Jeremiah 19-20

English Standard Version

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, ²and 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. ³You 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— ⁶therefore, ^(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. ⁷And 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. ⁸And 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, ¹¹and 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. ¹²Thus will I do to this place, declares the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city ^(AB)like Topheth. ¹³The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah—^(AC)all the houses on whose ^(AD)roofs offerings have been offered ^(AE)to all the host of heaven, and ^(AF)drink offerings have been poured out to other gods—shall be defiled ^(AG)like the place of Topheth.’”

¹⁴Then Jeremiah came from ^(AH)Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, ^(AI)and he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said to all the people: ¹⁵“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, ^(AJ)because they have stiffened their neck, ^(AK)refusing to hear my words.”

Jeremiah Persecuted by Pashhur

20 Now ^(AL)Pashhur the priest, the son of ^(AM)Immer, who was ^(AN)chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. ²Then ^(AO)Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him ^(AP)in the stocks that were in the upper ^(AQ)Benjamin Gate of the house of the Lord. ³The next day, when ^(AR)Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord does not call your name ^(AS)Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. ⁴For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will make you ^(AT)a terror to yourself and to all your friends. 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 strike them down with the sword. ⁵Moreover, ^(AU)I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its ^(AV)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. ⁶And you, ^(AW)Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, ^(AX)to whom you have prophesied falsely.”

⁷O Lord, ^(AY)you have deceived me,
    and I was deceived;
^(AZ)you are stronger than I,
    and you have prevailed.
^(BA)I have become a laughingstock all the day;
    everyone mocks me.
⁸For whenever I speak, I cry out,
    I shout, ^(BB)“Violence and destruction!”
For ^(BC)the word of the Lord has become for me
    ^(BD)a reproach and ^(BE)derision all day long.
⁹If I say, “I will not mention him,
    or speak any more in his name,”
^(BF)there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
    shut up in my bones,
and ^(BG)I am weary with holding it in,
    and I cannot.
¹⁰^(BH)For I hear many whispering.
    ^(BI)Terror is on every side!
“Denounce him! ^(BJ)Let us denounce him!”
    say all my ^(BK)close friends,
    ^(BL)watching for ^(BM)my fall.
“Perhaps he will be deceived;
    then ^(BN)we can overcome him
    and take our revenge on him.”
¹¹But ^(BO)the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
    therefore my persecutors will stumble;
    ^(BP)they will not overcome me.
^(BQ)They will be greatly shamed,
    for they will not succeed.
Their ^(BR)eternal dishonor
    will never be forgotten.
¹²O Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous,
    ^(BS)who sees the heart and the mind,^[a]
let me see your vengeance upon them,
    for to you have I committed my cause.

¹³^(BT)Sing to the Lord;
praise the Lord!
For he has delivered the life of the needy
from the hand of evildoers.

¹⁴^(BU)Cursed be the day
    on which I was born!
The day when my mother bore me,
    let it not be blessed!
¹⁵Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
“A son is born to you,”
    ^(BV)making him very glad.
¹⁶Let that man be like ^(BW)the cities
    that the Lord overthrew without pity;
^(BX)let him hear a cry in the morning
    and an alarm at noon,
¹⁷^(BY)because he did not kill me in the womb;
    so my mother would have been my grave,
    and her womb forever great.
¹⁸^(BZ)Why did I come out from the womb
    ^(CA)to see toil and sorrow,
    and spend my days in shame?

Footnotes

Jeremiah 20:12 Hebrew kidneys

Ephesians 3

English Standard Version

The Mystery of the Gospel Revealed

3 For this reason I, Paul, ^(A)a prisoner of Christ Jesus ^(B)on behalf of you Gentiles— ²assuming that you have heard of ^(C)the stewardship of ^(D)God's grace that was given to me for you, ³^(E)how the mystery was made known to me ^(F)by revelation, ^(G)as I have written briefly. ⁴^(H)When you read this, you can perceive my insight into ^(I)the mystery of Christ, ⁵which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. ⁶This mystery is^[a] that the Gentiles are ^(J)fellow heirs, ^(K)members of the same body, and ^(L)partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

⁷^(M)Of this gospel I was made ^(N)a minister according to the gift of ^(O)God's grace, which was given me ^(P)by the working of his power. ⁸To me, ^(Q)though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, ^(R)to preach to the Gentiles the ^(S)unsearchable ^(T)riches of Christ, ⁹and ^(U)to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery ^(V)hidden for ages in^[b] God, ^(W)who created all things, ¹⁰so that through the church the manifold ^(X)wisdom of God ^(Y)might now be made known to ^(Z)the rulers and authorities ^(AA)in the heavenly places. ¹¹This was ^(AB)according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹²in whom we have ^(AC)boldness and ^(AD)access with ^(AE)confidence through our ^(AF)faith in him. ¹³So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering ^(AG)for you, ^(AH)which is your glory.

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom ^(AI)every family^[c] in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶that according to ^(AJ)the riches of his glory ^(AK)he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit ^(AL)in your inner being, ¹⁷^(AM)so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being ^(AN)rooted and ^(AO)grounded in love, ¹⁸may have strength to ^(AP)comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and ^(AQ)height and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ ^(AR)that surpasses knowledge, that ^(AS)you may be filled with all ^(AT)the fullness of God.

²⁰^(AU)Now to ^(AV)him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, ^(AW)according to the power at work within us, ²¹^(AX)to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Footnotes

Ephesians 3:6 The words This mystery is are inferred from verse 4
Ephesians 3:9 Or by
Ephesians 3:15 Or from whom all fatherhood; the Greek word patria in verse 15 is closely related to the word for Father in verse 14

Psalm 114

English Standard Version

Tremble at the Presence of the Lord

114 When ^(A)Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from ^(B)a people of strange language,
²Judah became his ^(C)sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.

³^(D)The sea looked and fled;
^(E)Jordan turned back.
⁴^(F)The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.

⁵What ^(G)ails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
⁶O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?

⁷^(H)Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
⁸who turns ^(I)the rock into ^(J)a pool of water,
^(K)the flint into a spring of water.

Proverbs 24:23-25

English Standard Version

More Sayings of the Wise

²³These also are sayings of ^(A)the wise.

^(B)Partiality in judging is not good.
²⁴Whoever ^(C)says to the wicked, “You are in the right,”
^(D)will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,
²⁵but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,
and a good blessing will come upon them.