The Defiled Land

Faithless Israel

⁶ Then the Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah, “Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She ^(M)went up on every high hill and under every leafy tree, and she prostituted herself there. ⁷ Yet ^(N)I ^[e]thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her ^(O)treacherous sister Judah saw it. ⁸ And I saw that for all the ^[f]adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and ^(P)given her a certificate of divorce, yet her ^(Q)treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and prostituted herself also. ⁹ And because of the thoughtlessness of her prostitution, she ^(R)defiled the land and committed ^[g]adultery with ^(S)stones and trees. ¹⁰ Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in ^(T)deception,” declares the Lord.

God Invites Repentance

¹¹ And the Lord said to me, “^(U)Faithless Israel has proved herself to be more righteous than treacherous Judah. ¹² Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say,

¹⁵ “Then I will give you ^(AD)shepherds ^[k]after My own heart, who will ^(AE)feed you knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶ And it shall be in those days when you become numerous and are fruitful in the land,” declares the Lord, “they will ^(AF)no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor miss it, nor will it be made again. ¹⁷ At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The ^(AG)Throne of the Lord,’ and ^(AH)all the nations will assemble at it, at Jerusalem, for the ^(AI)name of the Lord; and they will no longer ^(AJ)follow the stubbornness of their evil heart. ^18 (AK)In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together ^(AL)from the land of the north to the ^(AM)land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.

¹⁹ “Then I said,

²⁴ “But ^(AV)the shame has consumed the product of our fathers’ labor since our youth—their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. ²⁵ Let us lie down in our ^(AW)shame, and let our humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, ^(AX)from our youth even to this day. And we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”

Judah Threatened with Invasion

³ For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem:

⁹ “And it shall come about on that day,” declares the Lord, “that the ^(U)heart of the king and the hearts of the leaders will fail; and the priests will tremble, and the ^(V)prophets will be astonished.”

¹⁰ Then I said, “Oh, Lord ^[b]God! Surely You have utterly ^(W)deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ‘^(X)You will have peace’; yet a sword touches the ^[c]throat.”

¹¹ At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A ^(Y)scorching wind from the bare heights in the wilderness, in the direction of the daughter of My people—not to winnow and not to cleanse, ¹² a wind too ^[d]strong for ^[e]this—will come ^[f]at My command; now I will also pronounce judgments against them.”

Grief over Judah’s Devastation

The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was sick: Lazarus of ^(A)Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister ^(B)Martha. ² And it was the Mary who ^(C)anointed ^(D)the Lord with ^[a]ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. ³ So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “^(E)Lord, behold, ^(F)he whom You love is sick.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not ^[b]meant for death, but is for ^(G)the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” ⁵ (Now Jesus loved ^(H)Martha and her sister, and Lazarus.) ⁶ So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. ⁷ Then after this He *said to the disciples, “^(I)Let’s go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples *said to Him, “^(J)Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking ^(K)to stone You, and yet You are going there again?” ⁹ Jesus replied, “^(L)Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks during the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in ^[c]him.” ¹¹ This He said, and after this He *said to them, “Our ^(M)friend Lazarus ^(N)has fallen asleep; but I am going so that I may awaken him from sleep.” ¹² The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will ^[d]come out of it.” ¹³ Now ^(O)Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about ^[e]actual sleep. ¹⁴ So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus died, ¹⁵ and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let’s go to him.” ^16 (P)Therefore Thomas, who was called ^[f](Q)Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s also go, so that we may die with Him!”

¹⁷ So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb ^(R)four days. ¹⁸ Now ^(S)Bethany was near Jerusalem, about ^[g]fifteen stadia away; ¹⁹ and many of ^(T)the Jews had come to ^(U)Martha and Mary, ^(V)to console them about their brother. ²⁰ So then ^(W)Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but ^(X)Mary ^[h]stayed in the house. ²¹ Martha then said to Jesus, “^(Y)Lord, ^(Z)if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² Even now I know that ^(AA)whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” ²³ Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise from the dead.” ²⁴ Martha *said to Him, “^(AB)I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “^(AC)I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in Me ^(AD)will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have come to believe that You are ^(AE)the ^[i]Christ, the Son of God, and ^[j](AF)He who comes into the world.”

²⁸ When she had said this, she ^(AG)left and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “^(AH)The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard this, she *got up quickly and came to Him.

³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but ^(AI)was still at the place where Martha met Him. ^31 (AJ)Then the Jews who were with her in the house and were ^(AK)consoling her, when they saw that Mary had gotten up quickly and left, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² So when Mary came to the place where Jesus was, she saw Him and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “^(AL)Lord, ^(AM)if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping, and ^(AN)the Jews who came with her also weeping, He ^(AO)was deeply moved in spirit and ^[k](AP)was troubled, ³⁴ and He said, “Where have you laid him?” They *said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus ^(AQ)wept. ³⁶ So ^(AR)the Jews were saying, “See how He ^(AS)loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could this man, who ^(AT)opened the eyes of the man who was blind, not have also ^[l]kept this man from dying?”

³⁸ So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a ^(AU)cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹ Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time ^[m]there will be a stench, for he has been dead ^(AV)four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus *said to her, “^(AW)Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they removed the ^(AX)stone. And Jesus ^(AY)raised His eyes, and said, “^(AZ)Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² But I knew that You always hear Me; nevertheless, ^(BA)because of the ^[n]people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that ^(BB)You sent Me.” ⁴³ And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ Out came the man who had died, ^(BC)bound hand and foot with wrappings, and ^(BD)his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

^45 (BE)Therefore many of the Jews ^(BF)who came to Mary, and ^(BG)saw what He had done, believed in Him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went to the ^(BH)Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.

Conspiracy to Kill Jesus

⁴⁷ Therefore ^(BI)the chief priests and the Pharisees ^(BJ)convened a ^(BK)council meeting, and they were saying, “What are we ^[o]doing in regard to the fact that this man is performing many ^[p](BL)signs? ⁴⁸ If we let Him go on like this, all the people will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take over both our ^[q](BM)place and our nation.” ⁴⁹ But one of them, ^(BN)Caiaphas, ^(BO)who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, ⁵⁰ nor are you taking into account that ^(BP)it is in your best interest that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish instead.” ⁵¹ Now he did not say this ^[r]on his own, but ^(BQ)as he was high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation; ⁵² and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also ^(BR)gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. ⁵³ So from that day on they ^(BS)planned together to kill Him.

⁵⁴ Therefore Jesus ^(BT)no longer continued to walk publicly among the Jews, but went away from there to the region near the wilderness, into a city called ^(BU)Ephraim; and there He stayed with the disciples.

⁵⁵ Now ^(BV)the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country prior to the Passover, ^(BW)in order to ^[s]purify themselves. ⁵⁶ So they ^(BX)were looking for Jesus, and saying to one another as they stood in the temple area, “What do you think; that He will not come to the feast at all?” ⁵⁷ Now ^(BY)the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might arrest Him.