Greeting

¹ Paul, ^(A)a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and ^(B)Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker ² and Apphia our sister and ^(C)Archippus our ^(D)fellow soldier, and ^(E)the church in your house:

^3 (F)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philemon's Love and Faith

^4 (G)I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, ⁵ because I ^(H)hear of your love and ^(I)of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, ⁶ and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full ^(J)knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.^{[a] 7} For I have derived much joy and ^(K)comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints ^(L)have been refreshed through you.

Paul's Plea for Onesimus

⁸ Accordingly, ^(M)though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do ^(N)what is required, ⁹ yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now ^(O)a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— ¹⁰ I appeal to you for ^(P)my child, ^(Q)Onesimus,^{[b] (R)}whose father I became in my imprisonment. ¹¹ (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) ¹² I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. ¹³ I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me ^(S)on your behalf ^(T)during my imprisonment for the gospel, ¹⁴ but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be ^(U)by compulsion but of your own accord. ¹⁵ For this perhaps is why ^(V)he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, ^16 (W)no longer as a bondservant^[c] but more than a bondservant, as ^(X)a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, ^(Y)both in the flesh and in the Lord.

¹⁷ So if you consider me ^(Z)your partner, receive him as you would receive me. ¹⁸ If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. ^19 (AA)I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. ²⁰ Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. ^(AB)Refresh my heart in Christ.

^21 (AC)Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. ²² At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for ^(AD)I am hoping that ^(AE)through your prayers ^(AF)I will be graciously given to you.

Final Greetings

^23 (AG)Epaphras, my ^(AH)fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, ²⁴ and so do ^(AI)Mark, ^(AJ)Aristarchus, ^(AK)Demas, and ^(AL)Luke, my fellow workers.

^25 (AM)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

The Vanity of Self-Indulgence

2 I ^(A)said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.^{[a] 2} I ^(B)said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” ³ I ^(C)searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on ^(D)folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. ⁴ I made great works. I ^(E)built houses and planted ^(F)vineyards for myself. ⁵ I made myself ^(G)gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. ⁶ I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. ⁷ I bought male and female slaves, and had ^(H)slaves who were born in my house. I had also great possessions of ^(I)herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. ⁸ I also gathered for myself silver and ^(J)gold and the treasure of ^(K)kings and ^(L)provinces. I got ^(M)singers, both men and women, and many ^(N)concubines,^[b] the delight of the sons of man.

⁹ So I became great and ^(O)surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem. Also my ^(P)wisdom remained with me. ¹⁰ And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart ^(Q)found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my ^(R)reward for all my toil. ¹¹ Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was ^(S)vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing ^(T)to be gained under the sun.

The Vanity of Living Wisely

^12 (U)So I turned to consider ^(V)wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only ^(W)what has already been done. ¹³ Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness. ^14 (X)The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the ^(Y)same event happens to all of them. ¹⁵ Then I said in my heart, ^(Z)“What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. ¹⁶ For of the wise as of the fool there is ^(AA)no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. ^(AB)How the wise dies just like the fool! ¹⁷ So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for ^(AC)all is vanity and a striving after wind.

The Vanity of Toil

¹⁸ I hated ^(AD)all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must ^(AE)leave it to the man who will come after me, ¹⁹ and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. ²⁰ So I ^(AF)turned about and gave my heart up to despair ^(AG)over all the toil of my labors under the sun, ²¹ because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. ²² What has a man from ^(AH)all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun? ²³ For ^(AI)all his days are full of sorrow, and his ^(AJ)work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This also is vanity.

^24 (AK)There is nothing better for a person than that he should ^(AL)eat and drink and find enjoyment^[c] in his toil. This also, I saw, is ^(AM)from the hand of God, ²⁵ for apart from him^[d] who can eat or who can have enjoyment? ²⁶ For to the one who pleases him ^(AN)God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given ^(AO)the business of gathering and collecting, ^(AP)only to give to one who pleases God. ^(AQ)This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

The Sin of Judah

17 “The sin of Judah is written with ^(A)a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on ^(B)the tablet of their heart, and on ^(C)the horns of their altars, ² while ^(D)their children remember their altars and their ^(E)Asherim, ^(F)beside every green tree and on the high hills, ^3 (G)on the mountains in the open country. ^(H)Your wealth and all your treasures I will give for spoil as the price of your high places for sin throughout all your territory. ⁴ You shall loosen your hand from your heritage that I gave to you, ^(I)and I will make you serve your enemies in a land that you do not know, ^(J)for in my anger a fire is kindled that shall burn forever.”

Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance

Keep the Sabbath Holy

¹⁹ Thus said the Lord to me: “Go and stand in the People's Gate, by which ^(AM)the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, ²⁰ and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, ^(AN)you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. ²¹ Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and ^(AO)do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. ²² And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath ^(AP)or do any work, but ^(AQ)keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. ²³ Yet ^(AR)they did not listen or incline their ear, ^(AS)but stiffened their neck, that they ^(AT)might not hear and receive instruction.

²⁴ “‘But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and ^(AU)bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but ^(AV)keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, ²⁵ then ^(AW)there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And this city shall be inhabited forever. ²⁶ And people shall come from ^(AX)the cities of Judah ^(AY)and the places around Jerusalem, ^(AZ)from the land of Benjamin, ^(BA)from the Shephelah, from the hill country, ^(BB)and from ^(BC)the Negeb, bringing ^(BD)burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and ^(BE)bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. ²⁷ But if you do not listen to me, to ^(BF)keep the Sabbath day holy, ^(BG)and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will ^(BH)kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall ^(BI)devour the palaces of Jerusalem and ^(BJ)shall not be quenched.’”

The Potter and the Clay

18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Arise, and go down to ^(BK)the potter's house, and there I will let you hear^[d] my words.” ³ So I went down to ^(BL)the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴ And the vessel he was making of clay was ^(BM)spoiled in the potter's hand, and ^(BN)he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁶ “O house of Israel, ^(BO)can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. ^(BP)Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. ⁷ If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will ^(BQ)pluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸ and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, ^(BR)turns from its evil, ^(BS)I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. ⁹ And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will ^(BT)build and plant it, ¹⁰ and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. ¹¹ Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. ^(BU)Return, every one from his evil way, and ^(BV)amend your ways and your deeds.’

¹² “But they say, ^(BW)‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to ^(BX)the stubbornness of his evil heart.’

¹⁸ Then they said, ^(CL)“Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, ^(CM)for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. ^(CN)Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.”