God Shall Scatter His Enemies

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

The Good Figs and the Bad Figs

24 ^(A)After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem ^(B)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with ^(C)the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, ^(D)two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. ² One basket had very good figs, ^(E)like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had ^(F)very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. ³ And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁵ “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, ^(G)whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. ^6 (H)I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. ^(I)I will build them up, and not tear them down; ^(J)I will plant them, and not pluck them up. ^7 (K)I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord, ^(L)and they shall be my people ^(M)and I will be their God, ^(N)for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

⁸ “But thus says the Lord: Like ^(O)the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat ^(P)Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who ^(Q)dwell in the land of Egypt. ⁹ I will make them ^(R)a horror^[a] to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be ^(S)a reproach, ^(T)a byword, ^(U)a taunt, and ^(V)a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. ¹⁰ And I will send ^(W)sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”

Paul Surrenders His Rights

9 ^(A)Am I not free? ^(B)Am I not an apostle? ^(C)Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? ^(D)Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? ² If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are ^(E)the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ This is my defense to those who would examine me. ^4 (F)Do we not have the right to eat and drink? ^5 (G)Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife,^[a] as do the other apostles and ^(H)the brothers of the Lord and ^(I)Cephas? ⁶ Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? ^7 (J)Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? ^(K)Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

⁸ Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? ⁹ For it is written in the Law of Moses, ^(L)“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? ¹⁰ Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written ^(M)for our sake, because ^(N)the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. ^11 (O)If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? ¹² If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, ^(P)we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything ^(Q)rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

¹³ Do you not know that ^(R)those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord commanded that ^(S)those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

¹⁵ But ^(T)I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone ^(U)deprive me of my ground for boasting. ¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For ^(V)necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with ^(W)a stewardship. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? That in my preaching ^(X)I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹ For ^(Y)though I am free from all, ^(Z)I have made myself a servant to all, that I might ^(AA)win more of them. ^20 (AB)To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. ²¹ To ^(AC)those outside the law I became ^(AD)as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but ^(AE)under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. ^22 (AF)To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. ^(AG)I have become all things to all people, that ^(AH)by all means I might save some. ²³ I do it all for the sake of the gospel, ^(AI)that I may share with them in its blessings.

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives ^(AJ)the prize? So ^(AK)run that you may obtain it. ²⁵ Every ^(AL)athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we ^(AM)an imperishable. ²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I ^(AN)do not box as one ^(AO)beating the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and ^(AP)keep it under control,^[b] lest after preaching to others ^(AQ)I myself should be ^(AR)disqualified.