Jeremiah 13-15

English Standard Version

The Ruined Loincloth

13 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and ^(A)put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” ²So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. ³And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, ⁴“Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, ^(B)go to the Euphrates and hide it there in ^(C)a cleft of the rock.” ⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. ⁶And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there ^(D)the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took ^(E)the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was ^(F)spoiled; it was ^(G)good for nothing.

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹“Thus says the Lord: ^(H)Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great ^(I)pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, ^(J)who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is ^(K)good for nothing. ¹¹For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, ^(L)that they might be for me a people, ^(M)a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

The Jars Filled with Wine

¹²“You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that ^(N)every jar will be filled with wine?’ ¹³Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(O)Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: ^(P)the kings who sit on David's throne, ^(Q)the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁴And I will ^(R)dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”

Exile Threatened

¹⁵Hear and give ear; be not proud,
    for the Lord has spoken.
¹⁶^(S)Give glory to the Lord your God
    ^(T)before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
    on the twilight mountains,
and ^(U)while you look for light
    he turns it into gloom
    and makes it ^(V)deep darkness.
¹⁷But if you will not listen,
    ^(W)my soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,
    because the Lord's flock has been taken captive.

¹⁸Say to ^(X)the king and ^(Y)the queen mother:
    “Take a lowly seat,
for ^(Z)your beautiful crown
    has come down from your head.”
¹⁹^(AA)The cities of the Negeb are shut up,
    with none to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
    wholly taken into exile.

²⁰“Lift up your eyes ^(AB)and see
    those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
    your beautiful flock?
²¹What will you say when they set as head over you
    those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you?
^(AC)Will not pangs take hold of you
    like those of a woman in labor?
²²And if you say in your heart,
    ^(AD)‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
    that ^(AE)your skirts are lifted up
    and you suffer violence.
²³^(AF)Can the Ethiopian change his skin
    or ^(AG)the leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
    who are accustomed to do evil.
²⁴I will scatter you^[a] ^(AH)like chaff
    driven by the wind from the desert.
²⁵^(AI)This is your lot,
    the portion I have measured out to you, declares the Lord,
because ^(AJ)you have forgotten me
    and trusted in lies.
²⁶^(AK)I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
    and your shame will be seen.
²⁷I have seen ^(AL)your abominations,
    your adulteries and ^(AM)neighings, your lewd whorings,
    ^(AN)on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
    How long will it be ^(AO)before you are made clean?”

Famine, Sword, and Pestilence

14 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning ^(AP)the drought:

²^(AQ)“Judah mourns,
    and ^(AR)her gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
    and ^(AS)the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
³Her nobles send their servants for water;
    they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
    they return with their vessels empty;
they are ^(AT)ashamed and confounded
    and ^(AU)cover their heads.
⁴Because of the ground that is dismayed,
    since there is ^(AV)no rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
    they cover their heads.
⁵Even ^(AW)the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass.
⁶^(AX)The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
    they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
    because there is no vegetation.

⁷“Though our iniquities testify against us,
    act, O Lord, ^(AY)for your name's sake;
^(AZ)for our backslidings are many;
    ^(BA)we have sinned against you.
⁸^(BB)O you hope of Israel,
    its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
    like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
⁹Why should you be like a man confused,
    ^(BC)like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet ^(BD)you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
    and ^(BE)we are called by your name;
    ^(BF)do not leave us.”

¹⁰Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
“They have loved to wander thus;
    they have not restrained their feet;
^(BG)therefore the Lord does not accept them;
    ^(BH)now he will remember their iniquity
    and punish their sins.”

¹¹The Lord said to me: ^(BI)“Do not pray for the welfare of this people. ¹²Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, ^(BJ)and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them ^(BK)by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Lying Prophets

¹³Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets ^(BL)say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” ¹⁴And the Lord said to me: “The ^(BM)prophets are prophesying lies in my name. ^(BN)I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, ^(BO)worthless divination, and ^(BP)the deceit of their own minds. ¹⁵Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although ^(BQ)I did not send them, and who say, ^(BR)‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: ^(BS)By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. ¹⁶And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, ^(BT)with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.

¹⁷“You shall say to them this word:
^(BU)‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
    and let them not cease,
for the virgin ^(BV)daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,
    ^(BW)with a very grievous blow.
¹⁸^(BX)If I go out into the field,
    behold, those pierced by the sword!
^(BY)And if I enter the city,
    behold, the diseases of famine!
^(BZ)For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land
    and have no knowledge.’”

¹⁹^(CA)Have you utterly rejected Judah?
    Does your soul loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
    ^(CB)so that there is no healing for us?
^(CC)We looked for peace, but no good came;
    ^(CD)for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
²⁰^(CE)We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
    and the iniquity of our fathers,
    ^(CF)for we have sinned against you.
²¹Do not spurn us, ^(CG)for your name's sake;
    do not dishonor your glorious throne;
    ^(CH)remember and do not break your covenant with us.
²²Are there any among ^(CI)the false gods of the nations ^(CJ)that can bring rain?
    Or can the heavens give showers?
Are you not he, O Lord our God?
    We set our hope on you,
    ^(CK)for you do all these things.

The Lord Will Not Relent

15 Then the Lord said to me, ^(CL)“Though ^(CM)Moses ^(CN)and Samuel ^(CO)stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! ²And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord:

^(CP)“‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence,
and those who are for the sword, to the sword;
those who are for famine, to famine,
and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’

³^(CQ)I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and ^(CR)the birds of the air ^(CS)and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. ⁴^(CT)And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what ^(CU)Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.

⁵^(CV)“Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem,
    ^(CW)or who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
    to ask about your welfare?
⁶^(CX)You have rejected me, declares the Lord;
    ^(CY)you keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
    ^(CZ)I am weary of relenting.
⁷^(DA)I have winnowed them with ^(DB)a winnowing fork
    in the gates of the land;
I have bereaved them; I have destroyed my people;
    ^(DC)they did not turn from their ways.
⁸I have made their widows more in number
    than ^(DD)the sand of the seas;
I have brought against the mothers of young men
    a destroyer at noonday;
I have made anguish and terror
    fall upon them suddenly.
⁹^(DE)She who bore seven has grown feeble;
    ^(DF)she has fainted away;
^(DG)her sun went down while it was yet day;
    she has been shamed and disgraced.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword
    before their enemies,
declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah's Complaint

¹⁰^(DH)Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! ^(DI)I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me. ¹¹The Lord said, “Have I not^[b] set you free for their good? Have I not pleaded for you before the enemy in the time of trouble and in the time of distress? ¹²Can one break iron, iron ^(DJ)from the north, and bronze?

¹³^(DK)“Your wealth and your treasures I will give as ^(DL)spoil, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. ¹⁴I will make you serve your enemies ^(DM)in a land that you do not know, ^(DN)for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

¹⁵^(DO)O Lord, you know;
    ^(DP)remember me and visit me,
    ^(DQ)^(DR)and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
In your forbearance take me not away;
    ^(DS)know that ^(DT)for your sake I bear reproach.
¹⁶Your words were found, ^(DU)and I ate them,
    and ^(DV)your words became to me a joy
    and the delight of my heart,
^(DW)for I am called by your name,
    O Lord, God of hosts.
¹⁷^(DX)I did not sit in the company of revelers,
    nor did I rejoice;
^(DY)I sat alone, because your hand was upon me,
    for you had filled me with indignation.
¹⁸Why is my pain unceasing,
    ^(DZ)my wound incurable,
    refusing to be healed?
Will you be to me ^(EA)like a deceitful brook,
    like waters that fail?

¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord:
^(EB)“If you return, I will restore you,
    and you shall ^(EC)stand before me.
If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless,
    you shall be as my mouth.
They shall turn to you,
    but you shall not turn to them.
²⁰^(ED)And I will make you to this people
    a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you,
    ^(EE)but they shall not prevail over you,
^(EF)for I am with you
    to save you and deliver you,
declares the Lord.
²¹^(EG)I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked,
    and redeem you from the grasp of ^(EH)the ruthless.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 13:24 Hebrew them
Jeremiah 15:11 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

John 15

English Standard Version

I Am the True Vine

15 “I am the ^(A)true vine, and my Father is ^(B)the vinedresser. ²^(C)Every branch in me that does not bear fruit ^(D)he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, ^(E)that it may bear more fruit. ³Already ^(F)you are clean ^(G)because of the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴^(H)Abide ^(I)in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine; ^(J)you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that ^(K)bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not abide in me ^(L)he is thrown away like a branch and withers; ^(M)and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If ^(N)you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ^(O)ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸^(P)By this my Father is glorified, that you ^(Q)bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ⁹^(R)As the Father has loved me, ^(S)so have I loved you. Abide in my love. ¹⁰^(T)If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as ^(U)I have kept ^(V)my Father's commandments and abide in his love. ¹¹These things I have spoken to you, ^(W)that my joy may be in you, and that ^(X)your joy may be full.

¹²^(Y)“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³^(Z)Greater love has no one than this, ^(AA)that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are ^(AB)my friends ^(AC)if you do what I command you. ¹⁵^(AD)No longer do I call you servants,^[a] for the servant ^(AE)does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for ^(AF)all that I have heard from my Father ^(AG)I have made known to you. ¹⁶You did not choose me, but ^(AH)I chose you and appointed you that you should go and ^(AI)bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that ^(AJ)whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷These things I command you, ^(AK)so that you will love one another.

The Hatred of the World

¹⁸^(AL)“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹^(AM)If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because ^(AN)you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the word that I said to you: ^(AO)‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, ^(AP)they will also persecute you. ^(AQ)If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. ²¹But ^(AR)all these things they will do to you ^(AS)on account of my name, ^(AT)because they do not know him who sent me. ²²If I had not come and spoken to them, ^(AU)they would not have been guilty of sin,^[b] but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³^(AV)Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴^(AW)If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, ^(AX)they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have ^(AY)seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵But ^(AZ)the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ^(BA)‘They hated me without a cause.’

²⁶“But ^(BB)when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, ^(BC)he will bear witness about me. ²⁷And ^(BD)you also will bear witness, ^(BE)because you have been with me ^(BF)from the beginning.

Footnotes

John 15:15 Or bondservants, or slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface); likewise for servant later in this verse and in verse 20
John 15:22 Greek they would not have sin; also verse 24