The Broken Jar

19 This is what the Lord says: “Go and buy a ^(A)potter’s earthenware ^(B)jar, and take some of the ^(C)elders of the people and some of the ^[a](D)senior priests. ² Then go out to the ^(E)Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the ^[b]Potsherd Gate, and ^(F)proclaim there the words that I tell you, ³ and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you ^(G)kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Behold I am going to bring a ^(H)disaster upon this place, at which the ^(I)ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle. ⁴ Since they have ^(J)abandoned Me and have ^(K)made this place foreign, and have burned ^[c]sacrifices in it to ^(L)other gods that neither they nor their forefathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and since they have filled this place with the ^(M)blood of the innocent ⁵ and have built the ^(N)high places of Baal to burn their ^(O)sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I did not command nor speak of, nor did it ever enter My ^[d]mind; ⁶ therefore, behold, ^(P)days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this place will no longer be called ^(Q)Topheth or ^(R)the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the Valley of Slaughter. ⁷ And I will ^(S)frustrate the planning of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and ^(T)I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will make their ^(U)carcasses food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth. ⁸ I will also turn this city into an object of ^(V)horror and ^[e]hissing; ^(W)everyone who passes by it will be appalled and ^[f]hiss because of all its ^[g]disasters. ⁹ And I will make them ^(X)eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and in the hardship with which their enemies and those who seek their life will torment them.”’

¹⁰ “Then you are to break the ^(Y)jar in the sight of the men who accompany you, ¹¹ and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “To the same extent I will ^(Z)break this people and this city, just as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will ^(AA)bury their dead in Topheth, ^[h]because there is no other place for burial. ¹² This is how I will treat this place and its inhabitants,” declares the Lord, “so as to make this city like Topheth. ¹³ The ^(AB)houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be ^(AC)defiled like the place Topheth, because of all the ^(AD)houses on whose rooftops they burned ^[i]sacrifices to ^(AE)all the heavenly ^[j]lights and ^(AF)poured out drink offerings to other gods.”’”

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the ^(AG)courtyard of the Lord’s house and said to all the people, ¹⁵ “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am going to bring on this city and all its towns the entire disaster that I have declared against it, because they have ^(AH)stiffened their necks so ^(AI)as not to listen to My words.’”

God Knows and Cares

12 Under these circumstances, after ^[a]so many thousands of ^[b]people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “^(A)Beware of the ^[c]leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ^2 (B)But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. ³ Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have ^[d]whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed on ^(C)the housetops.

⁴ “Now I say to you, ^(D)My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. ⁵ But I will warn you whom to fear: ^(E)fear the One who, after He has killed someone, has the power to throw that person into ^[e](F)hell; yes, I tell you, fear ^[f]Him! ⁶ Are ^(G)five sparrows not sold for two ^[g]assaria? And yet not one of them has gone unnoticed in the sight of God. ^7 (H)But even the hairs of your head are all counted. ^[h]Do not fear; you are more valuable than a great number of sparrows.

⁸ “Now I say to you, everyone who ^(I)confesses Me before people, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God; ⁹ but ^(J)the one who denies Me before people will be denied ^(K)before the angels of God. ^10 (L)And everyone who ^[i]speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. ¹¹ Now when they bring you before ^(M)the synagogues and the officials and the authorities, do not ^(N)worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; ¹² for ^(O)the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Greed Denounced

¹³ Now someone ^[j]in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But He said to him, “^[k](P)You there—who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over the two of you?” ¹⁵ But He said to them, “^(Q)Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one is affluent does his life consist of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷ And he began thinking to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ And he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and I will store all my grain and my goods there. ¹⁹ And I will say to ^[l]myself, “^(R)You have many goods stored up for many years to come; relax, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself!”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘^(S)You fool! This very night ^[m](T)your soul is demanded of you; and ^(U)as for all that you have prepared, who will own it now?’ ²¹ Such is the one who ^(V)stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich in relation to God.”

²² And He said to His disciples, “^(W)For this reason I tell you, ^[n]do not worry about your ^[o]life, as to what you are to eat; nor for your body, as to what you are to wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ^(X)ravens, that they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor ^(Y)barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add a ^[p](Z)day to his ^[q]life’s span? ²⁶ Therefore if you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about the other things? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither labor nor ^[r]spin; but I tell you, not even ^(AA)Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ²⁸ Now if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? ^(AB)You of little faith! ²⁹ And do not ^[s]seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not ^(AC)keep worrying. ³⁰ For ^[t]all these things are what the nations of the world ^[u]eagerly seek; and your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹ But ^[v]seek His kingdom, and ^(AD)these things will be ^[w]provided to you. ^32 [x](AE)Do not be afraid, ^(AF)little flock, because ^(AG)your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom.

³³ “^(AH)Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts that do not wear out, ^(AI)an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor does a moth destroy. ³⁴ For ^(AJ)where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Be in Readiness

³⁵ “^[y](AK)Be prepared, and keep your ^(AL)lamps lit. ³⁶ You are also to be like people who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door for him when he comes and knocks. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find ^(AM)on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that ^(AN)he will ^[z]prepare himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and he will come up and serve them. ^38 (AO)Whether he comes in the ^[aa]second watch, or even in the ^[ab]third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹ “^(AP)But ^[ac]be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be ^(AQ)broken into. ^40 (AR)You too, be ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think He will.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, are You telling this parable to us, or ^(AS)to everyone else as well?” ⁴² And ^(AT)the Lord said, “^(AU)Who then is the faithful and sensible ^(AV)steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that ^(AW)slave whom his ^[ad]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master will take a long time to come,’ and he begins to beat the other slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; ⁴⁶ then the master of that slave will come on a day that he does not expect, and at an hour that he does not know, and will ^[ae]cut him in two, and assign ^[af]him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷ And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accordance with his will, will ^(AX)receive many blows, ⁴⁸ but the one who did not ^(AY)know it, and committed acts deserving of ^[ag]a beating, will receive only a few blows. ^(AZ)From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Christ Divides People

⁴⁹ “I ^[ah]have come to cast fire upon the earth; and ^[ai]how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a ^(BA)baptism ^[aj]to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! ^51 (BB)Do you think that I came to provide peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; ⁵² for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, ^(BC)father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴ And He was also saying to the crowds, “^(BD)Whenever you see a cloud rising ^[ak]in the west, you immediately say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. ⁵⁵ And whenever you feel a ^[al]south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a ^(BE)hot day,’ and it turns out that way. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! ^(BF)You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you do not know how to analyze this present time?

⁵⁷ “And ^(BG)why do you not even judge by yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ For ^(BH)when you are going with your accuser to appear before the magistrate, on the way, make an effort to ^[am]settle with him, so that he does not drag you before the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you will not get out of there until you have paid up ^[an]the very last ^[ao](BI)lepton.”

Prayer for Protection against Oppressors.

A Prayer of David.