Jeremiah 44, 1 Corinthians 7 - 8, Psalm 115

Wrath Against the Israelites in Egypt

44The word that came to Jeremiah for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt, those who were living in ^aMigdol, ^bTahpanhes, ^cMemphis, and the land of ^dPathros, saying, ²“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen all the evil that I have brought on Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, this day they are a ^awaste place and no one lives in them ³^abecause of their evil which they did so as to ^bprovoke Me to anger by continuing to ^cburn incense and to ^dserve other gods whom they had not known, neither they, you, nor your fathers. ⁴‘Yet I ^asent you all My slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending, saying, “Oh, do not do this ^babominable thing which I hate.” ⁵‘But ^athey did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their evil, so as not to burn incense to other gods. ⁶‘Therefore My ^awrath and My anger were poured out and burned in the ^bcities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so they have become a waste place and a ^cdesolation as it is this day. ⁷‘So now, thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, “Why are you ^adoing great evil against yourselves, so as to ^bcut off from you man and woman, infant and nursing baby, from among Judah, leaving yourselves without remnant, ⁸^aprovoking Me to anger with the works of your hands, ^bburning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you are entering to sojourn, so that you might be cut off and become an ^cimprecation and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? ⁹“Have you forgotten the ^aevil of your fathers, the evil of the kings of Judah, and the evil of their wives, your own evil, and the evil of your wives, which they did in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰“But they ^ahave not become ¹contrite even to this day, nor have they feared nor ^bwalked in My law or My statutes, which I have put before you and before your fathers.”’

¹¹“Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am going to ^aset My face against you for your evil demise, even to cut off all Judah. ¹²‘And I will ^atake away the remnant of Judah who have set their face on entering the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they will all ¹^,^bmeet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword and ²meet their end by famine. Both small and great will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a ^ccurse, an object of horror, an imprecation, and a reproach. ¹³‘And I will ^apunish those who live in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence. ¹⁴‘So there will be ^ano one who escapes or any survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to sojourn there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are ¹^,^blonging to return to live; for none will ^creturn except a few who escape.’”

¹⁵Then ^aall the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, ¹including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered to Jeremiah, saying, ¹⁶“As for the ¹^,^amessage that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, ^bwe are not going to listen to you! ¹⁷“But rather we will certainly ^acarry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, ¹by burning incense to the ^bqueen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as ^cwe ourselves, our fathers, our kings, and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had ^dplenty of ²food and were well off and saw no evil. ¹⁸“But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have ^alacked everything and have ¹met our end by the sword and by famine.” ¹⁹“And,” said the women, “when we were ^aburning incense to the queen of heaven and ¹were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it ^bwithout our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes ²in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

²⁰Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women—even to all the people who were answering him with such a word—saying, ²¹“As for the ¹^,^asmoking sacrifices that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the ^bstreets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not Yahweh ^cremember them and did not all this come upon His heart? ²²“So Yahweh was ^ano longer able to bear it, ^bbecause of the evil of your deeds, because of the abominations which you have done; thus your land has become a ^cwaste place, an object of horror, and an imprecation, without an inhabitant, as it is this day. ²³“Because you have burned incense and have sinned against Yahweh and ^anot listened to the voice of Yahweh or ^bwalked in His law, His statutes, or His testimonies, therefore this ^cevil has befallen you, as it has this day.”

²⁴Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including all the women, “^aHear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are ^bin the land of Egypt, ²⁵thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, saying: ‘As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, “We will ^acertainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her.” ¹^,^bGo ahead and establish your vows, and certainly perform your vows!’ ²⁶“¹Nevertheless, hear the word of Yahweh, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt, ‘Behold, I have ^asworn by My great name,’ says Yahweh, ‘^bnever shall My name be called upon again by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, “^cAs Lord Yahweh lives.” ²⁷‘Behold, I am watching over them ^afor ¹evil and not for good, and ^ball the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will ²meet their end by the sword and by famine until they ³are completely consumed. ²⁸‘^aThose who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah ¹^,^bfew in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to sojourn there will know ^cwhose word will be established, Mine or theirs. ²⁹‘This will be the ^asign to you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘that I am going to punish you in this place, so that you may know that ^bMy words will surely be established against you for ¹evil.’ ³⁰“Thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am going to give over ^aPharaoh Hophra king of Egypt to the hand of his enemies, to the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave over ^bZedekiah king of Judah to the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’”

Concerning Marriage and Singleness

7Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is ^agood for a man not to touch a woman. ²But because of sexual immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband. ³The husband must ¹fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. ⁴The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. ⁵^aStop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and ¹come together again so that ^bSatan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ⁶But this I say as a concession, ^anot as a command. ⁷¹Yet I wish that all men were ^aeven as I myself am. However, ^beach man has his own gift from God, one this way, and another that.

⁸But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is ^agood for them if they remain ^beven as I. ⁹But if they do not have self-control, ^alet them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

¹⁰But to the married I give instructions, ^anot I, but the Lord, that the wife should not ¹leave her husband ¹¹(but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not ¹divorce his wife.

¹²But to the rest ^aI say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not ¹divorce her. ¹³And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not divorce her husband. ¹⁴For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through ¹her believing husband. For otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are ^aholy. ¹⁵Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave. The brother or the sister is not enslaved in such cases, but God has called ¹us ²^,^ato peace. ¹⁶For how do you know, O wife, whether you will ^asave your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?

¹⁷Only, ^aas the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk. And ^bso I direct in ^call the churches. ¹⁸Was any man called when he was already circumcised? He is not to become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? ^aHe is not to be circumcised. ¹⁹^aCircumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is ^bthe keeping of the commandments of God. ²⁰^aEach man must remain in that ¹condition in which he was called.

²¹Were you called while a slave? ¹Do not worry about it. But if you are able also to become free, rather ²do that. ²²For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is ^athe Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who was called while free, is ^bChrist’s slave. ²³^aYou were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. ²⁴Brothers, ^aeach one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.

²⁵Now concerning virgins I have ^ano command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who ¹^,^bby the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. ²⁶I think then that this is good because of the ¹present ^adistress, that ^bit is good for a man ²to remain as he is. ²⁷Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸But if you marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have ¹trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you. ²⁹But this I say, brothers, ^athe time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; ³⁰and those who cry, as though they did not cry; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; ³¹and those who use the world, as though they did not ^amake full use of it. For ^bthe form of this world is passing away.

³²But I want you to be free from concern. One who is ^aunmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. ³³But one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, ³⁴and his interests have been divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit. But one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. ³⁵Now this I say for your own benefit, not to put a restraint upon you, but ¹to promote propriety and undistracted devotion to the Lord.

³⁶But if any man thinks that he is acting unbecomingly toward his virgin daughter, if she is past her youth, and if it must be so, let him do what he wishes, he does not sin; let ¹her marry. ³⁷But he who stands firm in his heart, ¹being under no compulsion, but has authority ²over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin daughter, he will do well. ³⁸So then both he who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.

³⁹^aA wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband has ¹fallen asleep, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only ^bin the Lord. ⁴⁰But ^ain my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.

Take Care with Your Liberty

8Now concerning ^athings sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have ^bknowledge. Knowledge ^cpuffs up, but love ^dbuilds up. ²^aIf anyone thinks that he has known anything, he has not yet ^bknown as he ought to know; ³but if anyone loves God, he ^ahas been known by Him.

⁴Therefore, concerning the eating of ^athings sacrificed to idols, we know that ¹an idol is ^bnothing in the world, and that ^cthere is no God but one. ⁵For even if ^athere are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, ⁶yet for us ^athere is one God, ^bthe Father, ^cfrom whom are all things and we exist for Him, and ^done Lord, Jesus Christ, ^eby whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

⁷However, not all men ^ahave this knowledge; but ^bsome, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ⁸But ^afood will not ¹commend us to God. We neither lack if we do not eat, nor abound if we do eat. ⁹But ^asee to it that this ¹authority of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the ^bweak. ¹⁰For if someone sees you, who have ^aknowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be built up to eat ^bthings sacrificed to idols? ¹¹For through ^ayour knowledge he who is weak ^bis ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. ¹²^aAnd in that way, by sinning against the brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin ^bagainst Christ. ¹³Therefore, ^aif food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again—ever, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.

To Yahweh’s Name Give Glory

115^aNot to us, O Yahweh, not to us,But ^bto Your name give gloryBecause of Your lovingkindness, because of Your ¹truth.²^aWhy should the nations say,“^bWhere, now, is their God?”³But our ^aGod is in the heavens;He ^bdoes whatever He pleases.⁴Their ^aidols are silver and gold,The ^bwork of man’s hands.⁵They have mouths, but they ^ado not speak;They have eyes, but they do not see;⁶They have ears, but they do not hear;They have noses, but they do not smell;⁷As for their hands, they do not feel;As for their feet, they do not walk;They do not make a sound with their throat.⁸^aThose who make them ¹will become like them,Everyone who trusts in them.⁹O ^aIsrael, ^btrust in Yahweh;He is their ^chelp and their shield.¹⁰O house of ^aAaron, trust in Yahweh;He is their help and their shield.¹¹You who ¹^,^afear Yahweh, trust in Yahweh;He is their help and their shield.¹²Yahweh ^aremembered us; He will bless!He will bless the house of Israel.He will bless the house of Aaron.¹³He will ^abless those who ¹fear Yahweh,^bThe small together with the great.¹⁴May Yahweh ^agive you increase,You and your children.¹⁵May you be blessed of Yahweh,^aWho made heaven and earth.¹⁶The heavens are ^athe heavens of Yahweh,But ^bthe earth He has given to the sons of men.¹⁷It is not the ^adead that praise Yah,And it is none of those who go down to ^bsilence;¹⁸But as for us, we will ^abless YahFrom now until forever.¹Praise Yah!