JEREMIAH 48:
In yesterday’s reading, the Lord began giving oracles about different nations, with one chapter concerning Egypt and the next one about Philistia. Today we’ll hear about Moab.

PROVERBS 9:
Today’s chapter is the last of the thematic chapters at the beginning of this book. Lady Wisdom speaks, and we find that she is opposed by Lady [Folly/Stupidity].

1JOHN 2:
John continues to address us as his dear children, and tells us things that we must know in order to be on guard and remain in fellowship with the Father and the Son.

NLT Translation notes:
Pro. 9:7 Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return.
Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt.
[I think we might as well let Lady Wisdom speak all the way through here.]
11 [I,] Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life.
12 If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit.
If you scorn [me,] wisdom, you will be the one to suffer.
====
1Jn. 2:6 Those who say they live in [unity, joined with] God should live their lives as Jesus did.
9 If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates [his/a] Christian brother or sister,a that person is still living in darkness.
10 Anyone who loves [his/another] brother[s and/or] sister[s] is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.
11 But anyone who hates [his/another] brother[s and/or] sister[s] is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.
12 I am writing to you who are [my dear//God’s] children
because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.
14I have written to you who are [my/God’s] children
because you know the Father.
I have written to you who are mature in the faith
because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I have written to you who are young in the faith
because you are strong.
God’s word lives in your hearts,
and you have won your battle with the evil one.
20 But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit,and [that is why] all of you know the truth.
21 So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you [already] know the difference between truth and lies.
22 And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is [a follower of the/an] antichrist.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

JEREMIAH 46-47:
After finally being able to give a comforting message (“Stay here in Judah and don't go to Egypt. The Lord will take care of you”), the people not only ran off to Egypt but took Jeremiah with them. (Or did he go along willingly?) Perhaps he thought that in Egypt the Lord's message to stop worshiping idols would have some traction. But again, alas... No. Then yesterday we heard the short special message to the official Baruch, Jeremiah’s faithful secretary. In today’s reading, the Lord begins giving oracles about different nations.

PROVERBS 8b:
Lady Wisdom continues to speak.

1JOHN 1:
It is believed that John wrote this letter later in his life, somewhere between AD 85 and 95, and perhaps from Ephesus. He addresses everyone as his ‘children’. Like the emphasis of John’s gospel, this little book focuses on the word ‘believe’. And the word ‘know’ is used over 30 times in this short book. And it is because of that very word that this letter is famous for giving assurance— especially to any who have trouble accepting that God would choose or love them.

NLT Translation note:
1Jn. 1:3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our [inclusive] fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

JEREMIAH 44-45:
After all Jeremiah's messages of doom, he was able to give a comforting message to the Judeans who had been through so much. He might have thought, “At last I get to preach good news.” The Lord said through him, “I feel sorry for all you have had to suffer. Stay here. I will make the king of Babylon take pity on you. Don't fear the Babylonians.” That's the very thing the people had longed to hear for years. But even at this point, they break their promise and don’t listen to Jeremiah! After that, when he had been forcibly taken off to Egypt with the others, Jeremiah predicted that Nebuchadnezzar would come and defeat Egypt also.

PROVERBS 8a:
For the last two days we heard the wisdom of a father to his sons. Today Lady Wisdom speaks.

1CORINTHIANS 16:
Yesterday we finished the Resurrection Chapter, and today we see glimpses of the life of the early church through Paul’s final words.

NLT Translation note:
1Cor. 16:10 When Timothy comes, [please] don’t intimidate him. He is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

JEREMIAH 42-43:
I have always found it fascinating what Jeremiah experienced in the aftermath of the fall of Judah's kingdom to the king of Babylon. It is interesting to me that he was led away in chains along with everyone else captured. But the king of Babylon had heard of him and left instructions about him. And it is a shame what happened to Gedaliah. Evidently Jeremiah was not around at that point to warn him.

PROVERBS 7:
The father instructing his son continues from yesterday’s reading. This is one of the most colorful chapters in God’s Word. If you haven’t read this before, prepare yourself to be shocked!

1CORINTHIANS 15b:
Yesterday we read the first part of this famous Resurrection Chapter. The first part displays Paul's rigorous logic about the fact of Christ’s resurrection. The second part deals with the kind of body we will have after the Resurrection. All of this chapter holds wonderful promises for us.

Let’s consider a few verses we will reread today dealing with being baptized for deceased people: We do not find evidence that the practice was widespread or that it continued. Constable’s Notes for this section (lumina.bible.org) cites information that there was a pre-Christian mystery religion in the area of Corinth that practiced proxy baptism on behalf of dead relatives. Some early Corinthian Christians may have carried this practice over into their new faith, or Paul may simply have been using this local pagan religious practice as an example in order to say, “What is the point of doing that if the dead will not be raised to life?” Paul does not mention this practice in order to encourage it, but to strengthen his point: The resurrection of all believers is a promise that follows logically from Christ’s resurrection.

NLT Translation notes:
1Cor. 15:2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you[. Otherwise, it was useless that you became believers in the first place! //—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.///unless you never believed it in the first place.]
[This is a difficult place to interpret what Paul meant, and I think at least 3 possibilities deserve consideration, and all seem to me to be equally possible.]
29 If the dead will not be raised, what point is there in people being baptized for those who are dead? Why [have some people done that//do it] unless the dead will someday rise again?

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

JEREMIAH 40-41:
Yesterday we heard of Jeremiah being put in a dry but muddy well, and being rescued by the faithful official, Ebed-melech. And we heard the terrible and painful result of Zedekiah's cowardly failure to do as repeatedly instructed by the Lord.

Ezekiel— who was about 20 years younger than Jeremiah, prophesied about Zedekiah:

Ezek 12:12 NLT “Even Zedekiah will leave Jerusalem at night through a hole in the wall, taking only what he can carry with him. He will cover his face, and his eyes will not see the land he is leaving.
13 Then I will throw my net over him and capture him in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Babylonians, though he will never see it, and he will die there.

PROVERBS 6:
In yesterday’s chapter we heard a clear theme:

Prov. 5:15 NLT Drink water from your own well—
share your love only with your wife.

The teaching in today’s passage is insistent:

Prov. 6:20 NLT My son, obey your father’s commands,
and don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.

1CORINTHIANS 15a:
In yesterday’s reading of chapter 14 Paul wrapped up the theme about spiritual gifts that he started in chapter 12. Note that at the end he became vehement and insistent, signalling that he knew there would be people who would argue with him. I want to underline: Paul was the apostle of the Lord who wrote 13 books of our New Testament. Every church and Christian fellowship should take these instructions seriously. If we don't, we fall into the trap of thinking we are wiser than Paul (and we can even say, the Holy Spirit). However, those who seek spiritual gifts in a way that is not self-glorifying will find that the Spirit of the Lord still gives authentic gifts.

NLT Translation notes:
1Cor. 15:2 It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you[. Otherwise, it was useless that you became believers in the first place! //—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.///unless you never believed it in the first place.]
[This is a difficult place to interpret what Paul meant, and I think at least 3 possibilities deserve consideration, and all seem to me to be equally possible.]
29 If the dead will not be raised, what point is there in people being baptized for those who are dead? Why [have some people done that//do it] unless the dead will someday rise again?

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

JEREMIAH 38-39:
Yesterday we heard of persecution against Jeremiah, his being imprisoned so that he had his secretary, Baruch convey his messages, and then his being imprisoned in the dungeon at Jonathan’s house. And today he is put in a muddy cistern.

PROVERBS 5:
Today’s chapter of Proverbs has a clear theme. Here is a verse from the middle that typifies that theme:

Prov. 5:15 NLT Drink water from your own well—
share your love only with your wife.

1CORINTHIANS 14:
This chapter gives Paul’s conclusions about spiritual gifts— the theme he started in chapter 12.

NLT Translation note:
1Cor. 14:38 But if you do not recognize this, you yourself [are not/should not/will not] be recognized.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

JEREMIAH 36-37:
In yesterday's reading in Jeremiah, he gave more specific warnings to King Zedekiah. And then we heard of the inspiring example of the Recabites.

PROVERBS 4b:
Yesterday in the first half of chapter 4, we heard again about Lady Wisdom. I highlight these important words:

Prov. 4:7 GNT Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do. Whatever else you get, get insight.
10 Listen to me, my child. Take seriously what I am telling you, and you will live a long life.
11 I have taught you wisdom and the right way to live.
12 Nothing will stand in your way if you walk wisely, and you will not stumble when you run.

Solomon introduces some of these words saying that he was taught them by his father, which would be, of course, King David. It is interesting to consider that we could be hearing some of David's wisdom in those verses.

1CORINTHIANS 13:
Spiritual gifts are important! They are sovereignly given by the Holy Spirit. We will be happiest and the most productive in our ministries when we function in accordance with our gifting from God. Every believer is given a gift, and chapter 12 portrays with clear analogies how the gifts are to used in the context of the body. So don’t assume that you can go off anywhere outside your local body and use your gift. My experience is that gifting can change a bit based on what local body you are participating in. The Holy Spirit can loan a gift to you at any time. The gifts are to help us function as a unified body, NOT to divide us— as so sadly has happened again and again. Selfishness is diametrically opposed to spiritual gifts. So, as important as spiritual gifts are, there is something more important, as we will hear today.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.