The Potter and the Clay

18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ² “Arise and ^(A)go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” ³ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. ⁴ But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁶ “Am I not able, house of Israel, to deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the ^(B)clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel. ⁷ At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to ^(C)uproot it, to tear it down, or to destroy it; ^8 (D)if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will ^(E)relent of the disaster that I planned to bring on it. ⁹ Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to ^(F)build up or to plant it; ¹⁰ if it does ^(G)evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will ^(H)relent of the good with which I said ^[a]that I would bless it. ¹¹ So now, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am ^(I)forming a disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Now ^(J)turn back, each of you from his evil way, and ^[b]correct your ways and your deeds!”’ ¹² But ^(K)they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will ^[c]persist in the ^(L)stubbornness of his evil heart.’

⁶ They passed through the ^[a](A)Phrygian and ^(B)Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in ^[b](C)Asia; ⁷ and after they came to ^(D)Mysia, they were trying to go into ^(E)Bithynia, and the ^(F)Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; ⁸ and passing by ^(G)Mysia, they went down to ^(H)Troas. ^9 (I)And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of ^(J)Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ When he had seen ^(K)the vision, ^(L)we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to ^(M)preach the gospel to them.

¹¹ So after setting sail from ^(N)Troas, we ran ^(O)a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis; ¹² and from there to ^(P)Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of ^(Q)Macedonia, ^(R)a Roman colony; and we were spending some days in this city. ¹³ And on ^(S)the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

First Convert in Europe

¹⁴ A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of ^(T)Thyatira, and ^(U)a worshiper of God. ^[c]The Lord ^(V)opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. ¹⁵ Now when she and ^(W)her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

¹⁶ It happened that as we were going to ^(X)the place of prayer, a slave woman who had ^(Y)a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of ^(Z)the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.” ¹⁸ Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he turned and said to the spirit, “I command you ^(AA)in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very ^[d]moment.

¹⁹ But when her masters saw that their hope of ^(AB)profit was suddenly gone, they seized ^(AC)Paul and Silas and ^(AD)dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, ²⁰ and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble, ²¹ and they ^(AE)are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are ^(AF)Romans.”

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

²² The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their ^[e]robes off them and proceeded to order ^[f]them to be ^(AG)beaten with rods. ²³ When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding ^(AH)the jailer to guard them securely; ^24 [g]and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in ^(AI)the ^[h]stocks.

²⁵ Now about midnight ^(AJ)Paul and Silas were praying and ^(AK)singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; ²⁶ and suddenly ^(AL)there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately ^(AM)all the doors were opened, and everyone’s ^(AN)chains were unfastened. ²⁷ When ^(AO)the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about ^(AP)to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” ²⁹ And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before ^(AQ)Paul and Silas; ³⁰ and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, ^(AR)what must I do to be saved?”

The Jailer Converted

³¹ They said, “^(AS)Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and ^(AT)your household.” ³² And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them ^(AU)that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴ And he brought them into his house and set ^[i]food before them, and was ^[j]overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with ^(AV)his whole household.

³⁵ Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.” ³⁶ And ^(AW)the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go ^(AX)in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process—^(AY)men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come ^[k]in person and lead us out.” ³⁸ The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. ^(AZ)And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans, ³⁹ and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them ^(BA)to leave the city. ⁴⁰ They left the prison and entered the house of ^(BB)Lydia, and when they saw ^(BC)the brothers and sisters, they ^[l]encouraged them and departed.

Pashhur Persecutes Jeremiah

20 When Pashhur the priest, the son of ^(A)Immer, who was ^(B)chief overseer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things, ² Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet ^(C)beaten and put him in the ^(D)stocks that were at the upper ^(E)Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of the Lord. ³ Then on the next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name the Lord has ^(F)called you, but rather ^[a](G)Magor-missabib. ⁴ For this is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, I am going to make you a ^(H)horror to yourself and to all your friends; and while ^(I)your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will ^(J)hand all Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will take them away as ^(K)exiles to Babylon and will kill them with the sword. ⁵ I will also give all the ^(L)wealth of this city, all its produce and all its valuable things—even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will ^(M)hand over to their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon. ⁶ And you, ^(N)Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die and there you will be buried, you and all your ^(O)friends to whom you have ^(P)falsely prophesied.’”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

Paul in Thessalonica

17 Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to ^(A)Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ² And ^(B)according to Paul’s custom, he ^[a]visited them, and for three ^(C)Sabbaths reasoned with them from ^(D)the Scriptures, ^3 [b]explaining and ^[c]giving evidence that the ^[d]Christ ^(E)had to suffer and ^(F)rise from the dead, and saying, “^(G)This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the ^[e]Christ.” ^4 (H)And some of them were persuaded and joined ^(I)Paul and Silas, ^[f]along with a large number of the ^(J)God-fearing ^(K)Greeks and ^[g]a significant number of the ^(L)leading women. ⁵ But ^(M)the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and they attacked the house of ^(N)Jason and were seeking to bring them out to the people. ⁶ When they did not find them, they began ^(O)dragging Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset ^[h](P)the world have come here also; ^7 [i]and Jason ^(Q)has welcomed them, and they all act ^(R)contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” ⁸ They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. ⁹ And when they had received a ^[j]pledge from ^(S)Jason and the others, they released them.

Paul in Berea

^10 (T)The brothers immediately sent ^(U)Paul and Silas away by night to ^(V)Berea, ^[k]and when they arrived, they went into ^(W)the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ Now these people were more noble-minded than those in ^(X)Thessalonica, ^[l]for they received the word with ^[m]great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. ¹² Therefore, ^(Y)many of them believed, ^[n]along with a significant number of ^(Z)prominent Greek ^(AA)women and men. ¹³ But when the Jews of ^(AB)Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in ^(AC)Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴ Then immediately ^(AD)the brothers sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and ^(AE)Silas and ^(AF)Timothy remained there. ¹⁵ Now ^(AG)those who escorted Paul brought him as far as ^(AH)Athens; and receiving a command for ^(AI)Silas and Timothy to ^(AJ)come to him as soon as possible, they left.