Jeremiah Taken to Egypt

43 When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord their God, with which the Lord their God had sent him to them, ² Azariah the son of ^(A)Hoshaiah and ^(B)Johanan the son of Kareah and ^(C)all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, ^(D)‘Do not go to Egypt to live there,’ ³ but ^(E)Baruch the son of Neriah ^(F)has set you against us, ^(G)to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may kill us or take us into exile in Babylon.” ⁴ So ^(H)Johanan the son of Kareah and all ^(I)the commanders of the forces and all the people did not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. ⁵ But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took ^(J)all the remnant of Judah who had returned to live in the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been driven— ^6 (K)the men, the women, the children, ^(L)the princesses, and every person whom ^(M)Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with ^(N)Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan; also Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah. ⁷ And they came into the land of Egypt, for they did not obey the voice of the Lord. And they arrived at ^(O)Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in ^(P)Tahpanhes: ⁹ “Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in ^(Q)Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, ¹⁰ and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(R)my servant, ^(S)and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. ¹¹ He shall come ^(T)and strike the land of Egypt, ^(U)giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. ^12 (V)I shall kindle a fire ^(W)in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them ^(X)and carry them away captive. ^(Y)And he shall clean the land of Egypt ^(Z)as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. ¹³ He shall break the ^(AA)obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, ^(AB)and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’”

Judgment for Idolatry

44 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Judeans who lived in the land of Egypt, at ^(AC)Migdol, at ^(AD)Tahpanhes, at Memphis, and in the land of ^(AE)Pathros, ² “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day ^(AF)they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, ³ because of the evil that they committed, ^(AG)provoking me to anger, ^(AH)in that they went to make offerings ^(AI)and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. ^4 (AJ)Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ ^5 (AK)But they did not listen ^(AL)or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. ^6 (AM)Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, ^(AN)and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day. ⁷ And now thus says the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel: Why do you commit this great evil ^(AO)against yourselves, to cut off from you ^(AP)man and woman, ^(AQ)infant and child, from the midst of Judah, leaving you no remnant? ^8 (AR)Why do you provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, ^(AS)making offerings to other gods in the land of Egypt where you have come to live, so that you may be cut off and become ^(AT)a curse and a taunt among all the nations of the earth? ⁹ Have you forgotten the evil of your fathers, ^(AU)the evil of the kings of Judah, ^(AV)the evil of their^[a] wives, your own evil, ^(AW)and the evil of your wives, which they committed in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁰ They have not humbled themselves even to this day, ^(AX)nor have they feared, nor walked in my law and my statutes that I set before you and before your fathers.

¹¹ “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(AY)Behold, I will set my face against you for harm, to cut off all Judah. ¹² I will take the remnant of Judah who have ^(AZ)set their faces to come to the land of Egypt to live, and they shall all be consumed. ^(BA)In the land of Egypt they shall fall; by the sword and by famine ^(BB)they shall be consumed. ^(BC)From the least to the greatest, they shall die by the sword and by famine, ^(BD)and they shall become an oath, a horror, ^(BE)a curse, and a taunt. ^13 (BF)I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, ^14 (BG)so that none of the remnant of Judah who have come to live in the land of Egypt shall escape or survive ^(BH)or return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return to dwell there. For they shall not return, ^(BI)except some fugitives.”

¹⁵ Then all the men who knew that ^(BJ)their wives had made offerings to other gods, and all the women who stood by, a great assembly, all the people who lived in ^(BK)Pathros in the land of Egypt, answered Jeremiah: ¹⁶ “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, ^(BL)we will not listen to you. ^17 (BM)But we will do everything that we have vowed, make offerings to ^(BN)the queen of heaven ^(BO)and pour out drink offerings to her, ^(BP)as we did, both we and our fathers, our kings and our officials, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, and prospered, and saw no disaster. ¹⁸ But since we left off making offerings to ^(BQ)the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything ^(BR)and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.” ¹⁹ And the women said,^[b] “When we made offerings to the queen of heaven ^(BS)and poured out drink offerings to her, was it ^(BT)without our husbands' approval that we made cakes for her bearing her image and poured out drink offerings to her?”

²⁰ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, ^(BU)men and women, all the people who had given him this answer: ^21 (BV)“As for the offerings that you offered in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your officials, and the people of the land, ^(BW)did not the Lord remember them? Did it not come into his mind? ^22 (BX)The Lord could no longer bear your evil deeds and ^(BY)the abominations that you committed. ^(BZ)Therefore your land has become ^(CA)a desolation and a waste and a curse, ^(CB)without inhabitant, as it is this day. ²³ It is because you made offerings ^(CC)and because you sinned against the Lord and did not obey the voice of the Lord or walk in his law and in his statutes and in his testimonies ^(CD)that this disaster has happened to you, as at this day.”

²⁴ Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, “Hear the word of the Lord, ^(CE)all you of Judah who are in the land of Egypt. ²⁵ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(CF)You and your wives have declared with your mouths, and have fulfilled it with your hands, saying, ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made, ^(CG)to make offerings to the queen of heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Then confirm your vows and perform your vows! ²⁶ Therefore hear the word of the Lord, ^(CH)all you of Judah who dwell in the land of Egypt: ^(CI)Behold, I have sworn by my great name, says the Lord, ^(CJ)that my name shall no more be invoked by the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, ^(CK)saying, ‘As the Lord God lives.’ ^27 (CL)Behold, I am watching over them for disaster and not for good. ^(CM)All the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, until there is an end of them. ^28 (CN)And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, ^(CO)few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, ^(CP)shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs. ²⁹ This shall be the sign to you, declares the Lord, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that ^(CQ)my words will surely stand against you for harm: ³⁰ Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will give ^(CR)Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies ^(CS)and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave ^(CT)Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life.”

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^(A)the Son of God.^[a]

^2 (B)As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,^[b]

^4 (F)John appeared, baptizing in ^(G)the wilderness and proclaiming ^(H)a baptism of ^(I)repentance ^(J)for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, ^(K)confessing their sins. ⁶ Now John was ^(L)clothed with camel's hair and ^(M)wore a leather belt around his waist and ate ^(N)locusts and ^(O)wild honey. ⁷ And he preached, saying, ^(P)“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ^8 (Q)I have baptized you with water, but ^(R)he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

The Baptism of Jesus

^9 (S)In those days Jesus ^(T)came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ And when he came up out of the water, immediately he ^(U)saw ^(V)the heavens being torn open ^(W)and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹ And ^(X)a voice came from heaven, ^(Y)“You are my beloved Son;^[d] with you I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

^12 (Z)The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. ^13 (AA)And he was in the wilderness forty days, being ^(AB)tempted by ^(AC)Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and ^(AD)the angels were ministering to him.

Jesus Begins His Ministry

^14 (AE)Now after John was arrested, Jesus ^(AF)came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, ^(AG)“The time is fulfilled, and ^(AH)the kingdom of God is at hand;^{[e] (AI)}repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

^16 (AJ)Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become ^(AK)fishers of men.”^{[f] 18} And immediately they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹ And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. ²⁰ And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Jesus Heals a Man with an Unclean Spirit

^21 (AL)And they went into Capernaum, and immediately ^(AM)on the Sabbath ^(AN)he entered the synagogue and was teaching. ²² And ^(AO)they were astonished at his teaching, ^(AP)for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, ^24 (AQ)“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? ^(AR)I know who you are—^(AS)the Holy One of God.” ²⁵ But Jesus ^(AT)rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And the unclean spirit, ^(AU)convulsing him and ^(AV)crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷ And they were all ^(AW)amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? ^(AX)A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” ²⁸ And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

Jesus Heals Many

^29 (AY)And immediately he^{[g] (AZ)}left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. ³⁰ Now ^(BA)Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. ³¹ And he came and ^(BB)took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

³² That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or ^(BC)oppressed by demons. ³³ And the whole city was gathered together at the door. ^34 (BD)And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And ^(BE)he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

^35 (BF)And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and ^(BG)there he prayed. ³⁶ And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, ³⁷ and they found him and said to him, ^(BH)“Everyone is looking for you.” ³⁸ And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for ^(BI)that is why I came out.” ^39 (BJ)And ^(BK)he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

^40 (BL)And a leper^[h] came to him, imploring him, and ^(BM)kneeling said to him, ^(BN)“If you will, you can make me clean.” ⁴¹ Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” ⁴² And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. ⁴³ And ^(BO)Jesus^[i] sternly charged him and sent him away at once, ⁴⁴ and said to him, ^(BP)“See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, ^(BQ)show yourself to the priest and ^(BR)offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, ^(BS)for a proof to them.” ^45 (BT)But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter ^(BU)a town, but was out in ^(BV)desolate places, and ^(BW)people were coming to him from every quarter.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

2 And when he returned to ^(BX)Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ² And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. ^3 (BY)And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, ^(BZ)they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. ⁵ And when Jesus ^(CA)saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, ^(CB)your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak like that? ^(CC)He is blaspheming! ^(CD)Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ And immediately Jesus, ^(CE)perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that ^(CF)the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹ “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” ¹² And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and ^(CG)glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

Jesus Calls Levi

¹³ He went out again beside the sea, and ^(CH)all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. ^14 (CI)And as he passed by, he saw ^(CJ)Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁵ And as he reclined at table in his house, many ^(CK)tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. ¹⁶ And ^(CL)the scribes of^[j] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, ^(CM)“Why does he eat^[k] with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ^(CN)I came not to call the righteous, ^(CO)but sinners.”

A Question About Fasting

¹⁸ Now ^(CP)John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, ^(CQ)“Why do John's disciples and ^(CR)the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” ¹⁹ And Jesus said to them, ^(CS)“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. ^20 (CT)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(CU)then they will fast in that day. ²¹ No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. ²² And no one puts new wine into old ^(CV)wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”^[l]

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

^23 (CW)One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples ^(CX)began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴ And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, ^(CY)why are they doing ^(CZ)what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵ And he said to them, ^(DA)“Have you never read ^(DB)what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: ²⁶ how he entered the house of God, in the time of^{[m] (DC)}Abiathar the high priest, and ate ^(DD)the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷ And he said to them, ^(DE)“The Sabbath was made for man, ^(DF)not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So ^(DG)the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

3 ^(DH)Again ^(DI)he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. ² And ^(DJ)they watched Jesus,^[n] to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. ³ And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” ⁴ And he said to them, ^(DK)“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. ⁵ And he ^(DL)looked around at them with anger, grieved at ^(DM)their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” ^(DN)He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ^6 (DO)The Pharisees went out and immediately ^(DP)held counsel with ^(DQ)the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

A Great Crowd Follows Jesus

^7 (DR)Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and ^(DS)a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea ⁸ and Jerusalem and ^(DT)Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around ^(DU)Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. ⁹ And he told his disciples to ^(DV)have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they ^(DW)crush him, ¹⁰ for ^(DX)he had healed many, so that all who had ^(DY)diseases pressed around him ^(DZ)to touch him. ^11 (EA)And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they ^(EB)fell down before him and cried out, “You are ^(EC)the Son of God.” ¹² And ^(ED)he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

The Twelve Apostles

^13 (EE)And he went up on the mountain and called to him those ^(EF)whom he desired, and they came to him. ^14 (EG)And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach ^15 (EH)and have authority to cast out demons. ¹⁶ He appointed the twelve: ^(EI)Simon (to whom ^(EJ)he gave the name Peter); ^17 (EK)James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); ¹⁸ Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and ^(EL)Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,^{[o] 19} and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

²⁰ Then he went ^(EM)home, and the crowd gathered again, ^(EN)so that they could not even eat. ^21 (EO)And when ^(EP)his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He ^(EQ)is out of his mind.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

²² And ^(ER)the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ^(ES)“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” ^23 (ET)And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶ And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. ²⁷ But ^(EU)no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. ^(EV)Then indeed he may plunder his house.

^28 (EW)“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, ²⁹ but whoever ^(EX)blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰ for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus' Mother and Brothers

^31 (EY)And his mother and his ^(EZ)brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. ³² And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers^[p] are outside, seeking you.” ³³ And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” ³⁴ And ^(FA)looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ^35 (FB)For whoever ^(FC)does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”