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Jeremiah Appeals to God
12 Lord, you have always been fair
whenever I have complained to you.[a]
However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice.[b]
Why are wicked people successful?[c]
Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?
2 You plant them like trees and they put down their roots.[d]
They grow prosperous and are very fruitful.[e]
They always talk about you,
but they really care nothing about you.[f]
3 But you, Lord, know all about me.
You watch me and test my devotion to you.[g]
Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered!
Appoint a time when they will be killed![h]
4 How long must the land be parched[i]
and the grass in every field be withered?
How long[j] must the animals and the birds die
because of the wickedness of the people who live in this land?[k]
For these people boast,
“God[l] will not see what happens to us.”[m]
God Answers Jeremiah
5 The Lord answered,[n]
“If you have raced on foot against men and they have worn you out,
how will you be able to compete with horses?
And if you feel secure only[o] in safe and open country,[p]
how will you manage in the thick undergrowth along the Jordan River?[q]
6 As a matter of fact,[r] even your own brothers
and the members of your own family have betrayed you as well.
Even they have plotted to do away with you.[s]
So do not trust them even when they say kind things[t] to you.
7 “I will abandon my nation.[u]
I will forsake the people I call my own.[v]
I will turn my beloved people[w]
over to the power[x] of their enemies.
8 The people I call my own[y] have turned on me
like a lion[z] in the forest.
They have roared defiantly at me,[aa]
so I will treat them as though I hate them.[ab]
9 The people I call my own attack me like birds of prey or like hyenas.[ac]
But other birds of prey are all around them.[ad]
Let all the nations gather together like wild beasts.
Let them come and destroy these people I call my own.[ae]
10 Many foreign rulers[af] will ruin the land where I planted my people.[ag]
They will trample all over my chosen land.[ah]
They will turn my beautiful land
into a desolate wilderness.
11 They will lay it waste.
It will lie parched[ai] and empty before me.
The whole land will be laid waste,
but no one living in it will pay any heed.[aj]
12 A destructive army[ak] will come marching
over the hilltops in the wilderness.
For the Lord will use them as his destructive weapon[al]
against[am] everyone from one end of the land to the other.
No one will be safe.[an]
13 My people will sow wheat, but will harvest weeds.[ao]
They will work until they are exhausted, but will get nothing from it.
They will be disappointed in their harvests[ap]
because the Lord will take them away in his fierce anger.[aq]
14 “I, the Lord, also have something to say concerning[ar] the wicked nations who surround my land[as] and have attacked and plundered[at] the land that I gave to my people as a permanent possession.[au] I say: ‘I will uproot the people of those nations from their land and I will free the people of Judah who have been taken there.[av] 15 But after I have uprooted the people of those nations, I will relent[aw] and have pity on them. I will restore the people of each of those nations to their own lands[ax] and to their own country. 16 But they must make sure to learn to follow the religious practices of my people.[ay] Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal.[az] But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, “As surely as the Lord lives, I swear.”[ba] If they do these things,[bb] then they will be included among the people I call my own.[bc] 17 But I will completely uproot and destroy any of those nations that will not pay heed,’”[bd] says the Lord.
An Object Lesson from Ruined Linen Shorts
13 The Lord said to me, “Go and buy some linen shorts[be] and put them on.[bf] Do not put them in water.”[bg] 2 So I bought the shorts in keeping with the Lord’s instructions[bh] and put them on.[bi] 3 Then the Lord’s message came to me again, 4 “Take the shorts that you bought and are wearing[bj] and go at once[bk] to Perath.[bl] Bury the shorts there[bm] in a crack in the rocks.” 5 So I went and buried them at Perath[bn] as the Lord had ordered me to do. 6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to Perath and get[bo] the shorts I ordered you to bury there.” 7 So I went to Perath and dug up[bp] the shorts from the place where I had buried them. I found[bq] that they were ruined; they were good for nothing.
8 Then the Lord’s message came to me, 9 “I, the Lord, say:[br] ‘This shows how[bs] I will ruin the highly exalted position[bt] in which Judah and Jerusalem take pride. 10 These wicked people refuse to obey what I have said.[bu] They follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts and pay allegiance[bv] to other gods by worshiping and serving them. So[bw] they will become just like these linen shorts that are good for nothing. 11 For,’ I say,[bx] ‘just as shorts cling tightly to a person’s body, so I bound the whole nation of Israel and the whole nation of Judah[by] tightly[bz] to me.’ I intended for them to be my special people and to bring me fame, honor, and praise.[ca] But they would not obey me.
12 “So tell them,[cb] ‘The Lord, the God of Israel, says: “Every wine jar is made to be filled with wine.”’[cc] And they will probably say to you, ‘Do you not think we know[cd] that every wine jar is supposed to be filled with wine?’ 13 Then[ce] tell them, ‘The Lord says: “I will soon fill all the people who live in this land with stupor.[cf] I will also fill the kings from David’s dynasty,[cg] the priests, the prophets, and the citizens of Jerusalem with stupor.[ch] 14 And I will smash them like wine bottles against one another, children and parents alike.[ci] I will not show any pity, mercy, or compassion. Nothing will keep me from destroying them,’[cj] says the Lord.”
15 Then I said to the people of Judah:[ck]
“Listen and pay attention! Do not be arrogant!
For the Lord has spoken.
16 Show the Lord your God the respect that is due him.[cl]
Do it before he brings the darkness of disaster.[cm]
Do it before you stumble[cn] into distress
like a traveler on the mountains at twilight.[co]
Do it before he turns the light of deliverance you hope for
into the darkness and gloom of exile.[cp]
17 But if you will not pay attention to this warning,[cq]
I will weep alone because of your arrogant pride.
I will weep bitterly, and my eyes will overflow with tears[cr]
because you, the Lord’s flock,[cs] will be carried into exile.”[ct]
18 The Lord told me:[cu]
“Tell the king and the queen mother,
‘Surrender your thrones,[cv]
for your glorious crowns
will be removed[cw] from your heads.[cx]
19 The gates of the towns in southern Judah will be shut tight.[cy]
No one will be able to go in or out of them.[cz]
All Judah will be carried off into exile.
They will be completely carried off into exile.’”[da]
20 Then I said,[db]
“Look up, Jerusalem,[dc] and see
the enemy[dd] that is coming from the north.
Where now is the flock of people that were entrusted to your care?[de]
Where now are the ‘sheep’ that you take such pride in?[df]
21 What will you say[dg] when the Lord[dh] appoints as rulers over you those allies
that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such?[di]
Then anguish and agony will grip you
like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.[dj]
22 You will probably ask yourself,[dk]
‘Why have these things happened to me?
Why have I been treated like a disgraced adulteress
whose skirt has been torn off and her limbs exposed?’[dl]
It is because you have sinned so much.[dm]
23 But there is little hope for you ever doing good,
you who are so accustomed to doing evil.
Can an Ethiopian[dn] change the color of his skin?
Can a leopard remove its spots?[do]
24 “The Lord says,[dp]
‘That is why I will scatter your people[dq] like chaff
that is blown away by a desert wind.[dr]
25 This is your fate,
the destiny to which I have appointed you,
because you have forgotten me
and have trusted in false gods.
26 So I will pull your skirt up over your face
and expose you to shame like a disgraced adulteress![ds]
27 People of Jerusalem,[dt] I have seen your adulterous worship,
your shameless prostitution to, and your lustful pursuit of, other gods.[du]
I have seen your disgusting acts of worship[dv]
on the hills throughout the countryside.
You are doomed to destruction![dw]
How long will you continue to be unclean?’”
A Lament over the Ravages of Drought[dx]
14 This was[dy] the Lord’s message to Jeremiah about the drought.[dz]
2 “The people of Judah are in mourning.
The people in her cities are pining away.
They lie on the ground expressing their sorrow.[ea]
Cries of distress come up to me[eb] from Jerusalem.
3 The leading men of the cities send their servants for water.
They go to the cisterns,[ec] but they do not find any water there.
They return with their containers[ed] empty.
Disappointed and dismayed, they bury their faces in their hands.[ee]
4 They are dismayed because the ground is cracked[ef]
because there has been no rain in the land.
The farmers, too, are dismayed
and bury their faces in their hands.
5 Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn[eg] in the field
because there is no grass.
6 Wild donkeys stand on the hilltops
and pant for breath like jackals.
Their eyes are strained looking for food,
because there is none to be found.”[eh]
7 Then I said,[ei]
“O Lord, intervene for the honor of your name[ej]
even though our sins speak out against us.[ek]
Indeed,[el] we have turned away from you many times.
We have sinned against you.
8 You have been the object of Israel’s hopes.
You have saved them when they were in trouble.
Why have you become like a resident foreigner[em] in the land?
Why have you become like a traveler who only stops in to spend the night?
9 Why should you be like someone who is helpless,[en]
like a champion[eo] who cannot save anyone?
You are indeed with us,[ep]
and we belong to you.[eq]
Do not abandon us!”
10 Then the Lord spoke about these people.[er]
Salutation
1 From Paul[a] and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you![b]
Thanksgiving for Response to the Gospel
2 We thank God always for all of you as we mention you constantly[c] in our prayers, 3 because we recall[d] in the presence of our God and Father[e] your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope[f] in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 We know,[g] brothers and sisters[h] loved by God, that he has chosen you,[i] 5 in that[j] our gospel did not come to you merely in words,[k] but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction (surely you recall the character we displayed when we came among you to help you).[l]
6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you received[m] the message with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, despite great affliction. 7 As a result you became an example[n] to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For from you the message of the Lord[o] has echoed forth not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place reports of your faith in God have spread,[p] so that we do not need to say anything. 9 For people everywhere[q] report how you welcomed us[r] and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.[s]
Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica
2 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters,[t] about our coming to you—it has not proven to be purposeless.[u] 2 But although we suffered earlier and were mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we had the courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God[v] in spite of much opposition. 3 For the appeal we make[w] does not come[x] from error or impurity or with deceit, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we declare it, not to please people but God, who examines our hearts. 5 For we never appeared[y] with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is our witness— 6 nor to seek glory from people, either from you or from others, 7 [z] although we could have imposed our weight as apostles of Christ; instead we became[aa] little children[ab] among you. Like a nursing mother caring for her own children, 8 with such affection for you[ac] we were happy[ad] to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.
Psalm 79[a]
A psalm of Asaph.
79 O God, foreigners[b] have invaded your chosen land;[c]
they have polluted your holy temple
and turned Jerusalem into a heap of ruins.
2 They have given the corpses of your servants
to the birds of the sky,[d]
the flesh of your loyal followers
to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have made their blood flow like water
all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them.[e]
4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us.[f]
5 How long will this go on, O Lord?[g]
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage[h] burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you,[i]
on the kingdoms that do not pray to you.[j]
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his home.
8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations.[k]
Quickly send your compassion our way,[l]
for we are in serious trouble.[m]
9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!
For the sake of your glorious reputation,[n] rescue us.
Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation.[o]
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants
be avenged among the nations.[p]
11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners.[q]
Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die.[r]
12 Pay back our neighbors in full.[s]
May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord.[t]
13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will continually thank you.[u]
We will tell coming generations of your praiseworthy acts.[v]
30 I passed by the field of a sluggard,
by the vineyard of one who lacks sense.[a]
31 I saw[b] that thorns had grown up all over it,
the ground[c] was covered with weeds,
and its stone wall was broken down.
32 Then I scrutinized[d] it. I was putting[e] my mind[f] to it—
I saw;[g] I took in a lesson:[h]
33 “A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to relax,
34 and your poverty will come like a bandit,
and your need like an armed robber.”[i]
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