Judah Threatened with Invasion

1“If you will return, O Israel,” declares the Lord,

“Then you should return to Me.

And if you will put away your detested things from My presence,

And will not waver,

2And you will swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’

In truth, in justice and in righteousness;

Then the nations will bless themselves in Him,

And in Him they will glory.”

3For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem,

“Break up your fallow ground,

And do not sow among thorns.

4Circumcise yourselves to the Lord

And remove the foreskins of your heart,

Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,

Or else My wrath will go forth like fire

And burn with none to quench it,

Because of the evil of your deeds.”

12For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; 13for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. 14For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

The Jew Is Condemned by the Law

17But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God, 18and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, 19and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, 21you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? 22You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? 24For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.

25For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law? 28For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

1) How does Jeremiah move circumcision from outward to inward?

2) How does Paul confirm that covenant identity is inward, not outward only?

3) What does this teach about belonging to יהוה’s people?

14Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;

Save me and I will be saved,

For You are my praise.

15Look, they keep saying to me,

“Where is the word of the Lord?

Let it come now!”

16But as for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd after You,

Nor have I longed for the woeful day;

You Yourself know that the utterance of my lips

Was in Your presence.

17Do not be a terror to me;

You are my refuge in the day of disaster.

18Let those who persecute me be put to shame, but as for me, let me not be put to shame;

Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed.

Bring on them a day of disaster,

And crush them with twofold destruction!

PSALM 83

God Implored to Confound His Enemies.

A Song, a Psalm of Asaph.

1O God, do not remain quiet;

Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.

2For behold, Your enemies make an uproar,

And those who hate You have exalted themselves.

3They make shrewd plans against Your people,

And conspire together against Your treasured ones.

4They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation,

That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

5For they have conspired together with one mind;

Against You they make a covenant:

6The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

Moab and the Hagrites;

7Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,

Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

8Assyria also has joined with them;

They have become a help to the children of Lot. Selah.

9Deal with them as with Midian,

As with Sisera and Jabin at the torrent of Kishon,

10Who were destroyed at En-dor,

Who became as dung for the ground.

11Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb

And all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

12Who said, “Let us possess for ourselves

The pastures of God.”

13O my God, make them like the whirling dust,

Like chaff before the wind.

14Like fire that burns the forest

And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire,

15So pursue them with Your tempest

And terrify them with Your storm.

16Fill their faces with dishonor,

That they may seek Your name, O Lord.

17Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever,

And let them be humiliated and perish,

18That they may know that You alone, whose name is the Lord,

Are the Most High over all the earth.

Men Are in the Hand of God

1For I have taken all this to my heart and explain it that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him.

2It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear. 3This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead. 4For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. 5For the living know they will die; but the dead do not know anything, nor have they any longer a reward, for their memory is forgotten. 6Indeed their love, their hate and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share in all that is done under the sun.

7Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. 8Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. 9Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.

Whatever Your Hand Finds to Do

10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

11I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all. 12Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them.

13Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me. 14There was a small city with few men in it and a great king came to it, surrounded it and constructed large siegeworks against it. 15But there was found in it a poor wise man and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man. 16So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised and his words are not heeded. 17The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.