^24 (J)“As I live, declares the Lord, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were ^(K)the signet ring on my right hand, yet I would tear you off ²⁵ and ^(L)give you ^(M)into the hand of those who seek your life, into the hand of those of whom you are afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. ^26 (N)I will hurl you and ^(O)the mother who bore you into another country, where you were not born, and there you shall die. ²⁷ But to the land to which they will long to return, there they shall not return.”

The Righteous Branch

23 ^(W)“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. ² Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning ^(X)the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. ^(Y)Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. ^3 (Z)Then I will gather the remnant of my flock ^(AA)out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, ^(AB)and they shall be fruitful and multiply. ^4 (AC)I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.

^5 (AD)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous ^(AE)Branch, and ^(AF)he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶ In his days Judah will be saved, and ^(AG)Israel will ^(AH)dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ^(AI)‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

^7 (AJ)“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ ⁸ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he^[a] had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

^31 (A)Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. ^32 (B)Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, ^(C)forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Walk in Love

5 ^(D)Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. ² And ^(E)walk in love, ^(F)as Christ loved us and ^(G)gave himself up for us, a ^(H)fragrant ^(I)offering and sacrifice to God.

³ But ^(J)sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness ^(K)must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. ⁴ Let there be ^(L)no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, ^(M)which are out of place, but instead ^(N)let there be thanksgiving. ⁵ For you may be sure of this, that ^(O)everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (^(P)that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ^6 (Q)Let no one ^(R)deceive you with empty words, for because of these things ^(S)the wrath of God comes upon ^(T)the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore ^(U)do not become partners with them; ⁸ for ^(V)at one time you were ^(W)darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. ^(X)Walk as children of light ⁹ (for ^(Y)the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰ and ^(Z)try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. ^11 (AA)Take no part in the ^(AB)unfruitful ^(AC)works of darkness, but instead ^(AD)expose them. ¹² For ^(AE)it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. ¹³ But when ^(AF)anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, ¹⁴ for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

^15 (AJ)Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ^16 (AK)making the best use of the time, because ^(AL)the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what ^(AM)the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And ^(AN)do not get drunk with wine, for that is ^(AO)debauchery, but ^(AP)be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ addressing one another in ^(AQ)psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ^20 (AR)giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father ^(AS)in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^21 (AT)submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

The Good Figs and the Bad Figs

24 ^(A)After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem ^(B)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with ^(C)the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, ^(D)two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. ² One basket had very good figs, ^(E)like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had ^(F)very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. ³ And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁵ “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, ^(G)whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. ^6 (H)I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. ^(I)I will build them up, and not tear them down; ^(J)I will plant them, and not pluck them up. ^7 (K)I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, ^(L)and they shall be my people ^(M)and I will be their God, ^(N)for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

⁸ “But thus says the Lord: Like ^(O)the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat ^(P)Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who ^(Q)dwell in the land of Egypt. ⁹ I will make them ^(R)a horror^[a] to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be ^(S)a reproach, ^(T)a byword, ^(U)a taunt, and ^(V)a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. ¹⁰ And I will send ^(W)sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”

Can This Be the Christ?

²⁵ Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom ^(A)they seek to kill? ²⁶ And here he is, ^(B)speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that ^(C)the authorities really know that this is the Christ? ²⁷ But ^(D)we know ^(E)where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, ^(F)no one will know where he comes from.” ²⁸ So Jesus proclaimed, ^(G)as he taught in the temple, ^(H)“You know me, and you know where I come from. But ^(I)I have not come of my own accord. ^(J)He who sent me is true, ^(K)and him you do not know. ^29 (L)I know him, for I come ^(M)from him, and ^(N)he sent me.” ^30 (O)So they were seeking to arrest him, but ^(P)no one laid a hand on him, ^(Q)because his hour had not yet come. ³¹ Yet ^(R)many of the people believed in him. They said, ^(S)“When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd ^(T)muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent ^(U)officers to arrest him. ³³ Jesus then said, ^(V)“I will be with you a little longer, and then ^(W)I am going to him who sent me. ^34 (X)You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” ³⁵ The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? ^(Y)Does he intend to go to ^(Z)the Dispersion among ^(AA)the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What does he mean by saying, ^(AB)‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”

Rivers of Living Water

^37 (AC)On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ^(AD)“If anyone thirsts, let him ^(AE)come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, ^(AF)as^[a] the Scripture has said, ^(AG)‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of ^(AH)living water.’” ³⁹ Now ^(AI)this he said about the Spirit, ^(AJ)whom those who believed in him were to receive, ^(AK)for as yet the Spirit had not been ^(AL)given, ^(AM)because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Division Among the People

⁴⁰ When they heard these words, ^(AN)some of the people said, “This really is ^(AO)the Prophet.” ⁴¹ Others said, “This is ^(AP)the Christ.” But some said, ^(AQ)“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? ⁴² Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes ^(AR)from the offspring of David, and comes ^(AS)from Bethlehem, the village ^(AT)where David was?” ⁴³ So there was ^(AU)a division among the people over him. ^44 (AV)Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

^45 (AW)The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” ⁴⁶ The officers answered, ^(AX)“No one ever spoke like this man!” ⁴⁷ The Pharisees answered them, ^(AY)“Have you also been deceived? ^48 (AZ)Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” ^50 (BA)Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, ^51 (BB)“Does our law judge a man without first ^(BC)giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” ⁵² They replied, ^(BD)“Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that ^(BE)no prophet arises from Galilee.”

[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.]^[b]

The Woman Caught in Adultery

⁵³ [[They went each to his own house,