WEBVTT 00:00:00.919 --> 00:00:03.700 Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're 00:00:03.700 --> 00:00:05.740 taking this journey together to read the Bible 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:09.740 in a year. Today's reading is from Jeremiah chapters 00:00:09.740 --> 00:00:14.300 3 and 4. Chapter 3 They say, If a man divorces 00:00:14.300 --> 00:00:16.920 his wife, and she goes from him and becomes another 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:20.120 man's, may he return to her again? Would not 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:22.920 that land be greatly polluted? But you have played 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:25.660 the harlot with many lovers, yet return to me, 00:00:25.780 --> 00:00:28.899 says the Lord. Lift up your eyes to the desolate 00:00:28.899 --> 00:00:31.320 heights and see. Where have you not lain with 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:34.119 men? By the road you have sat for them, like 00:00:34.119 --> 00:00:36.579 an Arabian in the wilderness, and you have polluted 00:00:36.579 --> 00:00:39.060 the land with your harlotries and your wickedness. 00:00:39.259 --> 00:00:41.880 Therefore the showers have been withheld, and 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:44.399 there has been no latter rain. You have had a 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:46.619 harlot's forehead. You refuse to be ashamed. 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:49.820 Will you not from this time cry to me, My father, 00:00:49.939 --> 00:00:52.399 you are the guide of my youth. Will he remain 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:55.700 angry forever? Will he keep it to the end? Behold, 00:00:55.700 --> 00:00:58.340 you have spoken and done evil things, as you 00:00:58.340 --> 00:01:01.159 are able. The Lord said also to me in the days 00:01:01.159 --> 00:01:03.840 of Josiah the king, Have you seen what backsliding 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:06.500 Israel has done? She has gone up on every high 00:01:06.500 --> 00:01:09.099 mountain and under every green tree, and there 00:01:09.099 --> 00:01:11.640 played the harlot. And I said, After she had 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:14.379 done all these things, return to me. But she 00:01:14.379 --> 00:01:16.879 did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:20.200 saw it. Then I saw that for all the causes for 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:22.579 which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:25.239 I had put her away and given her a certificate 00:01:25.239 --> 00:01:27.959 of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah 00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:30.260 did not fear. but went and played the harlot 00:01:30.260 --> 00:01:33.000 also. So it came to pass, through her casual 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.420 harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed 00:01:35.420 --> 00:01:38.500 adultery with stones and trees. And yet, for 00:01:38.500 --> 00:01:40.980 all this, her treacherous sister Judah has not 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:44.000 turned to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:47.420 says the Lord. Then the Lord said to me, Backsliding 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:49.900 Israel has shown herself more righteous than 00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:52.439 treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words 00:01:52.439 --> 00:01:55.599 toward the north and say, Return, backsliding 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:58.329 Israel, says the Lord. I will not cause my anger 00:01:58.329 --> 00:02:01.090 to fall on you, for I am merciful, says the Lord. 00:02:01.230 --> 00:02:04.090 I will not remain angry forever, only acknowledge 00:02:04.090 --> 00:02:06.849 your iniquity, that you have transgressed against 00:02:06.849 --> 00:02:09.169 the Lord your God, and have scattered your charms 00:02:09.169 --> 00:02:11.990 to alien deities under every green tree, and 00:02:11.990 --> 00:02:14.370 you have not obeyed my voice, says the Lord. 00:02:14.909 --> 00:02:17.310 Return, O backsliding children, says the Lord, 00:02:17.449 --> 00:02:20.210 for I am married to you. I will take you, one 00:02:20.210 --> 00:02:22.610 from a city and two from a family, and I will 00:02:22.610 --> 00:02:25.139 bring you to Zion. and I will give you shepherds 00:02:25.139 --> 00:02:27.860 according to my heart, who will feed you with 00:02:27.860 --> 00:02:30.300 knowledge and understanding. Then it shall come 00:02:30.300 --> 00:02:32.620 to pass, when you are multiplied and increased 00:02:32.620 --> 00:02:35.379 in the land in those days, says the Lord, that 00:02:35.379 --> 00:02:37.719 they will say no more the ark of the covenant 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:40.699 of the Lord. It shall not come to mind, nor shall 00:02:40.699 --> 00:02:43.139 they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor 00:02:43.139 --> 00:02:46.560 shall it be made any more. At that time Jerusalem 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:49.219 shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all 00:02:49.219 --> 00:02:51.680 the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.789 of the Lord, to Jerusalem. No more shall they 00:02:54.789 --> 00:02:57.370 follow the dictates of their evil hearts. In 00:02:57.370 --> 00:02:59.789 those days the house of Judah shall walk with 00:02:59.789 --> 00:03:01.750 the house of Israel, and they shall come together 00:03:01.750 --> 00:03:04.110 out of the land of the north to the land that 00:03:04.110 --> 00:03:06.629 I have given as an inheritance to your fathers. 00:03:06.849 --> 00:03:09.889 But I said, How can I put you among the children 00:03:09.889 --> 00:03:12.590 and give you a pleasant land, a beautiful heritage 00:03:12.590 --> 00:03:15.909 of the hosts of nations? And I said, You shall 00:03:15.909 --> 00:03:18.550 call me my father, and not turn away from me. 00:03:18.830 --> 00:03:21.490 Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her 00:03:21.490 --> 00:03:24.030 husband, so have you dealt treacherously with 00:03:24.030 --> 00:03:27.169 me, O house of Israel, says the Lord. A voice 00:03:27.169 --> 00:03:29.810 was heard on the desolate heights, weeping and 00:03:29.810 --> 00:03:32.189 supplications of the children of Israel, for 00:03:32.189 --> 00:03:34.530 they have perverted their way, they have forgotten 00:03:34.530 --> 00:03:37.830 the Lord their God. Return, you backsliding children, 00:03:38.129 --> 00:03:41.189 and I will heal your backslidings. Indeed, we 00:03:41.189 --> 00:03:43.689 do come to you, for you are the Lord our God. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:47.139 Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the 00:03:47.139 --> 00:03:50.020 hills and from the multitude of mountains. Truly, 00:03:50.020 --> 00:03:52.500 in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:55.680 For shame has devoured the labor of our fathers 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:58.379 from our youth, their flocks and their herds, 00:03:58.419 --> 00:04:01.099 their sons and their daughters. We lie down in 00:04:01.099 --> 00:04:04.199 our shame, and our reproach covers us. For we 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:06.819 have sinned against the Lord our God, we and 00:04:06.819 --> 00:04:09.840 our fathers, from our youth even to this day, 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:12.520 and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:17.459 God. Chapter 4 If you will return, O Israel, 00:04:17.639 --> 00:04:20.339 says the Lord, return to me. And if you will 00:04:20.339 --> 00:04:23.019 put away your abominations out of my sight, then 00:04:23.019 --> 00:04:25.480 you shall not be moved. And you shall swear the 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:28.879 Lord lives in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness. 00:04:29.220 --> 00:04:32.079 The nations shall bless themselves in him, and 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:35.160 in him they shall glory. For thus says the Lord 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:38.100 to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your 00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:41.680 fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. circumcise 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:44.100 yourselves to the lord and take away the foreskins 00:04:44.100 --> 00:04:46.740 of your hearts you men of judah and inhabitants 00:04:46.740 --> 00:04:49.939 of jerusalem lest my fury come forth like fire 00:04:49.939 --> 00:04:52.740 and burn so that no one can quench it because 00:04:52.740 --> 00:04:56.060 of the evil of your doings declare in judah and 00:04:56.060 --> 00:04:58.579 proclaim in jerusalem and say blow the trumpet 00:04:58.579 --> 00:05:02.100 in the land cry gather together and say assemble 00:05:02.100 --> 00:05:04.779 yourselves and let us go into the fortified cities 00:05:04.779 --> 00:05:07.959 set up the standard towards zion take refuge 00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:10.920 do not delay for i will bring disaster from the 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:13.579 north and great destruction the lion has come 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:16.439 up from his thicket and the destroyer of nations 00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:19.519 is on his way he has gone forth from his place 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:22.459 to make your land desolate your cities will be 00:05:22.459 --> 00:05:25.740 laid waste without inhabitant for this clothe 00:05:25.740 --> 00:05:28.839 yourself with sackcloth lament and wail for the 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:31.040 fierce anger of the lord has not turned back 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:33.560 from us and it shall come to pass in that day 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:35.800 says the lord that the heart of the king shall 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:38.370 perish and the heart of the princes The priests 00:05:38.370 --> 00:05:40.810 shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder. 00:05:41.110 --> 00:05:44.310 Then I said, Ah, Lord God, surely you have greatly 00:05:44.310 --> 00:05:47.329 deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, You 00:05:47.329 --> 00:05:49.930 shall have peace, whereas the sword reaches to 00:05:49.930 --> 00:05:52.790 the heart. At that time it will be said to this 00:05:52.790 --> 00:05:55.670 people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the desolate 00:05:55.670 --> 00:05:58.709 heights blows in the wilderness toward the daughter 00:05:58.709 --> 00:06:01.990 of my people. Not to fan or to cleanse. A wind 00:06:01.990 --> 00:06:04.790 too strong for these will come for me. Now I 00:06:04.790 --> 00:06:07.560 will also speak judgment against them. behold 00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:10.399 he shall come up like clouds and his chariots 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:13.040 like a whirlwind his horses are swifter than 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:16.579 eagles woe to us for we are plundered o jerusalem 00:06:16.579 --> 00:06:18.899 wash your heart from wickedness that you may 00:06:18.899 --> 00:06:21.740 be saved how long shall your evil thoughts lodge 00:06:21.740 --> 00:06:24.759 within you for a voice declares from then and 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:27.899 proclaims affliction from mount ephraim make 00:06:27.899 --> 00:06:30.819 mention to the nations yes proclaim against jerusalem 00:06:30.819 --> 00:06:33.899 that watchers come from a far country and raise 00:06:33.899 --> 00:06:36.480 their voice against the cities of judah like 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:39.500 keepers of a field they are against her all around 00:06:39.500 --> 00:06:42.339 because she has been rebellious against me says 00:06:42.339 --> 00:06:45.480 the lord your ways and your doings have procured 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:47.839 these things for you this is your wickedness 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:50.420 because it is bitter because it reaches to your 00:06:50.420 --> 00:06:54.259 heart o my soul my soul i am pained in my very 00:06:54.259 --> 00:06:57.579 heart my heart makes a noise in me i cannot hold 00:06:57.579 --> 00:07:00.560 my peace because you have heard o my soul the 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.639 sound of the trumpet the alarm of war destruction 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:06.139 upon destruction is cried for the whole land 00:07:06.139 --> 00:07:09.079 is plundered. Suddenly my tents are plundered, 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:12.000 and my curtains in a moment. How long will I 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:14.459 see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:17.420 For my people are foolish, they have not known 00:07:17.420 --> 00:07:19.839 me. They are silly children, and they have no 00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:22.439 understanding. They are wise to do evil, but 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:25.000 to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld the 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:27.759 earth, and indeed it was without form and void. 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:30.839 And the heavens, they had no light. I beheld 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:32.959 the mountains, and indeed they trembled, and 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:35.680 all the hills moved back and forth. I beheld, 00:07:35.720 --> 00:07:38.199 and indeed there was no man, and all the birds 00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:41.079 of the heavens had fled. I beheld, and indeed 00:07:41.079 --> 00:07:44.240 the fruitful land was a wilderness, and all its 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:46.740 cities were broken down, at the presence of the 00:07:46.740 --> 00:07:49.740 Lord by His fierce anger. For thus says the Lord, 00:07:49.939 --> 00:07:52.620 The whole land shall be desolate, yet I will 00:07:52.620 --> 00:07:55.399 not make a full end. For this shall the earth 00:07:55.399 --> 00:07:58.439 mourn, and the heavens above be black. Because 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:00.720 I have spoken, I have purposed, and will not 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:03.560 relent, nor will I turn back from it. The whole 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:05.759 city shall flee from the noise of the horsemen 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:08.519 and bowmen. They shall go into thickets and climb 00:08:08.519 --> 00:08:11.259 up on the rocks. Every city shall be broken, 00:08:11.420 --> 00:08:14.300 and not a man shall dwell in it. And when you 00:08:14.300 --> 00:08:17.279 are plundered, what will you do? Though you clothe 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:19.579 yourself with crimson, though you adorn yourself 00:08:19.579 --> 00:08:22.060 with ornaments of gold, though you enlarge your 00:08:22.060 --> 00:08:24.480 eyes with paint, in vain you will make yourself 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:27.139 fair. Your lovers will despise you, they will 00:08:27.139 --> 00:08:29.959 seek your life. For I have heard a voice as of 00:08:29.959 --> 00:08:33.009 a woman in labor. the anguish as of her who brings 00:08:33.009 --> 00:08:35.509 forth her first child. The voice of the daughter 00:08:35.509 --> 00:08:38.289 of Zion bewailing herself, she spreads her hands, 00:08:38.429 --> 00:08:42.470 saying, Woe is me now, for my soul is weary because 00:08:42.470 --> 00:08:50.470 of murderers. I hope you enjoyed today's reading 00:08:50.470 --> 00:08:52.789 as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing 00:08:52.789 --> 00:08:54.830 you again tomorrow to continue on our journey. 00:08:55.029 --> 00:08:56.629 God bless you and have a great day.