Evil in the Land

7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ^2 (A)“Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. ³ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(B)Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. ^4 (C)Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

⁵ “For if you truly ^(D)amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly ^(E)execute justice one with another, ⁶ if you ^(F)do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, ^(G)or shed innocent blood in this place, ^(H)and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, ^7 (I)then I will let you dwell in this place, ^(J)in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

⁸ “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. ^9 (K)Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, ^(L)swear falsely, ^(M)make offerings to Baal, ^(N)and go after other gods that you have not known, ¹⁰ and then come and stand before me in this house, ^(O)which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? ^11 (P)Has this house, ^(Q)which is called by my name, ^(R)become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. ¹² Go now to ^(S)my place that was in Shiloh, ^(T)where I made my name dwell at first, and ^(U)see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. ¹³ And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and ^(V)when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and ^(W)when I called you, you did not answer, ¹⁴ therefore I will do to ^(X)the house ^(Y)that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, ^(Z)as I did to Shiloh. ^15 (AA)And I will cast you out of my sight, ^(AB)as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of ^(AC)Ephraim.

¹⁶ “As for you, ^(AD)do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. ¹⁷ Do you not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸ The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, ^(AE)and the women knead dough, to ^(AF)make cakes for ^(AG)the queen of heaven. And ^(AH)they pour out drink offerings to other gods, ^(AI)to provoke me to anger. ^19 (AJ)Is it I whom they provoke? declares the Lord. Is it not themselves, ^(AK)to their own shame? ²⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^(AL)my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; ^(AM)it will burn and not be quenched.”

²¹ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(AN)“Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. ²² For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them ^(AO)concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. ²³ But this command I gave them: ^(AP)‘Obey my voice, and ^(AQ)I will be your God, and you shall be my people. ^(AR)And walk in all the way that I command you, ^(AS)that it may be well with you.’ ^24 (AT)But they did not obey or incline their ear, ^(AU)but walked in their own counsels and ^(AV)the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and ^(AW)went backward and not forward. ²⁵ From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, ^(AX)I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. ^26 (AY)Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, ^(AZ)but stiffened their neck. ^(BA)They did worse than their fathers.

^27 (BB)“So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. ^(BC)You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. ²⁸ And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; ^(BD)truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.

The Valley of Slaughter

³⁰ “For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the Lord. They have set ^(BG)their detestable things in the house ^(BH)that is called by my name, to ^(BI)defile it. ³¹ And they have built the high places of ^(BJ)Topheth, which is in ^(BK)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ^(BL)to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, ^(BM)which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. ^32 (BN)Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no more be called ^(BO)Topheth, or ^(BP)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; ^(BQ)for they will bury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. ^33 (BR)And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, ^(BS)and none will frighten them away. ^34 (BT)And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, ^(BU)for the land shall become a waste.

The Word Became Flesh

1 ^(A)In the beginning was ^(B)the Word, and ^(C)the Word was with God, and ^(D)the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ^3 (E)All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ^4 (F)In him was life,^[a] and ^(G)the life was the light of men. ^5 (H)The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man ^(I)sent from God, whose name was ^(J)John. ⁷ He came as a ^(K)witness, to bear witness about the light, ^(L)that all might believe through him. ^8 (M)He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

^9 (N)The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet ^(O)the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to ^(P)his own,^[b] and ^(Q)his own people^{[c] (R)}did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, ^(S)who believed in his name, ^(T)he gave the right ^(U)to become ^(V)children of God, ¹³ who ^(W)were born, ^(X)not of blood ^(Y)nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And ^(Z)the Word ^(AA)became flesh and ^(AB)dwelt among us, ^(AC)and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son^[d] from the Father, full of ^(AD)grace and ^(AE)truth. ¹⁵ (^(AF)John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ^(AG)‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ For from ^(AH)his fullness we have all received, ^(AI)grace upon grace.^{[e] 17} For ^(AJ)the law was given through Moses; ^(AK)grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ^18 (AL)No one has ever seen God; ^(AM)the only God,^[f] who is at the Father's side,^{[g] (AN)}he has made him known.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

¹⁹ And this is the ^(AO)testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ^(AP)“Who are you?” ^20 (AQ)He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ And they asked him, “What then? ^(AR)Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you ^(AS)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am ^(AT)the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight^[h] the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) ²⁵ They asked him, ^(AU)“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, ^(AV)“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷ even ^(AW)he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, ^(AX)the Lamb of God, who ^(AY)takes away the sin ^(AZ)of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ^(BA)‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but ^(BB)for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John ^(BC)bore witness: ^(BD)“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and ^(BE)it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but ^(BF)he who sent me to baptize ^(BG)with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, ^(BH)this is he who baptizes ^(BI)with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son^[i] of God.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

³⁵ The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ^(BJ)the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ^(BK)“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, ^(BL)“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.^{[j] 40 (BM)}One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus^[k] was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found ^(BN)the Messiah” (which means Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^(BO)John. You shall be called ^(BP)Cephas” (which means ^(BQ)Peter^[l]).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

^43 (BR)The next day Jesus decided ^(BS)to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(BT)Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found ^(BU)Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom ^(BV)Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus ^(BW)of Nazareth, ^(BX)the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, ^(BY)“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, ^(BZ)an Israelite indeed, ^(CA)in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, “How ^(CB)do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, ^(CC)“Rabbi, ^(CD)you are the Son of God! You are the ^(CE)King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,^[m] you will see ^(CF)heaven opened, and ^(CG)the angels of God ascending and descending on ^(CH)the Son of Man.”