Psalm 106:40-48

New International Version

⁴⁰Therefore the Lord was angry^(A) with his people
    and abhorred his inheritance.^(B)
⁴¹He gave them into the hands^(C) of the nations,
    and their foes ruled over them.
⁴²Their enemies oppressed^(D) them
    and subjected them to their power.
⁴³Many times he delivered them,^(E)
    but they were bent on rebellion^(F)
    and they wasted away in their sin.
⁴⁴Yet he took note of their distress
    when he heard their cry;^(G)
⁴⁵for their sake he remembered his covenant^(H)
    and out of his great love^(I) he relented.^(J)
⁴⁶He caused all who held them captive
    to show them mercy.^(K)

⁴⁷Save us,^(L) Lord our God,
and gather us^(M) from the nations,
that we may give thanks^(N) to your holy name^(O)
and glory in your praise.

⁴⁸Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.

Let all the people say, “Amen!”^(P)

Praise the Lord.

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Jeremiah 9:12-26

New International Version

¹²Who is wise^(A) enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?

¹³The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law.^(B) ¹⁴Instead, they have followed^(C) the stubbornness of their hearts;^(D) they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” ¹⁵Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this people eat bitter food^(E) and drink poisoned water.^(F) ¹⁶I will scatter them among nations^(G) that neither they nor their ancestors have known,^(H) and I will pursue them with the sword^(I) until I have made an end of them.”^(J)

¹⁷This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Consider now! Call for the wailing women^(K) to come;
    send for the most skillful of them.
¹⁸Let them come quickly
    and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
    and water streams from our eyelids.^(L)
¹⁹The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
    ‘How ruined^(M) we are!
    How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
    because our houses are in ruins.’”

²⁰Now, you women, hear the word of the Lord;
    open your ears to the words of his mouth.^(N)
Teach your daughters how to wail;
    teach one another a lament.^(O)
²¹Death has climbed in through our windows^(P)
    and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
    and the young men^(Q) from the public squares.

²²Say, “This is what the Lord declares:

“‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung^(R) on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’”

²³This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom^(S)
    or the strong boast of their strength^(T)
    or the rich boast of their riches,^(U)
²⁴but let the one who boasts boast^(V) about this:
    that they have the understanding to know^(W) me,
that I am the Lord,^(X) who exercises kindness,^(Y)
    justice and righteousness^(Z) on earth,
    for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.

²⁵“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh^(AA)— ²⁶Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places.^[a]^(AB) For all these nations are really uncircumcised,^(AC) and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.^(AD)”

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 9:26 Or wilderness and who clip the hair by their foreheads

Acts 4:1-12

New International Version

Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin

4 The priests and the captain of the temple guard^(A) and the Sadducees^(B) came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. ²They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.^(C) ³They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail^(D) until the next day. ⁴But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew^(E) to about five thousand.

⁵The next day the rulers,^(F) the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. ⁶Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas,^(G) John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. ⁷They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,^(H) said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!^(I) ⁹If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame^(J) and are being asked how he was healed, ¹⁰then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,^(K) whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead,^(L) that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹Jesus is