Day 233: Correct me, O Lord (2026)

The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Ascension

On Day 233 of 'The Bible in a Year' podcast, Fr. Mike Schmitz explores Jeremiah 10–11, Ezekiel 40, and Proverbs 15:5–8, focusing on themes o

Key takeaways

• Idols are lifeless and powerless, in stark contrast to the living God who created all things by wisdom and power.
• The people of Israel broke the covenant with God by following false gods, leading to divine judgment despite their pleas for help.

Main topics

• Idolatry and its consequences
• Broken covenant with God

Notable quotes

"There is none like you, O Lord. You are great, and your name is great in might."

"Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good."

Conclusion

Fr. Mike concludes by reflecting on how Scripture invites us into deeper communion

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:03) Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension, using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline. We'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 233. We are reading today from Jeremiah chapter 10 and 11, Ezekiel chapter 40. And Proverbs chapter 15, verses five through eight. As always, the Bible translation that I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year for a free download of the entire year. You can also subscribe to this podcast and receive daily episodes if you would like. As I said, it is day 233. We're reading Jeremiah 10 and 11, Ezekiel 40, which is the beginning of those next eight chapters describing the construction of this temple, and Proverbs chapter 15, verses 5 through 8. Speaker 2 (1:01) The book of the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 10. Idolatry has brought ruin on Israel. Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord, learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are false. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an ax by the hands of a craftsman. Men deck it with silver and gold. They fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak. They have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Be not afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good. There is none like you, O Lord. You are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due. For among all the wise ones of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like you. They are both stupid and foolish. The instruction of idols is but wood. Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsmen and the hand of the goldsmith. Their clothing is violet and purple. They are all the work of skilled men. But the Lord is the true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation. Thus shall you say to them, The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens. It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses. Every man is stupid and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false and there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work of delusion. At the time of their punishment they shall perish. Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things. And Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. The Lord of hosts is his name. Gather up your bundle from the ground, O you who dwell under siege. For thus says the Lord, Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress on them, that they may feel it. Woe is me because of my hurt. My wound is grievous, but I said, Truly this is an affliction, and I must bear it. My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken. My children have gone from me, and they are not. There was no one to spread my tent again and to set up my curtains. For the shepherds are stupid and do not inquire of the Lord. Therefore, they have not prospered and all their flock is scattered. Listen, a rumor, behold, it comes, a great commotion out of the north country to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals. I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. Correct me, O Lord, but in just measure, not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. Pour out your wrath upon the nations that know you not, and upon the peoples that call not on your name, for they have devoured Jacob, they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation. Speaker 2 (4:28) Chapter 11. Israel and Judah have broken the covenant. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord. Hear the words of this covenant and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. You shall say to them, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, cursed be the man who does not heed the words of this covenant, which I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt from the iron furnace saying, listen to my voice and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, that I may perform the oath which I swore to your fathers to give them a land flowing with milk and honey as at this day. And then I answered, So be it, Lord. And the Lord said to me, Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. Hear the words of this covenant and do them. For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore, I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not. Again, the Lord said to me, There is revolt among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant, which I made with their fathers. Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing evil upon them, which they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah,