Jeremiah 1:4–10; Psalm 71:1–6; 1 Corinthians 12:31–13:13; Luke 4:31–44

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Jeremiah 1:4–10

The Call of Jeremiah

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

iBefore I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born jI consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet kto the nations.

Then I said, Ah, Lord God! Behold, lI do not know how to speak, mfor I am only a youth. But the Lord said to me,

Do not say, I am only a youth;

for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,

and nwhatever I command you, you shall speak.

oDo not be afraid of them,

pfor I am with you to deliver you,

declares the Lord.

qThen the Lord put out his hand and rtouched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,

Behold, I have put smy words in your mouth.

10  See, I have set you this day kover nations and over kingdoms,

tto pluck up and to break down,

to destroy and to overthrow,

to build and to plant.


Psalm 71:1–6

Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent

iIn you, O Lord, do I take refuge;

let me never be put to shame!

In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;

incline your ear to me, and save me!

Be to me a rock of jrefuge,

to which I may continually come;

you have kgiven the command to save me,

for you are my lrock and my fortress.

mRescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.

For you, O Lord, are my nhope,

my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

Upon you I have leaned ofrom before my birth;

you are he who ptook me from my mother’s womb.

My praise is continually of you.


1 Corinthians 12:31–13:13

31 But zearnestly desire the higher gifts.

And I will show you a still more excellent way.

The Way of Love

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have aprophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, bso as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. cIf I give away all I have, and dif I deliver up my body to be burned,1 but have not love, I gain nothing.

eLove is patient and fkind; love gdoes not envy or boast; it his not arrogant or rude. It idoes not insist on its own way; it jis not irritable or resentful;2 it kdoes not rejoice at wrongdoing, but lrejoices with the truth. mLove bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, eendures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For nwe know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but owhen the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For pnow we see in a mirror dimly, but qthen face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as rI have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.


Luke 4:31–44

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Demon

31 vAnd he wwent down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And xhe was teaching them yon the Sabbath, 32 and zthey were astonished at his teaching, zfor his word possessed authority. 33 And xin the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 Ha!1 aWhat have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? bI know who you arecthe Holy One of God. 35 But Jesus drebuked him, saying, Be silent and come out of him! And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 And ethey were all amazed and said to one another, What is this word? eFor with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out! 37 And freports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

Jesus Heals Many

38 gAnd he arose and left the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. Now hSimon’s mother-in-law was ill with a high fever, and they appealed to him on her behalf. 39 And he stood over her and irebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she rose and began to serve them.

40 Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and jhe laid his hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 kAnd demons also came out of many, lcrying, You are mthe Son of God! But he rebuked them and kwould not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was nthe Christ.

Jesus Preaches in Synagogues

42 oAnd when it was day, he departed and went pinto a desolate place. And qthe people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, rI must spreach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose. 44 And he was preaching tin the synagogues of Judea.2