Jeremiah 13-15
Complete Jewish Bible
13 Adonai said to me, “Go, buy yourself a linen loincloth, and wrap it around your body; but don’t soften it in water.” 2 So I bought a loincloth, as Adonai had said, and put it on.
3 Then the word of Adonai came to me a second time: 4 “Take the loincloth you bought and are wearing, get up, go to Parah, and hide it there in a hole in the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it in Parah, as Adonai had ordered me.
6 A long time afterwards, Adonai said to me, “Get up, go to Parah, and recover the loincloth I ordered you to hide there.” 7 So I went to Parah and dug up the loincloth; but when I took it from the place where I had hidden it, I saw that it was ruined and useless for anything. 8 Then the word of Adonai came to me: 9 “Here is what Adonai says: ‘This is how I will ruin what makes Y’hudah so proud and Yerushalayim so very proud: 10 I will ruin this evil people, who refuse to hear my words and live according to their own stubborn inclinations, who go after other gods to serve and worship them. They will be like this loincloth, which is useless for anything. 11 For just as a loincloth clings to a man’s body, I made the whole house of Isra’el and the whole house of Y’hudah cling to me,’ says Adonai, ‘so that they could be my people, building me a name and becoming for me a source of praise and honor. But they would not listen. 12 So you are to tell them, “This is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘Every bottle is filled with wine.’” Then when they ask you, “Don’t we already know that every bottle is filled with wine?” 13 you are to answer them, “This is what Adonai says: ‘I am going to fill all the inhabitants of this land — including the kings sitting on the throne of David, the cohanim, the prophets and the inhabitants of Yerushalayim — with drunkenness. 14 Then I will smash them one against another, even fathers and sons together,’ says Adonai ‘I will show neither pity nor compassion, but I will destroy them relentlessly.’”’”
15 Listen and pay attention; don’t be proud!
For Adonai has spoken.
16 Give glory to Adonai your God
before the darkness falls,
before your feet stumble
on the mountains in the twilight,
and, while you are seeking light,
he turns it into deathlike shadows
and makes it completely dark.
17 But if you will not hear this warning,
I will weep secretly because of your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly, streaming with tears,
because Adonai’s flock is carried away captive.
18 Tell the king and the queen mother,
“Come down from your thrones,
for your magnificent crowns
are falling from your heads.”
19 The cities of the Negev are besieged,
and no one can relieve them;
all of Y’hudah is carried into exile,
completely swept into exile.
20 Raise your eyes, and you will see them
coming from the north.
Where is the flock once entrusted to you,
the sheep that were your pride?
21 When he sets over you as rulers
those you trained to be allies,
what will you say? Won’t pains seize you
like those of a woman in labor?
22 And if you ask yourself,
“Why have these things happened to me?”
it is because of your many sins
that your skirts are pulled up and you have been violated.
23 Can an Ethiopian change his skin?
or a leopard its spots?
If they can, then you can do good,
who are so accustomed to doing evil.
24 “So I will scatter them like chaff
that flies away in the desert wind.
25 This is what you get,” says Adonai,
“the portion I measure out to you,
because you have forgotten me
and trusted in the lie.
26 I myself will lift your skirts above your face,
and your privates will be exposed.
27 On the hills and in the fields,
I have seen your abominations —
your adulteries, your lustful neighings
your shameless prostitution.
Woe to you, Yerushalayim!
You refuse to be purified!
Won’t you ever allow it?”
14 The word of Adonai that came to Yirmeyahu concerning the drought:
2 “Y’hudah is mourning, her gates are languishing;
they sit on the ground in gloom;
Yerushalayim sends up a cry of anguish.
3 Her nobles send their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns but find no water,
so they return with empty jars.
Ashamed and dismayed, they cover their heads.
4 Because of the ground, which is cracked,
since it has not rained in the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
they cover their heads.
5 The doe in the countryside, giving birth,
abandons her young for lack of grass.
6 The wild donkeys standing on the bare heights
gasp for air like jackals;
their eyes grow dim from trying to spot
any vegetation.”
7 Although our crimes witness against us,
take action, Adonai, for your name’s sake;
for our backslidings are many;
we have sinned against you.
8 You, hope of Isra’el,
its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveler turning aside for the night?
9 Why should you be like a man in shock,
like a champion unable to save?
You, Adonai, are right here with us;
we bear your name — don’t leave us!
10 Here is what Adonai says to this people:
“They so love to wander,
they don’t restrain their feet;
so Adonai does not want them.
Now he will remember their crimes,
and he will punish their sins.”
11 Then Adonai said to me, “Don’t pray for this people or for their welfare. 12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; when they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Rather, I will destroy them with war, famine and disease.” 13 Then I said, “Adonai, God! The prophets are telling them, ‘You won’t see war, and you won’t have famine; but I will give you secure peace in this place.’” 14 Adonai replied, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I didn’t send them, order them or speak to them. They are prophesying false visions to you, worthless divinations, the delusions of their own minds. 15 Therefore,” Adonai says, “concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, whom I did not send, yet they say, ‘There will be neither war nor famine in this land’ — it will be war and famine that will destroy those prophets. 16 And the people to whom they are prophesying will be thrown out into the streets of Yerushalayim because of the famine and war, with no one to bury them — them, or their wives, or their sons, or their daughters — because I will pour their own wickedness out upon them. 17 You are to give them this message:
‘Let my eyes stream with tears
night and day, unceasingly,
because the virgin daughter of my people
has been severely broken;
she has been dealt a crushing blow.
18 If I go out in the field,
I see those slain with the sword.
If I enter the city,
I see the victims of famine.
Meanwhile, prophets and cohanim
ply their trade in the land, knowing nothing.’”
19 Have you rejected Y’hudah completely?
Is Tziyon loathsome to you?
Why have you struck us irreparably?
We looked for peace, but to no avail;
for a time of healing, but instead found terror!
20 We confess our rebellion, Adonai,
also the crimes of our ancestors;
yes, we have sinned against you.
21 For your name’s sake, do not spurn us;
do not dishonor your glorious throne.
Remember your covenant with us;
do not break it.
22 Among the nations’ idols,
can any make it rain?
Can the skies, of themselves,
send showers?
Aren’t you the one,
Adonai, our God?
Don’t we look to you?
For you do all these things.
15 Then Adonai said to me, “Even if Moshe and Sh’mu’el were standing in front of me, my heart would not turn toward this people! Drive them out of my sight, get them out of here! 2 And when they ask you where they should go, tell them that this is what Adonai says:
‘Those destined for death — to death!
Those destined for the sword — to the sword!
Those destined for famine — to famine!
Those destined for captivity — to captivity!’
3 “I will assign them four kinds [of scourges],” says Adonai, “the sword to kill, dogs to drag away, birds in the air and wild animals to devour and destroy. 4 I will make them an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, because of M’nasheh the son of Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah, because of what he did in Yerushalayim.
5 “Who will take pity on you, Yerushalayim?
Who will grieve for you?
Who will turn aside
to ask about your welfare?
6 You have rejected me,” says Adonai.
“You are heading backward.
So I am stretching out my hand against you;
tired of sparing you, I am destroying you.
7 With a winnowing fork I am scattering them
to the wind at the gates of the land;
I am bereaving them, destroying my people,
because they will not return from their ways.
8 Their widows increase in number
more than the sand of the seas;
At midday I am bringing the destroyer
on the mothers of young men,
causing anguish and terror
suddenly to fall upon her.
9 The mother of seven sons grows faint,
panting in despair;
her sun has gone down while it’s still daytime;
she is left disgraced and bewildered.
And the rest of them I will give to the sword,
to their enemies,” says Adonai.
10 Woe to me, mother, that you gave me birth,
a man who is the object of strife
and controversy throughout the land!
I neither lend nor borrow,
yet all of them curse me.
11 Adonai said, “I promise to release you for good, I promise to make your enemies appeal to you when calamity and trouble come.
12 “Can iron break iron and bronze from the north? 13 I will give away your wealth and your treasures as plunder, and you will not be paid for them, because of all your sins throughout your territory; 14 and I will make you pass together with your enemies into a land you do not know. For my anger has become a blazing fire, and it will flare up against you.”
15 Adonai, you know. Remember me, think of me,
and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.
Because you are patient, don’t banish me;
know that for your sake I suffer insults.
16 When I found your words, I devoured them;
your words made me glad, they gave me joy;
because, Adonai-Tzva’ot,
you had me bear your name.
17 I have never kept company with merrymakers,
I could not celebrate;
with your hand on me I sat by myself,
for you filled me with indignation.
18 Why is my pain unending,
my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will you be for me like a deceptive vadi,
which is only sometimes filled with water?
19 This is Adonai’s answer:
“If you return — if I bring you back —
you will stand before me.
If you separate the precious from the base,
you will be my spokesman.
It will then be they who turn to you,
not you who turn to them.
20 Toward this people I will make you
a fortified wall of bronze —
they will fight against you
but not prevail against you;
for I am with you to save you
and rescue you,” says Adonai.
21 “I will free you from the grasp of the wicked
and redeem you from the clutches of the ruthless.”
John 15
Complete Jewish Bible
15 “I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch which is part of me but fails to bear fruit, he cuts off; and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, so that it may bear more fruit. 3 Right now, because of the word which I have spoken to you, you are pruned. 4 Stay united with me, as I will with you — for just as the branch can’t put forth fruit by itself apart from the vine, so you can’t bear fruit apart from me.
5 “I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who stay united with me, and I with them, are the ones who bear much fruit; because apart from me you can’t do a thing. 6 Unless a person remains united with me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire, where they are burned up.
7 “If you remain united with me, and my words with you, then ask whatever you want, and it will happen for you. 8 This is how my Father is glorified — in your bearing much fruit; this is how you will prove to be my talmidim.
9 “Just as my Father has loved me, I too have loved you; so stay in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will stay in my love — just as I have kept my Father’s commands and stay in his love. 11 I have said this to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy be complete.
12 “This is my command: that you keep on loving each other just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love than a person who lays down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends, if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a slave doesn’t know what his master is about; but I have called you friends, because everything I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, I chose you; and I have commissioned you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last; so that whatever you ask from the Father in my name he may give you. 17 This is what I command you: keep loving each other!
18 “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would have loved its own. But because you do not belong to the world — on the contrary, I have picked you out of the world — therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too; if they kept my word, they will keep yours too. 21 But they will do all this to you on my account, because they don’t know the One who sent me.
22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they wouldn’t be guilty of sin; but now, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done in their presence works which no one else ever did, they would not be guilty of sin; but now, they have seen them and have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this has happened in order to fulfill the words in their Torah which read, ‘They hated me for no reason at all.’[a]
26 “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send you from the Father — the Spirit of Truth, who keeps going out from the Father — he will testify on my behalf. 27 And you testify too, because you have been with me from the outset.
Footnotes
- John 15:25 Psalms 35:19; 69:5(4)
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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