Jeremiah 23-24
Christian Standard Bible
The Lord and His Sheep
23 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” (A) This is the Lord’s declaration. 2 “Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who tend my people: You have scattered my flock,(B) banished them, and have not attended to them.(C) I am about to attend to you because of your evil acts”—this is the Lord’s declaration. 3 “I will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have banished them,(D) and I will return them to their grazing land. They will become fruitful and numerous.(E) 4 I will raise up shepherds over them who will tend them.(F) They will no longer be afraid or discouraged, nor will any be missing.”(G) This is the Lord’s declaration.
The Righteous Branch of David
5 “Look, the days are coming”(H)—this is the Lord’s declaration—
“when I will raise up a Righteous Branch for David.(I)
He will reign wisely as king
and administer justice and righteousness in the land.(J)
6 In his days Judah will be saved,
and Israel will dwell securely.(K)
This is the name he will be called:
The Lord Is Our Righteousness.[a](L)
7 “Look, the days are coming”(M)—the Lord’s declaration—“when it will no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives(N) who brought the Israelites from the land of Egypt,’ 8 but, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the land of the north and from all the other countries where I[b] had banished them.’ They will dwell once more in their own land.”(O)
False Prophets Condemned
9 Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me,(P)
and all my bones tremble.
I have become like a drunkard,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the Lord,
because of his holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers;(Q)
the land mourns(R) because of the curse,(S)
and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up.
Their way of life[c] has become evil,
and their power is not rightly used
11 because both prophet and priest are ungodly,(T)
even in my house(U) I have found their evil.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
12 Therefore, their way will seem
like slippery paths in the gloom.(V)
They will be driven away and fall down there,
for I will bring disaster on them,
the year of their punishment.(W)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
13 Among the prophets of Samaria
I saw something disgusting:
They prophesied by Baal
and led my people Israel astray.(X)
14 Among the prophets of Jerusalem also
I saw a horrible thing:(Y)
They commit adultery and walk in lies.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
and none turns his back on evil.
They are all like Sodom(Z) to me;
Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.
15 Therefore, this is what the Lord of Armies says concerning the prophets:
I am about to feed them wormwood(AA)
and give them poisoned water to drink,(AB)
for from the prophets of Jerusalem
ungodliness[d] has spread throughout the land.
16 This is what the Lord of Armies says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are deluding you. They speak visions from their own minds,(AC) not from the Lord’s mouth.(AD) 17 They keep on saying to those who despise me,(AE) ‘The Lord has spoken: You will have peace.’(AF) They have said to everyone who follows the stubbornness of his heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’”
18 For who has stood in the council(AG) of the Lord
to see and hear his word?
Who has paid attention to his word and obeyed?
19 Look, a storm from the Lord!(AH)
Wrath has gone out,
a whirling storm.
It will whirl about the heads of the wicked.
20 The Lord’s anger will not turn away(AI)
until he has completely fulfilled the purposes of his heart.
In time to come you will understand it clearly.(AJ)
21 I did not send out these prophets,(AK)
yet they ran.(AL)
I did not speak to them,
yet they prophesied.
22 If they had really stood in my council,
they would have enabled my people to hear my words
and would have turned them from their evil ways
and their evil deeds.(AM)
23 “Am I a God who is only near”(AN)—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and not a God who is far away? 24 Can a person hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” (AO)—the Lord’s declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” (AP)—the Lord’s declaration.
25 “I have heard what the prophets who prophesy a lie in my name have said: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ (AQ) 26 How long will this continue in the minds of the prophets prophesying lies, prophets of the deceit of their own minds? 27 Through their dreams that they tell one another, they plan to cause my people to forget my name as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship.(AR) 28 The prophet who has only a dream should recount the dream, but the one who has my word should speak my word truthfully, for what is straw compared to grain?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. 29 “Is not my word like fire”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“and like a hammer that pulverizes rock? 30 Therefore, take note! I am against the prophets”(AS)—the Lord’s declaration—“who steal my words from each other. 31 I am against the prophets”—the Lord’s declaration—“who use their own tongues to make a declaration. 32 I am against those who prophesy false dreams”(AT)—the Lord’s declaration—“telling them and leading my people astray with their reckless lies. It was not I who sent or commanded them, and they are of no benefit at all(AU) to these people”—this is the Lord’s declaration.
The Burden of the Lord
33 “Now when these people or a prophet or a priest asks you, ‘What is the burden[e] of the Lord?’ you will respond to them, ‘What is the burden? I will throw you away! This is the Lord’s declaration.’ 34 As for the prophet, priest, or people who say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ I will punish that man and his household. 35 This is what each man is to say to his friend and to his brother: ‘What has the Lord answered?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36 But no longer refer to[f] the burden of the Lord, for each man’s word becomes his burden and you pervert the words of the living God, the Lord of Armies, our God. 37 Say to the prophet, ‘What has the Lord answered you?’ or ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ then this is what the Lord says: Because you have said, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ and I specifically told you not to say, ‘The burden of the Lord,’ 39 I will surely forget you.[g] I will throw you away from my presence—both you and the city that I gave you and your ancestors. 40 I will bring on you everlasting disgrace and humiliation(AV) that will never be forgotten.”
The Good and the Bad Figs
24 After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had deported Jeconiah[h] son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, the officials of Judah, and the craftsmen and metalsmiths(AW) from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs(AX) placed in front of the temple of the Lord. 2 One basket contained very good figs, like early figs,(AY) but the other basket contained very bad figs, so bad they were inedible. 3 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
I said, “Figs! The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are extremely bad, so bad they are inedible.”
4 The word of the Lord came to me: 5 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will keep my eyes on them for their good(AZ) and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not demolish them; I will plant them and not uproot them.(BA) 7 I will give them a heart to know me,(BB) that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God because they will return to me with all their heart.(BC)
8 “But as for the bad figs, so bad they are inedible,(BD) this is what the Lord says: In this way I will deal with King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land or living in the land of Egypt.(BE) 9 I will make them an object of horror(BF) and a disaster to all the kingdoms of the earth, an example for disgrace, scorn, ridicule,(BG) and cursing, wherever I have banished them.(BH) 10 I will send the sword, famine, and plague(BI) against them until they have perished from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.”
Footnotes
Ephesians 4:17-32
Christian Standard Bible
Living the New Life
17 Therefore, I say this and testify in the Lord: You should no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thoughts. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them and because[a] of the hardness of their hearts. 19 They became callous and gave themselves over to promiscuity for the practice of every kind of impurity(A) with a desire for more and more.[b]
20 But that is not how you came to know Christ, 21 assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth(B) is in Jesus, 22 to take off[c](C) your former way of life,(D) the old self(E) that is corrupted by deceitful desires, 23 to be renewed[d] in the spirit(F) of your minds, 24 and to put on[e](G) the new self, the one created(H) according to God’s likeness(I) in righteousness and purity of the truth.
25 Therefore, putting away(J) lying, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor,[f](K) because we are members of one another. 26 Be angry and do not sin.[g](L) Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and don’t give the devil an opportunity. 28 Let the thief no longer steal. Instead, he is to do honest work with his own hands, so that he has something to share(M) with anyone in need. 29 No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need,[h] so that it gives grace to those who hear. 30 And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit.(N) You were sealed by him[i] for the day of redemption.(O) 31 Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind(P) and compassionate(Q) to one another, forgiving(R) one another, just as God also forgave you[j] in Christ.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 4:18 Or in them because
- 4:19 Lit with greediness
- 4:21–22 Or Jesus. This means: take off (as a command)
- 4:22–23 Or desires; renew (as a command)
- 4:23–24 Or minds; and put on (as a command)
- 4:25 Zch 8:16
- 4:26 Ps 4:4
- 4:29 Lit for the building up of the need
- 4:30 Or Spirit, by whom you were sealed
- 4:32 Other mss read us
Psalm 115:8-14
Christian Standard Bible
9 Israel,[b] trust in the Lord!(B)
He is their help and shield.(C)
10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord!(D)
He is their help and shield.(E)
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!(F)
He is their help and shield.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron;(G)
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord—
small and great alike.(H)
14 May the Lord add to your numbers,
both yours and your children’s.(I)
Proverbs 24:28-29
Christian Standard Bible
28 Don’t testify against your neighbor without cause.(A)
Don’t deceive with your lips.
29 Don’t say, “I’ll do to him what he did to me;
I’ll repay the man for what he has done.”(B)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
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