Old/New Testament
Jeremiah at the potter's house[a]
18 The Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: 2 ‘Go down to the potter's house. I will tell you my message there.’ 3 So I went down to the potter's house. He was working at his wheel. 4 He was using clay to make pots with his hands. But, as he worked, sometimes a pot had the wrong shape. So he used the clay to make it into another pot. He made it in the shape that he wanted.
5 Then the Lord told me his message. 6 He said, ‘I tell you this: I can do to you, nation of Israel, the same thing that this potter does with his clay. I hold you in my hands, as the potter holds the clay in his hands. 7 Sometimes I may warn a nation or a kingdom that I will knock it down and destroy it. 8 But when I warn them, those people might stop doing wicked things. Then I would not punish them as I had promised to do. 9 Sometimes I may promise to build up a nation or a kingdom and make it strong. 10 But those people might start to do evil things. They might stop obeying me. Then I would not help them as I had promised to do.
11 So now you must speak to the people who live in Jerusalem and in all of Judah. Tell them that the Lord says this: “Listen to me! I will cause great trouble for you. I have decided to punish you. So you must all stop doing the evil things that you have been doing. Change the way that you live and do things that are right.” 12 But they will say, “Do not try to stop us! We will do whatever we want to do. We will continue to do wicked things.” ’
13 So the Lord says this:
‘Go and ask the people of other nations!
Have they ever heard about anything as terrible as this?
My people, Israel, should have been pure.
But they have done a disgusting thing!
14 There is always snow on Lebanon's mountains.
Cold streams of water always pour down from those high rocks.
15 Those things never change,
but my people have forgotten me.
They offer sacrifices to useless idols.
Because of that, they live in a wrong way.
They have left the good paths that their ancestors knew.
Instead, they walk along narrow paths
that nobody takes care of.
16 So I will cause their land to become a terrible place.
People will always see how disgusting my people are.
Everybody who goes near there
will be very surprised.
They will shake their heads and they will insult my people.
17 I will send enemies to attack them.
They will chase my people away,
like an east wind that blows away dust.
I will turn away from them
when that day of great trouble arrives.
I will refuse to help them.’
The people turn against Jeremiah[b]
18 Then some people said, ‘We must find a way to stop Jeremiah. We do not need him. The priests will still be here to teach us. Wise men will still be here to give us advice. The prophets will still be here to give us God's messages. We should speak bad things against Jeremiah. Then we will not have to listen to him any more.’
19 ‘Please listen to me, Lord!
Hear what my enemies are saying against me.
20 I have done good things for them,
but they are paying me back with evil things.
They have already dug a grave for me!
Remember that I stood in front of you
and I asked you to forgive them.
I asked you not to be angry with them.
21 So now I ask you to punish them!
Yes, may famine kill their children.
May they die in war.
May wives no longer have husbands or children.
May disease kill the old men.
May the young men die in battle.
22 Send people to attack them suddenly
and rob them in their homes.
Then they will shout aloud in great fear.
They have dug a hole for me to fall into.
They have prepared traps to catch me.
23 But Lord, you know how they want to kill me.
They are guilty, so do not forgive them.
Do not forget to punish them for their sins.
Put them under your power!
Punish them while you are still angry!’
A pot that breaks
19 The Lord said to me, ‘Go to a potter. Buy from him a pot that he has made from clay. Take with you some leaders of the people and some leaders of the priests. 2 Go out into Ben-Hinnom Valley, which is near to the “Broken Pots” gate. There you must speak the words that I will tell you.
3 Say, “Hear the Lord's message, you kings of Judah and people who live in Jerusalem. The Lord Almighty, Israel's God says this: Listen to me! I will bring very great trouble to this place. It will be very bad. Everyone who hears about it will be very surprised. 4 That will happen because Judah's people have turned away from me. They worship foreign gods in this place. They have offered sacrifices to those gods. They are gods that their ancestors did not know about. The kings of Judah never knew about them either. In this place, Judah's people have killed people who did not deserve to die. 5 They have built altars here to give honour to Baal. They light fires to give their children to Baal as burnt offerings. I never even thought about it. I never commanded my people to offer those kinds of sacrifices. I never even thought about it. 6 So I tell you this: A time will soon come when people do not call this place Topheth or Ben-Hinnom Valley. Instead, they will call it Death Valley.[c]
7 I will spoil all the ideas that the people of Judah and Jerusalem have. In this place I will put them under the power of their enemies. Their enemies will kill them in war. I will give their dead bodies as food to the birds and the wild animals. 8 I will make this city a heap of stones. People will see how disgusting my people are. Everybody who goes near there will be very surprised. They will see all the terrible trouble that has happened to the city and they will insult it. 9 Enemies will make their camp all around the city, so that they can kill the people who live there. The people will not have any food to eat. They will be so hungry that they will eat their own children and they will eat each other.”
10 Then, Jeremiah, take the pot that you bought. Break it in front of all those people who are there with you. 11 Tell them that the Lord Almighty says, “I will destroy this nation and this city. They will be like this broken pot that nobody is able to mend. They will bury lots of dead people here in Topheth. There will be no space left to bury any more people. 12 I tell you this: I will cause this city and its people to become like Topheth. 13 The houses in Jerusalem will be full of dead bodies like Topheth. The palaces of the kings of Judah will be the same. I will do that because people went up on the roofs of their houses to offer sacrifices to the stars. They poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’
14 Then Jeremiah left Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to speak his message. He went to the Lord's temple in the city. He stood in the yard of the temple. He spoke aloud to the people. 15 He said, ‘The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this: “Listen to me! I will soon punish this city and all the towns around it, as I have promised that I will do. I will do it because the people have refused to listen to my message.” ’
People will turn away from God in the last days
3 Let me tell you this. During the last days of this world, there will be times of great trouble. 2 People will love only themselves, and they will want lots of money for themselves. They will be proud and they will say how great they are. They will insult other people. They will not obey their parents. They will not thank anyone who helps them. They will not respect anything that is good. 3 They will not be kind to other people, but they will like to quarrel. They will tell lies to hurt other people. They will be unable to control themselves properly. They will be cruel and they will hate anything that is good. 4 People will turn against their friends. They will do foolish things. They will boast that they are very important. They will not love God, but instead they will only want to enjoy themselves. 5 Those people will seem to be serving God. But really they refuse to accept God's power to help them. You must stay away from people like that.
6 Among those people, there are some men who find a way into people's homes. They get power over silly women who feel very guilty about their sins. Those women want to do wrong things and they cannot stop themselves. 7 They are always trying to learn new things, but they can never really understand God's true message. 8 These are people who speak against God's true message, in the same way that Jannes and Jambres spoke against Moses.[a] Their minds have become confused. The way that they serve God is false. 9 But they will not continue to do many more bad things. Everyone will see clearly that they are fools. That is what happened to Jannes and Jambres.
Timothy must copy Paul's example
10 But you, Timothy, have heard my message and you know it well. You also know the way in which I have lived. You know my purpose in life. You know how I trust God. You know how patient I have been. You know my love for God and for other people. You know that I have been strong during troubles. 11 You also know what happened to me in the cities called Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. People caused me to have a lot of trouble and pain in those places. But I was patient and brave in those bad troubles! And the Lord kept me safe in all those dangerous times.[b]
12 It is not only me. Every Christian who wants to live in a way that pleases God will have trouble from other people. 13 Bad people like that will become even worse. Some of them will teach a false message and people will believe their lies. Those false teachers even believe their own lies!
It is important for us to know the Bible
14 But you must continue to believe the things that you have learned. You know that those things are true. You know the teachers who taught you those things. 15 Even when you were a child, you already knew the message of the Bible. The Bible has taught you how you can be truly wise. You understand that God saves you because you believe in Christ Jesus. 16 Everything that is written in the Bible comes from God's Spirit. It helps us in many ways. The Bible teaches us what is true. It warns us when we are doing wrong things. It shows us what is right. It teaches us how to live good lives.[c] 17 As a result, people who want to serve God can know how to live properly. They will be people who are ready to do all kinds of good things.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.