Reading for July 16th

 Read Jeremiah 14.11-16. In this prose comment we again hear God commanding Jeremiah not to intercede on behalf of the people because their case is beyond hope. Jeremiah stands in contrast to false prophets who preach lies to the people. This conflict suggests that the audience of the book is offered competing interpretations from its religious leaders. Jeremiah is only the prophet sent by God. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 15th

 Read Jeremiah 14.1-10. In 14.1-22: Drought and wound. This chapter contains two poems, one concerning a drought (vv. 1-10) and one concerning the wounds of war (vv. 17-22), with a prose comment (vv. 11-16) between them. Though the actual drought may be behind the first poem, it stands here as an image of the destruction of the creation caused by the nations sinfulness. In verse 3: The earth and the animals are affected by the people's idolatry as they return to empty cisterns, instead of to the "fountain of living water" (2.13). In verses 8-9: The people speak in the language of worship, asking why God has forsaken them. In verse 10: God describes again their wandering, as they turn to other gods. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 14th

 Read Jeremiah 13.15-27. Jeremiah warns the people against their pride and urges them to listen. In verse 17: If they do not, his response will be to weep at their captivity as God weeps (9.1). In verses 18-19: The queen mother , that is the mother of the king, will be brought low because the invasion and exile are already underway. In verse 20: The enemy from the north is coming. In verses 22-27: According to the Hebrew text, God addresses Jerusalem, personified again as female, with charges that her infidelity will result in her violation. God will be the one to lift her skirts, that is, to rape her. This shocking language uses the image of rape woman to describe the invasion of the city, directed and accomplished by God. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 13th

 Read Jeremiah 13.12-14. In a second symbolic event to occur in the future, God interprets actions to be performed by the people, not by Jeremiah. The filling of wine-jars signifies not feasting, as readers might expect, but drunkenness that is destructive of the people and the land. These verses seem to provide the punishment for the pride named in Jeremiah's symbolic action of hiding the loincloth. This wine-drinking episode points forward to 25.15-29, when all the nations drink from the cup of destruction. Comments or Questions.

Reading for July 12th

 Read Jeremiah 13.1-11. In 13.1-27: The nation's pride. In this chapter Jeremiah performs a symbolic act (vv. 1-11), interprets a symbolic event (vv. 12-14), and in poetry again announces exile (vv. 15-27). The theme of the nation's false pride runs throughout the chapter. In verses 1-11: Jeremiah receives a divine command to purchase a loincloth and hide it in a cleft of the rock (v. 4). The results of his action symbolize his prophetic message. The loincloth is ruined by its exposure to the elements. In verses 8-11: Jeremiah's words explain the action. Judah is supposed to cling to God but instead has been full of pride and has refused to listen; hence, the nation will become to ruin. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 11th

 Read Jeremiah 12.7-17. In 12.7-17: God's lament. Using the first person pronoun, I, God laments the infidelity of the beloved of my heart. Describe as a wild lion, God's beloved heritage has provoked divine hate, so punishment will follow. In verses 14-17: A prose comment reuses language of plucking up from Jeremiah's call (1.10). God seems to address the exiles directly by promising that those who destroy God's heritage will be plucked from their land and God will pluck the people of Judah from where they are and return them home, if they listen. Comments or Questions..

Reading for July 10th

 Read Jeremiah 11.18-12.6. In 11.18-12.6: Jeremiah's first confession. In verses 18-19: Jeremiah complains that he is under attack from unidentified enemies. He quotes their plots to get rid of him. In verse 20 he appeals to God, the just judge, to take vengeance against them. In verses 21-23: In a prose comment, God promises to punish the enemies, who are identified as people from Jeremiah's own town of Anathoth. But Jeremiah then accuses the just judge of planting and nourishing wickedness. In 12.5-6: The judge replies that things will get worse, even Jeremiah's family will  turn against him. Comments or Questions..