Jeremiah 2

New American Standard Bible

Judah’s Apostasy

2 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Go and ^(A)proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says:

“I remember regarding you the ^[a]^(B)devotion of your youth,
Your love when you were a bride,
^(C)Your following after Me in the wilderness,
Through a land not sown.
³Israel was ^(D)holy to the Lord,
The ^(E)first of His harvest.
^(F)All who ate of it became guilty;
Evil came upon them,” declares the Lord.’”

⁴Hear the word of the Lord, house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. ⁵This is what the Lord says:

“^(G)What injustice did your fathers find in Me,
That they went far from Me,
And walked after ^(H)emptiness and became empty?
⁶They did not say, ‘Where is the Lord
Who ^(I)brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
Who ^(J)led us through the wilderness,
Through a land of deserts and of pits,
Through a land of drought and of ^[b]deep darkness,
Through a land that no one crossed
And where no person lived?’
⁷I brought you into the ^(K)fruitful land
To eat its fruit and its good things.
But you came and ^(L)defiled My land,
And you made My inheritance an abomination.
⁸The ^(M)priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
And those who handle the Law ^(N)did not know Me;
The ^[c]rulers also revolted against Me,
And the ^(O)prophets prophesied by Baal
And walked after ^(P)things that were of no benefit.

⁹“Therefore I will still ^(Q)contend with you,” declares the Lord,
“And I will contend with your sons’ sons.
¹⁰For ^(R)cross to the coastlands of ^[d]Kittim and see,
And send to ^(S)Kedar and observe closely,
And see if there has been anything like this!
¹¹Has a nation changed gods,
When ^(T)they were not gods?
But My people have ^(U)exchanged their glory
For that which is of no benefit.
¹²Be appalled at this, ^(V)you heavens,
And shudder, be very desolate,” declares the Lord.
¹³“For My people have committed two evils:
They have abandoned Me,
The ^(W)fountain of living waters,
To carve out for themselves ^(X)cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That do not hold water.

¹⁴“Is Israel ^(Y)a slave? Or is he a servant born in the home?
Why has he become plunder?
¹⁵The young ^(Z)lions have roared at him,
They have ^[e]roared loudly.
And they have ^(AA)made his land a waste;
His cities have been destroyed, without inhabitant.
¹⁶Also the ^[f]men of ^(AB)Memphis and Tahpanhes
Have ^[g]shaved ^(AC)your head.
¹⁷Have you not ^(AD)done this to yourself
By your abandoning the Lord your God
When He ^(AE)led you in the way?
¹⁸But now what are you doing ^(AF)on the road to Egypt,
Except to drink the waters of the ^[h]^(AG)Nile?
Or what are you doing on the road to Assyria,
Except to drink the waters of the Euphrates River?
¹⁹^(AH)Your own wickedness will correct you,
And your ^(AI)apostasies will punish you;
Know therefore and see that it is evil and ^(AJ)bitter
For you to abandon the Lord your God,
And ^(AK)the fear of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord ^[i]God of armies.

²⁰“For long ago ^[j]^(AL)I broke your yoke
And tore off your restraints;
But you said, ‘I will not serve!’
For on every ^(AM)high hill
And under every leafy tree
You have lain down as a prostitute.
²¹Yet I ^(AN)planted you as a choice vine,
A completely faithful seed.
How then have you turned yourself before Me
Into the ^(AO)degenerate shoots of a foreign vine?
²²Although you ^(AP)wash yourself with lye
And ^[k]use much soap,
The ^(AQ)stain of your guilt is before Me,” declares the Lord ^[l]God.
²³“^(AR)How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,
I have not gone after the ^(AS)Baals’?
Look at your way in the ^(AT)valley!
Know what you have done!
You are a swift young camel ^(AU)running about senselessly on her ways,
²⁴A ^(AV)wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,
That sniffs the wind in her passion.
Who can turn her away in her mating season?
None who seek her will grow weary;
In her month they will find her.
²⁵Keep your feet from being bare,
And your throat from thirst;
But you said, ‘^(AW)It is ^[m]hopeless!
No! For I have ^(AX)loved strangers,
And I will walk after them.’

²⁶“Like the shame of a ^(AY)thief when he is discovered,
So the house of Israel is shamed;
They, their kings, their leaders,
Their priests, and their prophets,
²⁷Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their ^(AZ)backs to Me,
And not their faces;
But in the ^(BA)time of their ^[n]trouble they will say,
‘Arise and save us!’
²⁸But where are your ^(BB)gods
Which you made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can ^(BC)save you
In the time of your ^[o]trouble!
For ^(BD)as many as the number of your cities
Are your gods, Judah.

²⁹“Why do you contend with Me?
You have ^(BE)all revolted against Me,” declares the Lord.
³⁰“^(BF)In vain I have struck your sons;
They did not accept discipline.
Your ^(BG)sword has devoured your prophets
Like a destroying lion.
³¹You generation, look to the word of the Lord.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
Or a ^(BH)land of thick darkness?
Why do My people say, ‘^(BI)We are free to roam;
We will no longer come to You’?
³²Can a virgin forget her jewelry,
Or a bride her attire?
Yet My people have ^(BJ)forgotten Me
For days without number.
³³How well you prepare your way
To seek love!
Therefore even to the wicked women
You have taught your ways.
³⁴Also on your skirts is found
The ^(BK)lifeblood of the innocent poor;
You did not find them ^(BL)breaking in.
But in spite of all these things,
³⁵You said, ‘I am innocent;
Surely His anger is turned away from me.’
Behold, I will ^(BM)enter into judgment with you
Because you ^(BN)say, ‘I have not sinned.’
³⁶Why do you ^(BO)go around so much
Changing your way?
Also, ^(BP)you will be put to shame by Egypt,
Just as you were put to shame by ^(BQ)Assyria.
³⁷From this place as well you will go out
With ^(BR)your hands on your head;
For the Lord has rejected ^(BS)those in whom you trust,
And you will not prosper with them.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 2:2 Or faithfulness
Jeremiah 2:6 Or the shadow of death
Jeremiah 2:8 Lit shepherds
Jeremiah 2:10 I.e., Cyprus and other islands
Jeremiah 2:15 Lit given their voice
Jeremiah 2:16 Lit sons
Jeremiah 2:16 Lit grazed
Jeremiah 2:18 Heb Shihor
Jeremiah 2:19 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Jeremiah 2:20 Or you
Jeremiah 2:22 Lit acquire much soap for yourself
Jeremiah 2:22 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Jeremiah 2:25 Or desperate
Jeremiah 2:27 Or evil
Jeremiah 2:28 Or evil

Matthew 16

New American Standard Bible

Pharisees and Sadducees Test Jesus

16 ^(A)The ^(B)Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and putting Jesus to the test, they ^(C)asked Him to show them a ^[a]sign from heaven. ²But He replied to them, “^[b]^(D)When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ ³And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ ^(E)You know how to discern the ^[c]appearance of the sky, but are you unable to discern the signs of the times? ⁴^(F)An evil and adulterous generation wants a ^[d]sign; and so a ^[e]sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.

⁵And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. ⁶And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and ^(G)beware of the ^[f]leaven of the ^(H)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” ⁸But Jesus, aware of this, said, “^(I)You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? ⁹Do you not yet understand nor remember ^(J)the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up? ¹⁰Nor ^(K)the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up? ¹¹How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But ^(L)beware of the ^[g]leaven of the ^(M)Pharisees and Sadducees.” ¹²Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the ^[h]leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the ^(N)Pharisees and Sadducees.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

¹³^(O)Now when Jesus came into the region of ^(P)Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that ^(Q)the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴And they said, “Some say ^(R)John the Baptist; and others, ^[i]^(S)Elijah; and still others, ^[j]Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.” ¹⁵He *said to them, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?” ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are ^(T)the ^[k]Christ, ^(U)the Son of ^(V)the living God.” ¹⁷And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, ^(W)Simon ^[l]Barjona, because ^(X)flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸And I also say to you that you are ^[m]^(Y)Peter, and upon this ^[n]rock I will build My church; and the gates of ^(Z)Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹I will give you ^(AA)the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and ^(AB)whatever you ^[o]bind on earth ^[p]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you ^[q]loose on earth ^[r]shall have been loosed in heaven.” ²⁰^(AC)Then He gave the disciples strict orders that they were to tell no one that He was ^(AD)the ^[s]Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death

²¹^(AE)From that time ^[t]Jesus began to ^[u]point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to ^(AF)suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day. ²²And yet Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “^[v]God forbid it, Lord! This shall never ^[w]happen to You!” ²³But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, ^(AG)Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on ^[x]God’s purposes, but men’s.”

Discipleship Is Costly

²⁴Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, ^(AH)take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵For ^(AI)whoever wants to save his ^[y]life will lose it; but whoever loses his ^[z]life for My sake will find it. ²⁶For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but ^[aa]forfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷For the ^(AJ)Son of Man ^(AK)is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and ^(AL)will then repay every person according to his ^[ab]deeds.

²⁸“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the ^(AM)Son of Man ^(AN)coming in His kingdom.”