1 Simon Peter, a servant^(A) and apostle of Jesus Christ,^(B)

To those who through the righteousness^(C) of our God and Savior Jesus Christ^(D) have received a faith as precious as ours:

² Grace and peace be yours in abundance^(E) through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.^(F)

Confirming One’s Calling and Election

³ His divine power^(G) has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him^(H) who called us^(I) by his own glory and goodness. ⁴ Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises,^(J) so that through them you may participate in the divine nature,^(K) having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.^(L)

⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;^{(M) 6} and to knowledge, self-control;^(N) and to self-control, perseverance;^(O) and to perseverance, godliness;^{(P) 7} and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.^{(Q) 8} For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive^(R) in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.^{(S) 9} But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind,^(T) forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.^(U)

¹⁰ Therefore, my brothers and sisters,^[a] make every effort to confirm your calling^(V) and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble,^{(W) 11} and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom^(X) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.^(Y)

Prophecy of Scripture

¹² So I will always remind you of these things,^(Z) even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth^(AA) you now have. ¹³ I think it is right to refresh your memory^(AB) as long as I live in the tent of this body,^{(AC) 14} because I know that I will soon put it aside,^(AD) as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.^{(AE) 15} And I will make every effort to see that after my departure^(AF) you will always be able to remember these things.

¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power,^(AG) but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.^{(AH) 17} He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”^{[b](AI) 18} We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.^(AJ)

¹⁹ We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable,^(AK) and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light^(AL) shining in a dark place, until the day dawns^(AM) and the morning star^(AN) rises in your hearts.^{(AO) 20} Above all, you must understand^(AP) that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. ²¹ For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God^(AQ) as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.^(AR)

Psalm 122

A song of ascents. Of David.

At the Potter’s House

18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. ⁴ But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me. ⁶ He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay^(A) in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand,^(B) Israel. ⁷ If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted,^(C) torn down and destroyed, ⁸ and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent^(D) and not inflict on it the disaster^(E) I had planned. ⁹ And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built^(F) up and planted, ¹⁰ and if it does evil^(G) in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider^(H) the good I had intended to do for it.^(I)

¹¹ “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster^(J) for you and devising a plan^(K) against you. So turn^(L) from your evil ways,^(M) each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’^{(N) 12} But they will reply, ‘It’s no use.^(O) We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.^(P)’”

¹³ Therefore this is what the Lord says:

¹⁸ They said, “Come, let’s make plans^(AF) against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest^(AG) will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise,^(AH) nor the word from the prophets.^(AI) So come, let’s attack him with our tongues^(AJ) and pay no attention to anything he says.”

19 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a clay jar from a potter.^(AZ) Take along some of the elders^(BA) of the people and of the priests ² and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom,^(BB) near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, ³ and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings^(BC) of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster^(BD) on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.^{(BE) 4} For they have forsaken^(BF) me and made this a place of foreign gods^(BG); they have burned incense^(BH) in it to gods that neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent.^{(BI) 5} They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children^(BJ) in the fire as offerings to Baal—something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.^{(BK) 6} So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call this place Topheth^(BL) or the Valley of Ben Hinnom,^(BM) but the Valley of Slaughter.^(BN)

⁷ “‘In this place I will ruin^[b] the plans^(BO) of Judah and Jerusalem. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies,^(BP) at the hands of those who want to kill them, and I will give their carcasses^(BQ) as food^(BR) to the birds and the wild animals. ⁸ I will devastate this city and make it an object of horror and scorn;^(BS) all who pass by will be appalled^(BT) and will scoff because of all its wounds.^{(BU) 9} I will make them eat^(BV) the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh because their enemies^(BW) will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.’

¹⁰ “Then break the jar^(BX) while those who go with you are watching, ¹¹ and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash^(BY) this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury^(BZ) the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. ¹² This is what I will do to this place and to those who live here, declares the Lord. I will make this city like Topheth. ¹³ The houses^(CA) in Jerusalem and those of the kings of Judah will be defiled^(CB) like this place, Topheth—all the houses where they burned incense on the roofs^(CC) to all the starry hosts^(CD) and poured out drink offerings^(CE) to other gods.’”

¹⁴ Jeremiah then returned from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and stood in the court^(CF) of the Lord’s temple and said to all the people, ¹⁵ “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster^(CG) I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked^(CH) and would not listen^(CI) to my words.’”

Jeremiah and Pashhur

20 When the priest Pashhur son of Immer,^(CJ) the official^(CK) in charge of the temple of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, ² he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten^(CL) and put in the stocks^(CM) at the Upper Gate of Benjamin^(CN) at the Lord’s temple. ³ The next day, when Pashhur released him from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord’s name^(CO) for you is not Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side.^{(CP) 4} For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes^(CQ) you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give^(CR) all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry^(CS) them away to Babylon or put them to the sword. ⁵ I will deliver all the wealth^(CT) of this city into the hands of their enemies—all its products, all its valuables and all the treasures of the kings of Judah. They will take it away^(CU) as plunder and carry it off to Babylon. ⁶ And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied^(CV) lies.’”

Jeremiah’s Complaint