Warning against Going to Egypt

42 Then all the commanders of the forces, ^(A)Johanan the son of Kareah, Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people ^(B)from the small to the great approached ² and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our ^(C)pleading ^[a]come before you, and ^(D)pray for us to the Lord your God for all this remnant—since we have been left only a ^(E)few out of many, just as your own eyes now see us— ³ that the Lord your God will tell us the ^(F)way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do.” ⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, “I have heard you. Behold, I am going to ^(G)pray to the Lord your God in accordance with your words; and I will tell you the whole ^[b]message which the ^(H)Lord gives you as an answer. I will ^(I)not withhold a word from you.” ⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the ^(J)Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole ^[c]message with which the Lord your God will send you to us. ⁶ Whether it is ^[d]pleasant or ^[e]unpleasant, we will ^(K)listen to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go ^(L)well for us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”

⁷ Now at the ^(M)end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. ⁸ Then he called for Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces that were with him, and for all the people from the small to the great, ⁹ and said to them, “This is what the Lord ^(N)says, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your plea before Him: ¹⁰ ‘If you will indeed stay in this land, then I will ^(O)build you up and not tear you down, and I will plant you and not uproot you; for I ^[f]will ^(P)relent of the disaster that I have inflicted on you. ^11 (Q)Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you are now fearing; do not be afraid of him,’ declares the Lord, ‘for ^(R)I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand. ¹² I will also show you compassion, so that ^(S)he will have compassion on you and restore you to your own soil. ¹³ But if you are going to say, “We will ^(T)not stay in this land,” so as not to listen to the voice of the Lord your God, ¹⁴ saying, “No, but we will ^(U)go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war, or ^(V)hear the sound of a trumpet, or hunger for bread, and we will stay there”; ¹⁵ then ^[g]in that case listen to the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah. This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “If you really set your ^[h]minds to enter ^(W)Egypt and go in to reside there, ¹⁶ then the ^(X)sword, of which you are afraid, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are anxious, will follow closely after you there in Egypt, and you will die there. ¹⁷ So all the people who set their ^[i]minds to go to Egypt to reside there will die by the ^(Y)sword, by famine, or by plague; and they will ^(Z)have no refugees or survivors from the disaster that I am going to bring on them.”’”

¹⁸ For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “As My ^(AA)anger and wrath have gushed out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so My wrath will gush out on you when you enter Egypt. And you will become a ^(AB)curse, an object of horror, ^[j]an imprecation, and a disgrace; and ^(AC)you will not see this place again.” ¹⁹ The Lord has spoken to you, you remnant of Judah, “Do not ^(AD)go to Egypt!” You ^(AE)know for certain that I have ^(AF)admonished you today. ²⁰ For you have only ^[k](AG)deceived yourselves; for it is you who sent me to the Lord your God, saying, “Pray for us to the Lord our God; and whatever the Lord our God says, tell us so, and we will do it.” ²¹ So I have ^(AH)told you today, but you have ^(AI)not ^[l]obeyed the Lord your God in whatever He has sent me to tell you. ²² And now you shall know for certain that you will ^(AJ)die by the sword, by famine, or by plague in the ^(AK)place where you desire to go to reside.

Think of Excellence

4 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, ^[a]whom I ^(A)long to see, my joy and crown, ^(B)stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

² I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to ^[b](C)live in harmony in the Lord. ³ Indeed, true ^[c]companion, I ask you also, help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement as well as the rest of my ^(D)fellow workers, whose ^(E)names are in the book of life.

^4 (F)Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. ^(G)The Lord is ^[d]near. ^6 (H)Do not ^[e]be anxious about anything, but in everything by ^(I)prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And ^(J)the peace of God, which surpasses all ^[f]comprehension, will ^(K)guard your hearts and ^(L)minds in ^(M)Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, ^(N)whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is ^[g]lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ As for the things you have learned and received and heard and seen ^(O)in me, practice these things, and ^(P)the God of peace will be with you.

God’s Provisions

¹⁰ But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last ^(Q)you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked an opportunity to act. ¹¹ Not that I speak ^[h]from need, for I have learned to be ^[i](R)content in whatever circumstances I am. ¹² I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going ^(S)hungry, both of having abundance and ^(T)suffering need. ¹³ I can do all things ^[j]through Him who ^(U)strengthens me. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, you have done well to ^(V)share with me in my difficulty.

¹⁵ You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the ^[k](W)first preaching of the gospel, after I left ^(X)Macedonia, no church ^(Y)shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone; ¹⁶ for even in ^(Z)Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. ^17 (AA)Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek the ^[l]profit which increases to your account. ¹⁸ But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am ^[m]amply supplied, having received from ^(AB)Epaphroditus ^[n]what you have sent, ^[o](AC)a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. ¹⁹ And ^(AD)my God will supply ^[p]all your needs according to His ^(AE)riches in glory in Christ Jesus. ²⁰ Now to ^(AF)our God and Father ^(AG)be the glory ^[q]forever and ever. Amen.

²¹ Greet every ^[r]saint in Christ Jesus. ^(AH)The brothers who are with me greet you. ^22 (AI)All the ^[s](AJ)saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.

^23 (AK)The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ ^(AL)be with your spirit.

In Egypt Jeremiah Warns of Judgment

43 But as soon as Jeremiah, whom the Lord their God had sent to them, had ^(A)finished telling all the people all the words of the Lord their God—that is, all these words— ² Azariah the ^(B)son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are ^(C)telling a lie! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘You are not to enter Egypt to reside there’; ³ but ^(D)Baruch the son of Neriah is inciting you against us in order to hand us over to the Chaldeans, so they will put us to death or exile us to Babylon!” ⁴ So ^(E)Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces, and all the people, ^(F)did not obey the voice of the Lord to ^(G)stay in the land of Judah. ⁵ Instead, Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the ^(H)entire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been scattered, in order to reside in the land of Judah— ⁶ the men, the women, the ^[a]children, the ^(I)king’s daughters, and ^(J)every person whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam ^[b]and grandson of Shaphan, together with ^(K)Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch the son of Neriah— ⁷ and they entered the land of Egypt (for they did not obey the voice of the Lord) and went in as far as ^(L)Tahpanhes.

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in ^(M)Tahpanhes, saying, ⁹ “Take some large stones in your ^[c]hands and hide them in the ^[d]mortar in the brick terrace which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s ^[e]palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of ^[f]some of the Jews; ¹⁰ and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold, I am going to send men and get ^(N)My servant ^(O)Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and I am going to set his throne over these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his ^[g](P)canopy over them. ¹¹ He will also come and ^(Q)strike the land of Egypt; those who are meant for death will be given over to death, and those for captivity to captivity, and ^(R)those for the sword to the sword. ¹² And ^[h]I shall set fire to the temples of the ^(S)gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. So he will ^[i](T)wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd ^[j]wraps himself with his garment, and he will depart from there safely. ¹³ He will also smash to pieces the ^[k]obelisks of ^[l]Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.”’”

Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰ Now there were some ^(A)Greeks among those who were going up to worship at ^(B)the feast; ²¹ these people then came to ^(C)Philip, who was from ^(D)Bethsaida of Galilee, and were making a request of him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip *came and *told ^(E)Andrew; then Andrew and Philip *came and *told Jesus. ²³ But Jesus *answered them by saying, “^(F)The hour has come for the Son of Man to ^(G)be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly I say to you, ^(H)unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ^25 (I)The one who loves his ^[a]life loses it, and the one who ^(J)hates his ^[b]life in this world will keep it ^[c]to eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone ^[d]serves Me, he must follow Me; and ^(K)where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone ^[e]serves Me, the Father will ^(L)honor him.

Jesus Foretells His Death

²⁷ “^(M)Now My soul has become troubled; and what am I to say? ‘^(N)Father, save Me from ^(O)this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ^28 (P)Father, glorify Your name.” Then a ^(Q)voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹ So the crowd who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “^(R)An angel has spoken to Him!” ³⁰ Jesus responded and said, “^(S)This voice has not come for My sake, but for yours. ^31 (T)Now judgment is upon this world; now ^(U)the ruler of this world will be cast out. ³² And I, if I ^(V)am lifted up from the earth, will ^(W)draw all people to Myself.” ³³ Now He was saying this ^(X)to indicate what kind of death He was going to die. ³⁴ The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard from ^(Y)the Law that ^(Z)the ^[f]Christ is to remain forever; and how is it that You say, ‘The ^(AA)Son of Man must be ^(AB)lifted up’? Who is this ^(AC)Son of Man?” ³⁵ So Jesus said to them, “^(AD)For a little while longer ^(AE)the Light is among you. ^(AF)Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; also, the one who ^(AG)walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the Light, ^(AH)believe in the Light, so that you may become ^(AI)sons of Light.”

These things Jesus proclaimed, and He went away and ^(AJ)hid Himself from them. ³⁷ But though He had performed so many ^[g]signs in their sight, they still were not believing in Him. ³⁸ This happened so that the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke would be fulfilled: “^(AK)Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” ³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, ⁴⁰ “^(AL)He has blinded their eyes and He ^(AM)hardened their heart, so that they will not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and ^[h]be converted, and so I will not heal them.” ⁴¹ These things Isaiah said because ^(AN)he saw His glory, and ^(AO)he spoke about Him. ⁴² Nevertheless ^(AP)many, even of ^(AQ)the rulers, believed in Him, but ^(AR)because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, so that they would not be ^(AS)excommunicated from the synagogue; ^43 (AT)for they loved the ^[i]approval of people rather than the ^[j]approval of God.

⁴⁴ Now Jesus cried out and said, “^(AU)The one who believes in Me, does not believe only in Me, but also in Him who sent Me. ⁴⁵ And ^(AV)the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. ^46 (AW)I have come as Light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me will remain in darkness. ⁴⁷ If anyone hears My ^[k]teachings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for ^(AX)I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ^48 (AY)The one who rejects Me and does not ^[l]accept My ^[m]teachings has one who judges him: ^(AZ)the word which I spoke. That will judge him on ^(BA)the last day. ^49 (BB)For I did not speak ^[n]on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me ^(BC)has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that ^(BD)His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak ^(BE)just as the Father has told Me.”