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21 I have not sent the prophets, yet they ran.
I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in my council,
then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,
and they would have caused them to turn from their evil way,
and from the evil of their deeds.
23 Am I a God from near,” declares[a] Yahweh,
“and not a God from far?
24 Or can a person hide himself in secret places
and I cannot see him?” declares[b] Yahweh.
“Do I not fill up the heaven and the earth?” declares[c] Yahweh.
25 “I have heard what the prophets who prophesy lies[d] have said in my name, saying,[e] ‘I have dreamed! I have dreamed!’ 26 How long[f] will this be in the hearts[g] of the prophets who prophesy lies,[h] even the prophets of the deceitfulness of their hearts,[i] 27 who plan to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell each one to his neighbor, just as their ancestors[j] forgot my name through Baal? 28 The prophet who has with him a dream, let him tell the dream. But the prophet[k] who has my word with him, let him speak my word faithfully. What is straw compared to wheat?”[l] declares[m] Yahweh. 29 “Is not my word like fire?” declares[n] Yahweh, “and like a blacksmith’s hammer that breaks a rock into pieces?
30 “Therefore[o] look, I am against the prophets,” declares[p] Yahweh, “who steal my words each one from his neighbor. 31 Look, I am against the prophets,” declares[q] Yahweh, “who take their tongues[r] and declare as prophets, ‘Yahweh declares.’[s] 32 Look, I am against those who prophesy dreams of lies,”[t] declares[u] Yahweh, “and tell them, and they caused my people to err through their lies, and in their recklessness, when I myself have not sent them nor commanded them, so they profit not this people at all,” declares[v] Yahweh.
33 “Now when this people, or a prophet, or a priest, ask you, saying,[w] ‘What is the burden[x] of Yahweh?’ then you shall say to them, ‘You are the burden,[y] and I will forsake you,’” declares[z] Yahweh. 34 “And the prophet, and the priest, and the people who say, ‘The burden[aa] of Yahweh,’ I will punish that man and his house. 35 Thus you shall say, each one to his neighbor and each one to his brother: ‘What has Yahweh answered?’ or, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’ 36 But you shall not mention the burden[ab] of Yahweh, for the burden[ac] is to each one his word, and so you twist the words of the living God, Yahweh of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you shall say to that prophet, ‘What has Yahweh answered you?’ or, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’ 38 But if you say, ‘The burden[ad] of Yahweh,’ therefore[ae] thus says Yahweh, ‘because of your saying these words,[af] “The burden[ag] of Yahweh,” then I will send to you, saying,[ah] “You shall not say, ‘The burden[ai] of Yahweh.’”’ 39 Therefore[aj] look, here I am, and I will surely lift you up and forsake you and the city that I gave to you and to your ancestors[ak] from my presence[al], 40 and I will bring upon you an everlasting disgrace[am] and an everlasting shame[an] that will not be forgotten.”
Two Baskets of Figs
24 Yahweh showed me, and look, there were two baskets of figs placed before[ao] the temple of Yahweh—after Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had deported Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, with the officials of Judah, and the craftsmen, and the smiths,[ap] from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon. 2 The one basket had very good figs, like early figs,[aq] and the other basket had very bad figs that could not be eaten because of their bad quality. 3 And Yahweh asked me, “What are you seeing, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs—the good figs, very good, and the bad figs, very bad, that cannot be eaten because of their bad quality.”
4 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,[ar] 5 “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles[as] of Judah whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 For I will set my eyes[at] on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. And I will build them and not annihilate them, and I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 And I will give to them a heart to know me, that I am Yahweh, and they will be my people,[au] and I will be their God,[av] for they will return to me with the whole of their heart.
8 But like the bad figs that cannot be eaten because of their bad quality—for thus says Yahweh—so I will treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who live in the land of Egypt. 9 And I will make them as a terror, an evil to all the kingdoms of the earth, as a disgrace and a proverb, as a taunt and a curse, in all the places where I will drive them. 10 And I will send among them the sword, the famine, and the plague, until they perish from the land that I gave to them and their ancestors.’”[aw]
Seventy Years of Servitude
25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,[ax] 3 “From the thirteenth year of Josiah, the son of Amon, the king of Judah, even up to this day, these twenty-three years[ay] the word of Yahweh has come to me, and I have spoken to you over and over again,[az] but you have not listened. 4 And though Yahweh has sent all his servants the prophets to you over and over again[ba] you have not listened, and you have not inclined your ear to hear, 5 saying,[bb] ‘Turn back please, each one from his evil way, and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the land that Yahweh has given to you and to your ancestors[bc] from a long time back and until forever, 6 and you must not go after other gods to serve them, and to bow in worship to them, and you must not provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, then I will not do something bad to you.’ 7 ‘Yet you have not listened to me,’ declares[bd] Yahweh, ‘so that you[be] have provoked me to anger with the work of your hands for your own harm.’
8 Therefore[bf] thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 look, I am going to send and take all the clans[bg] of the north,’ declares[bh] Yahweh, ‘and I will send[bi] to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land, and against its inhabitants, and against all these nations all around, and I will destroy them, and I will make them a horror, and an object of hissing, and everlasting ruins.[bj] 10 And I will exterminate from them the sound of jubilation, and the sound of joy, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp. 11 And all this land will become a site of ruins, a desolation, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.[bk]
The Cup of Wrath
12 And then[bl] when the seventy years[bm] are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares[bn] Yahweh, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it an everlasting waste.[bo] 13 And I will bring upon that land all my words that I have spoken against it, everything that is written in this scroll which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. 14 For many nations and great kings will let them work, even them, and I will repay them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.’” 15 For thus said Yahweh, the God of Israel, to me, “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand, and you must give it to all the nations to whom I am sending you to drink. 16 And they will drink, and they will stagger, and they will act like madmen because of the presence[bp] of the sword that I am sending among them.”
17 So I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and I gave it[bq] to all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me to drink: 18 Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and its kings, and its officials, to make them a site of ruins, a horror, an object of hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; 19 Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and his servants, and his officials, and all his people; 20 and all the other[br] people; and all the kings of the land of Uz; and all the kings of the land of the Philistines—[bs]Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; 21 Edom, and Moab, and the Ammonites;[bt] 22 and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland that is across the sea; 23 and Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all those who are trimmed to the side; 24 and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the other[bu] people who dwell in the desert;[bv] 25 and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, each one to his brother, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth; and the king of Sheshach, he will drink after them.
27 “And you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Drink and become drunk, and vomit, and fall, and you must not rise because of the presence[bw] of the sword that I am sending among you.”’ 28 And it will happen, if they refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “You must certainly drink! 29 For look, on the city that is called by[bx] my name I am beginning to inflict harm, and you indeed, will you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares[by] Yahweh of hosts.’
30 And you yourself shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them:
‘Yahweh will roar from on high,
and from his holy dwelling place[bz] he will give his voice.
He will roar mightily against his settlement,
a jubilant shout like those who tread grapes,
he will answer against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 The rage of battle will resound to the end of the earth,
for there is a lawsuit of Yahweh against the nations.
He is entering into judgment with all wicked flesh,
he will give them to the sword,’ declares[ca] Yahweh.”
32 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“Look, disaster is going out from nation to nation,
and a great tempest is stirred up from the farthest parts of the earth.
33 And the slain ones of Yahweh will be on that day
from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth,
and they will not be mourned,
and they will not be gathered,
and they will not be buried.
They will become like dung on the surface[cb] of the ground.
34 Wail, you shepherds, and cry out.
And roll about in mourning in the dust, O leaders[cc] of the flock.
For your days of slaughter and your dispersions have arrived,
and you will fall like a vessel of desire.
35 And flight will perish from the shepherds,
and escape from the leaders[cd] of the flock.
36 A sound, the cry of distress of the shepherds
and the wailing of the leaders[ce] of the flock,
for Yahweh is despoiling their pasture.
37 And the peaceful settlements[cf] are devastated
because of the burning anger of Yahweh.[cg]
38 He has left his den like a lion,
for their land has become a horror,
because of the anger of the oppressors,
and because of his burning anger.”[ch]
The Man of Lawlessness Will Be Revealed
2 Now we ask you, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to him, 2 that you not be easily shaken from your composure, nor be troubled either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter alleged to be from us[a], to the effect that the day of the Lord has arrived. 3 Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and who exalts himself over every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits down in the temple of God, proclaiming that he himself is God.
5 Do you not remember that while[b] we were still with you, we were saying these things to you? 6 And you know that which restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is at work already; only the one who now restrains[c] will do so until he is out of the way,[d] 8 and then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of his mouth, and wipe out by the appearance of his coming, 9 whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved. 11 And because of this, God sends them a powerful delusion[e] so that they will believe the lie, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but delighted in unrighteousness.
Stand Firm and Hold Fast
13 But we ought to give thanks to God always concerning you, brothers dearly loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you as first fruits for salvation by the sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth, 14 for which purpose he called[f] you through our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions which you were taught, whether by spoken word or by letter from us. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal encouragement and good hope by grace, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good work and word.
The Joy of Worshiping in the Temple
For the music director; on the Gittith.
Of the sons of Korah. A psalm.[a]
84 How lovely are your dwelling places,
O Yahweh of hosts!
2 My soul longs and even fails
for the courtyards of Yahweh.
My heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
3 Even a bird finds a home, and a swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
near your altars, O Yahweh of hosts,
my king and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;[b]
they can ever praise you. Selah
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in you;
in their heart are the highways to Zion.
6 Passing through the Valley of Baca,[c]
they make it a spring.
The early rain covers it with blessings[d] as well.
7 They go from strength to strength,
until each appears before God in Zion.[e]
8 O Yahweh, God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah
9 Look at our shield, O God,
and have regard for the face of your anointed one.
10 Because better is a day in your courtyards
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be at the threshold of the house[f] of my God
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 Because Yahweh God is a sun and a shield;
Yahweh gives grace and honor.
He does not withhold good from those who walk blamelessly.
12 O Yahweh of hosts,
blessed is the man who trusts you.
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