How to Face Life’s
Problems!
With Joy!
By Riqui Ricón*
You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine... In everything set
them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity,
seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who
oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. (Titus
2:1, 7-8, NIV)
When your words came,
I devoured them; they were my joy and my heart’s
delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty. (Jeremiah
15:16, ERV)
When the Lord brought
back his exiles
to Jerusalem, it was like a dream!
We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations
said,
“What amazing things
the Lord has done for them.” Yes, glorious deeds! What
a wonder! What joy! (Psalm 126:1-3, CEV)
The Bible, which is the Word of God and does
not lie, emphatically declares that in every problem, distress, or sickness you
are more than a conqueror through Him who loved you, Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37,
KJV); it also assures that you have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by THE WORD OF YOUR TESTIMONY (Revelation 12:11,
KJV).
Today’s readings, like these declarations
God has made about you, invite you to love and treasure the Word of God. The
Word of God is sound and irreproachable, and by placing it in your mind, heart,
and mouth, you can present yourself in everything as an example
of good works and integrity, for It is alive and
effective to guide you to your destiny.
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper
than the sharpest
two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and
marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. (Hebrews
4:12, NLT)
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: (2
Peter 1:19, KJV)
In this way, when the adversary comes to remind
you of your sins and failures,
the Word of God flows from your mouth in such a way that you declare and
establish what God has said about you, which is also the only Truth; thus you
will cause the devil to be put to shame
and have nothing
bad to say about you.
Ye
are of God, little children, and have overcome
them: because greater
is he that is in you, than he
that is in the world. (1 John 4:4, KJV)
Whatever
problems, sicknesses, afflictions, or challenges you are facing
today, the dilemma to resolve is not complicated at all: Whom are you
going to believe—Satan, who tells you that you are a miserable, failed sinner,
good for nothing, or God, your Father, who affirms in His Word that you can do
ALL things, that you have already overcome, and that nothing and no one can
stand against you because He is with you?
For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John
3:16-17, KJV)
It is not just that God is with you, but the
most wonderful thing is that He is with you because He loves you so much that
He preferred to give up His own Son rather than lose you—and not to condemn
you, but to give you a full and
abundant life.
See what great love the Father has
lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1
John 3:1, NIV)
Not only is God with you, and loves you so
much, and paid for all your sins to give you Eternal
Life, Full and Abundant Life, but you have also been called
by God Himself as His very own child.
It is because
of all this that, in honor of the Truth, today you can fill your heart with joy and gladness by filling it
with the Bible, for you will never be put to shame for having trusted in the
Word of Honor of the only True God. Today you
can confidently declare:
the Lord has done great things for me, I am going to be glad.
O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
(Psalm 84:12,
KJV)
Let’s pray out loud:
Dear heavenly Father, today I call joy into
my life and heart, for blessed, a thousand times happy, is the man or woman who
trusts in You. Today I know that even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil because
You, Lord, are with me. Everything I have sown with tears, I will reap with joy. There is no problem,
sickness, distress, or tribulation that can make me lose what You, Jesus
Christ, won for me by overcoming on
that cross. I am healed, I am free, I am prosperous in all things, and I have
within me the joy and peace of the Lord, which surpass all understanding. I
reject fear, anxiety, resentment, and bitterness from my life. I am a
Born-Again Child of God, not of corruptible seed, but of the incorruptible seed
which is the Word of God that lives
and abides forever. This is my inheritance! I will be glad! In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Important Note:
How do I become a Child of God? How do I establish a relationship with the
Almighty?
Just say the following prayer
aloud, putting all your attention
and heart into what you are saying to God:
Lord Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of
God. That You came into this world, born
of the virgin Mary, to pay for all my sins, and I have
been a sinner. Therefore, today I say that I accept. I accept Your
sacrifice on the cross! I accept Your precious
Blood shed to the last drop out of love for me! I open my
heart to You and invite You in
because I want, Lord Jesus, that from today and
forever You be my only and sufficient Savior, my God,
my King, and my Lord. Thank
You, Almighty God, because with this simple prayer and profession of faith I have passed from death to Life, I have been transferred from darkness to Your
marvelous Light. Today I have been Born Again! God, now I am Your Child! Now
You are my Father! I will never be alone again! I will never live defeated
again. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Three Recommendations:
What just happened by you recognizing Jesus Christ as the Lord and
Savior of your life, according
to God's Word, is that you have been Born Again. No longer
as an ordinary human being, subject to the law of sin and death, but now as a
legitimate and authentic Child of God, Born Again, exactly like Jesus Christ, who is now your Older Brother. Therefore,
I give you these three, very important, recommendations:
1.
Pray. Praying is talking with God. So, find a quiet
place where you can begin talking to Him about everything. Do it out loud, and you will notice
how God always responds to your heart.
2.
Read and meditate
on the Word of God. The Bible
is the Word of God, so
get a Bible and start reading and meditating on it. How do you begin? It’s very simple. Depending on the day,
look up the reading program “The
Bible in One Year” and do the corresponding readings. You can get this program at: Through The Bible In One Year (palabradehonor.org). You will notice
that the program is set up so you can print it as a booklet.
3.
In prayer with God, your Father, look for and join a
Christian church or congregation where the Word of God is taught based
on the Good News, which are
the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ricardo C. Peredo Jaime © 2020
Reading and Meditation on the Word of God
Do these daily readings, and by the end of one year you will have read the
entire Bible.
November 10 Titus 2 / Jeremiah
15-16 / Psalm 126
Titus
2 But speak thou the things
which become sound
doctrine:
2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity,
in patience.
3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour
as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given
to much wine, teachers of good things;
4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
5 To be discreet,
chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not
blasphemed.
6 Young men likewise
exhort to be sober minded.
7 In all things
shewing thyself a pattern of good works:
in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
8 Sound
speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary
part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.
9 Exhort
servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them
well in all things; not answering again;
10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all
things.
11 For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared
to all men,
12 Teaching
us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly
lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed
hope, and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ;
14 Who gave himself
for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works.
15 These
things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
Jeremiah
15 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me,
yet my mind could not be toward
this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
2 And it
shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou
shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword,
to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the
captivity, to the captivity.
3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the
LORD: the sword to slay, and
the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to
devour and destroy.
4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms
of the earth, because of
Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how
thou doest?
6 Thou hast forsaken
me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward:
therefore will I stretch out
my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.
7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave
them of children, I will
destroy my people since they return not from their ways.
8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of
the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly,
and terrors upon the city.
9 She that hath borne seven
languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day:
she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue
of them will I deliver
to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.
10 Woe is me, my mother,
that thou hast borne me a man of strife
and a man of contention to
the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on
usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant;
verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time
of evil and in the time of affliction.
12 Shall iron break the northern
iron and the steel?
13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without
price, and that for all thy
sins, even in all thy borders.
14 And I
will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger,
which shall burn upon you.
15 O LORD, thou knowest:
remember me, and visit me, and revenge
me of my persecutors; take me not
away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am
called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers,
nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with
indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound
incurable, which refuseth
to be healed? wilt thou be
altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if
thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them
return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
20 And I
will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against
thee, but they shall not prevail against
thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith
the LORD.
21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
16 The word of the LORD came
also unto me, saying,
2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
3 For thus
saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the
daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and
concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
4 They
shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall
be as dung upon the face of the earth:
and they
shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases
shall be meat for the fowls of
heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
5 For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning,
neither go to lament
nor bemoan them: for I have taken away
my peace from this people,
saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.
6 Both the
great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall
men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:
7 Neither
shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for
the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their
father or for their mother.
8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.
9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel; Behold,
I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and
in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee,
Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us?
or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the
LORD
our God?
11 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because
your fathers have forsaken me, saith
the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have
worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
12 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one
after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
13 Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither
ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve
other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.
14 Therefore,
behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no
more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children
of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
15 But, The
LORD
liveth, that brought
up the children of Israel
from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither
he had driven them: and I will bring
them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
16 Behold,
I will send for many fishers, saith the
LORD, and they shall fish them;
and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every
mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
17 For mine eyes are upon all their
ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine
eyes.
18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because
they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the
carcases of their detestable and abominable things.
19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge
in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto
thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have
inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
20 Shall a man make gods unto himself,
and they are no gods?
21 Therefore,
behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might;
and they shall know that my name is The LORD.
Psalm
126 When the LORD turned again the captivity
of Zion, we were like them that dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled
with laughter, and our tongue
with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
3 The LORD hath done great things
for us; whereof we are glad.
4 Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.
5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
6 He that goeth
forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again
with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
How to Face Life’s
Problems!
With Joy!
By Riqui Ricón*
You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine... In everything set
them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity,
seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who
oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. (Titus
2:1, 7-8, NIV)
When your words came,
I devoured them; they were my joy and my heart’s
delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty. (Jeremiah
15:16, ERV)
When the Lord brought
back his exiles
to Jerusalem, it was like a dream!
We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations
said,
“What amazing things
the Lord has done for them.” Yes, glorious deeds! What
a wonder! What joy! (Psalm 126:1-3, CEV)
The Bible, which is the Word of God and does
not lie, emphatically declares that in every problem, distress, or sickness you
are more than a conqueror through Him who loved you, Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37,
KJV); it also assures that you have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by THE WORD OF YOUR TESTIMONY (Revelation 12:11,
KJV).
Today’s readings, like these declarations
God has made about you, invite you to love and treasure the Word of God. The
Word of God is sound and irreproachable, and by placing it in your mind, heart,
and mouth, you can present yourself in everything as an example
of good works and integrity, for It is alive and
effective to guide you to your destiny.
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper
than the sharpest
two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and
marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. (Hebrews
4:12, NLT)
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: (2
Peter 1:19, KJV)
In this way, when the adversary comes to remind
you of your sins and failures,
the Word of God flows from your mouth in such a way that you declare and
establish what God has said about you, which is also the only Truth; thus you
will cause the devil to be put to shame
and have nothing
bad to say about you.
Ye
are of God, little children, and have overcome
them: because greater
is he that is in you, than he
that is in the world. (1 John 4:4, KJV)
Whatever
problems, sicknesses, afflictions, or challenges you are facing
today, the dilemma to resolve is not complicated at all: Whom are you
going to believe—Satan, who tells you that you are a miserable, failed sinner,
good for nothing, or God, your Father, who affirms in His Word that you can do
ALL things, that you have already overcome, and that nothing and no one can
stand against you because He is with you?
For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John
3:16-17, KJV)
It is not just that God is with you, but the
most wonderful thing is that He is with you because He loves you so much that
He preferred to give up His own Son rather than lose you—and not to condemn
you, but to give you a full and
abundant life.
See what great love the Father has
lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1
John 3:1, NIV)
Not only is God with you, and loves you so
much, and paid for all your sins to give you Eternal
Life, Full and Abundant Life, but you have also been called
by God Himself as His very own child.
It is because
of all this that, in honor of the Truth, today you can fill your heart with joy and gladness by filling it
with the Bible, for you will never be put to shame for having trusted in the
Word of Honor of the only True God. Today you
can confidently declare:
the Lord has done great things for me, I am going to be glad.
O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
(Psalm 84:12,
KJV)
Let’s pray out loud:
Dear heavenly Father, today I call joy into
my life and heart, for blessed, a thousand times happy, is the man or woman who
trusts in You. Today I know that even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil because
You, Lord, are with me. Everything I have sown with tears, I will reap with joy. There is no problem,
sickness, distress, or tribulation that can make me lose what You, Jesus
Christ, won for me by overcoming on
that cross. I am healed, I am free, I am prosperous in all things, and I have
within me the joy and peace of the Lord, which surpass all understanding. I
reject fear, anxiety, resentment, and bitterness from my life. I am a
Born-Again Child of God, not of corruptible seed, but of the incorruptible seed
which is the Word of God that lives
and abides forever. This is my inheritance! I will be glad! In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Important Note:
How do I become a Child of God? How do I establish a relationship with the
Almighty?
Just say the following prayer
aloud, putting all your attention
and heart into what you are saying to God:
Lord Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of
God. That You came into this world, born
of the virgin Mary, to pay for all my sins, and I have
been a sinner. Therefore, today I say that I accept. I accept Your
sacrifice on the cross! I accept Your precious
Blood shed to the last drop out of love for me! I open my
heart to You and invite You in
because I want, Lord Jesus, that from today and
forever You be my only and sufficient Savior, my God,
my King, and my Lord. Thank
You, Almighty God, because with this simple prayer and profession of faith I have passed from death to Life, I have been transferred from darkness to Your
marvelous Light. Today I have been Born Again! God, now I am Your Child! Now
You are my Father! I will never be alone again! I will never live defeated
again. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Three Recommendations:
What just happened by you recognizing Jesus Christ as the Lord and
Savior of your life, according
to God's Word, is that you have been Born Again. No longer
as an ordinary human being, subject to the law of sin and death, but now as a
legitimate and authentic Child of God, Born Again, exactly like Jesus Christ, who is now your Older Brother. Therefore,
I give you these three, very important, recommendations:
1.
Pray. Praying is talking with God. So, find a quiet
place where you can begin talking to Him about everything. Do it out loud, and you will notice
how God always responds to your heart.
2.
Read and meditate
on the Word of God. The Bible
is the Word of God, so
get a Bible and start reading and meditating on it. How do you begin? It’s very simple. Depending on the day,
look up the reading program “The
Bible in One Year” and do the corresponding readings. You can get this program at: Through The Bible In One Year (palabradehonor.org). You will notice
that the program is set up so you can print it as a booklet.
3.
In prayer with God, your Father, look for and join a
Christian church or congregation where the Word of God is taught based
on the Good News, which are
the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ricardo C. Peredo Jaime © 2020
Reading and Meditation on the Word of God
Do these daily readings, and by the end of one year you will have read the
entire Bible.
November 10 Titus 2 / Jeremiah
15-16 / Psalm 126
Titus
2 But speak thou the things
which become sound
doctrine:
2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity,
in patience.
3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour
as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given
to much wine, teachers of good things;
4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
5 To be discreet,
chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not
blasphemed.
6 Young men likewise
exhort to be sober minded.
7 In all things
shewing thyself a pattern of good works:
in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
8 Sound
speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary
part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.
9 Exhort
servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them
well in all things; not answering again;
10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all
things.
11 For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared
to all men,
12 Teaching
us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly
lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed
hope, and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ;
14 Who gave himself
for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works.
15 These
things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
Jeremiah
15 Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me,
yet my mind could not be toward
this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
2 And it
shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou
shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword,
to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the
captivity, to the captivity.
3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the
LORD: the sword to slay, and
the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to
devour and destroy.
4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms
of the earth, because of
Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how
thou doest?
6 Thou hast forsaken
me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward:
therefore will I stretch out
my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.
7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave
them of children, I will
destroy my people since they return not from their ways.
8 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the seas: I have brought upon them against the mother of
the young men a spoiler at noonday: I have caused him to fall upon it suddenly,
and terrors upon the city.
9 She that hath borne seven
languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day:
she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue
of them will I deliver
to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.
10 Woe is me, my mother,
that thou hast borne me a man of strife
and a man of contention to
the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on
usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.
11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant;
verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time
of evil and in the time of affliction.
12 Shall iron break the northern
iron and the steel?
13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without
price, and that for all thy
sins, even in all thy borders.
14 And I
will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger,
which shall burn upon you.
15 O LORD, thou knowest:
remember me, and visit me, and revenge
me of my persecutors; take me not
away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am
called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers,
nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with
indignation.
18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound
incurable, which refuseth
to be healed? wilt thou be
altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?
19 Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if
thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them
return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
20 And I
will make thee unto this people a fenced brasen wall: and they shall fight against
thee, but they shall not prevail against
thee: for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith
the LORD.
21 And I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible.
16 The word of the LORD came
also unto me, saying,
2 Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.
3 For thus
saith the LORD concerning the sons and concerning the
daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and
concerning their fathers that begat them in this land;
4 They
shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried; but they shall
be as dung upon the face of the earth:
and they
shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine; and their carcases
shall be meat for the fowls of
heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.
5 For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning,
neither go to lament
nor bemoan them: for I have taken away
my peace from this people,
saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.
6 Both the
great and the small shall die in this land: they shall not be buried, neither shall
men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them:
7 Neither
shall men tear themselves for them in mourning, to comfort them for
the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their
father or for their mother.
8 Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to drink.
9 For thus saith the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel; Behold,
I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, and
in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the
bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.
10 And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee,
Wherefore hath the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us?
or what is our iniquity? or what is our sin that we have committed against the
LORD
our God?
11 Then shalt thou say unto them, Because
your fathers have forsaken me, saith
the LORD, and have walked after other gods, and have served them, and have
worshipped them, and have forsaken me, and have not kept my law;
12 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one
after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
13 Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither
ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve
other gods day and night; where I will not shew you favour.
14 Therefore,
behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no
more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children
of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
15 But, The
LORD
liveth, that brought
up the children of Israel
from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither
he had driven them: and I will bring
them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
16 Behold,
I will send for many fishers, saith the
LORD, and they shall fish them;
and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every
mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
17 For mine eyes are upon all their
ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine
eyes.
18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because
they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the
carcases of their detestable and abominable things.
19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge
in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto
thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have
inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
20 Shall a man make gods unto himself,
and they are no gods?
21 Therefore,
behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might;
and they shall know that my name is The LORD.
Psalm
126 When the LORD turned again the captivity
of Zion, we were like them that dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled
with laughter, and our tongue
with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.
3 The LORD hath done great things
for us; whereof we are glad.
4 Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.
5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
6 He that goeth
forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again
with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
