Jeremiah 15-16

New International Version

15 Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses^(A) and Samuel^(B) were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people.^(C) Send them away from my presence!^(D) Let them go! ²And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“‘Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;^(E)
those for starvation, to starvation;^(F)
those for captivity, to captivity.’^(G)

³“I will send four kinds of destroyers^(H) against them,” declares the Lord, “the sword^(I) to kill and the dogs^(J) to drag away and the birds^(K) and the wild animals to devour and destroy.^(L) ⁴I will make them abhorrent^(M) to all the kingdoms of the earth^(N) because of what Manasseh^(O) son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

⁵“Who will have pity^(P) on you, Jerusalem?
    Who will mourn for you?
    Who will stop to ask how you are?
⁶You have rejected^(Q) me,” declares the Lord.
    “You keep on backsliding.
So I will reach out^(R) and destroy you;
    I am tired of holding back.^(S)
⁷I will winnow^(T) them with a winnowing fork
    at the city gates of the land.
I will bring bereavement^(U) and destruction on my people,^(V)
    for they have not changed their ways.^(W)
⁸I will make their widows^(X) more numerous
    than the sand of the sea.
At midday I will bring a destroyer^(Y)
    against the mothers of their young men;
suddenly I will bring down on them
    anguish and terror.^(Z)
⁹The mother of seven will grow faint^(AA)
    and breathe her last.^(AB)
Her sun will set while it is still day;
    she will be disgraced^(AC) and humiliated.
I will put the survivors to the sword^(AD)
    before their enemies,”^(AE)
declares the Lord.

¹⁰Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,^(AF)
a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!^(AG)
I have neither lent^(AH) nor borrowed,
yet everyone curses^(AI) me.

¹¹The Lord said,

“Surely I will deliver you^(AJ) for a good purpose;
surely I will make your enemies plead^(AK) with you
in times of disaster and times of distress.

¹²“Can a man break iron—
iron from the north^(AL)—or bronze?

¹³“Your wealth^(AM) and your treasures
    I will give as plunder,^(AN) without charge,^(AO)
because of all your sins
    throughout your country.^(AP)
¹⁴I will enslave you to your enemies
    in^[a] a land you do not know,^(AQ)
for my anger will kindle a fire^(AR)
    that will burn against you.”

¹⁵Lord, you understand;
    remember me and care for me.
    Avenge me on my persecutors.^(AS)
You are long-suffering^(AT)—do not take me away;
    think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.^(AU)
¹⁶When your words came, I ate^(AV) them;
    they were my joy and my heart’s delight,^(AW)
for I bear your name,^(AX)
    Lord God Almighty.
¹⁷I never sat^(AY) in the company of revelers,
    never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand^(AZ) was on me
    and you had filled me with indignation.
¹⁸Why is my pain unending
    and my wound grievous and incurable?^(BA)
You are to me like a deceptive brook,
    like a spring that fails.^(BB)

¹⁹Therefore this is what the Lord says:

“If you repent, I will restore you
    that you may serve^(BC) me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
    you will be my spokesman.^(BD)
Let this people turn to you,
    but you must not turn to them.
²⁰I will make you a wall^(BE) to this people,
    a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
    but will not overcome^(BF) you,
for I am with you
    to rescue and save you,”^(BG)
declares the Lord.
²¹“I will save^(BH) you from the hands of the wicked^(BI)
    and deliver^(BJ) you from the grasp of the cruel.”^(BK)

Day of Disaster

16 Then the word of the Lord came to me: ²“You must not marry^(BL) and have sons or daughters in this place.” ³For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers:^(BM) ⁴“They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried^(BN) but will be like dung lying on the ground.^(BO) They will perish by sword and famine,^(BP) and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”^(BQ)

⁵For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity^(BR) from this people,” declares the Lord. ⁶“Both high and low will die in this land.^(BS) They will not be buried or mourned,^(BT) and no one will cut^(BU) themselves or shave^(BV) their head for the dead. ⁷No one will offer food^(BW) to comfort those who mourn^(BX) for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console^(BY) them.

⁸“And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink.^(BZ) ⁹For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds^(CA) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride^(CB) and bridegroom in this place.^(CC)

¹⁰“When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?’^(CD) ¹¹then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped^(CE) them. They forsook me and did not keep my law.^(CF) ¹²But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors.^(CG) See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts^(CH) instead of obeying me. ¹³So I will throw you out of this land^(CI) into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known,^(CJ) and there you will serve other gods^(CK) day and night, for I will show you no favor.’^(CL)

¹⁴“However, the days are coming,”^(CM) declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’^(CN) ¹⁵but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north^(CO) and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’^(CP) For I will restore^(CQ) them to the land I gave their ancestors.^(CR)

¹⁶“But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them.^(CS) After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt^(CT) them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.^(CU) ¹⁷My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden^(CV) from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.^(CW) ¹⁸I will repay^(CX) them double^(CY) for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land^(CZ) with the lifeless forms of their vile images^(DA) and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.^(DB)”^(DC)

¹⁹Lord, my strength and my fortress,
    my refuge^(DD) in time of distress,
to you the nations will come^(DE)
    from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,^(DF)
    worthless idols^(DG) that did them no good.^(DH)
²⁰Do people make their own gods?
    Yes, but they are not gods!”^(DI)

²¹“Therefore I will teach them—
    this time I will teach them
    my power and might.
Then they will know
    that my name^(DJ) is the Lord.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 15:14 Some Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Syriac (see also 17:4); most Hebrew manuscripts I will cause your enemies to bring you / into

Psalm 118:21-24

New International Version

²¹I will give you thanks, for you answered me;^(A)
you have become my salvation.^(B)

²²The stone^(C) the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;^(D)
²³the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous^(E) in our eyes.
²⁴The Lord has done it this very day;
    let us rejoice today and be glad.^(F)

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Proverbs 27:10

New International Version

¹⁰Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family,
and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster^(A) strikes you—
better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away.

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Proverbs 27:10 in all English translations

1 Thessalonians 2

New International Version

Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica

2 You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you^(A) was not without results.^(B) ²We had previously suffered^(C) and been treated outrageously in Philippi,^(D) as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition.^(E) ³For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives,^(F) nor are we trying to trick you.^(G) ⁴On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.^(H) We are not trying to please people^(I) but God, who tests our hearts.^(J) ⁵You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed^(K)—God is our witness.^(L) ⁶We were not looking for praise from people,^(M) not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles^(N) of Christ we could have asserted our authority.^(O) ⁷Instead, we were like young children^[a] among you.

Just as a nursing mother cares for her children,^(P) ⁸so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God^(Q) but our lives as well.^(R) ⁹Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked^(S) night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone^(T) while we preached the gospel of God to you. ¹⁰You are witnesses,^(U) and so is God,^(V) of how holy,^(W) righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. ¹¹For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children,^(X) ¹²encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy^(Y) of God, who calls^(Z) you into his kingdom and glory.

¹³And we also thank God continually^(AA) because, when you received the word of God,^(AB) which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. ¹⁴For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators^(AC) of God’s churches in Judea,^(AD) which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people^(AE) the same things those churches suffered from the Jews ¹⁵who killed the Lord Jesus^(AF) and the prophets^(AG) and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone ¹⁶in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles^(AH) so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit.^(AI) The wrath of God has come upon them at last.^[b]

Paul’s Longing to See the Thessalonians

¹⁷But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought),^(AJ) out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you.^(AK) ¹⁸For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan^(AL) blocked our way.^(AM) ¹⁹For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown^(AN) in which we will glory^(AO) in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes?^(AP) Is it not you? ²⁰Indeed, you are our glory^(AQ) and joy.