Hebrews 13:1-8
New Living Translation
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Concluding Words
13 Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! 3 Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.

4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

5 Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,

“I will never fail you.
    I will never abandon you.”

6 So we can say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper,
    so I will have no fear.
    What can mere people do to me?”

7 Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.


Hebrews 13:15-16
New Living Translation

15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

Psalm 81:1
New Living Translation
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Psalm 81
For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.
1 Sing praises to God, our strength.
    Sing to the God of Jacob.


Psalm 81:10-16
New Living Translation

10 For it was I, the Lord your God,
    who rescued you from the land of Egypt.
    Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.

11 “But no, my people wouldn’t listen.
    Israel did not want me around.
12 So I let them follow their own stubborn desires,
    living according to their own ideas.
13 Oh, that my people would listen to me!
    Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!
14 How quickly I would then subdue their enemies!
    How soon my hands would be upon their foes!
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him;
    they would be doomed forever.
16 But I would feed you with the finest wheat.
    I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock.”

Jeremiah 2:4-13
New Living Translation
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4 Listen to the word of the Lord, people of Jacob—all you families of Israel! 5 This is what the Lord says:

“What did your ancestors find wrong with me
    that led them to stray so far from me?
They worshiped worthless idols,
    only to become worthless themselves.
6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord
    who brought us safely out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness--
    a land of deserts and pits,
a land of drought and death,
    where no one lives or even travels?’

7 “And when I brought you into a fruitful land
    to enjoy its bounty and goodness,
you defiled my land and
    corrupted the possession I had promised you.
8 The priests did not ask,
    ‘Where is the Lord?’
Those who taught my word ignored me,
    the rulers turned against me,
and the prophets spoke in the name of Baal,
    wasting their time on worthless idols.
9 Therefore, I will bring my case against you,”
    says the Lord.
“I will even bring charges against your children’s children
    in the years to come.

10 “Go west and look in the land of Cyprus;
    go east and search through the land of Kedar.
Has anyone ever heard of anything
    as strange as this?
11 Has any nation ever traded its gods for new ones,
    even though they are not gods at all?
Yet my people have exchanged their glorious God
    for worthless idols!
12 The heavens are shocked at such a thing
    and shrink back in horror and dismay,”
    says the Lord.
13 “For my people have done two evil things:
They have abandoned me--
    the fountain of living water.
And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns
    that can hold no water at all!

Hebrews 13:10-17
New Living Translation

10 We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat. 11 Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. 12 So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his people holy by means of his own blood. 13 So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he bore. 14 For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. 16 And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.

Psalm 71:1-6
New Living Translation
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Psalm 71
1 O Lord, I have come to you for protection;
    don’t let me be disgraced.
2 Save me and rescue me,
    for you do what is right.
Turn your ear to listen to me,
    and set me free.
3 Be my rock of safety
    where I can always hide.
Give the order to save me,
    for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked,
    from the clutches of cruel oppressors.
5 O Lord, you alone are my hope.
    I’ve trusted you, O Lord, from childhood.
6 Yes, you have been with me from birth;
    from my mother’s womb you have cared for me.
    No wonder I am always praising you!

Jeremiah 1:4-10
New Living Translation
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Jeremiah’s Call and First Visions
4 The Lord gave me this message:

5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.
    Before you were born I set you apart
    and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”

6 “O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!”

7 The Lord replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 8 And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken!” 9 Then the Lord reached out and touched my mouth and said,

“Look, I have put my words in your mouth!
10 Today I appoint you to stand up
    against nations and kingdoms.
Some you must uproot and tear down,
    destroy and overthrow.
Others you must build up
    and plant.”