
22	And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.
23	And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.
24	And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
25	He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king's person, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city.
26	So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.
27	And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.
28	This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three and twenty:
29	In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty and two persons:
30	In the three and twentieth year of Nebuchadrezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five persons: all the persons were four thousand and six hundred.
31	And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison.
32	And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,
33	And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.
34	And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

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The New Testament passage is chapter 6 of the epistle to the Hebrews.

Hebrews 6

1	Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2	Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3	And this will we do, if God permit.
4	For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5	And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
6	If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
7	For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
8	But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
9	But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
10	For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
11	And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
12	That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
13	For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
14	Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
15	And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16	For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
17	Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
18	That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
19	Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
20	Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 08 November 2013

Friday seems to have come flying up out of nowhere.  Lost track of days, actually.  Spending the last two days scrunched into improbable positions trying - with mixed success - to address some truly awful plumbing defects in our little home, will do that.  Particularly in a time of rapidly falling temperatures.  We got this place REAL cheap, something necessitated by utter poverty, but I continue to see why it was.  We will, Lord willing, be able to make it habitable during the L-O-N-G northern Ohio winter that is fast approaching.  But some of this speaks poorly of some other people's care and workmanship. 
Just sent out yet another resume for a job located about an hour from here.  Mostly a freeway drive, but a good distance regardless.  Still fighting through an on-line application page for a major commercial operation.  VERY badly done, and it really didn't need to be done that way.  Again, speaks very poorly of someone's care and workmanship.
And Dear Wife is ill.  She gets that way a LOT, very often, part of the baggage that goes with chronic and worsening autoimmune diseases of which systemic lupus is only the centerpiece, not the totality.  And there is little I can do about it.  No insurance, no money, no nothing.  We shall see.

The morning's Old Testament reading is in Jeremiah, chapters 49 and 50. 
Nothing much has changed, has it?  The lands that caused so much trouble in those days, are still doing so.  Egypt?  Still.  Persia?  We call it Iran these days, as they prepare to build nuclear weapons.  Still.  Babylon and the Chaldeans, etc?  Still.  We just call it Iraq now.  Babylon, or what's left of it, is located just outside Mosul, Iraq.  Assyria?  Ditto.  The Ammonites?  Now it's called Jordan.  And these heathen lands will, I believe, continue to trouble the world until the Lord comes.

Jeremiah 49

1	Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the LORD; Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell in his cities?
2	Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.
3	Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled: cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird you with sackcloth; lament, and run to and fro by the hedges; for their king shall go into captivity, and his priests and his princes together.
4	Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter? that trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come unto me?
5	Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts, from all those that be about thee; and ye shall be driven out every man right forth; and none shall gather up him that wandereth.
6	And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon, saith the LORD.
7	Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts; Is wisdom no more in Teman? is counsel perished from the prudent? is their wisdom vanished?
8	Flee ye, turn back, dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan; for I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time that I will visit him.
9	If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? if thieves by night, they will destroy till they have enough.
10	But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, and he is not.
11	Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.
12	For thus saith the LORD; Behold, they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.
13	For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.
14	I have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, saying, Gather ye together, and come against her, and rise up to the battle.
15	For, lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, and despised among men.
16	Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.
17	Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.
18	As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
19	Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
20	Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Edom; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them.
21	The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea.
22	Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
23	Concerning Damascus. Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea; it cannot be quiet.
24	Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25	How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26	Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27	And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.
28	Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar, and spoil the men of the east.
29	Their tents and their flocks shall they take away: they shall take to themselves their curtains, and all their vessels, and their camels; and they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every side.
30	Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of Hazor, saith the LORD; for Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel against you, and hath conceived a purpose against you.
31	Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, that dwelleth without care, saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone.
32	And their camels shall be a booty, and the multitude of their cattle a spoil: and I will scatter into all winds them that are in the utmost corners; and I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, saith the LORD.
33	And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it.
34	The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying,
35	Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might.
36	And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.
37	For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the LORD; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them:
38	And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD.
39	But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 50

1	The word that the LORD spake against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.
2	Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
3	For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
4	In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God.
5	They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.
6	My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
7	All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.
8	Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks.
9	For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.
10	And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD.
11	Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;
12	Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13	Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
14	Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.
15	Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.
16	Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
17	Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
18	Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.
19	And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead.
20	In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve.
21	Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
22	A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.
23	How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
24	I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD.
25	The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
26	Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.
27	Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
28	The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple.
29	Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel.
30	Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD.
31	Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee.
32	And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.
33	Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.
34	Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
35	A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.
36	A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.
37	A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.
38	A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.
39	Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.
40	As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.
41	Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.
42	They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.
43	The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.
44	Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?
45	Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.
46	At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.

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The New Testament reading is chapter 5 in the epistle to the Hebrews.

Hebrews 5

1	For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
2	Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
3	And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
4	And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.
5	So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
6	As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
7	Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
8	Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
9	And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
10	Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
11	Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
12	For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
13	For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
14	But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 07 November 2013

running a bit late.  Just got done -- I hope  --  repairing the latest plumbing issue in our modest dwelling.  One of those in a series of issues that were both caused and complicated by truly bad handiwork by some nameless choom.  ( a term popularized by the late Robert A. Heinlein, not necessarily a reference to the dope-smoking crowd Obumble ran with).

Dear Wife is crashed on the recliner under a blanket with a space heater aimed at her, with the TV turned to some channel that has an unbroken line of these really awful crime stories.  Hate it.  So I've taken refuge at the kitchen table, swilling coffee from the local discount store (bad, real bad, but has caffeine in it) as a form of refuge.

Just having a "meh" morning.  Had a call a short while ago from an executive recruiter, has a nice-sounding job, but one with a 2-hour commute each way.  Have to pass on that.

The Old Testament passage for the day is chapters 46, 47, 48 of Jeremiah.  Pretty stern stuff.  Recall these passages the next time you hear someone proclaiming that the Lord does not execute judgment for determined sin.  It ain't so, and this section of the Bible shows that  -- read it with that in mind.

Jeremiah 46

1	The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles;
2	Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.
3	Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
4	Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.
5	Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the LORD.
6	Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.
7	Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?
8	Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
9	Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
10	For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.
11	Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.
12	The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together.
13	The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.
14	Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.
15	Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.
16	He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.
17	They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.
18	As I live, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.
19	O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.
20	Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
21	Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation.
22	The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
23	They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.
24	The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
25	The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him:
26	And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD.
27	But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid.
28	Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.

Jeremiah 47

1	The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2	Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3	At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;
4	Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
5	Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6	O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7	How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it.

Jeremiah 48

1	Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
2	There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.
3	A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.
4	Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
5	For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.
6	Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
7	For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.
8	And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.
9	Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.
10	Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
11	Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
12	Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.
13	And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.
14	How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?
15	Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
16	The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.
17	All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!
18	Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.
19	O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done?
20	Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,
21	And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,
22	And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Bethdiblathaim,
23	And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmeon,
24	And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
25	The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD.
26	Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
27	For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.
28	O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.
29	We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.
30	I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.
31	Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.
32	O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.
33	And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab, and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting.
34	From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.
35	Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.
36	Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.
37	For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
38	There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD.
39	They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him.
40	For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.
41	Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
42	And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD.
43	Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.
44	He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
45	They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
46	Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives.
47	Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.

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The New Testament passage is chapter 4 in the Hebrews

Hebrews 4

1	Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
2	For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
3	For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4	For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
5	And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
6	Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
7	Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
8	For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
9	There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
10	For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
11	Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
12	For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
13	Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
14	Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
15	For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16	Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.