Jeremiah 45, 1 Corinthians 9 - 10, Psalms 116 - 117

Word to Baruch

45This is the message which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to ^aBaruch the son of Neriah, when he had ^bwritten down these words in a book ¹at Jeremiah’s dictation, in the ^cfourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying: ²“Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel to you, O Baruch: ³‘You said, “Ah, woe is me! For Yahweh has added sorrow to my pain; I am ^aweary with my sighing and have found no rest.”’ ⁴“Thus you are to say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, ^awhat I have built I am about to pull down, and what I have planted I am about to uproot, that is, the whole land.” ⁵‘But as for you, are you ^aseeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to ^bbring calamity on all flesh,’ declares Yahweh, ‘but I will ^cgive your life to you as spoil in all the places where you may go.’”

Paul Gives Up His Rights

9Am I not ^afree? Am I not an ^bapostle? Have I not ^cseen Jesus our Lord? Are you not ^dmy work in the Lord? ²If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the ^aseal of my ^bapostleship in the Lord.

³My defense to those who examine me is this: ⁴^aDo we not have authority to eat and drink? ⁵^aDo we not have authority to take along a ¹believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the ^bbrothers of the Lord and ^cCephas? ⁶Or do only ¹^,^aBarnabas and I not have authority to refrain from working? ⁷Who at any time serves ^aas a soldier at his own expense? Who ^bplants a vineyard and does not ¹consume the fruit of it? Or who shepherds a flock and does not ²consume the milk of the flock?

⁸Am I speaking these things ^aaccording to ¹human judgment? Or does not the Law also say these things? ⁹For it is written in the Law of Moses, “^aYou shall not muzzle the ox while it is threshing.” Is God merely concerned about ^boxen? ¹⁰Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, ^afor our sake it was written, because ^bthe plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. ¹¹^aIf we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? ¹²If others share this authority over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we ^adid not use this authority, but we endure all things ^bso that we will cause no hindrance to the ^cgospel of Christ. ¹³^aDo you not know that those who ^bperform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share ¹from the altar? ¹⁴So also ^athe Lord directed those who proclaim the ^bgospel to ^cget their living from the gospel.

¹⁵But I have ^aused none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case, for it would be better for me to die than have anyone make ^bmy boast an empty one. ¹⁶For if I proclaim the gospel, I have nothing to boast, for ^aI am under compulsion. For woe is me if I do not proclaim ^bthe gospel. ¹⁷For if I do this voluntarily, I have a ^areward; but if against my will, I have a ^bstewardship entrusted to me. ¹⁸What then is my ^areward? That, when I proclaim the gospel, I may offer the gospel ^bwithout charge, so as ^cnot to make full use of my authority in the gospel.

¹⁹For though I am ^afree from all, I have made myself ^ba slave to all, so that I may ^cwin more. ²⁰^aAnd to the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews. To those who are under ¹the Law, as under ²the Law though ^bnot being myself under ³the Law, so that I might win those who are under ⁴the Law. ²¹To those who are ^awithout law, ^bas without law, though not being without the law of God but ^cunder the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. ²²To the ^aweak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become ^ball things to all men, ^cso that I may by all means save some. ²³So I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

²⁴^aDo you not know that those who run in a ¹race all run, but only one receives ^bthe prize? ^cRun in such a way that you may win. ²⁵Now everyone who ^acompetes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a corruptible ^bcrown, but we an incorruptible. ²⁶Therefore I ^arun in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not ^bbeating the air; ²⁷but I ¹discipline ^amy body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Temptation and God’s Faithfulness

10For ^aI do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all ^bunder the cloud and all ^cpassed through the sea; ²and all were ^abaptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; ³and all ^aate the same spiritual food; ⁴and all ^adrank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was ¹Christ. ⁵Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased. For ^athey were ¹struck down in the wilderness. ⁶Now these things happened as ^aexamples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as ^bthey also craved.

⁷Do not be ^aidolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “^bThe people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to ^cplay.” ⁸Nor let us act in sexual immorality, as ^asome of them ¹did, and ^btwenty-three thousand fell in one day. ⁹Nor let us put Christ to the test, as ^asome of them ¹did, and were destroyed by the serpents. ¹⁰Nor ^agrumble, as some of them ¹did, and ^bwere destroyed by the ^cdestroyer. ¹¹Now these things happened to them as an ^aexample, and ^bthey were written for our instruction, upon whom ^cthe ends of the ages have arrived. ¹²Therefore let him who ^athinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. ¹³No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, but ^aGod is faithful, who will not allow you to be ^btempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

¹⁴Therefore, my ^abeloved, flee from ^bidolatry. ¹⁵I speak as to prudent people. You judge what I say. ¹⁶Is not the ^acup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the ¹^,^bbread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? ¹⁷Since there is one ¹bread, we ^awho are many are one body, for we all partake of the one ²bread. ¹⁸Look at ¹the nation ^aIsrael. Are not those who ^beat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? ¹⁹What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or ^athat an idol is anything? ²⁰No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they ^asacrifice to demons and not to God. And I do not want you to become sharers in demons. ²¹^aYou cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and ^bthe table of demons. ²²Or do we ^aprovoke the ¹Lord to jealousy? Are we ^bstronger than He?

²³^aAll things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things ^bbuild up. ²⁴Let no one ^aseek his own good, but that of the other person. ²⁵^aEat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake. ²⁶^aFor the earth is the ¹Lord’s, as well as its fullness. ²⁷If ^aone of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, ^beat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake. ²⁸But ^aif anyone says to you, “This is meat consecrated to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake. ²⁹I do not mean your own conscience, but the other person’s. For ^awhy is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? ³⁰If I partake with gratefulness, ^awhy am I slandered concerning that for which I ^bgive thanks?

³¹Whether, then, you eat or drink or ^awhatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ³²^aGive no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to ^bthe church of God; ³³just as I also ^aplease all men in all things, ^bnot seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, ^cso that they may be saved.

I Love Yahweh

116^aI love Yahweh, because He ^bhearsMy voice and my supplications.²Because He has ^ainclined His ear to me,So I shall call upon Him in all my days.³The ^acords of death encompassed meAnd the ¹distresses of Sheol found me;I found distress and sorrow.⁴Then ^aI called upon the name of Yahweh:“O Yahweh, I beseech You, ¹^,^bprovide my soul escape!”⁵^aGracious is Yahweh, and ^brighteous;And our God is ^ccompassionate.⁶Yahweh keeps ^athe simple;I was ^bbrought low, and He saved me.⁷Return to your ^arest, O my soul,For Yahweh has ^bdealt bountifully with you.⁸For You have ^arescued my soul from death,My eyes from tears,My feet from stumbling.⁹I shall walk before YahwehIn the ¹^,^aland of the living.¹⁰I ^abelieved when I said,“I am ^bgreatly afflicted.”¹¹I ^asaid in my alarm,“^bAll men are liars.”¹²What shall I ^agive to Yahweh in returnFor all His ^bbountiful dealings ¹with me?¹³I shall lift up the ^acup of ¹salvationAnd ^bcall upon the name of Yahweh.¹⁴I shall ^apay my vows to Yahweh,Oh may it be ^bin the presence of all His people.¹⁵^aPrecious in the sight of YahwehIs the death of His holy ones.¹⁶O Yahweh, ¹surely I am ^aYour slave,I am Your slave, the ^bson of Your maidservant,You have ^cloosed my bonds.¹⁷To You I shall offer ^aa sacrifice of thanksgiving,And ^bcall upon the name of Yahweh.¹⁸I shall ^apay my vows to Yahweh,Oh may it be in the presence of all His people,¹⁹In the ^acourts of the house of Yahweh,In the midst of you, O ^bJerusalem.¹Praise Yah!

Yahweh’s Lovingkindness Prevails

117^aPraise Yahweh, all nations;Laud Him, all peoples!²For His ^alovingkindness prevails over us,And the ¹^,^btruth of Yahweh is everlasting.²Praise Yah!