22 Thus says the Lord: “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak there this word, ² and say, ^(A)‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David, you, and your servants, and your people who enter these gates. ³ Thus says the Lord: ^(B)Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And ^(C)do no wrong or violence ^(D)to the resident alien, ^(E)the fatherless, and the widow, nor ^(F)shed innocent blood in this place. ⁴ For if you will indeed obey this word, ^(G)then there shall enter the gates of this house kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their servants and their people. ⁵ But if you will not obey these words, I ^(H)swear by myself, declares the Lord, that ^(I)this house shall become a desolation. ⁶ For thus says the Lord concerning the house of the king of Judah:

⁸ “‘And many nations will pass by this city, and every man will say to his neighbor, ^(N)“Why has the Lord dealt thus with this great city?” ^9 (O)And they will answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord their God and worshiped other gods and served them.”’”

Message to the Sons of Josiah

¹¹ For thus says the Lord concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, and ^(R)who went away from this place: “He shall return here no more, ¹² but ^(S)in the place where they have carried him captive, there shall he die, and he shall never see this land again.”

¹⁸ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:

^24 (AQ)“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were ^(AR)the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off ²⁵ and ^(AS)give you ^(AT)into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. ^26 (AU)I will hurl you and ^(AV)the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. ²⁷ But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”

The Righteous Branch

23 ^(BD)“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. ² Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning ^(BE)the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. ^(BF)Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. ^3 (BG)Then I will gather the remnant of my flock ^(BH)out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, ^(BI)and they shall be fruitful and multiply. ^4 (BJ)I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.

^5 (BK)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous ^(BL)Branch, and ^(BM)he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶ In his days Judah will be saved, and ^(BN)Israel will ^(BO)dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ^(BP)‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

^7 (BQ)“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ ⁸ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he^[b] had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

Lying Prophets

⁹ Concerning the prophets:

¹⁶ Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, ^(CO)filling you with vain hopes. ^(CP)They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. ¹⁷ They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ^(CQ)‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who ^(CR)stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ^(CS)‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

^23 (DD)“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? ^24 (DE)Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. ^(DF)Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. ²⁵ I have heard what the prophets have said ^(DG)who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ^(DH)‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ ²⁶ How long shall there be lies in the heart of ^(DI)the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, ²⁷ who think to make my people forget my name ^(DJ)by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their ^(DK)fathers forgot my name for Baal? ^28 (DL)Let the prophet who has a dream ^(DM)tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. ^(DN)What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. ^29 (DO)Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and ^(DP)like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? ^30 (DQ)Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. ³¹ Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ ³² Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and ^(DR)lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when ^(DS)I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.

^33 (DT)“When one of this people, or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden of the Lord?’ you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,^[c] and ^(DU)I will cast you off, declares the Lord.’ ³⁴ And as for the prophet, priest, or one of the people who says, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ ^(DV)I will punish that man and his household. ³⁵ Thus shall you say, every one to his neighbor and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁶ But ‘the burden of the Lord’ you shall mention no more, for the burden is every man's own word, and ^(DW)you pervert the words of ^(DX)the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God. ³⁷ Thus you shall say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ ³⁸ But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have said these words, “The burden of the Lord,” when I sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’” ³⁹ therefore, behold, I will surely lift you up^[d] and ^(DY)cast you away from my presence, you and the city that I gave to you and your fathers. ^40 (DZ)And I will bring upon you everlasting reproach and ^(EA)perpetual shame, which shall not be forgotten.’”

Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

12 Six days before ^(A)the Passover, ^(B)Jesus therefore came to Bethany, ^(C)where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² So they gave a dinner for him there. ^(D)Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. ^3 (E)Mary therefore took a pound^[a] of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴ But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ⁵ “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii^[b] and ^(F)given to the poor?” ⁶ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and ^(G)having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷ Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it^[c] for the day of my burial. ⁸ For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

⁹ When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus^[d] was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, ^(H)whom he had raised from the dead. ^10 (I)So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹ because ^(J)on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹² The next day ^(K)the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of ^(L)palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ^(M)“Hosanna! Blessed is ^(N)he who comes in the name of the Lord, even ^(O)the King of Israel!” ¹⁴ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

^16 (Q)His disciples did not understand these things at first, but ^(R)when Jesus was glorified, then ^(S)they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. ^17 (T)The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. ¹⁸ The reason why the crowd went to meet him ^(U)was that they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, ^(V)“You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, ^(W)the world has gone after him.”

Some Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰ Now ^(X)among those who went up to worship at the feast were some ^(Y)Greeks. ²¹ So these came to ^(Z)Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told ^(AA)Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³ And Jesus answered them, ^(AB)“The hour has come ^(AC)for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(AD)unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ^25 (AE)Whoever loves his life loses it, and ^(AF)whoever ^(AG)hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must ^(AH)follow me; and ^(AI)where I am, there will my servant be also. ^(AJ)If anyone serves me, ^(AK)the Father will honor him.

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

^27 (AL)“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, ^(AM)save me from ^(AN)this hour’? But ^(AO)for this purpose I have come to ^(AP)this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name.” Then ^(AQ)a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ^(AR)“An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰ Jesus answered, ^(AS)“This voice has come for your sake, not mine. ^31 (AT)Now is the judgment of this world; now will ^(AU)the ruler of this world ^(AV)be cast out. ³² And I, ^(AW)when I am lifted up from the earth, ^(AX)will draw ^(AY)all people to myself.” ³³ He said this ^(AZ)to show by what kind of death he was going to die. ³⁴ So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that ^(BA)the Christ remains forever. How can you say that ^(BB)the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵ So Jesus said to them, ^(BC)“The light is among you ^(BD)for a little while longer. ^(BE)Walk while you have the light, lest darkness ^(BF)overtake you. ^(BG)The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become ^(BH)sons of light.”

The Unbelief of the People

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. ³⁷ Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, ^38 (BI)so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

³⁹ Therefore they ^(BK)could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because ^(BN)he saw his glory and ^(BO)spoke of him. ⁴² Nevertheless, ^(BP)many even of the authorities believed in him, but ^(BQ)for fear of the Pharisees they did not ^(BR)confess it, so that they would not be ^(BS)put out of the synagogue; ^43 (BT)for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Jesus Came to Save the World

⁴⁴ And Jesus cried out and said, ^(BU)“Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but ^(BV)in him who sent me. ⁴⁵ And ^(BW)whoever ^(BX)sees me sees him who sent me. ^46 (BY)I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷ If anyone ^(BZ)hears my words and does not keep them, ^(CA)I do not judge him; for ^(CB)I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. ^48 (CC)The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; ^(CD)the word that I have spoken will judge him ^(CE)on the last day. ⁴⁹ For ^(CF)I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father ^(CG)who sent me has himself given me ^(CH)a commandment—what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”