Jeremiah 13-14

English Standard Version

The Ruined Loincloth

13 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and ^(A)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, ^(B)go to the Euphrates and hide it there in ^(C)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 ^(D)the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took ^(E)the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was ^(F)spoiled; it was ^(G)good for nothing.

⁸Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹“Thus says the Lord: ^(H)Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great ^(I)pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, ^(J)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 ^(K)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, ^(L)that they might be for me a people, ^(M)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 ^(N)every jar will be filled with wine?’ ¹³Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(O)Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: ^(P)the kings who sit on David's throne, ^(Q)the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁴And I will ^(R)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^(S)Give glory to the Lord your God
    ^(T)before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
    on the twilight mountains,
and ^(U)while you look for light
    he turns it into gloom
    and makes it ^(V)deep darkness.
¹⁷But if you will not listen,
    ^(W)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 ^(X)the king and ^(Y)the queen mother:
    “Take a lowly seat,
for ^(Z)your beautiful crown
    has come down from your head.”
¹⁹^(AA)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 ^(AB)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?
^(AC)Will not pangs take hold of you
    like those of a woman in labor?
²²And if you say in your heart,
    ^(AD)‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
    that ^(AE)your skirts are lifted up
    and you suffer violence.
²³^(AF)Can the Ethiopian change his skin
    or ^(AG)the leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
    who are accustomed to do evil.
²⁴I will scatter you^[a] ^(AH)like chaff
    driven by the wind from the desert.
²⁵^(AI)This is your lot,
    the portion I have measured out to you, declares the Lord,
because ^(AJ)you have forgotten me
    and trusted in lies.
²⁶^(AK)I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
    and your shame will be seen.
²⁷I have seen ^(AL)your abominations,
    your adulteries and ^(AM)neighings, your lewd whorings,
    ^(AN)on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
    How long will it be ^(AO)before you are made clean?”

Famine, Sword, and Pestilence

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

²^(AQ)“Judah mourns,
    and ^(AR)her gates languish;
her people lament on the ground,
    and ^(AS)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 ^(AT)ashamed and confounded
    and ^(AU)cover their heads.
⁴Because of the ground that is dismayed,
    since there is ^(AV)no rain on the land,
the farmers are ashamed;
    they cover their heads.
⁵Even ^(AW)the doe in the field forsakes her newborn fawn
    because there is no grass.
⁶^(AX)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, ^(AY)for your name's sake;
^(AZ)for our backslidings are many;
    ^(BA)we have sinned against you.
⁸^(BB)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,
    ^(BC)like a mighty warrior who cannot save?
Yet ^(BD)you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
    and ^(BE)we are called by your name;
    ^(BF)do not leave us.”

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

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

Lying Prophets

¹³Then I said: “Ah, Lord God, behold, the prophets ^(BL)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 ^(BM)prophets are prophesying lies in my name. ^(BN)I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, ^(BO)worthless divination, and ^(BP)the deceit of their own minds. ¹⁵Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name although ^(BQ)I did not send them, and who say, ^(BR)‘Sword and famine shall not come upon this land’: ^(BS)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, ^(BT)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:
^(BU)‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
    and let them not cease,
for the virgin ^(BV)daughter of my people is shattered with a great wound,
    ^(BW)with a very grievous blow.
¹⁸^(BX)If I go out into the field,
    behold, those pierced by the sword!
^(BY)And if I enter the city,
    behold, the diseases of famine!
^(BZ)For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land
    and have no knowledge.’”

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

Footnotes

Jeremiah 13:24 Hebrew them

Proverbs 31

English Standard Version

The Words of King Lemuel

31 The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:

²What are you doing, my son?^[a] What are you doing, ^(A)son of my womb?
    What are you doing, ^(B)son of my vows?
³Do ^(C)not give your strength to women,
    your ways to those ^(D)who destroy kings.
⁴^(E)It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
    it is not for kings ^(F)to drink wine,
    or for rulers to take ^(G)strong drink,
⁵lest they drink and forget what has been decreed
    and ^(H)pervert the rights of all the afflicted.
⁶Give strong drink to the one who ^(I)is perishing,
    and wine to ^(J)those in bitter distress;^[b]
⁷^(K)let them drink and forget their poverty
    and remember their misery no more.
⁸^(L)Open your mouth for the mute,
    for the rights of all who are destitute.^[c]
⁹Open your mouth, ^(M)judge righteously,
    ^(N)defend the rights of ^(O)the poor and needy.

The Woman Who Fears the Lord

¹⁰^[d] ^(P)An excellent wife who can find?
    She is far more precious than ^(Q)jewels.
¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her,
    and he will have no lack of gain.
¹²She does him good, and not harm,
    all the days of her life.
¹³She ^(R)seeks wool and flax,
    and works with willing hands.
¹⁴She is like the ships of the merchant;
    she brings her food from afar.
¹⁵She ^(S)rises while it is yet night
    and ^(T)provides food for her household
    and portions for her maidens.
¹⁶She considers a field and buys it;
    with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷She ^(U)dresses herself^[e] with strength
    and makes her arms strong.
¹⁸She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
    Her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹She puts her hands to the distaff,
    and her hands hold the spindle.
²⁰She ^(V)opens her hand to ^(W)the poor
    and reaches out her hands to ^(X)the needy.
²¹She is not afraid of snow for her household,
    for all her household are clothed in ^(Y)scarlet.^[f]
²²She makes ^(Z)bed coverings for herself;
    her clothing is ^(AA)fine linen and ^(AB)purple.
²³Her husband is known in ^(AC)the gates
    when he sits among the elders of the land.
²⁴She makes ^(AD)linen garments and sells them;
    she delivers sashes to the merchant.
²⁵^(AE)Strength and dignity are her clothing,
    and she laughs at the time to come.
²⁶She opens her mouth with wisdom,
    and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
²⁷She looks well to the ways of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸Her children rise up and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹“Many ^(AF)women have done ^(AG)excellently,
    but you surpass them all.”
³⁰^(AH)Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
³¹Give her of the fruit of her hands,
    and let her works praise her in the gates.

Footnotes

Proverbs 31:2 Hebrew What, my son?
Proverbs 31:6 Hebrew those bitter in soul
Proverbs 31:8 Hebrew are sons of passing away
Proverbs 31:10 Verses 10–31 are an acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet
Proverbs 31:17 Hebrew She girds her loins
Proverbs 31:21 Or in double thickness

Titus 2

English Standard Version

Teach Sound Doctrine

2 But as for you, teach what accords with ^(A)sound^[a] doctrine. ²Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^(B)sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. ³^(C)Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^(D)not slanderers ^(E)or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, ⁴and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵to be self-controlled, ^(F)pure, ^(G)working at home, kind, and ^(H)submissive to their own husbands, ^(I)that the word of God may not be reviled. ⁶Likewise, urge ^(J)the younger men to be self-controlled. ⁷Show yourself in all respects to be ^(K)a model of good works, and in your teaching ^(L)show integrity, ^(M)dignity, ⁸and ^(N)sound speech that cannot be condemned, ^(O)so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. ⁹^(P)Bondservants^[b] are to be submissive to their own masters ^(Q)in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, ¹⁰not pilfering, ^(R)but showing all good faith, ^(S)so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

¹¹For ^(T)the grace of God ^(U)has appeared, bringing salvation ^(V)for all people, ¹²training us to renounce ungodliness and ^(W)worldly passions, and ^(X)to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in ^(Y)the present age, ¹³^(Z)waiting for our blessed ^(AA)hope, the ^(AB)appearing of the glory of our great ^(AC)God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴^(AD)who gave himself for us to ^(AE)redeem us from all lawlessness and ^(AF)to purify for himself ^(AG)a people for his own possession who are ^(AH)zealous for good works.