Jeremiah 19-22

Holman Christian Standard Bible

The Clay Jar

19 This is what the Lord says: “Go, buy a potter’s clay^(A) jar. Take^[a] some of the elders of the people and some of the leading priests^(B) ²and go out to the Valley of Hinnom^(C) near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you. ³Say: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.^(D) This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will shudder^[b]^(E) ⁴because they have abandoned Me and made this a foreign place. They have burned incense in it to other gods that they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah have never known. They have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.^(F) ⁵They have built high places to Baal on which to burn their children in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, something I have never commanded or mentioned; I never entertained the thought.^[c]^(G)

⁶“Therefore, take note! The days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when this place will no longer be called Topheth and the Valley of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.^(H) ⁷I will spoil the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hand of those who want to take their life. I will provide their corpses as food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.^(I) ⁸I will make this city desolate, an object of scorn. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and scoff because of all its wounds.^(J) ⁹I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and they will eat each other’s flesh in the siege and distress that their enemies, those who want to take their life, inflict on them.^(K)

¹⁰“Then you are to shatter the jar in the presence of the people traveling with you, ¹¹and you are to proclaim to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I will shatter these people and this city, like one shatters a potter’s jar that can never again be mended. They will bury the dead in Topheth because there is no other place for burials.^(L) ¹²I will do so to this place”—this is the declaration of the Lord—“and to its residents, making this city like Topheth. ¹³The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will become impure like that place Topheth—all the houses on whose rooftops they have burned incense to the whole heavenly host^(M) and poured out drink offerings to other gods.”

¹⁴Jeremiah came back from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, stood in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple,^(N) and proclaimed to all the people, ¹⁵“This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to bring on this city—and on all its dependent villages—all the disaster that I spoke against it, for they have become obstinate, not obeying My words.’”^(O)

Jeremiah Beaten by Pashhur

20 Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer^(P) and chief official in the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. ²So Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks at the Upper Benjamin Gate in the Lord’s temple. ³The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call you Pashhur, but Magor-missabib,^[d] ⁴for this is what the Lord says, ‘I am about to make you a terror to both yourself and those you love.^(Q) They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will deport them to Babylon and put them to the sword. ⁵I will give away all the wealth of this city, all its products^(R) and valuables. Indeed, I will hand all the treasures of the kings of Judah over to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon. ⁶As for you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, you will go into captivity. You will go to Babylon. There you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends that you prophesied falsely^(S) to.’”

Jeremiah Compelled to Preach

⁷You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived.
You seized me and prevailed.
I am a laughingstock all the time;^(T)
everyone ridicules me.
⁸For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I proclaim, “Violence and destruction!”^(U)
because the word of the Lord has become for me
constant disgrace and derision.
⁹If I say, “I won’t mention Him
or speak any longer in His name,”
His message becomes a fire burning in my heart,^(V)
shut up in my bones.
I become tired of holding it in,
and I cannot prevail.
¹⁰For I have heard the gossip of many people,
“Terror is on every side!^[e]^(W)
Report him; let’s report him!”
Everyone I trusted^[f] watches for my fall.^(X)
“Perhaps he will be deceived
so that we might prevail against him
and take our vengeance on him.”
¹¹But the Lord is with me like a violent warrior.^(Y)
Therefore, my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
Since they have not succeeded, they will be utterly shamed,
an everlasting humiliation that will never be forgotten.
¹²Lord of Hosts, testing the righteous
and seeing the heart^[g] and mind,
let me see Your vengeance on them,
for I have presented my case to You.^(Z)
¹³Sing to the Lord!
Praise the Lord,
for He rescues the life of the needy
from the hand of evil people.

Jeremiah’s Lament

¹⁴May the day I was born
be cursed.^(AA)
May the day my mother bore me
never be blessed.
¹⁵May the man be cursed
who brought the news to my father, saying,
“A male child is born to you,”
bringing him great joy.
¹⁶Let that man be like the cities
the Lord demolished without compassion.^(AB)
Let him hear an outcry in the morning^(AC)
and a war cry at noontime
¹⁷because he didn’t kill me in the womb^(AD)
so that my mother might have been my grave,
her womb eternally pregnant.
¹⁸Why did I come out of the womb
to see only struggle and sorrow,^(AE)
to end my life in shame?

Zedekiah’s Request Denied

21 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur^(AF) son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah^(AG) son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah, asking, ²“Ask the Lord on our behalf, since Nebuchadnezzar^[h]^(AH) king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will perform for us something like all His past wonderful works so that Nebuchadnezzar will withdraw from us.”

³But Jeremiah answered, “This is what you are to say to Zedekiah: ⁴‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will repel the weapons of war in your hands,^(AI) those you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans^[i] who are besieging you outside the wall, and I will bring them into the center of this city.^(AJ) ⁵I will fight against you^(AK) with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm,^(AL) with anger, rage, and great wrath. ⁶I will strike the residents of this city, both man and beast. They will die in a great plague. ⁷Afterward’”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“‘King Zedekiah of Judah, his officers, and the people—those in this city who survive the plague, the sword, and the famine—I will hand over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon,^(AM) to their enemies, yes, to those who want to take their lives. He will put them to the sword; he won’t spare them or show pity or compassion.’^(AN)

A Warning for the People

⁸“But you must say to this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look, I am presenting to you the way of life and the way of death.^(AO) ⁹Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils of war.^(AP) ¹⁰For I have turned^[j] against this city to bring disaster^(AQ) and not good’”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “‘It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, who will burn it down.’^(AR)

¹¹“And to the house of the king of Judah say this: ‘Hear the word of the Lord! ¹²House of David, this is what the Lord says:

Administer justice every morning,
and rescue the victim of robbery
from the hand of his oppressor,^(AS)
or My anger will flare up like fire
and burn unquenchably
because of their evil deeds.
¹³Beware! I am against you,^(AT)
you who sit above the valley,
you atop the rocky plateau—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you who say, “Who can come down against us?^(AU)
Who can enter our hiding places?”
¹⁴I will punish you according to what you have done^(AV)—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
I will kindle a fire in its forest^(AW)
that will consume everything around it.’”^(AX)

Judgment against Sinful Kings

22 This is what the Lord says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and announce this word there. ²You are to say: Hear the word of the Lord, king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David—you, your officers, and your people who enter these gates. ³This is what the Lord says: Administer justice and righteousness.^(AY) Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor.^(AZ) Don’t exploit or brutalize the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Don’t shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴For if you conscientiously carry out this word, then kings sitting on David’s throne will enter through the gates of this palace^(BA) riding on chariots and horses—they, their officers, and their people. ⁵But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“that this house will become a ruin.”^(BB)

⁶For this is what the Lord says concerning the house of the king of Judah:

You are like Gilead to Me,
or the summit of Lebanon,
but I will certainly turn you into a wilderness,
uninhabited cities.
⁷I will appoint destroyers against you,
each with his weapons.
They will cut down the choicest of your cedars
and throw them into the fire.

⁸“Many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why did the Lord do such a thing to this great city?’ ⁹They will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant^(BC) of Yahweh their God and worshiped and served other gods.’”^(BD)

A Message Concerning Shallum

¹⁰Do not weep for the dead;
do not mourn for him.
Weep bitterly for the one^[k] who has gone away,
for he will never return again
and see his native land.

¹¹For this is what the Lord says concerning Shallum^(BE) son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in place of his father Josiah: “He has left this place—he will never return here again, ¹²but he will die in the place where they deported him, never seeing this land again.”

A Message concerning Jehoiakim

¹³Woe for the one who builds his palace
through unrighteousness,^(BF)
his upper rooms through injustice,
who makes his fellow man serve without pay
and will not give him his wages,^(BG)
¹⁴who says, “I will build myself a massive palace,
with spacious upper rooms.”
He will cut windows^[l] in it,
and it will be paneled with cedar
and painted with vermilion.
¹⁵Are you a king because you excel in cedar?
Didn’t your father eat and drink
and administer justice and righteousness?^(BH)
Then it went well with him.
¹⁶He took up the case of the poor and needy,
then it went well.
Is this not what it means to know Me?
This is the Lord’s declaration.
¹⁷But you have eyes and a heart for nothing
except your own dishonest profit,
shedding innocent blood
and committing extortion and oppression.

¹⁸Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning Jehoiakim^(BI) son of Josiah, king of Judah:

They will not mourn for him, saying,
“Woe, my brother!” or “Woe, my sister!”
They will not mourn for him, saying,
“Woe, lord! Woe, his majesty!”
¹⁹He will be buried like a donkey,^(BJ)
dragged off and thrown
outside the gates of Jerusalem.
²⁰Go up to Lebanon and cry out;
raise your voice in Bashan;
cry out from Abarim,^(BK)
for all your lovers^[m] have been crushed.^(BL)
²¹I spoke to you when you were secure.
You said, “I will not listen.”
This has been your way since youth;^(BM)
indeed, you have never listened to Me.
²²The wind will take charge of^[n] all your shepherds,
and your lovers^[o] will go into captivity.
Then you will be ashamed and humiliated^(BN)
because of all your evil.
²³You residents of Lebanon,
nestled among the cedars,
how you will groan^[p] when labor pains come on you,
agony like a woman in labor.^(BO)

A Message concerning Coniah

²⁴“As I live,” says the Lord, “though you, Coniah^[q]^(BP) son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were a signet ring^(BQ) on My right hand, I would tear you from it. ²⁵In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread,^(BR) who want to take your life, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans. ²⁶I will hurl you and the mother who gave birth^(BS) to you into another land,^(BT) where neither of you were born, and there you will both die. ²⁷They will never return to the land they long to return to.”

²⁸Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered pot,^(BU)
a jar no one wants?
Why are he and his descendants hurled out
and cast into a land they have not known?
²⁹Earth, earth, earth,
hear the word of the Lord!

³⁰This is what the Lord says:

Record this man as childless,^(BV)
a man who will not be successful in his lifetime.
None of his descendants will succeed
in sitting on the throne of David^(BW)
or ruling again in Judah.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 19:1 Syr, Tg; MT omits Take
Jeremiah 19:3 Lit shudder their ears; 1Sm 3:11; 2Kg 21:12
Jeremiah 19:5 Lit mentioned, and it did not arise on My heart
Jeremiah 20:3 = Terror Is on Every Side; Jr 6:25; 20:10; 46:5
Jeremiah 20:10 Hb Magor-missabib; Jr 20:3
Jeremiah 20:10 Lit Every man of my peace
Jeremiah 20:12 Lit kidneys
Jeremiah 21:2 Lit Nebuchadrezzar
Jeremiah 21:4 = Babylonians
Jeremiah 21:10 Lit set My face
Jeremiah 22:10 = Shallum (Jehoahaz) in v. 11
Jeremiah 22:14 Lit My windows
Jeremiah 22:20 Or friends, or allies
Jeremiah 22:22 Lit will shepherd
Jeremiah 22:22 Or friends, or allies
Jeremiah 22:23 LXX, Syr, Vg; MT reads will be pitied
Jeremiah 22:24 = Jehoiachin

Hebrews 4

Holman Christian Standard Bible

The Promised Rest

4 Therefore, while the promise to enter His rest remains, let us fear that none of you should miss it.^[a] ²For we also have received the good news just as they did; but the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith^[b]^(A) ³(for we who have believed enter the rest), in keeping with what^[c] He has said:

So I swore in My anger,
they will not enter My rest.^(B)^[d]

And yet His works have been finished since the foundation of the world, ⁴for somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in this way:

And on the seventh day
God rested from all His works.^(C)^[e]

⁵Again, in that passage He says, They will never enter My rest.^[f] ⁶Since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience,^(D) ⁷again, He specifies a certain day—today—speaking through David after such a long time, as previously stated:

Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts.^(E)^[g]

⁸For if Joshua^(F) had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹Therefore, a Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. ¹⁰For the person who has entered His rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from His.^(G) ¹¹Let us then make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall into the same pattern of disobedience.

¹²For the word of God is living and effective^(H) and sharper than any double-edged sword,^(I) penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart.^(J) ¹³No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom^(K) we must give an account.

Our Great High Priest

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession.^(L) ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are,^(M) yet without sin.^(N) ¹⁶Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.