Jeremiah
45:1-5
Psalm
7:1-10
Acts
11:27-12:3
Matthew
20:20-28
The
word that the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Baruch son of Neriah, when
he wrote these words in a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah, in
the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah: Thus
says the LORD, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: You said,
"Woe is me! The LORD has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary
with my groaning, and I find no rest." Thus you shall say to
him, "Thus says the LORD: I am going to break down what I
have built, and pluck up what I have planted-- that is, the whole
land. And you, do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek
them; for I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh, says the
LORD; but I will give you your life as a prize of war in every
place to which you may go."
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Psalm
7:1-10
1 O
Lord my God, in you I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers,
and deliver me, 2 or like a lion they will tear me apart;
they will drag me away, with no one to rescue. 3 O Lord my
God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, 4 if
I have repaid my ally with harm or plundered my foe without cause,
5 then let the enemy pursue and overtake me, trample my life
to the ground, and lay my soul in the dust. (Selah) 6 Rise
up, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my
enemies; awake, O my God; you have appointed a judgment. 7 Let
the assembly of the peoples be gathered around you, and over it
take your seat on high. 8 The Lord judges the peoples; judge
me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the
integrity that is in me. 9 O let the evil of the wicked come
to an end, but establish the righteous, you who test the minds and
hearts, O righteous God.
10 God
is my shield, who saves the upright in heart.
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At
that time prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of
them named Agabus stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there
would be a severe famine over all the world; and this took place
during the reign of Claudius. The disciples determined that
according to their ability, each would send relief to the
believers living in Judea; this they did, sending it to the elders
by Barnabas and Saul.
About
that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to
the church. He had James, the brother of John, killed with the
sword. After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to
arrest Peter also. (This was during the festival of Unleavened
Bread.)
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The
mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, and
kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. And he said to her,
"What do you want?" She said to him, "Declare that
these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at
your left, in your kingdom." But Jesus answered, "You do
not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I
am about to drink?" They said to him, "We are
able." He said to them, "You will indeed drink my cup,
but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to
grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my
Father."
When
the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus
called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the
Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over
them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great
among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first
among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to
be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for
many."
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