Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Jeremiah 45
1This is what Jeremiah the prophet told Baruch son of
Neriah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, after
Baruch had written on a scroll the words Jeremiah was then dictating: 2"This
is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says to you, Baruch: 3You said,
'Woe to me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning
and find no rest.' "
4[The LORD said,] "Say this to him: 'This is
what the LORD says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have
planted, throughout the land. 5Should you then seek great things for
yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the
LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.' "
Psalm
27
1Of David.
The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the
stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid? 2When evil men
advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me,
they will stumble and fall. 3Though an army besiege me, my heart
will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. 4One
thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of
the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to
seek him in his temple. 5For in the day of trouble he will keep me
safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set
me high upon a rock. 6Then my head will be exalted above the enemies
who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will
sing and make music to the LORD. 7Hear my voice when I call, O LORD;
be merciful to me and answer me. 8My heart says of you, "Seek
his face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek. 9Do not hide your face
from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do
not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. 10Though my father and
mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. 11Teach me your way, O
LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. 12Do not
turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me,
breathing out violence. 13I am still confident of this: I will see
the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14Wait for the
LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Acts
27:13–38
13When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought
they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the
shore of Crete. 14Before very long, a wind of hurricane force,
called the "northeaster," swept down from the island. 15The
ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way
to it and were driven along. 16As we passed to the lee of a small
island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. 17When
the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold
it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis,
they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. 18We
took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to
throw the cargo overboard. 19On the third day, they threw the ship's
tackle overboard with their own hands. 20When neither sun nor stars
appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all
hope of being saved.
21After the men had gone a long time without food,
Paul stood up before them and said: "Men, you should have taken my advice
not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and
loss. 22But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one
of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23Last night
an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24and
said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has
graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' 25So keep
up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he
told me. 26Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island."
27On the fourteenth night we were still being driven
across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were
approaching land. 28They took soundings and found that the water was
a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again
and found it was ninety feet deep. 29Fearing that we would be dashed
against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for
daylight. 30In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let
the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some
anchors from the bow. 31Then Paul said to the centurion and the
soldiers, "Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved."
32So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it
fall away.
33Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat.
"For the last fourteen days," he said, "you have been in
constant suspense and have gone without food--you haven't eaten anything. 34Now
I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose
a single hair from his head." 35After he said this, he took
some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and
began to eat. 36They were all encouraged and ate some food
themselves. 37Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38When
they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the
grain into the sea.
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