Reference links:
Old Testament
Wow. Another day of relatively cheery text. Israel will be restored. Jerusalem will be rebuilt. People will be punished for only their own sins, not the sins of their parents. God will enter a new covenant with his people:
I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already
Unless one is willing to make a whole lot of assumption, I feel like this passage should be problematic for those who give weight to the standard lines of modern apologetics. But I try not to talk about modern beliefs too much on this blog. =)
While imprisoned by King Zedekiah, Jeremiah buys some land to show his confidence in the future of Jerusalem. Jeremiah was imprisoned because he was declaring that resistance to Babylon was futile. The Babylonians will triumph, but Jeremiah predicts that Jerusalem will be restored someday.
New Testament
Today’s discussion is largely a discussion of how various leaders in the church should behave. After that there is a poetic affirmation of the “great mystery of [Christian] faith”.
Psalms and Proverbs
Don’t be too cheerful around those who are sad. Be kind to your enemies because that will make them feel even worse.