Jeremiah 23:9-24
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
The False Prophets[a]
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me,
all my bones tremble;
I am like a drunk,
like one overcome by wine,
Because of the Lord,
because of his holy words.
10 The land is filled with adulterers;
because of the curse the land mourns,
the pastures of the wilderness are withered.(A)
Theirs is an evil course,
theirs is unjust power.
11 Both prophet and priest are godless!
In my very house I find their wickedness—
oracle of the Lord.(B)
12 Hence their way shall become for them
slippery ground.
Into the darkness they shall be driven,
and fall headlong;
For I will bring disaster upon them,
the year of their punishment—oracle of the Lord.(C)
13 Among Samaria’s prophets
I saw something unseemly:
They prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.(D)
14 But among Jerusalem’s prophets
I saw something more shocking:
Adultery, walking in deception,[b]
strengthening the power of the wicked,
so that no one turns from evil;
To me they are all like Sodom,
its inhabitants like Gomorrah.(E)
15 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts against the prophets:
Look, I will give them wormwood to eat,
and poisoned water to drink;
For from Jerusalem’s prophets
ungodliness has gone forth into the whole land.(F)
16 Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Do not listen to the words of your prophets,
who fill you with emptiness;
They speak visions from their own fancy,
not from the mouth of the Lord.(G)
17 They say to those who despise the word of the Lord,[c]
“Peace shall be yours”;
And to everyone who walks in hardness of heart,
“No evil shall overtake you.”(H)
18 Now, who has stood in the council of the Lord,
to see him and to hear his word?
Who has heeded his word so as to announce it?(I)
19 See, the storm of the Lord!
His wrath breaks forth
In a whirling storm
that bursts upon the heads of the wicked.(J)
20 The anger of the Lord shall not abate
until he has carried out completely
the decisions of his heart.
In days to come
you will understand fully.
21 I did not send these prophets,
yet they ran;
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.(K)
22 Had they stood in my council,
they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
They would have brought them back from their evil ways
and from their wicked deeds.
23 Am I a God near at hand only—oracle of the Lord—(L)
and not a God far off?[d]
24 Can anyone hide in secret
without my seeing them?—oracle of the Lord.
Do I not fill
heaven and earth?—oracle of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 23:9–40 After the collection of oracles against the kings, the editor of the book placed this collection of oracles against the false prophets. With them are associated the priests, for both have betrayed their trust as instructors in the ways of the Lord; cf. 2:8; 4:9; 6:13–14.
- 23:14 Cf. note on 13:25.
- 23:17–20 Not only are the false prophets personally immoral, but they encourage immorality by prophesying good for evildoers. The true prophet, on the other hand, sees the inevitable consequences of evil behavior.
- 23:23–24 Near at hand only…far off: a divine claim that no one can hide from God and that God is aware of all that happens.
Ben Sira 15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 15
1 Whoever fears the Lord will do this;
whoever is practiced in the Law will come to Wisdom.
2 She will meet him like a mother;
like a young bride she will receive him,
3 [a]She will feed him with the bread of learning,
and give him the water of understanding to drink.(A)
4 He will lean upon her and not fall;
he will trust in her and not be put to shame.
5 She will exalt him above his neighbors,
and in the assembly she will make him eloquent.
6 Joy and gladness he will find,
and an everlasting name he will inherit.(B)
7 The worthless will not attain her,
and the haughty will not behold her.
8 She is far from the impious;
liars never think of her.
9 [b]Praise is unseemly on the lips of sinners,
for it has not been allotted to them by God.
10 But praise is uttered by the mouth of the wise,
and its rightful owner teaches it.
Free Will[c]
11 Do not say: “It was God’s doing that I fell away,”
for what he hates he does not do.
12 Do not say: “He himself has led me astray,”
for he has no need of the wicked.(C)
13 Abominable wickedness the Lord hates
and he does not let it happen to those who fear him.
14 God in the beginning created human beings
and made them subject to their own free choice.(D)
15 If you choose, you can keep the commandments;
loyalty is doing the will of God.
16 Set before you are fire and water;
to whatever you choose, stretch out your hand.
17 Before everyone are life and death,
whichever they choose will be given them.(E)
18 Immense is the wisdom of the Lord;
mighty in power, he sees all things.
19 The eyes of God behold his works,
and he understands every human deed.(F)
20 He never commands anyone to sin,
nor shows leniency toward deceivers.[d]
Footnotes
- 15:3–6 In this role reversal Woman Wisdom teaches, nourishes, supports, and protects the vulnerable man. For similar imagery cf. Prv 8:4–21, 34–35; 9:1–5; 31:10–31.
- 15:9–10 There is an intimate association between wisdom and praise of the Lord.
- 15:11–20 Here Ben Sira links freedom of the will with human responsibility. God, who sees everything, is neither the cause nor the occasion of sin. We have the power to choose our behavior and we are responsible for both the good and the evil we do (vv. 15–17).
- 15:20 Deceivers: those who hold the Lord responsible for their sins.
John 4:27-54
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
27 At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman,[a] but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, 29 “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?” 30 They went out of the town and came to him. 31 Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work.(A) 35 Do you not say, ‘In four months[b] the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.(B) 36 The reaper is already[c] receiving his payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.(C) 37 For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’(D) 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.”
39 Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman[d] who testified, “He told me everything I have done.” 40 When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more began to believe in him because of his word, 42 and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”(E)
Return to Galilee. 43 [e]After the two days, he left there for Galilee. 44 [f](F)For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. 45 When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast.
Second Sign at Cana.[g] 46 (G)Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. 48 Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”(H) 49 The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.(I) 51 While he was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. 52 He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” 53 The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. 54 [Now] this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.(J)
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 4:27 Talking with a woman: a religious and social restriction that Jesus is pictured treating as unimportant.
- 4:35 ‘In four months… ’: probably a proverb; cf. Mt 9:37–38.
- 4:36 Already: this word may go with the preceding verse rather than with Jn 4:36.
- 4:39 The woman is presented as a missionary, described in virtually the same words as the disciples are in Jesus’ prayer (Jn 17:20).
- 4:43–54 Jesus’ arrival in Cana in Galilee; the second sign. This section introduces another theme, that of the life-giving word of Jesus. It is explicitly linked to the first sign (Jn 2:11). The royal official believes (Jn 4:50). The natural life given his son is a sign of eternal life.
- 4:44 Probably a reminiscence of a tradition as in Mk 6:4. Cf. Gospel of Thomas 31: “No prophet is acceptable in his village, no physician heals those who know him.”
- 4:46–54 The story of the cure of the royal official’s son may be a third version of the cure of the centurion’s son (Mt 8:5–13) or servant (Lk 7:1–10). Cf. also Mt 15:21–28; Mk 7:24–30.
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