The Broken Flask

19 Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy ^(A)a potter's earthenware ^(B)flask, and take some of ^(C)the elders of the people and some of ^(D)the elders of the priests, ² and go out ^(E)to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. ³ You shall say, ^(F)‘Hear the word of the Lord, ^(G)O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that ^(H)the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. ^4 (I)Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; ^(J)and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, ^5 (K)and have built the high places of Baal ^(L)to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, ^(M)which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind— ⁶ therefore, ^(N)behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or ^(O)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. ⁷ And in this place ^(P)I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, ^(Q)and will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. ^(R)I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. ⁸ And I will make this city ^(S)a horror, ^(T)a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. ^9 (U)And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor ^(V)in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’

¹⁰ “Then ^(W)you shall break ^(X)the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, ¹¹ and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, ^(Y)as one breaks a potter's vessel, ^(Z)so that it can never be mended. ^(AA)Men shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury. ¹² Thus will I do to this place, declares the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city ^(AB)like Topheth. ¹³ The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah—^(AC)all the houses on whose ^(AD)roofs offerings have been offered ^(AE)to all the host of heaven, and ^(AF)drink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled ^(AG)like the place of Topheth.’”

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah came from ^(AH)Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, ^(AI)and he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said to all the people: ¹⁵ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, ^(AJ)because they have stiffened their neck, ^(AK)refusing to hear my words.”

The New Life

¹⁷ Now this I say and ^(A)testify in the Lord, ^(B)that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, ^(C)in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸ They ^(D)are darkened in their understanding, ^(E)alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to ^(F)their hardness of heart. ¹⁹ They ^(G)have become callous and ^(H)have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. ²⁰ But that is not the way you ^(I)learned Christ!— ²¹ assuming that ^(J)you have heard about him and ^(K)were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²² to ^(L)put off ^(M)your old self,^[a] which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through ^(N)deceitful desires, ²³ and ^(O)to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on ^(P)the new self, ^(Q)created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

²⁵ Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you ^(R)speak the truth with his neighbor, for ^(S)we are members one of another. ^26 (T)Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and ^(U)give no opportunity to the devil. ²⁸ Let the thief no longer steal, but rather ^(V)let him labor, ^(W)doing honest work with his own hands, so ^(X)that he may have something to share with anyone in need. ^29 (Y)Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give ^(Z)grace to those who hear. ³⁰ And ^(AA)do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ^(AB)by whom you were sealed for the day of ^(AC)redemption.

Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadnezzar

21 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him ^(A)Pashhur the son of Malchiah and ^(B)Zephaniah the priest, the son of ^(C)Maaseiah, saying, ^2 (D)“Inquire of the Lord for us, ^(E)for Nebuchadnezzar^[a] king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to ^(F)all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”

³ Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, ⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^(G)Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. ^(H)And I will bring them together into the midst of this city. ⁵ I myself will fight against you ^(I)with outstretched hand and strong arm, ^(J)in anger and in fury and in great wrath. ⁶ And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. ⁷ Afterward, declares the Lord, ^(K)I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. ^(L)He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’

⁸ “And to this people you shall say: ^(M)‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, ^(N)I set before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹ He who stays in this city shall die ^(O)by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and ^(P)surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live ^(Q)and shall have his life as a prize of war. ¹⁰ For ^(R)I have set my face against this city for harm and ^(S)not for good, declares the Lord: ^(T)it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’

Jesus at the Feast of Booths

7 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because ^(A)the Jews^[a] were seeking to kill him. ² Now ^(B)the Jews' Feast of ^(C)Booths was at hand. ^3 (D)So his brothers^[b] said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. ⁴ For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, ^(E)show yourself to the world.” ^5 (F)For not even ^(G)his brothers believed in him. ⁶ Jesus said to them, ^(H)“My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but ^(I)it hates me because I testify about it that ^(J)its works are evil. ⁸ You go up to the feast. I am not^[c] going up to this feast, for ^(K)my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

¹⁰ But after ^(L)his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private. ^11 (M)The Jews ^(N)were looking for him at the feast, and saying, “Where is he?” ¹² And there was much ^(O)muttering about him among the people. ^(P)While some said, “He is a good man,” others said, “No, ^(Q)he is leading the people astray.” ¹³ Yet ^(R)for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him.

¹⁴ About the middle of the feast Jesus went up ^(S)into the temple and began teaching. ¹⁵ The Jews therefore ^(T)marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,^[d] when he has never studied?” ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them, ^(U)“My teaching is not mine, but his ^(V)who sent me. ^17 (W)If anyone's will is to do God's^[e] will, ^(X)he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I ^(Y)am speaking on my own authority. ¹⁸ The one who speaks on his own authority ^(Z)seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. ^19 (AA)Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. ^(AB)Why do you seek to kill me?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, ^(AC)“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did ^(AD)one work, and you all marvel at it. ^22 (AE)Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but ^(AF)from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. ²³ If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, ^(AG)are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? ^24 (AH)Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”