Drought and a Prayer for Mercy

14 That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah regarding the ^(A)drought:

¹⁰ This is what the Lord says to this people: “So much they have ^(Y)loved to wander; they have not ^(Z)restrained their feet. Therefore the Lord does ^(AA)not accept them; now He will ^(AB)remember their wrongdoing and call their sins to account.” ¹¹ So the Lord said to me, “^(AC)Do not pray for a good outcome on behalf of this people. ¹² When they fast, I am ^(AD)not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer ^(AE)burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather, I am going to ^(AF)put an end to them by the ^(AG)sword, famine, and plague.”

False Prophets

¹³ But I said, “Oh, Lord ^[c]God! Behold, the prophets are telling them, ‘You ^(AH)will not see a sword, nor will you have famine; on the contrary, I will give you lasting ^(AI)peace in this place.’” ¹⁴ Then the Lord said to me, “The ^(AJ)prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. ^(AK)I have neither sent them nor commanded them, nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a ^(AL)false vision, divination, futility, and the deception of their own ^[d]minds. ¹⁵ Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying: ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—^(AM)by sword and famine those prophets shall meet their end! ¹⁶ And the people to whom they are prophesying will be ^(AN)thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to ^(AO)bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will ^(AP)pour out their own wickedness upon them.

The Adulterous Woman

8 But Jesus went to ^(A)the Mount of Olives. ² And early in the morning He came again into the temple area, and all the people were coming to Him; and ^(B)He sat down and began teaching them. ³ Now the scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in the act of adultery, and after placing her in the center of the courtyard, ⁴ they *said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of committing adultery. ⁵ Now in the Law, ^(C)Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” ⁶ Now they were saying this to ^(D)test Him, ^(E)so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. ⁷ When they persisted in asking Him, ^(F)He straightened up and said to them, “^(G)He who is without sin among you, let him be the ^(H)first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ Now when they heard this, they began leaving, one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman where she was, in the center of the courtyard. ¹⁰ And ^(I)straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, ^[a]Lord.” And Jesus said, “^(J)I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on do not ^(K)sin any longer.”]]

Jesus Is the Light of the World

¹² Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “^(L)I am the Light of the world; ^(M)the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” ¹³ So the Pharisees said to Him, “^(N)You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not ^[b]true.” ¹⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “^(O)Even if I am testifying about Myself, My testimony is ^[c]true, because I know ^(P)where I came from and where I am going; but ^(Q)you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ^15 (R)You judge ^[d]according to the flesh; ^(S)I am not judging anyone. ¹⁶ But even ^(T)if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. ¹⁷ Even in ^(U)your Law it has been written that the testimony of ^(V)two people is ^[e]true. ¹⁸ I am He who testifies about Myself, and ^(W)the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” ¹⁹ So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; ^(X)if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” ²⁰ These words He spoke ^[f]in ^(Y)the treasury, as ^(Z)He taught in the temple area; and no one arrested Him, because ^(AA)His hour had not yet come.

²¹ Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and ^(AB)you will look for Me, and ^(AC)will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” ²² So ^(AD)the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘^(AE)Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³ And He was saying to them, “^(AF)You are from below, I am from above; ^(AG)you are of this world, ^(AH)I am not of this world. ²⁴ Therefore I said to you that you ^(AI)will die in your sins; for unless you believe that ^[g](AJ)I am, ^(AK)you will die in your sins.” ²⁵ Then they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “^[h]What have I even been saying to you from the beginning? ²⁶ I have many things to say and to judge regarding you, but ^(AL)He who sent Me is true; and ^(AM)the things which I heard from Him, these I say to the world.” ²⁷ They did not realize that He was speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said, “When you ^(AN)lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that ^[i](AO)I am, and ^(AP)I do nothing ^[j]on My own, but I say these things as the Father instructed Me. ²⁹ And He who sent Me is with Me; ^(AQ)He ^[k]has not left Me alone, for ^(AR)I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” ³⁰ As He said these things, ^(AS)many came to believe in Him.

The Truth Will Set You Free

³¹ So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “^(AT)If you continue in My word, then you are truly My ^(AU)disciples; ³² and ^(AV)you will know the truth, and ^(AW)the truth will set you free.” ³³ They answered Him, “^(AX)We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, ^(AY)everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵ Now ^(AZ)the slave does not remain in the house forever; ^(BA)the son does remain forever. ³⁶ So if the Son ^(BB)sets you free, you really will be free. ³⁷ I know that you are ^(BC)Abraham’s descendants; yet ^(BD)you are seeking to kill Me, because My word ^[l]has no place in you. ³⁸ I speak of the things which I have seen ^[m]with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from ^(BE)your father.”

³⁹ They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is ^(BF)our father.” Jesus *said to them, “^(BG)If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. ⁴⁰ But as it is, ^(BH)you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has ^(BI)told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. ⁴¹ You are doing the deeds of ^(BJ)your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born as a result of sexual immorality; ^(BK)we have one Father: God.” ⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, ^(BL)you would love Me, ^(BM)for I came forth from God and am here; for I have ^(BN)not even come ^[n]on My own, but ^[o](BO)He sent Me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand ^[p](BP)what I am saying? It is because you cannot ^(BQ)listen to My word. ^44 (BR)You are of ^(BS)your father the devil, and ^(BT)you want to do the desires of your father. ^(BU)He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because ^(BV)there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells ^[q]a lie, he ^(BW)speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of ^[r]lies. ⁴⁵ But because ^(BX)I say the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If ^(BY)I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? ^47 (BZ)The one who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

^48 (CA)The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not rightly say that You are a ^(CB)Samaritan, and You ^(CC)have a demon?” ⁴⁹ Jesus answered, “I do not ^(CD)have a demon; on the contrary, I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰ But ^(CE)I am not seeking My glory; there is One who seeks it, and judges. ⁵¹ Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone ^(CF)follows My word, he will never ^(CG)see death.” ^52 (CH)The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You ^(CI)have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets as well; and yet You say, ‘If anyone ^(CJ)follows My word, he will never ^(CK)taste of death.’ ⁵³ You ^(CL)are not greater than our father Abraham, who died, are You? The prophets died too. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “^(CM)If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; ^(CN)it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; ⁵⁵ and ^(CO)you have not come to know Him, ^(CP)but I know Him. And if I say that I do not know Him, I will be ^(CQ)a liar like you; ^(CR)but I do know Him, and I ^(CS)follow His word. ^56 (CT)Your father Abraham was ^(CU)overjoyed that he would see My day, and he saw it and rejoiced.” ^57 (CV)So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham ^[s]was born, ^[t](CW)I am.” ⁵⁹ Therefore they ^(CX)picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus ^(CY)hid Himself and left the temple grounds.

God, a Helper against the Treacherous.

For the music director; ^[a]upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.