Jeremiah 47, 1 Corinthians 13 - 14, Psalm 120

Word Against Philistia

47That which came as the word of Yahweh to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the ^aPhilistines, before Pharaoh struck down ^bGaza. ²Thus says Yahweh: “Behold, waters are going to rise from ^athe northAnd become an overflowing torrent,And ^boverflow the land as well as its fullness,The city and those who inhabit it;And the men will ^ccry out,And every inhabitant of the land will wail.

³“Because of the noise of the ¹^,^agalloping hoofs of his ²valiant steeds,The quaking of his chariots, and the tumult of his wheels,The fathers have not turned back for their children,Because of the limpness of their hands,⁴On account of the day that is comingTo ^adestroy all the Philistines,To cut off from ^bTyre and SidonEvery ally that is left;For Yahweh is going to destroy the Philistines,The remnant of the coastland of ^cCaphtor.⁵“^aBaldness has come upon Gaza;^bAshkelon has been ruined.O remnant of their valley,How long will you ^cgash yourself?⁶“Ah, ^asword of Yahweh,How long will you not be quiet?Withdraw into your sheath;¹Be at rest and stay still.⁷“How can ¹it be quiet?Yahweh has ^agiven it a command;Against Ashkelon and against the seacoast—There He has ^bassigned it.”

The Excellence of Love

13If I speak with the ^atongues of men and of ^bangels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a ^cclanging cymbal. ²And if I have the gift of ^aprophecy, and know all ^bmysteries and all ^cknowledge; and if I have ^dall faith, so as to ^eremove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³And if I ^agive all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I ^bsurrender my body ¹to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

⁴Love ^ais patient, love is kind, ^bis not jealous, does not brag, is not ^cpuffed up; ⁵it does not act unbecomingly, ^adoes not seek its own, is not provoked, ^bdoes not take into account a wrong suffered; ⁶^ait does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but ^brejoices with the truth; ⁷¹^,^ait bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸Love never fails, but if there are gifts of ¹^,^aprophecy, they will be done away; if there are ^btongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. ⁹For we ^aknow in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when the ¹perfect comes, the partial will be done away. ¹¹When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I ¹became a man, I did away with childish things. ¹²For now we ^asee in a mirror ¹dimly, but then ^bface to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also ^chave been fully known. ¹³But now abide faith, hope, love—these three; but the ¹greatest of these is ^alove.

Prophecy and Tongues

14^aPursue love, yet ^bearnestly desire ^cspiritual gifts, but especially that you may ^dprophesy. ²For one who ^aspeaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one ¹understands, but ²in his spirit he speaks ^bmysteries. ³But one who prophesies speaks to men for ^aedification and ^bexhortation and encouragement. ⁴One who ^aspeaks in a tongue ^bedifies himself; but one who ^cprophesies ^dedifies the church. ⁵But I wish that you all ^aspoke in tongues, but ^beven more that you would prophesy. And greater is one who prophesies than one who ^cspeaks in tongues, unless he ¹translates, so that the church may receive ^dedification.

⁶But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of ^arevelation or of ^bknowledge or of ^cprophecy or of ^dteaching? ⁷Yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp? ⁸For if ^athe trumpet produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? ⁹So also you, unless you utter by the tongue a word that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be ^aspeaking into the air. ¹⁰There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of sounds in the world, and none is without meaning. ¹¹If then I do not know the meaning of the sound, I will be to the one who speaks a ¹^,^abarbarian, and the one who speaks will be a ²barbarian ³to me. ¹²So also you, since you are zealous for ¹spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the ^aedification of the church.

¹³Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may ¹translate. ¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵^aWhat is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will ^bsing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also. ¹⁶Otherwise if you bless ¹in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ²uninformed say ^athe “Amen” at your ^bgiving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not ^aedified. ¹⁸I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all; ¹⁹however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.

²⁰^aBrothers, ^bdo not be children in your thinking; rather in evil ^cbe infants, but in your thinking be mature. ²¹In ^athe Law it is written, “^bBy men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me,” says the ¹Lord. ²²So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but ^aprophecy is for a sign not to unbelievers but to those who believe. ²³Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ¹uninformed men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that ^ayou are out of your mind? ²⁴But if all ^aprophesy, and an unbeliever or an ¹uninformed man enters, he is ^bconvicted by all, he is called to account by all; ²⁵^athe secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will ^bfall on his face and worship God, declaring that ^csurely God is among you.

Orderly Worship

²⁶^aWhat is the outcome then, ^bbrothers? When you assemble, ^ceach one has a ^dpsalm, has a ^eteaching, has a ^frevelation, has a ^gtongue, has a ¹translation. Let all things be done for edification. ²⁷If anyone speaks in a ^atongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must ¹^,^btranslate; ²⁸but if there is no ¹translator, he must keep silent in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God. ²⁹And let two or three ^aprophets speak, and let the others ^bpass judgment. ³⁰But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. ³¹For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted. ³²And the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; ³³for God is not a God of ^aconfusion but of ¹peace, as in ^ball the churches of the ^csaints.

³⁴The women are to ^akeep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but ^bare to subject themselves, just as ^cthe Law also says. ³⁵But if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church. ³⁶¹Was it from you that the word of God first went forth? Or has it arrived to you only?

³⁷^aIf anyone thinks he is a prophet or ^bspiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you ^care the Lord’s commandment. ³⁸But if anyone remains ignorant about this, he ¹is ignored by God.

³⁹Therefore, my brothers, ^aearnestly desire to ^bprophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. ⁴⁰But ^aall things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.

O Yahweh, Deliver My Soul

120

A Song of ¹Ascents.

^aIn my distress I called to Yahweh,And He answered me.²O Yahweh, deliver my soul from a ^alying lip,From a ^bdeceitful tongue.³What shall He give to you, and what shall He add to you,O ^adeceitful tongue?⁴^aSharp arrows of the warrior,With the burning ^bcoals of the broom tree.⁵Woe is me, for I sojourn in ^aMeshech,For I dwell among the ^btents of ^cKedar!⁶Too long has my soul had its dwellingWith those who ^ahate peace.⁷I ^aam for peace, but when I speak,They are ^bfor war.