The Coming Messiah: the Righteous Branch

23 “^(A)Woe to the shepherds who are causing the ^(B)sheep of My pasture to ^(C)perish and are scattering them!” declares the Lord. ² Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says concerning the shepherds who are ^[a]tending My people: “You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not been concerned about them; behold, I am going to ^(D)call you to account for the ^(E)evil of your deeds,” declares the Lord. ³ “Then I Myself will ^(F)gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. ⁴ I will also raise up ^(G)shepherds over them and they will ^[b]tend them; and they will ^(H)not be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, ^(I)nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

⁷ “^(Q)Therefore behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when they will no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought the sons of Israel up from the land of Egypt,’ ^8 (R)but, ‘As the Lord lives, who ^(S)brought up and led the descendants of the household of Israel back from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”

False Prophets Denounced

¹⁵ Therefore this is what the Lord of armies says concerning the prophets:

²⁵ “I have ^(BD)heard what the prophets have said who ^(BE)prophesy falsely in My name, saying, ‘I had a ^(BF)dream, I had a dream!’ ²⁶ How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the ^(BG)deceitfulness of their own heart, ²⁷ who intend to ^(BH)make My people forget My name by their dreams which they report to one another, just as their fathers ^(BI)forgot My name because of Baal? ²⁸ The prophet who has a dream may report his dream, but let him who has ^(BJ)My word speak My word truthfully. ^(BK)What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord. ²⁹ “Is My word not like ^(BL)fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a ^(BM)hammer which shatters a rock? ³⁰ Therefore behold, ^(BN)I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who steal My words from each other. ³¹ Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who ^[g]use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares!’ ³² Behold, I am against those who have prophesied ^(BO)false dreams,” declares the Lord, “and reported them and led My people astray by their lies and ^(BP)reckless boasting; yet ^(BQ)I did not send them nor command them, nor do they ^(BR)provide this people the slightest benefit,” declares the Lord.

³³ “Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you, saying, ‘What is the ^[h](BS)pronouncement of the Lord?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What ^[i]pronouncement?’ The Lord declares, ‘I will ^(BT)abandon you.’ ³⁴ Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘The ^(BU)pronouncement of the Lord,’ I will bring punishment upon that person and his household. ³⁵ This is what each one of you will say to his neighbor and to his brother: ‘^(BV)What has the Lord answered?’ or, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁶ For you will no longer remember the pronouncement of the Lord, because every person’s own word will become the pronouncement, and you have ^(BW)perverted the words of the ^(BX)living God, the Lord of armies, our God. ³⁷ This is what you will say to that prophet: ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁸ And if you say, ‘The pronouncement of the Lord!’ for that reason the Lord says this: ‘Because you said this word, “The pronouncement of the Lord!” I have also sent word to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The pronouncement of the Lord!’”’ ³⁹ Therefore behold, ^(BY)I will certainly forget you and thrust you away from My presence, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers. ⁴⁰ I will put an everlasting ^(BZ)disgrace on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten.”

Baskets of Figs and the Returnees

24 After ^(CA)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and metalworkers from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me: behold, two ^(CB)baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. ² One basket had very good figs, like ^(CC)first-ripe figs, and the other basket had ^(CD)very bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness. ³ Then the Lord said to me, “^(CE)What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs: the good figs are very good, and the bad ones, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁵ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard ^(CF)as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans. ⁶ For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will ^(CG)bring them back to this land; and I will ^(CH)build them up and not overthrow them, and I will ^(CI)plant them and not uproot them. ⁷ I will also give them a ^(CJ)heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be ^(CK)My people, and I will be their God, for they will ^(CL)return to Me wholeheartedly.

⁸ ‘But like the ^(CM)bad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness,’ indeed, this is what the Lord says, ‘so will I give up ^(CN)Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the ^(CO)remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and the ones who live in the land of ^(CP)Egypt. ⁹ I will ^(CQ)make them an object of terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a ^(CR)disgrace and a proverb, a taunt and a ^(CS)curse in all the places where I will scatter them. ¹⁰ And I will send the ^(CT)sword, the famine, and the plague upon them until they are eliminated from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.’”

Abraham’s Justification by Faith

4 What then shall we say that Abraham, ^[a]our forefather ^(A)according to the flesh, has found? ² For if Abraham was justified ^[b]by works, he has something to boast about; but ^(B)not ^[c]before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? “^(C)Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” ⁴ Now to the one who ^(D)works, the wages are not credited as a favor, but as what is due. ⁵ But to the one who does not work, but ^(E)believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, ⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁹ Is this blessing then on ^[d](I)the circumcised, or on ^[e]the uncircumcised also? For ^(J)we say, “^(K)Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” ¹⁰ How then was it credited? While he was ^[f]circumcised, or ^[g]uncircumcised? Not while ^[h]circumcised, but while ^[i]uncircumcised; ¹¹ and he ^(L)received the sign of circumcision, ^(M)a seal of the righteousness of the faith which ^[j]he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be ^(N)the father of ^(O)all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, ¹² and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which ^[k]he had while uncircumcised.

¹³ For ^(P)the promise to Abraham or to his ^[l]descendants ^(Q)that he would be heir of the world was not ^[m]through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For ^(R)if those who are ^[n]of the Law are heirs, then faith is made void and the promise is nullified; ¹⁵ for ^(S)the Law brings about wrath, but ^(T)where there is no law, there also is no violation.

¹⁶ For this reason it is ^[o]by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with ^(U)grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to ^(V)all the ^[p]descendants, not only to ^[q]those who are of the Law, but also to ^[r](W)those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is ^(X)the father of us all, ¹⁷ (as it is written: “I have made you ^(Y)a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, that is, God, ^(Z)who gives life to the dead and ^(AA)calls into being ^(AB)things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become ^(AC)a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “^(AD)So shall your ^[s]descendants be.” ¹⁹ Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now ^(AE)as good as dead since ^(AF)he was about a hundred years old, and ^(AG)the deadness of Sarah’s womb; ²⁰ yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, ^(AH)giving glory to God, ²¹ and ^(AI)being fully assured that ^(AJ)what God had promised, He was able also to perform. ²² Therefore ^(AK)it was also credited to him as righteousness. ²³ Now ^(AL)not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, ²⁴ but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, to us ^(AM)who believe in Him who ^(AN)raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, ²⁵ He who was ^(AO)delivered over because of our wrongdoings, and was ^(AP)raised because of our justification.

Results of Justification

5 ^(AQ)Therefore, having been justified by faith, ^[t](AR)we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we also have ^(AS)obtained our introduction by faith into this grace ^(AT)in which we stand; and ^[u]we celebrate in hope of the glory of God. ^3 (AU)And not only this, but ^[v]we also ^(AV)celebrate in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about ^(AW)perseverance; ⁴ and ^(AX)perseverance, ^(AY)proven character; and proven character, hope; ⁵ and hope ^(AZ)does not disappoint, because the love of God has been ^(BA)poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

⁶ For while we were still ^(BB)helpless, ^(BC)at the right time ^(BD)Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will hardly die for a righteous person; ^[w]though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die. ⁸ But God ^(BE)demonstrates ^(BF)His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, ^(BG)Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified ^[x](BH)by His blood, we shall be saved ^(BI)from the wrath of God through Him. ¹⁰ For if while we were ^(BJ)enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved ^[y](BK)by His life. ^11 (BL)And not only this, but ^[z]we also celebrate in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received ^(BM)the reconciliation.

¹² Therefore, just as through ^(BN)one man sin entered into the world, and ^(BO)death through sin, and ^(BP)so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned— ¹³ for ^[aa]until the Law sin was in the world, but ^(BQ)sin is not ^[ab]counted against anyone when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned ^(BR)in the likeness of the ^[ac]violation committed by Adam, who is a ^[ad](BS)type of Him who was to come.

¹⁵ But ^[ae]the gracious gift is not like the offense. For if by the offense of ^(BT)the one ^(BU)the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by ^(BV)the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many. ¹⁶ The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand ^(BW)the judgment arose from one offense, ^[af]resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the gracious gift arose from many offenses, ^[ag]resulting in justification. ¹⁷ For if by the offense of the one, death reigned ^(BX)through the one, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness ^(BY)reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

¹⁸ So then, as through ^(BZ)one offense ^[ah]the result was condemnation to all mankind, so also through one ^(CA)act of righteousness ^[ai]the result was ^(CB)justification of life to all mankind. ¹⁹ For as through the one man’s disobedience ^(CC)the many ^(CD)were made sinners, so also through ^(CE)the obedience of the One ^(CF)the many will be made righteous. ^20 [aj](CG)The Law came in so that the offense would increase; but where sin increased, ^(CH)grace abounded all the more, ²¹ so that, as ^(CI)sin reigned in death, so also ^(CJ)grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.