The Potter and the Clay

18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.”^{(A) 3} So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴ The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁶ Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.^{(B) 7} At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸ but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it.^{(C) 9} And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it,^{(D) 10} but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it.^{(E) 11} Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you, from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.^(F)

Israel’s Stubborn Idolatry

¹² But they say, “It is no use! We will follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of our evil will.”^(G)

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

⁶ They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.^{(A) 7} When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;^{(B) 8} so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.^{(C) 9} During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”^{(D) 10} When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.^(E)

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹ We therefore^[a] set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis,^{(F) 12} and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.^{(G) 13} On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed^[b] there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵ When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.^(H)

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶ One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a female slave who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling.^{(I) 17} While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you^[c] the way of salvation.”^{(J) 18} She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

¹⁹ But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.^{(K) 20} When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men, these Jews, are disturbing our city^{(L) 21} and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us, being Romans, to adopt or observe.” ²² The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods.^{(M) 23} After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely.^{(N) 24} Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.^(O)

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.^{(P) 26} Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.^{(Q) 27} When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped.^{(R) 28} But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹ The jailer^[d] called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”^{(S) 31} They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”^{(T) 32} They spoke the word of the Lord^[e] to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. ³⁴ He brought them up into the house and set food before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.^(U)

³⁵ When morning came, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” ³⁶ And the jailer reported the message to Paul, saying, “The magistrates sent word to let you go; therefore come out now and go in peace.”^{(V) 37} But Paul replied, “They have beaten us in public, uncondemned, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison, and now are they going to discharge us in secret? Certainly not! Let them come and take us out themselves.”^{(W) 38} The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans,^{(X) 39} so they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city.^{(Y) 40} After leaving the prison they went to Lydia’s home, and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers and sisters there, they departed.^(Z)

Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur

20 Now the priest Pashhur son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.^{(A) 2} Then Pashhur struck the prophet Jeremiah and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord.^{(B) 3} The next morning when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord has named you not Pashhur but ‘Terror-all-around.’ ⁴ For thus says the Lord: I am making you a terror to yourself and to all your friends, and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; he shall carry them captive to Babylon and shall kill them with the sword.^{(C) 5} I will give all the wealth of this city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon.^{(D) 6} And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house, shall go into captivity, and to Babylon you shall go; there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.”^(E)

Jeremiah Denounces His Persecutors

The Uproar in Thessalonica

17 After Paul and Silas^[a] had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.^{(A) 2} And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures,^{(B) 3} explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah^[b] to suffer and to rise from the dead and saying, “This is the Messiah,^[c] Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.”^{(C) 4} Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.^{(D) 5} But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason’s house.^{(E) 6} When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers and sisters before the city authorities, shouting, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also,^{(F) 7} and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.”^{(G) 8} The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this, ⁹ and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go.

Paul and Silas in Beroea

¹⁰ That very night the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea, and when they arrived they went to the Jewish synagogue.^{(H) 11} These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so.^{(I) 12} Many of them therefore believed, including not a few Greek women and men of high standing. ¹³ But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea as well, they came there, too, to stir up and incite the crowds. ¹⁴ Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind. ¹⁵ Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and, after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him.^(J)