A Prophecy against Zedekiah

34 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when ^(A)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army, with ^(B)all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his ^[a]control and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem and all its cities, saying, ² “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘^(C)Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Behold, ^(D)I am handing this city over to the king of Babylon, and ^(E)he will burn it with fire. ³ And as for you, ^(F)you will not escape from his hand, for you will assuredly be caught and handed over to him; and you will ^(G)see the king of Babylon eye to eye, and he will speak with you ^[b]face to face, and you will go to Babylon.’”’ ⁴ Yet hear the word of the Lord, Zedekiah king of Judah! This is what the Lord says concerning you: ‘You will not die by the sword. ⁵ You will die in peace; and as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so they will ^(H)burn spices for you; and ^(I)they will mourn for you, crying, “Oh, my lord!”’ For I have spoken the word,” declares the Lord.

⁶ Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke ^(J)all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem ⁷ when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and all the remaining cities of Judah, that is, ^(K)Lachish and ^(L)Azekah, for they alone remained as ^(M)fortified cities among the cities of Judah.

⁸ The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord after King Zedekiah had ^(N)made a covenant with all the people who were in Jerusalem, to ^(O)proclaim ^[c]release to them: ⁹ that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, a ^(P)Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, so that ^(Q)no one would keep them, his Jewish brother or sister, in bondage. ¹⁰ And all the ^(R)officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each person was to set his male servant free and each his female servant, so that no one would keep them in bondage any longer; they obeyed, and set them free. ¹¹ But afterward they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male servants and as female servants.

¹² Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ¹³ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘I ^(S)made a covenant with your forefathers on the day that I ^(T)brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, saying, ¹⁴ “^(U)At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who ^[d]has been sold to you and has served you for six years, and you shall send him out free from you.” But your forefathers ^(V)did not obey Me nor incline their ear to Me. ¹⁵ Although recently you had turned and ^(W)done what is right in My sight, each one proclaiming ^[e]release to his neighbor, and you had ^(X)made a covenant before Me ^(Y)in the house which is called by My name. ¹⁶ Yet you ^(Z)turned and ^(AA)profaned My name, and each person ^[f]took back his male servant and each his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male and female servants.’

¹⁷ “Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘You have not obeyed Me in proclaiming ^[g]release, each one to his brother and each to his neighbor. Behold, I am ^(AB)proclaiming a ^[h]release to you,’ declares the Lord, ‘to the ^(AC)sword, to the plague, and to the famine; and I will make you a ^(AD)terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸ I will give the people who have ^(AE)violated My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they ^(AF)cut the calf in two and passed between its parts— ¹⁹ the ^(AG)officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the high officials and the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf— ²⁰ I will hand them over to their enemies and to those who ^(AH)seek their lives. And their ^(AI)dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the animals of the earth. ^21 (AJ)Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will also hand over to their enemies and to those who seek their lives, and to the army of the king of Babylon which has ^(AK)withdrawn from you. ²² Behold, I am going to give a command,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring them back to this city, and they will fight against it and ^(AL)take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a ^(AM)desolation ^(AN)without inhabitant.’”

Mary Anoints Jesus

12 ^(A)Therefore, six days before ^(B)the Passover, Jesus came to ^(C)Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² So they made Him a dinner there, and ^(D)Martha was serving; and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. ^3 (E)Mary then took a ^[a]pound of very expensive ^(F)perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴ But ^(G)Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, the one who intended to ^[b]betray Him, *said, ⁵ “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred ^[c]denarii and the proceeds given to poor people?” ⁶ Now he said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he ^(H)kept the money box, he used to ^[d]steal from ^(I)what was put into it. ⁷ Therefore Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it ^[e]for ^(J)the day of My burial. ^8 (K)For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”

⁹ The ^(L)large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there; and they came, not on account of Jesus only, but so that they might also see Lazarus, ^(M)whom He raised from the dead. ¹⁰ But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also, ¹¹ because ^(N)on account of him ^(O)many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹² On the next day, when ^(P)the large crowd that had come to ^(Q)the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ¹³ they took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began shouting, “^(R)Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, indeed, the ^(S)King of Israel!” ¹⁴ Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: ¹⁵ “^(T)Do not fear, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” ^16 (U)These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus ^(V)was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things for Him. ¹⁷ So ^(W)the ^[f]people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about Him. ^18 (X)For this reason also the ^[g]people went to meet Him, ^(Y)because they heard that He had performed this ^[h]sign. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said ^[i]to one another, “You see that you are not accomplishing anything; look, the world has gone after Him!”

Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰ Now there were some ^(Z)Greeks among those who were going up to worship at ^(AA)the feast; ²¹ these people then came to ^(AB)Philip, who was from ^(AC)Bethsaida of Galilee, and were making a request of him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip *came and *told ^(AD)Andrew; then Andrew and Philip *came and *told Jesus. ²³ But Jesus *answered them by saying, “^(AE)The hour has come for the Son of Man to ^(AF)be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly I say to you, ^(AG)unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ^25 (AH)The one who loves his ^[j]life loses it, and the one who ^(AI)hates his ^[k]life in this world will keep it ^[l]to eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone ^[m]serves Me, he must follow Me; and ^(AJ)where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone ^[n]serves Me, the Father will ^(AK)honor him.

Jesus Foretells His Death

²⁷ “^(AL)Now My soul has become troubled; and what am I to say? ‘^(AM)Father, save Me from ^(AN)this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ^28 (AO)Father, glorify Your name.” Then a ^(AP)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, “^(AQ)An angel has spoken to Him!” ³⁰ Jesus responded and said, “^(AR)This voice has not come for My sake, but for yours. ^31 (AS)Now judgment is upon this world; now ^(AT)the ruler of this world will be cast out. ³² And I, if I ^(AU)am lifted up from the earth, will ^(AV)draw all people to Myself.” ³³ Now He was saying this ^(AW)to indicate what kind of death He was going to die. ³⁴ The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard from ^(AX)the Law that ^(AY)the ^[o]Christ is to remain forever; and how is it that You say, ‘The ^(AZ)Son of Man must be ^(BA)lifted up’? Who is this ^(BB)Son of Man?” ³⁵ So Jesus said to them, “^(BC)For a little while longer ^(BD)the Light is among you. ^(BE)Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; also, the one who ^(BF)walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the Light, ^(BG)believe in the Light, so that you may become ^(BH)sons of Light.”

These things Jesus proclaimed, and He went away and ^(BI)hid Himself from them. ³⁷ But though He had performed so many ^[p]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: “^(BJ)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 “^(BK)He has blinded their eyes and He ^(BL)hardened their heart, so that they will not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and ^[q]be converted, and so I will not heal them.” ⁴¹ These things Isaiah said because ^(BM)he saw His glory, and ^(BN)he spoke about Him. ⁴² Nevertheless ^(BO)many, even of ^(BP)the rulers, believed in Him, but ^(BQ)because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, so that they would not be ^(BR)excommunicated from the synagogue; ^43 (BS)for they loved the ^[r]approval of people rather than the ^[s]approval of God.

⁴⁴ Now Jesus cried out and said, “^(BT)The one who believes in Me, does not believe only in Me, but also in Him who sent Me. ⁴⁵ And ^(BU)the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. ^46 (BV)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 ^[t]teachings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for ^(BW)I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ^48 (BX)The one who rejects Me and does not ^[u]accept My ^[v]teachings has one who judges him: ^(BY)the word which I spoke. That will judge him on ^(BZ)the last day. ^49 (CA)For I did not speak ^[w]on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me ^(CB)has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that ^(CC)His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak ^(CD)just as the Father has told Me.”