Jeremiah Proclaims God’s Judgment on the Nation

7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah, you who enter these gates to worship the Lord. ³ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your doings, and let me dwell with you^[a] in this place. ⁴ Do not trust in these deceptive words: “This is^[b] the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.”

⁵ For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another,^{(A) 6} if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt,^{(B) 7} then I will dwell with you^[c] in this place, in the land that I gave to your ancestors forever and ever.

⁸ Here you are, trusting in deceptive words to no avail.^{(C) 9} Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known^{(D) 10} and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, “We are safe!”—only to go on doing all these abominations?^{(E) 11} Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your sight? I, too, am watching, says the Lord.^{(F) 12} Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.^{(G) 13} And now, because you have done all these things, says the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently, you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer,^{(H) 14} therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your ancestors just what I did to Shiloh.^{(I) 15} And I will cast you out of my sight, just as I cast out all your kinsfolk, all the offspring of Ephraim.^(J)

The People’s Disobedience

¹⁶ As for you, do not pray for this people, do not raise a cry or prayer on their behalf, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you.^{(K) 17} Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? ¹⁸ The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven, and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.^{(L) 19} Is it I whom they provoke? says the Lord. Is it not themselves, to their own hurt?^{(M) 20} Therefore thus says the Lord God: My anger and my wrath shall be poured out on this place, on humans and animals, on the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched.

²¹ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh.^{(N) 22} For in the day that I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to them or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.^{(O) 23} But this command I gave them, “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; walk only in the way that I command you, so that it may be well with you.”^{(P) 24} Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but, in the stubbornness of their evil will, they walked in their own counsels and looked backward rather than forward.^{(Q) 25} From the day that your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day,^{(R) 26} yet they did not listen to me or pay attention, but they stiffened their necks. They did worse than their ancestors did.^(S)

²⁷ So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you.^{(T) 28} You shall say to them: This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.^(U)

Encouragement to Be Generous

8 We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia, ² for during a severe ordeal of affliction their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³ For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means and even beyond their means, ⁴ begging us earnestly for the favor^[a] of partnering in this ministry to the saints,^{(A) 5} and not as we expected. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and, by the will of God, to us, ⁶ so that we might urge Titus that, as he had already made a beginning, so he should also complete this generous undertaking^[b] among you.^{(B) 7} Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you^[c]—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.^[d](C)

⁸ I do not say this as a command, but I am, by mentioning the eagerness of others, testing the genuineness of your love.^{(D) 9} For you know the generous act^[e] of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.^{(E) 10} And in this matter I am giving my opinion: it is beneficial for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something.^{(F) 11} Now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.^{(G) 12} For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.^{(H) 13} For I do not mean that there should be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality between ¹⁴ your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may also supply your need, in order that there may be equality. ¹⁵ As it is written,

Commendation of Titus

¹⁶ But thanks be to God, who put in the heart of Titus the same eagerness for you that I myself have. ¹⁷ For he not only accepted our appeal, but since he is more eager than ever, he is going to you of his own accord. ¹⁸ With him we are sending the brother who is praised among all the churches for his work for the gospel,^{(J) 19} and not only that, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us while we are administering this generous undertaking^[f] for the glory of the Lord himself^[g] and to show our goodwill.^{(K) 20} We are making this arrangement lest anyone blame us about this generous gift that we are administering, ²¹ for we are setting our minds on what is right not only before the Lord but also before the people.^{(L) 22} And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found eager in many matters but who is now more eager than ever because of his great confidence in you. ²³ As for Titus, he is my partner and coworker in your service; as for our brothers, they are messengers^[h] of the churches, the glory of Christ.^{(M) 24} Therefore openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you to them.^(N)

8 At that time, says the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs,^{(A) 2} and they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have followed, and which they have inquired of and worshiped, and they shall not be gathered or buried; they shall be like dung on the surface of the ground.^{(B) 3} Death shall be preferred to life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family in all the places where I have driven them, says the Lord of hosts.^(C)

The Blind Perversity of the Whole Nation

The Prophet Mourns for the People

The Collection for Christians at Jerusalem

9 Now it is not necessary for me to write you about the ministry to the saints, ² for I know your eagerness, which is the subject of my boasting about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them.^{(A) 3} But I am sending^[a] the brothers in order that our boasting about you may not prove to have been empty in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be;^{(B) 4} otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be put to shame—to say nothing of you—in this undertaking.^{[b] 5} So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for this bountiful gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a bountiful gift and not as an extortion.

⁶ The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.^{(C) 7} Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not regretfully or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.^{(D) 8} And God is able to provide you with every blessing^[c] in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.^{(E) 9} As it is written,

¹⁰ He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.^{[e] 11} You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us, ¹² for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. ¹³ Through the testing of this ministry you^[f] glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your partnership with them and with all others,^{(G) 14} while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. ¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!^(H)