Jeremiah 3-4
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Unfaithful Israel
3 “If[a] a man divorces his wife
and she goes from him
and becomes another man’s wife,
will he return to her?
Would not that land be greatly polluted?
You have played the harlot with many lovers;
and would you return to me?
says the Lord.
2 Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see!
Where have you not been lain with?
By the waysides you have sat awaiting lovers
like an Arab in the wilderness.
You have polluted the land
with your vile harlotry.
3 Therefore the showers have been withheld,
and the spring rain has not come;
yet you have a harlot’s brow,
you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Have you not just now called to me,
‘My father, thou art the friend of my youth—
5 will he be angry for ever,
will he be indignant to the end?’
Behold, you have spoken,
but you have done all the evil that you could.”
A Call to Repentance
6 The Lord said to me in the days of King Josi′ah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the harlot? 7 And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me’; but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it. 8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the harlot. 9 Because harlotry was so light to her, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree. 10 Yet for all this her false sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, says the Lord.”
11 And the Lord said to me, “Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah. 12 Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say,
‘Return, faithless Israel,
says the Lord.
I will not look on you in anger,
for I am merciful,
says the Lord;
I will not be angry for ever.
13 Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you rebelled against the Lord your God
and scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree,
and that you have not obeyed my voice,
says the Lord.
14 Return, O faithless children,
says the Lord;
for I am your master;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
and I will bring you to Zion.
15 “‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It shall not come to mind, or be remembered, or missed; it shall not be made again.[b] 17 At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no more stubbornly follow their own evil heart. 18 In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers for a heritage.
19 “‘I thought
how I would set you among my sons,
and give you a pleasant land,
a heritage most beauteous of all nations.
And I thought you would call me, My Father,
and would not turn from following me.
20 Surely, as a faithless wife leaves her husband,
so have you been faithless to me, O house of Israel,
says the Lord.’”
21 A voice on the bare heights is heard,
the weeping and pleading of Israel’s sons
because they have perverted their way,
they have forgotten the Lord their God.
22 “Return, O faithless sons,
I will heal your faithlessness.”
“Behold, we come to thee;
for thou art the Lord our God.
23 Truly the hills are a delusion,
the orgies on the mountains.
Truly in the Lord our God
is the salvation of Israel.
24 “But from our youth the shameful thing has devoured all for which our fathers labored, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 25 Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”
4 “If you return, O Israel,
says the Lord,
to me you should return.
If you remove your abominations from my presence,
and do not waver,
2 and if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in uprightness,
then nations shall bless themselves in him,
and in him shall they glory.”
3 For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
“Break up your fallow ground,
and sow not among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
remove the foreskin of your hearts,
O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem;
lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of the evil of your doings.”
Invasion and Desolation of Judah Threatened
5 Declare in Judah, and proclaim in Jerusalem, and say,
“Blow the trumpet through the land;
cry aloud and say,
‘Assemble, and let us go
into the fortified cities!’
6 Raise a standard toward Zion,
flee for safety, stay not,
for I bring evil from the north,
and great destruction.
7 A lion has gone up from his thicket,
a destroyer of nations has set out;
he has gone forth from his place
to make your land a waste;
your cities will be ruins
without inhabitant.
8 For this gird you with sackcloth,
lament and wail;
for the fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned back from us.”
9 “In that day, says the Lord, courage shall fail both king and princes; the priests shall be appalled and the prophets astounded.” 10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God, surely thou hast utterly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘It shall be well with you’; whereas the sword has reached their very life.”
11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the desert toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow or cleanse, 12 a wind too full for this comes for me. Now it is I who speak in judgment upon them.”
13 Behold, he comes up like clouds,
his chariots like the whirlwind;
his horses are swifter than eagles—
woe to us, for we are ruined!
14 O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness,
that you may be saved.
How long shall your evil thoughts
lodge within you?
15 For a voice declares from Dan
and proclaims evil from Mount E′phraim.
16 Warn the nations that he is coming;
announce to Jerusalem,
“Besiegers come from a distant land;
they shout against the cities of Judah.
17 Like keepers of a field are they against her round about,
because she has rebelled against me,
says the Lord.
18 Your ways and your doings
have brought this upon you.
This is your doom, and it is bitter;
it has reached your very heart.”
Sorrow for a Doomed Nation
19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
Oh, the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
I cannot keep silent;
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war.
20 Disaster follows hard on disaster,
the whole land is laid waste.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my curtains in a moment.
21 How long must I see the standard,
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
22 “For my people are foolish,
they know me not;
they are stupid children,
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil,
but how to do good they know not.”
23 I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void;
and to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
25 I looked, and lo, there was no man,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
26 I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.
27 For thus says the Lord, “The whole land shall be a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.
28 For this the earth shall mourn,
and the heavens above be black;
for I have spoken, I have purposed;
I have not relented nor will I turn back.”
29 At the noise of horseman and archer
every city takes to flight;
they enter thickets; they climb among rocks;
all the cities are forsaken,
and no man dwells in them.
30 And you, O desolate one,
what do you mean that you dress in scarlet,
that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold,
that you enlarge your eyes with paint?
In vain you beautify yourself.
Your lovers despise you;
they seek your life.
31 For I heard a cry as of a woman in travail,
anguish as of one bringing forth her first child,
the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before murderers.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 3:1 Gk Syr: Heb Saying, If
- 3.16 The ark must have been destroyed at the same time as the temple in 586 b.c. In the Messianic times the presence of the Lord will not be restricted to the ark of the covenant; cf. Rev 21.22.
Sirach 9
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Advice Concerning Women
9 Do not be jealous of the wife of your bosom,
and do not teach her an evil lesson to your own hurt.
2 Do not give yourself to a woman
so that she gains mastery over your strength.
3 Do not go to meet a loose woman,
lest you fall into her snares.
4 Do not associate with a woman singer,
lest you be caught in her intrigues.
5 Do not look intently at a virgin,
lest you stumble and incur penalties for her.
6 Do not give yourself to harlots
lest you lose your inheritance.
7 Do not look around in the streets of a city,
nor wander about in its deserted sections.
8 Turn away your eyes from a shapely woman,
and do not look intently at beauty belonging to another;
many have been misled by a woman’s beauty,
and by it passion is kindled like a fire.
9 Never dine with another man’s wife,
nor revel with her at wine;
lest your heart turn aside to her,
and in blood[a] you be plunged into destruction.
Choice of Friends
10 Forsake not an old friend,
for a new one does not compare with him.
A new friend is like new wine;
when it has aged you will drink it with pleasure.
11 Do not envy the honors of a sinner,
for you do not know what his end will be.
12 Do not delight in what pleases the ungodly;
remember that they will not be held guiltless as long as they live.
13 Keep far from a man who has the power to kill,
and you will not be worried by the fear of death.
But if you approach him, make no misstep,
lest he rob you of your life.
Know that you are walking in the midst of snares,
and that you are going about on the city battlements.
14 As much as you can, aim to know your neighbors,
and consult with the wise.
15 Let your conversation be with men of understanding,
and let all your discussion be about the law of the Most High.
16 Let righteous men be your dinner companions,
and let your glorying be in the fear of the Lord.
Concerning Rulers
17 A work will be praised for the skill of the craftsmen;
so a people’s leader is proved wise by his words.
18 A babbler is feared in his city,
and the man who is reckless in speech will be hated.
Footnotes
- Sirach 9:9 Heb: Gk by your spirit
2 Timothy 2
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus
2 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. 3 Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier on service gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to satisfy the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will grant you understanding in everything.
8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from David, as preached in my gospel, 9 the gospel for which I am suffering and wearing fetters like a criminal. But the word of God is not fettered. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which in Christ Jesus goes with eternal glory. 11 The saying is sure:
If we have died with him, we shall also live with him;
12 if we endure, we shall also reign with him;
if we deny him, he also will deny us;
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.
A Worker Approved by God
14 Remind them of this, and charge them before the Lord[a] to avoid disputing about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 Avoid such godless chatter, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will eat its way like gangrene. Among them are Hymenae′us and Phile′tus, 18 who have swerved from the truth by holding that the resurrection is past already.[b] They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”
20 In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and earthenware, and some for noble use, some for ignoble. 21 If any one purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will be a vessel for noble use, consecrated and useful to the master of the house, ready for any good work. 22 So shun youthful passions and aim at righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to every one, an apt teacher, forbearing, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, 26 and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.[c]
Footnotes
- 2 Timothy 2:14 Other ancient authorities read God
- 2.18 They explained the resurrection by saying it was the rising to newness of life in baptism, thus ignoring a bodily resurrection, a doctrine the Greeks found very hard to accept; cf. Acts 17.32.
- 2 Timothy 2:26 Or by him, to do his (that is, God’s) will
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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