Mem

Jeremiah Spared from Death

^16 (A)Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, ^(B)“This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” ^17 (C)And certain of ^(D)the elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, ¹⁸ “Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,

¹⁹ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? ^(F)Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, ^(G)and did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? ^(H)But we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.”

²⁰ There was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from ^(I)Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah. ²¹ And when ^(J)King Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt. ²² Then ^(K)King Jehoiakim sent to Egypt certain men, ^(L)Elnathan the son of ^(M)Achbor and others with him, ²³ and they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, ^(N)who struck him down with the sword and dumped his dead body into the burial place of the common people.

²⁴ But the hand of ^(O)Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death.

A Worker Approved by God

¹⁴ Remind them of these things, and ^(A)charge them before God^{[a] (B)}not to quarrel about words, ^(C)which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,^[b] a worker ^(D)who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. ¹⁶ But ^(E)avoid ^(F)irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, ¹⁷ and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are ^(G)Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have swerved from the truth, ^(H)saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. ¹⁹ But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ^(I)“The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone ^(J)who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

²⁰ Now in ^(K)a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, ^(L)some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. ²¹ Therefore, ^(M)if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable,^[c] he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ^(N)ready for every good work.

²² So ^(O)flee ^(P)youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with ^(Q)those who call on the Lord ^(R)from a pure heart. ²³ Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant ^(S)controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴ And ^(T)the Lord's servant^[d] must not be quarrelsome but ^(U)kind to everyone, ^(V)able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵ correcting his opponents ^(W)with gentleness. God ^(X)may perhaps grant them repentance ^(Y)leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from ^(Z)the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.