Jeremiah 8:18–9:6; Romans 5:1–11; John 8:12–20

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Jeremiah 8:18–9:6

Jeremiah Grieves for His People

18  My joy is gone; grief is upon me;1

fmy heart is sick within me.

19  Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people

from gthe length and breadth of the land:

Is the Lord not in Zion?

hIs her King not in her?

iWhy have they provoked me to anger with their carved images

and with their foreign idols?

20  The harvest is past, the summer is ended,

and we are not saved.

21  For the wound of jthe daughter of my people is my heart wounded;

kI mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me.

22  Is there no lbalm in Gilead?

Is there no physician there?

Why then has the health of the daughter of my people

not been restored?

2 mOh that my head were waters,

and my eyes a fountain of tears,

that I might weep day and night

for the slain of jthe daughter of my people!

3 Oh that I had in the desert

a travelers’ lodging place,

that I might leave my people

and go away from them!

For they are all nadulterers,

a company of otreacherous men.

pThey bend their tongue like a bow;

falsehood and not truth has grown strong4 in the land;

for they proceed from evil to evil,

qand they do not know me, declares the Lord.

rLet everyone beware of his neighbor,

and put no trust in any brother,

for every sbrother is a deceiver,

and every neighbor tgoes about as a slanderer.

Everyone deceives his neighbor,

and no one speaks the truth;

they have taught their tongue to speak lies;

they weary themselves committing iniquity.

Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,

uthey refuse to know me, declares the Lord.


Romans 5:1–11

Peace with God Through Faith

aTherefore, since we have been justified by faith, bwe1 have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also cobtained access by faith2 into this grace din which we stand, and ewe3 rejoice4 in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we frejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering gproduces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hhope does not put us to shame, because God’s love ihas been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

For jwhile we were still weak, at the right time kChrist died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous personthough perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die but lGod shows his love for us in that mwhile we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, nwe have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from othe wrath of God. 10 For if pwhile we were enemies qwe were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by rhis life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received sreconciliation.


John 8:12–20

I Am the Light of the World

12 lAgain Jesus spoke to them, saying, mI am the light of the world. Whoever nfollows me will not owalk in darkness, but will have the light of life. 13 So the Pharisees said to him, pYou are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true. 14 Jesus answered, Even if I do bear witness about myself, qmy testimony is true, for I know rwhere I came from and swhere I am going, but tyou do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 uYou judge according to the flesh; vI judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, wmy judgment is true, for xit is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father1 who sent me. 17 yIn your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and zthe Father who sent me bears witness about me. 19 They said to him therefore, Where is your Father? Jesus answered, aYou know neither me nor my Father. bIf you knew me, you would know my Father also. 20 These words he spoke in cthe treasury, as he taught in the temple; but dno one arrested him, because ehis hour had not yet come.