“‘When any of the Israelites or any foreigner(A) residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block(B) before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquire(C) of me, I the Lord will answer them myself.

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48 “A foreigner residing among you who wants to celebrate the Lord’s Passover must have all the males in his household circumcised; then he may take part like one born in the land.(A) No uncircumcised(B) male may eat it.

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True Fasting

58 “Shout it aloud,(A) do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.(B)
Declare to my people their rebellion(C)
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.(D)
For day after day they seek(E) me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken(F) the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near(G) them.

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19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.(A)

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10 “When I found Israel,
    it was like finding grapes in the desert;
when I saw your ancestors,
    it was like seeing the early fruit(A) on the fig(B) tree.
But when they came to Baal Peor,(C)
    they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol(D)
    and became as vile as the thing they loved.

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14 “I will not punish your daughters
    when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
    when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots(A)
    and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes(B)
    a people without understanding(C) will come to ruin!(D)

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30 “As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.’ 31 My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before(A) you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy(B) for unjust gain.(C) 32 Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs(D) with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.(E)

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“‘When any of the Israelites or any foreigner(A) residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block(B) before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquire(C) of me, I the Lord will answer them myself. I will set my face against(D) them and make them an example(E) and a byword.(F) I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.(G)

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“Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts(A) and put wicked stumbling blocks(B) before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?(C) Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry.

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17 Then King Zedekiah sent(A) for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked(B) him privately,(C) “Is there any word from the Lord?”

“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered(D) into the hands of the king of Babylon.”

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“This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive(A) yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! 10 Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian[a] army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn(B) this city down.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 37:10 Or Chaldean; also in verse 11

Jeremiah in Prison

37 Zedekiah(A) son of Josiah was made king(B) of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin[a](C) son of Jehoiakim. Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention(D) to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.

King Zedekiah, however, sent(E) Jehukal(F) son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah(G) son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray(H) to the Lord our God for us.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 37:1 Hebrew Koniah, a variant of Jehoiachin

God Rejects Zedekiah’s Request

21 The word came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah(A) sent to him Pashhur(B) son of Malkijah and the priest Zephaniah(C) son of Maaseiah. They said: “Inquire(D) now of the Lord for us because Nebuchadnezzar[a](E) king of Babylon(F) is attacking us. Perhaps the Lord will perform wonders(G) for us as in times past so that he will withdraw from us.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 21:2 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, of which Nebuchadnezzar is a variant; here and often in Jeremiah and Ezekiel

he said to Hazael,(A) “Take a gift(B) with you and go to meet the man of God. Consult(C) the Lord through him; ask him, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel-loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’”

10 Elisha answered, “Go and say to him, ‘You will certainly recover.’(D) Nevertheless,[a] the Lord has revealed to me that he will in fact die.” 11 He stared at him with a fixed gaze until Hazael was embarrassed.(E) Then the man of God began to weep.(F)

12 “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael.

“Because I know the harm(G) you will do to the Israelites,” he answered. “You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash(H) their little children(I) to the ground, and rip open(J) their pregnant women.”

13 Hazael said, “How could your servant, a mere dog,(K) accomplish such a feat?”

“The Lord has shown me that you will become king(L) of Aram,” answered Elisha.

14 Then Hazael left Elisha and returned to his master. When Ben-Hadad asked, “What did Elisha say to you?” Hazael replied, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15 But the next day he took a thick cloth, soaked it in water and spread it over the king’s face, so that he died.(M) Then Hazael succeeded him as king.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 8:10 The Hebrew may also be read Go and say, ‘You will certainly not recover,’ for.

29 One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you.(A)

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15 The community is to have the same rules for you and for the foreigner residing among you; this is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come.(A) You and the foreigner shall be the same before the Lord:

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22 You are to have the same law for the foreigner(A) and the native-born.(B) I am the Lord your God.’”

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“Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death.(A) The members of the community are to stone him.(B)

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29 “This is to be a lasting ordinance(A) for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month(B) you must deny yourselves[a](C) and not do any work(D)—whether native-born(E) or a foreigner residing among you—

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Footnotes

  1. Leviticus 16:29 Or must fast; also in verse 31

10 but the seventh day is a sabbath(A) to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.

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Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again

14 Then King Zedekiah sent(A) for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide(B) anything from me.”

15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.”

16 But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly(C) to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath,(D) I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.”(E)

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender(F) to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live.(G) 18 But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands(H) of the Babylonians and they will burn(I) it down; you yourself will not escape(J) from them.’”

19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid(K) of the Jews who have gone over(L) to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”

20 “They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey(M) the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well(N) with you, and your life(O) will be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me: 22 All the women(P) left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:

“‘They misled you and overcame you—
    those trusted friends(Q) of yours.
Your feet are sunk in the mud;(R)
    your friends have deserted you.’

23 “All your wives and children(S) will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape(T) from their hands but will be captured(U) by the king of Babylon; and this city will[a] be burned down.”(V)

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 38:23 Or and you will cause this city to

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