The Broken Jar

19 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a ^(A)potter’s earthenware ^(B)jar, and take some of the ^(C)elders of the people and some of the ^[a](D)senior priests. ² Then go out to the ^(E)Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the ^[b]Potsherd Gate, and ^(F)proclaim there the words that I tell you, ³ and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you ^(G)kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold I am going to bring a ^(H)disaster upon this place, at which the ^(I)ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle. ⁴ Since they have ^(J)abandoned Me and have ^(K)made this place foreign, and have burned ^[c]sacrifices in it to ^(L)other gods that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and since they have filled this place with the ^(M)blood of the innocent ⁵ and have built the ^(N)high places of Baal to burn their ^(O)sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I did not command nor speak of, nor did it ever enter My ^[d]mind; ⁶ therefore, behold, ^(P)days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this place will no longer be called ^(Q)Topheth or ^(R)the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the Valley of Slaughter. ⁷ And I will ^(S)frustrate the planning of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and ^(T)I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will make their ^(U)carcasses food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth. ⁸ I will also turn this city into an object of ^(V)horror and ^[e]hissing; ^(W)everyone who passes by it will be appalled and ^[f]hiss because of all its ^[g]disasters. ⁹ And I will make them ^(X)eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and in the hardship with which their enemies and those who seek their life will torment them.”’

¹⁰ “Then you are to break the ^(Y)jar in the sight of the men who accompany you, ¹¹ and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “To the same extent I will ^(Z)break this people and this city, just as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will ^(AA)bury their dead in Topheth, ^[h]because there is no other place for burial. ¹² This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants,” declares the Lord, “so as to make this city like Topheth. ¹³ The ^(AB)houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be ^(AC)defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the ^(AD)houses on whose rooftops they burned ^[i]sacrifices to ^(AE)all the heavenly ^[j]lights and ^(AF)poured out drink offerings to other gods.”’”

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the ^(AG)courtyard of the Lord’s house and said to all the people, ¹⁵ “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am going to bring on this city and all its towns the entire disaster that I have declared against it, because they have ^(AH)stiffened their necks so ^(AI)as not to listen to My words.’”

The Christian’s Walk

^17 (A)So I say this, and affirm in the Lord, ^(B)that you are to no longer walk just as the ^[a]Gentiles also walk, in the ^(C)futility of their minds, ¹⁸ being ^(D)darkened in their understanding, ^[b](E)excluded from the life of God because of the ^(F)ignorance that is in them, because of the ^(G)hardness of their heart; ¹⁹ and they, having ^(H)become callous, ^(I)have given themselves up to ^(J)indecent behavior ^[c]for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. ²⁰ But you did not ^(K)learn Christ in this way, ²¹ if indeed you ^(L)have heard Him and have ^(M)been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, ²² that, in reference to your former way of life, you are to ^(N)rid yourselves of the ^(O)old ^[d]self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the ^(P)lusts of deceit, ²³ and that you are to be ^(Q)renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to ^(R)put on the ^(S)new ^[e]self, which ^[f](T)in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

²⁵ Therefore, ^(U)ridding yourselves of falsehood, ^(V)speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, because we are ^(W)parts of one another. ^26 (X)Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and do not ^(Y)give the devil ^[g]an opportunity. ²⁸ The one who steals must no longer steal; but rather ^(Z)he must labor, ^(AA)producing with his own hands what is good, ^(AB)so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. ²⁹ Let no ^[h](AC)unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for ^(AD)edification ^[i]according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear. ^30 (AE)Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ^[j]by whom you were ^(AF)sealed for the day of redemption.

Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah

21 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when ^(A)King Zedekiah sent to him ^(B)Pashhur the son of Malchijah and ^(C)Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, ² “Please ^(D)inquire of the Lord in our behalf, because ^(E)Nebuchadnezzar king of ^(F)Babylon is making war against us; perhaps the Lord will deal with us ^(G)in accordance with all His ^[a]wonderful acts, so that the enemy will withdraw from us.”

³ But Jeremiah said to them, “You shall say to Zedekiah as follows: ⁴ ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to ^(H)turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you are making war against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will ^(I)gather them into the middle of this city. ⁵ And I ^(J)Myself will make war against you with an ^(K)outstretched hand and a mighty arm, and in ^(L)anger, wrath, and great indignation. ⁶ I will also strike the inhabitants of this city, both the people and the animals; they will die of a great ^(M)plague. ⁷ Then afterward,” declares the Lord, “^(N)I will hand Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people, that is, those who survive in this city from the plague, the sword, and the famine, over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to their enemies, and to those who seek their lives; and he will strike and kill them with the edge of the sword. He ^(O)will not spare them nor have pity nor compassion.”’

⁸ “You shall also say to this people, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Behold, I am ^(P)setting before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹ Anyone who ^(Q)stays in this city will die by the ^(R)sword, by famine, or by plague; but anyone who leaves and goes over to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as plunder. ¹⁰ For I have ^(S)set My face against this city for harm and not for good,” declares the Lord. “It will be ^(T)handed over to the king of Babylon and he will ^(U)burn it with fire.”’

Jesus Teaches at the Feast

7 After these things Jesus ^(A)was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because ^(B)the Jews ^(C)were seeking to kill Him. ² Now the feast of the Jews, ^(D)the Feast of Booths, was near. ³ So His ^(E)brothers said to Him, “Move on from here and go into Judea, so that Your ^(F)disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. ⁴ For no one does anything in secret ^[a]when he himself is striving to be known publicly. If You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world.” ⁵ For not even His ^(G)brothers believed in Him. ⁶ So Jesus *said to them, “^(H)My time is not yet here, but your time is always ready. ^7 (I)The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify about it, that ^(J)its deeds are evil. ⁸ Go up to the feast yourselves; I am not going up to this feast, because ^(K)My time has not yet fully arrived.” ⁹ Now having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ But when His ^(L)brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as though in secret. ^11 (M)So the Jews ^(N)were looking for Him at the feast and saying, “Where is He?” ¹² And there was a great deal of talk about Him in secret among the crowds: ^(O)some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He is misleading the people.” ¹³ However, no one was speaking openly about Him, for ^(P)fear of ^[b]the Jews.

¹⁴ But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple area, and began to ^(Q)teach. ^15 (R)The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man ^(S)become learned, not having been educated?” ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them and said, “^(T)My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me. ^17 (U)If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from Myself. ¹⁸ The one who speaks from himself ^(V)seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

¹⁹ “^(W)Did Moses not give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why are you ^(X)seeking to kill Me?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, “^(Y)You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill You?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did ^(Z)one ^[c]deed, and you all are astonished. ²² For this reason ^(AA)Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from ^(AB)the fathers), and even on a Sabbath you circumcise a man. ^23 (AC)If a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry at Me because I made an entire man well on a Sabbath? ²⁴ Do not ^(AD)judge by the outward appearance, but judge ^[d]with righteous judgment.”