Jerusalem’s Sin

5 “Go up and down through the streets of Jerusalem, and look and learn. Look in her open places to see if you can find just one man who does what is right and looks for the truth. Then I will forgive this city. ² Even if they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ for sure their promises are false.” ³ O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth? You have punished them, but they were not sorry. You have destroyed them, but they would not change. They have made their faces harder than rock. They would not be sorry for their sins and turn from them.

⁴ Then I said, “They are only the poor. They are foolish. For they do not know the way of the Lord or the Law of their God. ⁵ I will go to the great men and will speak to them, for they know the way of the Lord, and the Law of their God.” But they too have broken the load from their neck and have broken the chains. ⁶ So a lion from among the trees will kill them. A wolf of the deserts will destroy them. A leopard is watching their cities. Every one who goes out of them will be torn in pieces, because they have done many sins. They have turned away from the Lord in many ways.

⁷ “Why should I forgive you? Your sons have left Me and have sworn by those who are not gods. When I gave them everything they needed, they did sex sins and met at the house of the woman who sells the use of her body. ⁸ They were like well-fed horses full of sinful desire, each one wanting his neighbor’s wife. ⁹ Should I not punish these people?” says the Lord. “Should I not make a nation such as this pay for its sins?

¹⁰ “Go up through her grape-fields and destroy, but do not destroy all of them. Cut away her branches, for they are not the Lord’s. ¹¹ For the people of Israel and the people of Judah have not been faithful to Me,” says the Lord.

Jerusalem Will Be Destroyed

¹² “They have lied about the Lord and said, ‘He will do nothing. Nothing bad will happen to us, and we will not see sword or hunger. ¹³ The men who speak for God are only wind. The word is not in them. So let what they say be done to them!’”

¹⁴ So the Lord, the God of All, says, “Because you have said this, I am making My words in your mouth a fire and I am making these people wood so they will be burned up. ¹⁵ See, I am bringing a nation that is far away against you, O people of Israel,” says the Lord. “It is a strong nation and an old nation, a nation whose language you do not know. You cannot understand what they say. ¹⁶ Their arrow-holder is like an open grave. All of them are powerful men. ¹⁷ They will eat up your food that you gather from your fields. They will eat the food your sons and your daughters should eat. They will eat up your flocks and your cattle. They will destroy your grape-fields and your fig trees. They will destroy with the sword your strong cities in which you trust.

¹⁸ “Yet even in those days I will not make a complete end of you,” says the Lord. ¹⁹ “When your people say, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all these things to us?’ then you will say to them, ‘As you have left Me and served strange gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’

²⁰ “Make this known in the family of Jacob and in Judah, saying, ²¹ ‘Hear this, O foolish people without understanding, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. ²² Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord. ‘Do you not shake in fear before Me? For I have placed the sand to be on one side of the sea, a lasting wall that it cannot cross. Even if there are waves, they cannot pass. Even if they make much noise, they cannot cross over it. ²³ But these people have a strong-will and a heart that has turned against Me. They have turned aside and gone away. ²⁴ They do not say in their heart, “Let us fear the Lord our God, Who gives rain in its time, both the fall rain and the spring rain, Who keeps for us the weeks for gathering food.” ²⁵ Your wrong-doing has kept these good things away. Your sins have kept good from you. ²⁶ For sinful men are found among My people. They watch like men lying in wait watching for birds. They set a trap, and they catch men. ²⁷ Like a basket full of birds, their houses are full of lies and false ways. So they have become important and rich. ²⁸ They are fat and smooth, and have done many sinful acts. They do not do what is right for those whose parents have died so that they may do well. And they do not help fight for the rights of the poor. ²⁹ “Should I not punish these people?” says the Lord. “Should I not punish a nation such as this?”

³⁰ A very bad and surprising thing has happened in the land. ³¹ The men of God say things that are not true, and the religious leaders rule by their own thoughts. And My people love to have it this way! But what will you do in the end?

Armies around Jerusalem

6 “Run away to be safe, O sons of Benjamin! Run from Jerusalem! Blow the horn in Tekoa, and light a fire in Beth-haccerem. For a sinful power is coming down from the north, that will destroy much. ² I will cut off the beautiful and fine ones, the people of Zion. ³ Shepherds and their flocks will come to her. They will set up their tents around her and feed their flocks there, each in his place. ⁴ Make war against her. Rise up, let us go and fight her at noon. It is bad for us, for the day is passing! The shadows of the evening are longer! ⁵ Rise up, let us go and fight in the night and destroy her strong houses!” ⁶ For the Lord of All says, “Cut down her trees, and build a battle-wall against Jerusalem. This is the city to be punished. There is nothing but a sinful power that makes hard times for others within her. ⁷ As a well keeps its water good for drinking, so Jerusalem keeps going on in her sin. The sounds of those who fight and those who destroy are heard in her. Sickness and sorrow are always before Me. ⁸ Listen about the danger, O Jerusalem, or I will become a stranger to you. I will make you a waste, a land with no people.”

Israel Will Not Listen

⁹ The Lord of All says, “They will gather all the people of Israel who are left like gathering from the vine. Pass your hand over the branches again like one who gathers grapes.” ¹⁰ Whom should I tell of the danger, that they may hear? See, their ears are closed and they cannot listen. They have become ashamed of the Word of the Lord. They have no joy in it. ¹¹ But I am full of the anger of the Lord. I am tired of holding it in. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband and wife will be taken, the old and those who have lived a very long time. ¹² Their houses, their fields and their wives will be given to others. I will put out My hand against the people of the land,” says the Lord. ¹³ “For from the least to the greatest of them, every one is always wanting something. And from the man of God to the religious leader, every one lies to get what he wants. ¹⁴ They have healed the hurt of My people only a little, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. ¹⁵ Were they ashamed because of the sinful things they had done? No, they were not ashamed at all. They did not even know how to turn red. So they will fall among those who fall. When I punish them, they will be brought down,” says the Lord.

Israel Will Not Go God’s Way

¹⁶ The Lord says, “Stand by where the roads cross, and look. Ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it. And you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ ¹⁷ I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Listen to the sound of the horn!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’ ¹⁸ So hear, O nations, and know, O people, what will happen to them. ¹⁹ Hear, O earth. See, I am bringing much trouble upon these people. It is the fruit of their plans, because they have not listened to My words. And they have turned away from My law. ²⁰ Why does special perfume come to Me from Sheba, or sweet spices from a far away land? I will not receive your burnt gifts on the altar in worship. The gifts you give on the altar are not pleasing to Me.” ²¹ So the Lord says, “See, I am laying things in front of these people, and they will fall over them. Fathers and sons will fall together, and neighbor and friend will die.”

Armies from the North

²² The Lord says, “See, a people is coming from the north country. A great nation is being raised up from the farthest parts of the earth. ²³ They take hold of bow and spear. They are hard on people and have no pity. Their voice sounds like the sea. They ride on horses, dressed as a man for battle against you, O people of Zion!” ²⁴ We have heard about it. Our hands fall weak. Suffering has taken hold of us, like the pain of a woman giving birth. ²⁵ Do not go out into the field, and do not walk on the road. For the one who hates us has a sword. Fear is all around us. ²⁶ O daughter of my people, dress in cloth made from hair and roll in ashes. Have sorrow as if you lost your only son. Cry with a bitter cry. For all at once the destroyer will come upon us.

²⁷ “I have asked you to test My people, that you may know and test their ways.” ²⁸ All of them are strongwilled in turning to their own way, going about telling stories to hurt people. They are brass and iron. All of them are sinful. ²⁹ Air is blown hard on the fire to burn up the lead. It is of no use because the sinful ones are not taken away. ³⁰ They are called waste silver, because the Lord has turned away from them.

1 This letter is from Paul, a missionary of Jesus Christ. I am sent by God, the One Who saves, and by our Lord Jesus Christ Who is our hope. ² I write to you, Timothy. You are my son in the Christian faith. May God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord give you His loving-favor and loving-kindness and peace.

Watch for False Teachers

³ When I left for the country of Macedonia, I asked you to stay in the city of Ephesus. I wanted you to stay there so you could tell those who are teaching what is not true to stop. ⁴ They should not listen to stories that are not true. It is foolish for them to try to learn more about their early fathers. These only bring more questions to their minds and do not make their faith in God stronger. ⁵ We want to see our teaching help you have a true love that comes from a pure heart. Such love comes from a heart that says we are not guilty and from a faith that does not pretend. ⁶ But some have turned away from these things. They have turned to foolish talking. ⁷ Some of them want to be teachers of the Law. But they do not know what they are talking about even if they act as if they do.

The Law Is Good

⁸ We know the Law is good when it is used the way God meant it to be used. ⁹ We must remember the Law is not for the person who is right with God. It is for those who do not obey anybody or anything. It is for the sinners who hate God and speak against Him. It is for those who kill their fathers and mothers and for those who kill other people. ¹⁰ It is for those who do sex sins and for people who do sex sins with their own sex. It is for people who steal other people and for those who lie and for those who promise not to lie, but do. It is for everything that is against right teaching. ¹¹ The great Good News of our honored God is right teaching. God has trusted me to preach this Good News.

Paul Gives Thanks to God

¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord for the power and strength He has given me. He trusted me and gave me His work to do. ¹³ Before He chose me, I talked bad about Christ. I made His followers suffer. I hurt them every way I could. But God had loving-kindness for me. I did not understand what I was doing for I was not a Christian then. ¹⁴ Then our Lord gave me much of His loving-favor and faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ What I say is true and all the world should receive it. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners from their sin and I am the worst sinner. ¹⁶ And yet God had loving-kindness for me. Jesus Christ used me to show how long He will wait for even the worst sinners. In that way, others will know they can have life that lasts forever also. ¹⁷ We give honor and thanks to the King Who lives forever. He is the One Who never dies and Who is never seen. He is the One Who knows all things. He is the only God. Let it be so.

The Good Fight of Faith

¹⁸ Timothy, my son, here is my word to you. Fight well for the Lord! God’s preachers told us you would. ¹⁹ Keep a strong hold on your faith in Christ. May your heart always say you are right. Some people have not listened to what their hearts say. They have done what they knew was wrong. Because of this, their faith in Christ was wrecked. ²⁰ This happened to Hymenaeus and Alexander. I gave them over to Satan to teach them not to speak against God.