Jeremiah 40 - 41, 1 Corinthians 3 - 4, Psalm 112

Jeremiah Stays in Judah

40The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh after ^aNebuzaradan captain of the bodyguard had released him from ^bRamah, when he had taken him bound in ^cchains among all the exiles of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. ²And the captain of the bodyguard had taken Jeremiah and said to him, “^aYahweh your God promised this calamity against this place; ³and Yahweh has brought it on and done just as He promised. Because you people ^asinned against Yahweh and did not listen to His voice, therefore this thing has happened to you. ⁴“So now, behold, I am ^afreeing you today from the chains which are on your hands. If it is good in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, come along, and I will set my eyes to look after you; but if it ¹is displeasing in your eyes to come with me to Babylon, ²never mind. Look, the ^bwhole land is before you; go wherever it seems good and right in your eyes to go.” ⁵But as ¹Jeremiah had not yet set out to return, ²he said, “Return then to ^aGedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has ^bappointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or else go anywhere that is right in your eyes to go.” So the captain of the bodyguard gave him a ^cration and a ^dgift and let him go. ⁶Then Jeremiah went to ^aMizpah to ^bGedaliah the son of Ahikam and stayed with him among the people who remained in the land.

⁷^aThen all the ¹commanders of the military forces that were in the field, they and their men, heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam over the land and that he had appointed him over the men, women, little ones, and those of the ^bpoorest of the land who had not been exiled to Babylon. ⁸So they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, along with ^aIshmael the son of Nethaniah, and ^bJohanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the ^cNetophathite, and ^dJezaniah the son of the ^eMaacathite, both they and their men. ⁹Then Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, ^aswore to them and to their men, saying, “^bDo not be afraid of serving the Chaldeans; stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, that it may go well with you. ¹⁰“Now as for me, behold, I am going to stay at Mizpah to ^astand for you before the Chaldeans who come to us; but as for you, ^bgather in wine and ^csummer fruit and oil and put them in your storage vessels and stay in your cities that you have seized.” ¹¹And also all the Jews, who were in ^aMoab and among the sons of ^bAmmon and in ^cEdom and who were in all the other lands, heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant for Judah and that he had appointed over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. ¹²Then all the Jews ^areturned from all the places to which they had been banished and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered in wine and summer fruit in great abundance.

¹³Now Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were in the field came to Gedaliah at Mizpah ¹⁴and said to him, “Do you indeed know that Baalis the king of the sons of ^aAmmon has sent Ishmael the son of Nethaniah to strike down your life?” But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam did not believe them. ¹⁵Then Johanan the son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah in Mizpah, saying, “^aLet me go and strike down Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and not a man will know! Why should he ^bstrike down your life, so that all the Jews who are gathered to you would be scattered and the ^cremnant of Judah would perish?” ¹⁶But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said to Johanan the son of Kareah, “^aDo not do this thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”

Ishmael Strikes Down Gedaliah

41^aNow it happened in the seventh month, that ^bIshmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal seed and one of the chief officers of the king, along with ten men, came to Mizpah to ^cGedaliah the son of Ahikam. And they ^dwere eating bread together there in Mizpah. ²Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and ^astruck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and ^bput to death the one ^cwhom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land. ³Ishmael also struck down all the Jews who were with him, that is with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Chaldeans who were found there, the men of war.

⁴Now it happened on the ¹next day after putting Gedaliah to death, when no one knew about it, ⁵that eighty men ^acame from ^bShechem, from ^cShiloh, and from ^dSamaria with ^etheir beards shaved off and their clothes torn and ¹their bodies ^fgashed, having grain offerings and frankincense in their hands to bring to the house of Yahweh. ⁶Then Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went out from Mizpah to meet them, ^aweeping as he went; and it happened that as he encountered them, he said to them, “Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam!” ⁷But it happened that as soon as they came inside the city, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the men that were with him ^aslaughtered them and cast them into the cistern. ⁸But ten men who were found among them said to Ishmael, “Do not put us to death; for we have ^astores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey hidden in the field.” So he refrained and did not put them to death along with their ¹companions.

⁹Now as for the cistern where Ishmael had cast all the corpses of the men whom he had struck down ¹because of Gedaliah, it was the ^aone that King Asa had made on ^baccount of Baasha, king of Israel; Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with the slain. ¹⁰Then Ishmael took captive all the ^aremnant of the people who were in Mizpah, the ^bking’s daughters and all the people who remained in Mizpah, over whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had appointed Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; thus Ishmael the son of Nethaniah took them captive and went to cross over to the sons of ^cAmmon.

Johanan Rescues the People

¹¹But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ^acommanders of the military forces that were with him heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done. ¹²So they took all the men and went to ^afight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and they found him by the ^bgreat ¹pool that is in Gibeon. ¹³Now it happened as soon as all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him, they were glad. ¹⁴So all the people whom Ishmael had taken captive from Mizpah turned around and returned and went to Johanan the son of Kareah. ¹⁵But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah ^aescaped from Johanan with eight men and went to the sons of Ammon. ¹⁶Then Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the military forces that were with him took from Mizpah ^aall the remnant of the people whom he had returned from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, after he had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, that is, the mighty men who were men of war, the women, the little ones, and the eunuchs, whom he had returned from Gibeon. ¹⁷And they went and stayed in ¹^,^aGeruth Chimham, which is beside Bethlehem, in order to ^bproceed into Egypt ¹⁸because of the Chaldeans; for they were ^aafraid of them, since Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom ^bthe king of Babylon had appointed over the land.

Jesus Christ, Our Foundation

3And I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as to ^aspiritual men, but as to ^bfleshly men, as to ^cinfants in Christ. ²I gave you ^amilk to drink, not solid food, for you ^bwere not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are still not able, ³for you are still fleshly. For since there is ^ajealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking ¹^,^blike mere men? ⁴For when ^aone says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere ^bmen?

⁵What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? ^aServants through whom you believed, even ^bas the Lord gave to each one. ⁶^aI planted, ^bApollos watered, but ^cGod was causing the growth. ⁷So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. ⁸Now he who plants and he who waters are one, but each will ^areceive his own ¹reward according to his own labor. ⁹For we are God’s ^afellow workers; you are God’s ¹^,^bfield, God’s ^cbuilding.

¹⁰According to ^athe grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder ^bI laid a foundation, and ^canother is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹For no one can lay a ^afoundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹²Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, ¹precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³^aeach man’s work will become evident, for ^bthe day will indicate it because it is revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test ¹the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will ^areceive a reward. ¹⁵If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet ^aso as through fire.

¹⁶^aDo you not know that ^byou are a ¹sanctuary of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁷If any man destroys the ¹sanctuary of God, God will destroy him, for the ²sanctuary of God is holy, and ³that is what you are.

¹⁸^aLet no man deceive himself. ^bIf any man among you thinks that he is wise in ^cthis age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. ¹⁹For ^athe wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is ^bthe one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; ²⁰and again, “^aThe Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.” ²¹So then ^alet no one boast in men. For ^ball things belong to you, ²²^awhether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or ^blife or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, ²³and ^ayou belong to Christ, and ^bChrist belongs to God.

Servants of Christ

4Let a man consider us in this manner, as ^aservants of Christ and ^bstewards of ^cthe mysteries of God. ²In this case, moreover, it is required ¹of stewards that one be found faithful. ³But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human ¹court. In fact, I do not even examine myself. ⁴For I ^aam conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this ^bacquitted. But the one who examines me is the Lord. ⁵Therefore ^ado not go on ¹passing judgment before ²the time, but wait ^buntil the Lord comes who will both ^cbring to light the things hidden in the darkness and make manifest the motives of hearts. And then each one’s ^dpraise will come to him from God.

⁶Now these things, brothers, I have applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to go beyond ^awhat is written, so that no one of you will ^bbecome puffed up ^con behalf of one against the other. ⁷For who regards you as superior? ^aWhat do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

⁸You are ^aalready filled, you have already become rich, you have ruled without us—and how I wish that you had ruled indeed so that we also might rule with you. ⁹For, I think that God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men ^acondemned to death, because we ^bhave become a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men. ¹⁰We are ^afools for the sake of Christ, but ^byou are prudent in Christ! ^cWe are weak, but you are strong! You are glorious, but we are without honor! ¹¹To this present hour we ^ahunger and thirst, and are poorly clothed, and roughly treated, and homeless; ¹²and we labor, ^aworking with our own hands; when we are ^breviled, we bless; when we are ^cpersecuted, we endure; ¹³when we are slandered, we try to plead; we have ^abecome as the scum of the world, the grime of all things, even until now.

¹⁴I do not write these things to ^ashame you, but to admonish you as my beloved ^bchildren. ¹⁵For if you were to have countless ^atutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in ^bChrist Jesus I ^cbecame your father through the ^dgospel. ¹⁶Therefore I exhort you, be ^aimitators of me. ¹⁷For this reason I ^ahave sent to you ^bTimothy, who is my ^cbeloved and faithful child in the Lord, and who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, ^djust as I teach everywhere in every church. ¹⁸Now some have become ^apuffed up, as though I were not ^bcoming to you. ¹⁹But I ^awill come to you soon, ^bif the Lord wills, and I shall know, not the ¹words of those who are ^cpuffed up but their power. ²⁰For the kingdom of God does ^anot consist in ¹words but in power. ²¹What do you desire? ^aShall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?

The Righteous Will Be Remembered Forever

112

א Aleph

¹Praise Yah!How ^ablessed is the man who ²fears Yahweh,Who greatly ^bdelights in His commandments.

ג Gimel

²His ^aseed will be mighty ¹on earth;The generation of the ^bupright will be blessed.

ה He

³^aWealth and riches are in his house,And his righteousness stands forever.

ז Zayin

⁴Light arises in the darkness ^afor the upright;He is ^bgracious and compassionate and righteous.

ט Teth

⁵It is well with the man who ^ais gracious and lends;Who sustains his ¹works with justice.

כ Kaph

⁶For he will ^anever be shaken;The ^brighteous will be ¹remembered forever.

מ Mem

⁷He will not fear an ^aevil report;His ^bheart is set, ^ctrusting in Yahweh.

ס Samekh

⁸His ^aheart is upheld, he ^bwill not fear,Until he ^clooks in triumph on his adversaries.

פ Pe

⁹¹He ^ahas given freely to the needy,His righteousness stands forever;His ^bhorn will be raised in glory.

ר Resh

¹⁰The ^awicked will see it and be ¹vexed,He will ^bgnash his teeth and ^cmelt away;The ^ddesire of the wicked will perish.