Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 09 October 2020

 Happy Friday to all who stop by here.  May it be a good day and the first of many such, or even better.

Yesterday was another of "those" days.  A long one.  The boils and such on Wife's lower leg had grown, gotten redder and larger, and were hot.  We called the doctor's office, but he was fully booked for the day, wouldn't be in at all today, and is to be out of town next week.  So, we went to the HMO's walk-in clinic.  That was a good move, a very good one.  And we were there for a good while.  Upshot was/is, that Wife is, even in "normal" circumstances, hyper-allergic to poison ivy.  The meds she takes to suppress the over-active immune system that is slowly killing her, render her susceptible to all sorts of infections, etc., which is what the poison ivy attack has become.  So, the doc at the clinic prescribed a round of VERY powerful antibiotics, as well as another round of steroids.  She had been on steroids for well over 30 years, worked well for some of her ailments, but then they fell out of fashion, and the catastrophe of "Obamacare" only added to that.  So these days she suffers hideously from things that had been held back for decades.  

So she started the round of meds yesterday: the pharmacy was very good about getting them filled, which was nice.  That, added to the injections she received at the clinic, helped some last night, though she had trouble sleeping.  She got up in the night and made herself some cocoa, which often helps her sleep.  We're watching the progress of the visible stuff, if it gets worse we have orders from that doc to head to the Emergency Room.  Hopefully, that won't happen.

But of course, all of this has meant that some of the things I'd planned for the week have been pushed back, yet again.  Perhaps this coming week.   Perhaps??

So pardon my distractedness and gaps in coverage here.  The Scripture passages that have been on the schedule are important ones, good ones, ones deserving careful and prayerful study.

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JEREMIAH 13

Linen Underwear

1This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment  and put it on,  but do not put it in water.” 2So I bought underwear as the Lord instructed me and put it on.

3Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time: 4“Take the underwear that you bought and are wearing,  and go at once to the Euphrates  and hide it in a rocky crevice.”  5So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

6A long time later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to the Euphrates and get the underwear that I commanded you to hide there.” 7So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined — of no use at all.

8Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9“This is what the Lord says: Just like this I will ruin the great pride of both Judah and Jerusalem.  10These evil people, who refuse to listen to Me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts,  and who have followed other gods to serve and worship — they will be like this underwear, of no use at all. 11Just as underwear clings to one’s waist, so I fastened the whole house of Israel and of Judah to Me”  — this is the Lord’s declaration — “so that they might be My people for My fame, praise, and glory,  but they would not obey.

The Wine Jars

12“Say this to them: This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every jar should be filled with wine. Then they will respond to you, ‘Don’t we know that every jar should be filled with wine?’ 13And you will say to them: This is what the Lord says: I am about to fill all who live in this land — the kings who reign for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the residents of Jerusalem — with drunkenness. 14I will smash them against each other, fathers and sons alike” — this is the Lord’s declaration. “I will allow no mercy, pity, or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.” 

The Lord’s Warning

15Listen and pay attention. Do not be proud,

for the Lord has spoken.

16Give glory to the Lord your God 

before He brings darkness,

before your feet stumble

on the mountains at dusk.

You wait for light,

but He brings darkest gloom 

and makes thick darkness.

17But if you will not listen,

my innermost being will weep in secret

because of your pride.

My eyes will overflow with tears,

for the Lord’s flock  has been taken captive.

18Say to the king and the queen mother: 

Take a humble seat,

for your glorious crowns

have fallen from your heads.

19The cities of the Negev are under siege;

no one can help them.

All of Judah has been taken into exile,

taken completely into exile.

20Look up and see

those coming from the north. 

Where is the flock entrusted to you,

the sheep that were your pride?

The Destiny of Jerusalem

21What will you say when He appoints

close friends as leaders over you,

ones you yourself trained?

Won’t labor pains seize you, 

as they do a woman in labor?

22And when you ask yourself,

“Why have these things happened to me? ”

It is because of your great guilt 

that your skirts have been stripped off, 

your body exposed. 

23Can the Cushite change his skin,

or a leopard his spots?

If so, you might be able to do what is good, 

you who are instructed in evil.

24I will scatter you  like drifting chaff 

before the desert wind.

25This is your lot,

what I have decreed for you —

this is the Lord’s declaration —

because you have forgotten Me 

and trusted in Falsehood.  

26I will pull your skirts up over your face

so that your shame might be seen. 

27Your adulteries and your lustful neighing, 

your heinous prostitution

on the hills, in the fields —

I have seen your detestable acts.

Woe to you, Jerusalem!

You are unclean —

for how long yet? 

JEREMIAH 14

The Drought

1The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought: 

2Judah mourns;

her gates languish. 

Her people are on the ground in mourning;

Jerusalem’s cry rises up. 

3Their nobles send their servants  for water.

They go to the cisterns;

they find no water;

their containers return empty.

They are ashamed and humiliated;

they cover their heads. 

4The ground is cracked

since no rain has fallen on the land.

The farmers are ashamed; 

they cover their heads.

5Even the doe in the field

gives birth and abandons her fawn

since there is no grass.

6Wild donkeys stand on the barren heights 

panting for air like jackals.

Their eyes fail

because there are no green plants.

7Though our guilt testifies against us,

Yahweh, act for Your name’s sake.

Indeed, our rebellions  are many;

we have sinned against You. 

8Hope of Israel, 

its Savior in time of distress,

why are You like a foreigner in the land,

like a traveler stopping only for the night?

9Why are You like a helpless man,

like a warrior unable to save? 

Yet You are among us, Yahweh, 

and we are called by Your name.

Don’t leave us!

10This is what the Lord says concerning these people:

Truly they love to wander; 

they never rest their feet.

So the Lord does not accept them.

Now He will remember their guilt

and punish their sins. 

False Prophets to be Punished

11Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for the well-being of these people.  12If they fast, I will not hear their cry of despair. If they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. Rather, I will finish them off by sword, famine, and plague.” 

13And I replied, “Oh no, Lord God! The prophets are telling them, ‘You won’t see sword or suffer famine. I will certainly give you true peace in this place.’ ” 

14But the Lord said to me, “These prophets are prophesying a lie in My name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, worthless divination, the deceit  of their own minds. 

15“Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, though I did not send them, and who say, ‘There will never be sword or famine in this land.’ By sword and famine these prophets will meet their end. 16The people they are prophesying to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. There will be no one to bury them  — they, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will pour out their own evil on them.”

Jeremiah’s Request

17You are to speak this word to them:

Let my eyes overflow with tears;

day and night may they not stop, 

for the virgin daughter of my people

has been destroyed by a great disaster, 

an extremely severe wound. 

18If I go out to the field,

look — those slain by the sword!

If I enter the city,

look — those ill  from famine!

For both prophet and priest

travel to a land they do not know.

19Have You completely rejected Judah?

Do You detest  Zion?

Why do You strike us

with no hope of healing for us?

We hoped for peace,

but there was nothing good;

for a time of healing,

but there was only terror. 

20We acknowledge our wickedness, Lord,

the guilt of our fathers; 

indeed, we have sinned against You.

21Because of Your name, don’t despise us.

Don’t disdain Your glorious throne. 

Remember Your covenant  with us;

do not break it.

22Can any of the worthless idols of the nations  bring rain?

Or can the skies alone give showers?

Are You not the Lord our God?

We therefore put our hope in You, 

for You have done all these things.

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Another change of study here.  The book of Ecclesiastes.  

This section, chapter 1, is an important one.  The reading in the KJV uses the term "vanity" and "vanities".  The tendency is to understand that to mean vanity as in pride, foolish pride.  What it really implies is acting or believing in vain.  The translation used here, the Holman Christian Standard more correctly renders it as "futility".  We, myself included certainly, tend to spend far too much of our time and attention on things that really don't matter in eternity, on efforts that are pretty pointless and futile.  This teaches on that matter.

ECCLESIASTES 1

Everything is Futile

1The words of the Teacher,   son of David, king in Jerusalem. 

2“Absolute futility,” says the Teacher.

“Absolute futility. Everything is futile.” 

3What does a man gain for all his efforts

that he labors at under the sun? 

4A generation goes and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever. 

5The sun rises and the sun sets;

panting, it returns to its place 

where it rises.

6Gusting to the south,

turning to the north,

turning, turning, goes the wind, 

and the wind returns in its cycles.

7All the streams flow to the sea,

yet the sea is never full.

The streams are flowing to the place,

and they flow there again.

8All things  are wearisome;

man is unable to speak.

The eye is not satisfied by seeing 

or the ear filled with hearing.

9What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done;

there is nothing new under the sun.

10Can one say about anything,

“Look, this is new”?

It has already existed in the ages before us.

11There is no remembrance of those who  came before; 

and of those who  will come after

there will also be no remembrance

by those who follow them.

The Limitations of Wisdom

12I, the Teacher,  have been  king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13I applied my mind to seek  and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven.  God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied.  14I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.  

15What is crooked cannot be straightened; 

what is lacking cannot be counted.

16I said to myself,  “Look, I have amassed wisdom far beyond all those who were over Jerusalem before me,  and my mind has thoroughly grasped  wisdom and knowledge.” 17I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge,  madness and folly;  I learned that this too is a pursuit of the wind.  

18For with much wisdom is much sorrow; 

as knowledge increases, grief increases.

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TITUS 3

Christian Living among Outsiders

1Remind them to be submissive  to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, 2to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness  to all people. 3For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions  and pleasures,  living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another.

4But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love

for mankind appeared, 

5He saved us  —

not by works of righteousness that we had done, 

but according to His mercy  —

through the washing of regeneration 

and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 

6He poured out this Spirit on us abundantly 

through Jesus Christ our Savior

7so that, having been justified by His grace, 

we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life. 

8This saying is trustworthy.  I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed God might be careful to devote themselves to good works. These are good and profitable for everyone. 9But avoid foolish debates,  genealogies,  quarrels,  and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10Reject a divisive  person after a first and second warning,  11knowing that such a person is perverted and sins, being self-condemned.

Final Instructions and Closing

12When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you,  make every effort to come to me  in Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos  on their journey, so that they will lack  nothing.

14And our people must also learn to devote themselves to good works for cases of urgent need, so that they will not be unfruitful.  15All those who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with all of you. 

Today's Readings and Stuff-- Thursday. 08 October 2020

Starting this while sitting at a "walk in clinic" with Wife.  She's developed some sort of red angry rash on the leg.  Our doc is booked up today, not in tomorrow, and out of town next week.  It figures.  Site of the rash, with boils and pustules, is same area that had the recent vasculitis stuff a few weeks ago.  So we shall see.  More later, I hope.

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Jeremiah 11, 12

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Proverbs 31

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Titus 2

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Monday, 05 October 2020

A pretty busy day.  Wife was, finally, feeling well enough to make the long-overdue trip halfway across the county so that we could have some "labs", meaning primarily blood samples, taken at the lab in the medical complex that houses our primary care doctors.  She has a regularly scheduled appointment set for next week, and I have one scheduled for the following week.  The results of these "labs" will be under consideration at these appointments.  So we had to do it.  Been wanting to do them for more than a month now, but she simply wasn't able to do it.  So that's out of the way now.

With luck (or the Lord's help) I'll be able to get back at some of our remodeling work tomorrow morning.  Hope so anyway, distractions and other responsibilities have been blocking the path for the last few weeks, and I really wanted to have this buttoned up before the snow flies.  But we shall see.

I do need to get at some of the weatherizing stuff, like the plastic film on the inside of the windows, done soon.  Very soon.

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Jeremiah 5, 6

These passages, really all of Jeremiah, hit me hard.  They depict a nation, a culture, that has become degenerate, has abandoned its love for the Lord, and has become utterly corrupt.  And the Lord is removing His hand of protection, and the Babylonian empire is about to attack and overwhelm them.

Think it can't happen again?  Guess again.

JEREMIAH 5

The Depravity of Jerusalem

1Roam  through the streets of Jerusalem. Look and take note; search in her squares.

If you find one person,  any who acts justly,  who seeks to be faithful,

then I will forgive her. 

2When they say, “As the Lord lives,” they are swearing falsely. 

3Lord, don’t Your eyes look for faithfulness?  You have struck them, but they felt no pain. 

You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline.  They made their faces harder than rock, and they refused to return. 

4Then I thought:  They are just the poor; they have played the fool.  For they don’t understand the way of the Lord,  the justice of their God. 

5I will go to the powerful and speak to them.  Surely they know the way of the Lord,

the justice of their God.  However, these also had broken the yoke and torn off the chains. 

6Therefore, a lion from the forest will strike them down.  A wolf from an arid plain will ravage them.  A leopard  keeps watch over their cities.  Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces because their rebellious acts are many, their unfaithful deeds numerous. 

7Why should I forgive you?  Your children have abandoned Me and sworn by those who are not gods.  I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery; they gashed themselves  at the  prostitute’s house.

8They are well-fed,  eager  stallions,  each neighing  after someone else’s wife. 

9Should I not punish them for these things?  This is the Lord’s declaration.

Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?

10Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them, but do not finish them off. 

Prune away her shoots, for they do not belong to the Lord. 

11They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah, have dealt very treacherously with Me. 

This is the Lord’s declaration.

12They have contradicted the Lord and insisted, “It won’t happen.  Harm won’t come to us; we won’t see sword or famine.”

13The prophets become only wind, for the Lord’s word is not in them.  This will in fact happen to them.

Coming Judgment

14Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Hosts says:  Because you have spoken this word, I am going to make My words become fire in your mouth.   These people are the wood,

and the fire will consume them. 

15I am about to bring a nation from far away against you, house of Israel.  This is the Lord’s declaration.  It is an established nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know and whose speech you do not understand. 

16Their quiver is like an open grave; they are all mighty warriors.

17They will consume your harvest and your food.  They will consume your sons and your daughters.  They will consume your flocks and your herds. They will consume your vines and your fig trees.  They will destroy with the sword your fortified cities  in which you trust.

18“But even in those days” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “I will not finish you off.  

19When people ask, ‘For what offense has the Lord our God done all these things to us? ’ You will respond to them: Just as you abandoned Me  and served foreign gods in your land, so will you serve strangers in a land that is not yours. 

20“Declare this in the house of Jacob; proclaim it in Judah, saying: 

21Hear this, you foolish and senseless  people.  They have eyes, but they don’t see.

They have ears, but they don’t hear. 

22Do you not fear Me?  This is the Lord’s declaration.  Do you not tremble before Me,

the One who set the sand as the boundary of the sea, an enduring barrier that it cannot cross?  The waves surge, but they cannot prevail.  They roar but cannot pass over it.

23But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.  They have turned aside and have gone away.

24They have not said to themselves, ‘Let’s fear the Lord our God, who gives the rain,  both early and late,  in its season, who guarantees to us the fixed weeks of the harvest.’

25Your guilty acts have diverted these things from you.  Your sins have withheld My bounty from you, 

26for wicked men live among My people. They watch like fowlers lying in wait.  

They set a trap; they catch men.

27Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit.   Therefore they have grown powerful and rich.

28They have become fat  and sleek.  They have also excelled in evil matters.

They have not taken up cases, such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper,

and they have not defended the rights of the needy. 

29Should I not punish them for these things?  This is the Lord’s declaration.  Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?

30A horrible, terrible thing has taken place in the land. 

31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority.  My people love it like this.  But what will you do at the end of it? 

JEREMIAH 6

Threatened Siege of Jerusalem

1“Run for cover,  Benjaminites, out of Jerusalem!  Sound the ram’s horn  in Tekoa; 

raise a smoke signal  over Beth-haccherem, for disaster threatens from the north, 

even great destruction.

2Though she is beautiful and delicate, I will destroy  Daughter Zion.

3Shepherds and their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents all around her. 

Each will pasture his own portion.

4Set them apart for war  against her; rise up, let’s attack at noon.  Woe to us, for the day is passing; the evening shadows grow long.

5Rise up, let’s attack by night.  Let us destroy her fortresses.”

6For this is what the Lord of Hosts says: Cut down the trees;  raise a siege ramp against Jerusalem.  This city must be punished.  There is nothing but oppression within her. 

7As a well gushes out its water, so she pours out her evil.  Violence and destruction  resound in her.  Sickness and wounds keep coming to My attention.

8Be warned, Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you; I will make you a desolation, a land without inhabitants. 

Wrath on Israel

9This is what the Lord of Hosts says: Glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine.

Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer over the branches.

10Who can I speak to and give such a warning that they will listen?  Look, their ear is uncircumcised,  so they cannot pay attention. See, the word of the Lord has become contemptible to them — they find no pleasure in it. 

11But I am full of the Lord’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back.  Pour it out on the children in the street, on the gang of young men as well.  For both husband and wife will be captured, the old with the very old. 

12Their houses will be turned over to others,  their fields and wives as well, for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land.  This is the Lord’s declaration.

13For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is making profit dishonestly.  From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. 

14They have treated My people’s brokenness superficially, claiming, “Peace, peace,” 

when there is no peace.

15Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently?  They weren’t at all ashamed.

They can no longer feel humiliation.  Therefore, they will fall among the fallen.  When I punish them, they will collapse,  says the Lord.

Disaster because of Disobedience

16This is what the Lord says:  Stand by the roadways and look.  Ask about the ancient paths: Which is the way to what is good?  Then take it  and find rest for yourselves.  But they protested, “We won’t!”

17I appointed watchmen over you and said: Listen for the sound of the ram’s horn.

But they protested, “We won’t listen!”

18Therefore listen, you nations and you witnesses, learn what the charge is against them.

19Listen, earth!  I am about to bring disaster on these people, the fruit of their own plotting, 

for they have paid no attention to My word.  They have rejected My instruction. 

20What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane  from a distant land?

Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;  your sacrifices do not please Me. 

21Therefore, this is what the Lord says:  I am going to place stumbling blocks before these people; fathers and sons together will stumble over them;  friends and neighbors will also perish.

A Cruel Nation from the North

22This is what the Lord says:  Look, an army is coming from a northern land; 

a great nation will be awakened from the remote regions of the earth. 

23They grasp bow and javelin.  They are cruel and show no mercy.  Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, lined up like men in battle formation against you, Daughter Zion.

24We have heard about it, and we are discouraged.  Distress has seized us — pain like a woman in  labor. 

25Don’t go out to the fields; don’t walk on the road.

For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side. 

26My dear  people, dress yourselves in sackcloth

and roll in the dust.  Mourn as you would for an only son, 

a bitter lament, for suddenly the destroyer  will come on us. 

Jeremiah Appointed as an Examiner

27I have appointed you to be an assayer among My people —

a refiner  — so you may know and assay their way of life. 

28All are stubborn rebels spreading slander.  They are bronze and iron;

all of them are corrupt. 

29The bellows blow, blasting the lead with fire.  The refining is completely in vain;

the evil ones are not separated out.

30They are called rejected silver, for the Lord has rejected them. 

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PROVERBS 28

1The wicked flee when no one is pursuing them, 

but the righteous are as bold as a lion. 

2When a land is in rebellion, it has many rulers, 

but with a discerning and knowledgeable person, it endures.

3A destitute leader  who oppresses the poor

is like a driving rain that leaves no food. 

4Those who reject the law praise the wicked, 

but those who keep the law battle against them. 

5Evil men do not understand justice, 

but those who seek the Lord understand everything. 

6Better a poor man who lives with integrity 

than a rich man who distorts right and wrong.  

7A discerning son keeps the law,

but a companion of gluttons humiliates his father. 

8Whoever increases his wealth through excessive interest 

collects it for one who is kind to the poor. 

9Anyone who turns his ear away from hearing the law —

even his prayer is detestable. 

10The one who leads the upright into an evil way

will fall into his own pit, 

but the blameless will inherit what is good. 

11A rich man is wise in his own eyes,

but a poor man who has discernment sees through him.

12When the righteous triumph,

there is great rejoicing, 

but when the wicked come to power,

people hide themselves. 

13The one who conceals his sins

will not prosper, 

but whoever confesses and renounces them

will find mercy. 

14Happy is the one who is always reverent, 

but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble. 

15A wicked ruler over a helpless people 

is like a roaring lion or a charging bear. 

16A leader who lacks understanding

is very oppressive,

but one who hates dishonest profit

prolongs his life. 

17A man burdened by bloodguilt 

will be a fugitive until death. 

Let no one help him. 

18The one who lives with integrity will be helped,

but one who distorts right and wrong 

will suddenly fall. 

19The one who works his land

will have plenty of food, 

but whoever chases fantasies

will have his fill of poverty. 

20A faithful man will have many blessings, 

but one in a hurry to get rich 

will not go unpunished.

21It is not good to show partiality  —

yet a man may sin for a piece of bread. 

22A greedy man  is in a hurry for wealth;

he doesn’t know that poverty will come to him. 

23One who rebukes a person will later find more favor 

than one who flatters  with his tongue. 

24The one who robs his father or mother 

and says, “That’s no sin,” 

is a companion to a man who destroys. 

25A greedy person provokes conflict, 

but whoever trusts in the Lord will prosper. 

26The one who trusts in himself  is a fool,

but one who walks in wisdom will be safe. 

27The one who gives to the poor

will not be in need,

but one who turns his eyes away 

will receive many curses. 

28When the wicked come to power,

people hide,

but when they are destroyed,

the righteous flourish. 

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2 TIMOTHY 3

Difficult Times Ahead

1But know this: Difficult times will come in the last days.  2For people will be lovers of self,  lovers of money,  boastful, proud,  blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,  3unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers,  without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good,  4traitors,  reckless,  conceited,  lovers of pleasure  rather than lovers of God, 5holding to the form of godliness but denying its power.  Avoid these people! 

6For among them are those who worm their way into households and capture idle women burdened down with sins, led along by a variety of passions,  7always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.  8Just as Jannes and Jambres  resisted Moses,  so these also resist the truth, men who are corrupt in mind,  worthless  in regard to the faith. 9But they will not make further progress, for their lack of understanding will be clear to all, as theirs  was also.

Struggles in the Christian Life

10But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose,  faith, patience, love,  and endurance, 11along with the persecutions and sufferings  that came to me in Antioch,  Iconium,  and Lystra.  What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from them all. 12In fact, all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.  13Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving  and being deceived. 14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you,  15and you know that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures,  which are able to give you wisdom for salvation  through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is inspired by God   and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.