The Broken Flask

19 Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy ^(A)a potter's earthenware ^(B)flask, and take some of ^(C)the elders of the people and some of ^(D)the elders of the priests, ² and go out ^(E)to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. ³ You shall say, ^(F)‘Hear the word of the Lord, ^(G)O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing such disaster upon this place that ^(H)the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. ^4 (I)Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; ^(J)and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, ^5 (K)and have built the high places of Baal ^(L)to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, ^(M)which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind— ⁶ therefore, ^(N)behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or ^(O)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. ⁷ And in this place ^(P)I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, ^(Q)and will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. ^(R)I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. ⁸ And I will make this city ^(S)a horror, ^(T)a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. ^9 (U)And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor ^(V)in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’

¹⁰ “Then ^(W)you shall break ^(X)the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, ¹¹ and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, ^(Y)as one breaks a potter's vessel, ^(Z)so that it can never be mended. ^(AA)Men shall bury in Topheth because there will be no place else to bury.

⁵ For what ^(A)we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ^(B)ourselves as your servants^[a] for Jesus' sake. ⁶ For God, who said, ^(C)“Let light shine out of darkness,” ^(D)has shone in our hearts to give ^(E)the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Treasure in Jars of Clay

⁷ But we have this treasure in ^(F)jars of clay, ^(G)to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. ⁸ We are ^(H)afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but ^(I)not forsaken; ^(J)struck down, but not destroyed; ^10 (K)always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, ^(L)so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. ¹¹ For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹² So ^(M)death is at work in us, but life in you.

¹³ Since we have ^(N)the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ^(O)“I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, ¹⁴ knowing that ^(P)he who raised the Lord Jesus ^(Q)will raise us also with Jesus and ^(R)bring us with you into his presence. ¹⁵ For ^(S)it is all for your sake, so that as ^(T)grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, ^(U)to the glory of God.

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

^3 (A)And while he was at ^(B)Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,^[a] as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. ⁴ There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? ⁵ For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii^[b] and ^(C)given to the poor.” And they ^(D)scolded her. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ For ^(E)you always have the poor with you, and whenever ^(F)you want, you can do good for them. But ^(G)you will not always have me. ^8 (H)She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand ^(I)for burial. ⁹ And truly, I say to you, wherever ^(J)the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told ^(K)in memory of her.”