In Egypt Jeremiah Warns of Judgment

43 But as soon as Jeremiah, whom the Lord their God had sent, 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, and 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 to give us over into the hand of 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 ^[a]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 But Johanan the son of Kareah and all the ^[b]commanders of the forces took the ^(H)entire remnant of Judah who had returned from all the nations to which they had been driven away, in order to reside in the land of Judah— ⁶ the men, the women, the ^[c]children, the ^(I)king’s daughters and ^(J)every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam ^[d]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 ^[e]hands and hide them in the mortar in the ^[f]brick terrace which is at the entrance of Pharaoh’s ^[g]palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of ^[h]some of the Jews; ¹⁰ and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am going to send and get ^(N)Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(O)My servant, and I am going to set his throne right over these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his ^(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 ^[i]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 ^(T)wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself with his garment, and he will depart from there safely. ¹³ He will also shatter the ^[j]obelisks of ^[k]Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt; and the temples of the gods of Egypt he will burn with fire.”’”

Qoph.

Unity of the Spirit

4 Therefore I, ^(A)the prisoner of the Lord, ^(B)implore you to ^(C)walk in a manner worthy of the ^(D)calling with which you have been ^(E)called, ² with all ^(F)humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another ^(G)in love, ³ being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the ^(H)bond of peace. ⁴ There is ^(I)one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one ^(J)hope of your calling; ^5 (K)one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all ^(L)who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷ But ^(M)to each one of us ^(N)grace was given ^(O)according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore ^[a]it says,

⁹ (Now this expression, “He ^(R)ascended,” what ^[b]does it mean except that He also ^[c]had descended into ^(S)the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is Himself also He who ascended ^(T)far above all the heavens, so that He might ^(U)fill all things.) ¹¹ And He ^(V)gave ^(W)some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as ^(X)evangelists, and some as pastors and ^(Y)teachers, ^12 (Z)for the equipping of the ^[d]saints for the work of service, to the building up of ^(AA)the body of Christ; ¹³ until we all attain to ^(AB)the unity of the faith, and of the ^[e](AC)knowledge of the Son of God, to a ^(AD)mature man, to the measure of the stature ^[f]which belongs to the ^(AE)fullness of Christ. ^14 [g]As a result, we are ^(AF)no longer to be children, ^(AG)tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by ^(AH)craftiness ^[h]in ^(AI)deceitful scheming; ¹⁵ but ^[i]speaking the truth ^(AJ)in love, ^[j]we are to ^(AK)grow up in all aspects into Him who is the ^(AL)head, even Christ, ¹⁶ from whom ^(AM)the whole body, being fitted and held together ^[k]by what every joint supplies, according to the ^[l]proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself ^(AN)in love.

The Christian’s Walk

^17 (AO)So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, ^(AP)that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the ^(AQ)futility of their mind, ¹⁸ being ^(AR)darkened in their understanding, ^[m](AS)excluded from the life of God because of the ^(AT)ignorance that is in them, because of the ^(AU)hardness of their heart; ¹⁹ and they, having ^(AV)become callous, ^(AW)have given themselves over to ^(AX)sensuality ^[n]for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. ²⁰ But you did not ^(AY)learn ^[o]Christ in this way, ²¹ if indeed you ^(AZ)have heard Him and have ^(BA)been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, ²² that, in reference to your former manner of life, you ^(BB)lay aside the ^(BC)old ^[p]self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the ^(BD)lusts of deceit, ²³ and that you be ^(BE)renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and ^(BF)put on the ^(BG)new ^[q]self, which ^[r](BH)in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

²⁵ Therefore, ^(BI)laying aside falsehood, ^(BJ)speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are ^(BK)members of one another. ^26 (BL)Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and do not ^(BM)give the devil ^[s]an opportunity. ²⁸ He who steals must steal no longer; but rather ^(BN)he must labor, ^(BO)performing with his own hands what is good, ^(BP)so that he will have something to share with ^[t]one who has need. ²⁹ Let no ^[u](BQ)unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for ^(BR)edification ^[v]according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. ^30 (BS)Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ^[w]by whom you were ^(BT)sealed for the day of redemption. ^31 (BU)Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be ^(BV)put away from you, along with all ^(BW)malice. ^32 (BX)Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, ^(BY)just as God in Christ also has forgiven ^[x]you.