40 DAYS – Time with God – Day 30

₁The LORD Almighty says to the priests, “This command is for you: ₂You must honour me by what you do. If you will not listen to what I say, then I will bring a curse on you. I will put a curse on the things you receive for your support. In fact, I have already put a curse on them, because you do not take my command seriously. ₃I will punish your children and rub your faces in the dung of the animals you sacrifice — and you will be taken out to the dunghill. ₄Then you will know that I have given you this command, so that my covenant with the priests, the descendants of Levi, will not be broken.

₅“In my covenant I promised them life and well-being, and this is what I gave them, so that they might respect me. In those days they did respect and fear me. ₆They taught what was right, not what was wrong. They lived in harmony with me; they not only did what was right themselves, but they also helped many others to stop doing evil. ₇It is the duty of priests to teach the true knowledge of God. People should go to them to learn my will, because they are the messengers of the LORD Almighty.

₈“But now you priests have turned away from the right path. Your teaching has led many to do wrong. You have broken the covenant I made with you. ₉So I, in turn, will make the people of Israel despise you because you do not obey my will, and when you teach my people, you do not treat everyone alike.”

₃I give thanks to God, whom I serve with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did. I thank him as I remember you always in my prayers night and day. ₄I remember your tears, and I want to see you very much, so that I may be filled with joy. ₅I remember the sincere faith you have, the kind of faith that your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice also had. I am sure that you have it also. ₆For this reason I remind you to keep alive the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you. ₇For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid; instead, his Spirit fills us with power, love, and self-control.

₈Do not be ashamed, then, of witnessing for our Lord; nor be ashamed of me, a prisoner for Christ's sake. Instead, take your part in suffering for the Good News, as God gives you the strength to do it. ₉He saved us and called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. He gave us this grace by means of Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ₁₀but now it has been revealed to us through the coming of our Saviour, Christ Jesus. He has ended the power of death and through the gospel has revealed immortal life.

₁₁God has appointed me as an apostle and teacher to proclaim the Good News, ₁₂and it is for this reason that I suffer these things. But I am still full of confidence, because I know whom I have trusted, and I am sure that he is able to keep safe until that Day what he has entrusted to me. ₁₃Hold firmly to the true words that I taught you, as the example for you to follow, and remain in the faith and love that are ours in union with Christ Jesus. ₁₄Through the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, keep the good things that have been entrusted to you.