Wednesday in Epiphany

1Verse 1. This is the text of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the others Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2Verse 2. (This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had been exiled from Jerusalem.) 3Verse 3. The letter was entrusted to Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It stated: 4Verse 4. This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5Verse 5. “Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce. 6Verse 6. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. 7Verse 7. Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 8Verse 8. For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them. 9Verse 9. For they are falsely prophesying to you in My name; I have not sent them, declares the LORD.” 10Verse 10. For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place. 11Verse 11. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. 12Verse 12. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13Verse 13. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14Verse 14. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD. I will restore you to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

1Verse 1. On the other side of the sea, they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes. 2Verse 2. As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, He was met by a man with an unclean spirit, who was coming from the tombs. 3Verse 3. This man had been living in the tombs and could no longer be restrained, even with chains. 4Verse 4. Though he was often bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and shattered the shackles. Now there was no one with the strength to subdue him. 5Verse 5. Night and day in the tombs and in the mountains he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6Verse 6. When the man saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees before Him. 7Verse 7. And he shouted in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God not to torture me!” 8Verse 8. For Jesus had already declared, “Come out of this man, you unclean spirit!” 9Verse 9. “What is your name?” Jesus asked. “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10Verse 10. And he begged Jesus repeatedly not to send them out of that region. 11Verse 11. There on the nearby hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. 12Verse 12. So the demons begged Jesus, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” 13Verse 13. He gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water. 14Verse 14. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15Verse 15. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16Verse 16. Those who had seen it described what had happened to the demon-possessed man and also to the pigs. 17Verse 17. And the people began to beg Jesus to leave their region. 18Verse 18. As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by the demons begged to go with Him. 19Verse 19. But Jesus would not allow him. “Go home to your own people,” He said, “and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy He has shown you.” 20Verse 20. So the man went away and began to proclaim throughout the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.