Jeremiah 12-14

English Standard Version

Jeremiah's Complaint

12 ^(A)Righteous are you, O Lord,
    when I complain to you;
    yet I would plead my case before you.
^(B)Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
    Why do all ^(C)who are treacherous thrive?
²You plant them, and they take root;
    they grow and produce fruit;
^(D)you are near in their mouth
    and far from their heart.
³^(E)But you, O Lord, know me;
    ^(F)you see me, and test my heart toward you.
^(G)Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
    and set them apart for ^(H)the day of slaughter.
⁴^(I)How long will the land mourn
    and the grass of every field wither?
^(J)For the evil of those who dwell in it
    ^(K)the beasts and the birds are swept away,
    because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

⁵“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
    how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
    what will you do in ^(L)the thicket of the Jordan?
⁶For ^(M)even your brothers and the house of your father,
    ^(N)even they have dealt treacherously with you;
    they are in full cry after you;
^(O)do not believe them,
    though they speak friendly words to you.”

⁷“I have forsaken my house;
    I have abandoned ^(P)my heritage;
I have given ^(Q)the beloved of my soul
    into the hands of her enemies.
⁸^(R)My heritage has become to me
    like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
    therefore I hate her.
⁹Is ^(S)my heritage to me like ^(T)a hyena's lair?
    Are the ^(U)birds of prey against her all around?
Go, ^(V)assemble all the wild beasts;
    bring them to devour.
¹⁰Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
    ^(W)they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
    a desolate wilderness.
¹¹They have made it a desolation;
    desolate, ^(X)it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
    ^(Y)but no man lays it to heart.
¹²Upon all the bare heights in the desert
    destroyers have come,
for the sword of the Lord devours
    from one end of the land to the other;
    no flesh has peace.
¹³^(Z)They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
    ^(AA)they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their^[a] harvests
    ^(AB)because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

¹⁴Thus says the Lord concerning all ^(AC)my evil neighbors ^(AD)who touch the heritage that ^(AE)I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. ¹⁵And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, ^(AF)and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. ¹⁶And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, ^(AG)to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, ^(AH)then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. ¹⁷^(AI)But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”

The Ruined Loincloth

13 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and ^(AJ)put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” ²So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. ³And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, ⁴“Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, ^(AK)go to the Euphrates and hide it there in ^(AL)a cleft of the rock.” ⁵So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. ⁶And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there ^(AM)the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took ^(AN)the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was ^(AO)spoiled; it was ^(AP)good for nothing.

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹“Thus says the Lord: ^(AQ)Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great ^(AR)pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, ^(AS)who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is ^(AT)good for nothing. ¹¹For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, ^(AU)that they might be for me a people, ^(AV)a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

The Jars Filled with Wine

¹²“You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that ^(AW)every jar will be filled with wine?’ ¹³Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(AX)Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: ^(AY)the kings who sit on David's throne, ^(AZ)the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁴And I will ^(BA)dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”

Exile Threatened

¹⁵Hear and give ear; be not proud,
    for the Lord has spoken.
¹⁶^(BB)Give glory to the Lord your God
    ^(BC)before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
    on the twilight mountains,
and ^(BD)while you look for light
    he turns it into gloom
    and makes it ^(BE)deep darkness.
¹⁷But if you will not listen,
    ^(BF)my soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,
    because the Lord's flock has been taken captive.

¹⁸Say to ^(BG)the king and ^(BH)the queen mother:
    “Take a lowly seat,
for ^(BI)your beautiful crown
    has come down from your head.”
¹⁹^(BJ)The cities of the Negeb are shut up,
    with none to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
    wholly taken into exile.

²⁰“Lift up your eyes ^(BK)and see
    those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
    your beautiful flock?
²¹What will you say when they set as head over you
    those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you?
^(BL)Will not pangs take hold of you
    like those of a woman in labor?
²²And if you say in your heart,
    ^(BM)‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
    that ^(BN)your skirts are lifted up
    and you suffer violence.
²³^(BO)Can the Ethiopian change his skin
    or ^(BP)the leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
    who are accustomed to do evil.
²⁴I will scatter you^[b] ^(BQ)like chaff
    driven by the wind from the desert.
²⁵^(BR)This is your lot,
    the portion I have measured out to you, declares the Lord,
because ^(BS)you have forgotten me
    and trusted in lies.
²⁶^(BT)I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
    and your shame will be seen.
²⁷I have seen ^(BU)your abominations,
    your adulteries and ^(BV)neighings, your lewd whorings,
    ^(BW)on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
    How long will it be ^(BX)before you are made clean?”

Famine, Sword, and Pestilence

14 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning ^(BY)the drought:

²^(BZ)“Judah mourns,
    and ^(CA)her gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
    and ^(CB)the cry of Jerusalem goes up.
³Her nobles send their servants for water;
    they come to the cisterns;
they find no water;
    they return with their vessels empty;
they are ^(CC)ashamed and confounded
    and ^(CD)cover their heads.
⁴Because of the ground that is dismayed,
    since there is ^(CE)no rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
    they cover their heads.
⁵Even ^(CF)the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass.
⁶^(CG)The wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
    they pant for air like jackals;
their eyes fail
    because there is no vegetation.

⁷“Though our iniquities testify against us,
    act, O Lord, ^(CH)for your name's sake;
^(CI)for our backslidings are many;
    ^(CJ)we have sinned against you.
⁸^(CK)O you hope of Israel,
    its savior in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
    like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
⁹Why should you be like a man confused,
    ^(CL)like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet ^(CM)you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
    and ^(CN)we are called by your name;
    ^(CO)do not leave us.”

¹⁰Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
“They have loved to wander thus;
    they have not restrained their feet;
^(CP)therefore the Lord does not accept them;
    ^(CQ)now he will remember their iniquity
    and punish their sins.”

¹¹The Lord said to me: ^(CR)“Do not pray for the welfare of this people. ¹²Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, ^(CS)and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them ^(CT)by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Lying Prophets

¹³Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets ^(CU)say to them, ‘You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine, but I will give you assured peace in this place.’” ¹⁴And the Lord said to me: “The ^(CV)prophets are prophesying lies in my name. ^(CW)I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, ^(CX)worthless divination, and ^(CY)the deceit of their own minds. ¹⁵Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although ^(CZ)I did not send them, and who say, ^(DA)‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: ^(DB)By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. ¹⁶And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and sword, ^(DC)with none to bury them—them, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. For I will pour out their evil upon them.

¹⁷“You shall say to them this word:
^(DD)‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
    and let them not cease,
for the virgin ^(DE)daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,
    ^(DF)with a very grievous blow.
¹⁸^(DG)If I go out into the field,
    behold, those pierced by the sword!
^(DH)And if I enter the city,
    behold, the diseases of famine!
^(DI)For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land
    and have no knowledge.’”

¹⁹^(DJ)Have you utterly rejected Judah?
    Does your soul loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
    ^(DK)so that there is no healing for us?
^(DL)We looked for peace, but no good came;
    ^(DM)for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
²⁰^(DN)We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
    and the iniquity of our fathers,
    ^(DO)for we have sinned against you.
²¹Do not spurn us, ^(DP)for your name's sake;
    do not dishonor your glorious throne;
    ^(DQ)remember and do not break your covenant with us.
²²Are there any among ^(DR)the false gods of the nations ^(DS)that can bring rain?
    Or can the heavens give showers?
Are you not he, O Lord our God?
    We set our hope on you,
    ^(DT)for you do all these things.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 12:13 Hebrew your
Jeremiah 13:24 Hebrew them

John 10

English Standard Version

I Am the Good Shepherd

10 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. ²But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ⁵^(A)A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶This figure of speech Jesus ^(B)used with them, but they ^(C)did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(D)I am the door of the sheep. ⁸All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹I am the door. If anyone enters by me, ^(E)he will be saved and will go in and out and ^(F)find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and ^(G)kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ¹¹^(H)I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd ^(I)lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²He who is ^(J)a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and ^(K)leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and ^(L)scatters them. ¹³He flees because ^(M)he is a hired hand and ^(N)cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴^(O)I am the good shepherd. ^(P)I know my own and ^(Q)my own know me, ¹⁵^(R)just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and ^(S)I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶And ^(T)I have other sheep that are not of this fold. ^(U)I must bring them also, and ^(V)they will listen to my voice. So there will be ^(W)one flock, ^(X)one shepherd. ¹⁷^(Y)For this reason the Father loves me, ^(Z)because ^(AA)I lay down my life that I may take it up again. ¹⁸^(AB)No one takes it from me, but ^(AC)I lay it down ^(AD)of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and ^(AE)I have authority to take it up again. ^(AF)This charge I have received from my Father.”

¹⁹^(AG)There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. ²⁰Many of them said, ^(AH)“He has a demon, and ^(AI)is insane; why listen to him?” ²¹Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. ^(AJ)Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

I and the Father Are One

²²At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, ^(AK)in the colonnade of Solomon. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are ^(AL)the Christ, ^(AM)tell us plainly.” ²⁵Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. ^(AN)The works that I do ^(AO)in my Father's name bear witness about me, ²⁶but ^(AP)you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. ²⁷^(AQ)My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸^(AR)I give them eternal life, and ^(AS)they will never perish, and ^(AT)no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, ^(AU)who has given them to me,^[a] ^(AV)is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of ^(AW)the Father's hand. ³⁰^(AX)I and the Father are one.”

³¹^(AY)The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. ³²Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” ³³The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but ^(AZ)for blasphemy, because you, being a man, ^(BA)make yourself God.” ³⁴Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in ^(BB)your Law, ^(BC)‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be ^(BD)broken— ³⁶do you say of him whom ^(BE)the Father consecrated and ^(BF)sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because ^(BG)I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? ³⁷^(BH)If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; ³⁸but if I do them, ^(BI)even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that ^(BJ)the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” ³⁹^(BK)Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

⁴⁰He went away again across the Jordan to the place ^(BL)where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. ⁴¹And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but ^(BM)everything that John said about this man was true.” ⁴²And ^(BN)many believed in him there.