Jeremiah 1:11-19

New American Standard Bible

The Almond Branch and Boiling Pot

¹¹And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “What do you see, ^(A)Jeremiah?” And I said, “I see a branch of an ^[a]almond tree.” ¹²Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for ^(B)I am ^[b]watching over My word to perform it.”

¹³And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “^(C)What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling ^(D)pot, facing away from the north.” ¹⁴Then the Lord said to me, “^(E)Out of the north the evil ^[c]will be unleashed on all the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁵For, behold, I am calling ^(F)all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” declares the Lord; “and they will come and ^(G)place, each one of them, his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its walls around, and against all the ^(H)cities of Judah. ¹⁶And I will ^[d]pronounce My judgments against them concerning all their wickedness, since they have ^(I)abandoned Me and have ^[e]^(J)offered sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the ^(K)works of their own hands. ¹⁷Now, ^(L)belt your garment around your waist and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. ^(M)Do not be dismayed before them, or I will make you dismayed before them. ¹⁸Now behold, I have made you today like a fortified city and like a pillar of iron and walls of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its leaders, to its priests, and to the people of the land. ¹⁹And they will fight against you but they will not overcome you, for ^(N)I am with you to save you,” declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

Jeremiah 1:11 Heb shaqed, see note v 12
Jeremiah 1:12 Heb shoqed, a wordplay on almond in v 11 (see note v 11)
Jeremiah 1:14 Lit opened
Jeremiah 1:16 Lit speak
Jeremiah 1:16 Or burned incense

2 Corinthians 1:1-2:11

New American Standard Bible

Introduction

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of ^(B)Christ Jesus ^(C)by the will of God, and our brother ^(D)Timothy,

To ^(E)the church of God which is at ^(F)Corinth with all the ^[a]saints who are throughout ^(G)Achaia:

²^(H)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

³^(I)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and ^(J)God of all comfort, ⁴who ^(K)comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in ^[b]any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵For just ^(L)as the sufferings of Christ are ^[c]ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. ⁶But if we are afflicted, it is ^(M)for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; ⁷and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that ^(N)as you are partners in our sufferings, so also you are in our comfort.

⁸For ^(O)we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our ^(P)affliction which occurred in ^[d]^(Q)Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life. ⁹^[e]Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, ¹⁰who ^(R)rescued us from so great a danger of death, and will rescue us, He ^[f]^(S)on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, ¹¹if you also join in ^(T)helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by ^(U)many persons in our behalf for the favor granted to us through the prayers of many.

Paul’s Integrity

¹²For our ^[g]proud confidence is this: the testimony of ^(V)our conscience, that in holiness and ^(W)godly sincerity, ^(X)not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you. ¹³For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand ^(Y)until the end; ¹⁴just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, on ^(Z)the day of our Lord Jesus.

¹⁵In this confidence I intended at first to ^(AA)come to you, so that you might ^[h]twice receive a ^[i]^(AB)blessing; ¹⁶^[j]that is, to ^(AC)pass ^[k]your way into ^(AD)Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be ^(AE)helped on my journey to Judea. ¹⁷Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I decide, do I decide ^(AF)according to the flesh, so that with me there will be ^[l]yes, yes and no, no at the same time? ¹⁸But as ^(AG)God is faithful, ^(AH)our word to you is not yes and no. ¹⁹For ^(AI)the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and ^(AJ)Silvanus and ^(AK)Timothy—was not yes and no, but has been yes ^(AL)in Him. ²⁰For ^(AM)as many as the promises of God are, ^(AN)in Him they are yes; therefore through Him also is ^(AO)our Amen to the glory of God through us. ²¹Now He who ^(AP)establishes us with you in Christ and ^(AQ)anointed us is God, ²²who also ^(AR)sealed us and ^(AS)gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a ^[m]pledge.

²³But ^(AT)I call God as witness to my soul, that it was ^(AU)to spare you that I did not come again to ^(AV)Corinth. ²⁴Not that we ^(AW)domineer over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are ^(AX)standing firm.

Reaffirm Your Love

2 But I decided this ^[n]for my own sake, that I ^(AY)would not come to you in sorrow again. ²For if I ^(AZ)cause you sorrow, who then will be the one making me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? ³This is the very thing I ^(BA)wrote you, so that ^(BB)when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having ^(BC)confidence in you all that my joy was the joy of you all. ⁴For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I ^(BD)wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have especially for you.

⁵But ^(BE)if anyone has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not for me, but in some degree—^[o]not to say too much—for all of you. ⁶Sufficient for such a person is ^(BF)this punishment which was imposed by the majority, ⁷so that on the other hand, you should rather ^(BG)forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a person might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹For to this end ^(BH)I also wrote, so that I might ^[p]^(BI)put you to the test, whether you are ^(BJ)obedient in all things. ¹⁰But one whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did so for your sakes ^(BK)in the presence of Christ, ¹¹so that no advantage would be taken of us by ^(BL)Satan, for ^(BM)we are not ignorant of his schemes.

Footnotes

2 Corinthians 1:1 Lit holy ones; i.e., God’s people
2 Corinthians 1:4 Lit every
2 Corinthians 1:5 Lit to us
2 Corinthians 1:8 I.e., west coast province of Asia Minor
2 Corinthians 1:9 Lit But we ourselves
2 Corinthians 1:10 One early ms on whom we have set our hope that He will also
2 Corinthians 1:12 Or source of pride
2 Corinthians 1:15 Lit have a second grace
2 Corinthians 1:15 One early ms joy
2 Corinthians 1:16 Lit and
2 Corinthians 1:16 Lit through you into
2 Corinthians 1:17 I.e., a strong yes and no
2 Corinthians 1:22 Or first installment
2 Corinthians 2:1 Or as far as I am concerned
2 Corinthians 2:5 Lit so that I not be burdensome
2 Corinthians 2:9 Lit know the proof of you

Jeremiah 2:1-13

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.