Old/New Testament
Chapter 15
1 The Lord said to me: Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me, my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them away from me and let them go.(A) 2 If they ask you, “Where should we go?” tell them, Thus says the Lord: Whoever is marked for death, to death; whoever is marked for the sword, to the sword; whoever is marked for famine, to famine; whoever is marked for captivity, to captivity.(B) 3 Four kinds of scourge I have decreed against them—oracle of the Lord—the sword to kill them; dogs to drag them off; the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy them.(C) 4 And I will make them an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.(D)
Scene of Tragedy
5 Who will pity you, Jerusalem,
who will grieve for you?
Who will stop to ask
about your welfare?(E)
6 It is you who have disowned me—oracle of the Lord—
turned your back upon me;
I stretched out my hand to destroy you,
because I was weary of relenting.(F)
7 I winnowed them with a winnowing fork
at the gates of the land;
I have bereaved, destroyed my people;
they have not turned from their evil ways.(G)
8 Their widows were more numerous before me
than the sands of the sea.
I brought against the mother of youths
the destroyer at midday;
Suddenly I struck her
with anguish and terror.
9 The mother of seven faints away,
breathing out her life;
Her sun sets in full day,
she is ashamed, abashed.
Their survivors I will give to the sword
in the presence of their enemies—oracle of the Lord.(H)
Jeremiah’s Complaint
10 Woe to me, my mother, that you gave me birth!
a man of strife and contention to all the land!
I neither borrow nor lend,
yet everyone curses me.(I)
11 Tell me, Lord, have I not served you for their good?
Have I not interceded with you
in time of misfortune and anguish?(J)
12 Can one break iron,
iron from the north, and bronze?
13 [a]Your wealth and your treasures
I give as plunder, demanding no payment,
because of all your sins, throughout all your territory.
14 And I shall enslave you to your enemies
in a land you do not know,
For fire has broken out from my anger,
it is kindled against you.
15 You know, Lord:
Remember me and take care of me,
avenge me on my persecutors.
Because you are slow to anger, do not banish me;
know that for you I have borne insult.(K)
16 When I found your words, I devoured them;
your words were my joy, the happiness of my heart,
Because I bear your name,
Lord, God of hosts.
17 I did not sit celebrating
in the circle of merrymakers;
Under the weight of your hand I sat alone
because you filled me with rage.(L)
18 Why is my pain continuous,
my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
To me you are like a deceptive brook,
waters that cannot be relied on!(M)
19 Thus the Lord answered me:
If you come back and I take you back,
in my presence you shall stand;
If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless,
you shall be my mouth.
Then they will be the ones who turn to you,
not you who turn to them.
20 And I will make you toward this people
a fortified wall of bronze.
Though they fight against you,
they shall not prevail,
For I am with you,
to save and rescue you—oracle of the Lord.(N)
21 I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked,
and ransom you from the power of the violent.
Chapter 16
Jeremiah’s Life a Warning. 1 This word came to me from the Lord: 2 Do not take a wife and do not have sons and daughters in this place, 3 for thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters born in this place, the mothers who give them birth, the fathers who beget them in this land: 4 Of deadly disease they shall die. Unlamented and unburied they will lie like dung on the ground. Sword and famine will make an end of them, and their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.(O)
5 Thus says the Lord: Do not go into a house of mourning; do not go there to lament or grieve for them. For I have withdrawn my peace from this people—oracle of the Lord—my love and my compassion.(P) 6 They shall die, the great and the lowly, in this land, unburied and unlamented.[b] No one will gash themselves or shave their heads for them.(Q) 7 They will not break bread with the bereaved to offer consolation for the dead; they will not give them the cup of consolation to drink over the death of father or mother.(R)
8 Do not enter a house of feasting to sit eating and drinking with them. 9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Before your eyes and in your lifetime, I will silence in this place the song of joy and the song of gladness, the song of the bridegroom and the song of the bride.(S)
10 When you proclaim all these words to this people and they ask you: “Why has the Lord pronounced all this great disaster against us? What is our crime? What sin have we committed against the Lord, our God?”—(T) 11 (U)you shall answer them: It is because your ancestors have forsaken me—oracle of the Lord—and followed other gods that they served and worshiped; but me they have forsaken, and my law they did not keep. 12 And you have done worse than your ancestors. Here you are, every one of you, walking in the stubbornness of your evil heart instead of listening to me.(V) 13 I will throw you out of this land into a land that neither you nor your ancestors have known; there you can serve other gods day and night because I will not show you mercy.
Return from Exile. 14 Therefore, days are coming—oracle of the Lord—when it will no longer be said, “As the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites out of Egypt”;(W) 15 but rather, “As the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites out of the land of the north and out of all the countries to which he had banished them.” I will bring them back to the land I gave their ancestors.(X)
Double Punishment. 16 Look!—oracle of the Lord—I will send many fishermen to catch them. After that, I will send many hunters to hunt them out from every mountain and hill and rocky crevice.(Y) 17 For my eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor does their guilt escape my sight.(Z) 18 I will at once repay them double for their crime and their sin because they profaned my land with the corpses of their detestable idols, and filled my heritage with their abominations.(AA)
Conversion of the Nations
19 Lord, my strength, my fortress,
my refuge in the day of distress!
To you nations will come
from the ends of the earth, and say,
“Our ancestors inherited mere frauds,
empty, worthless.”(AB)
20 Can human beings make for themselves gods?
But these are not gods at all!(AC)
21 Therefore, I will indeed give them knowledge;
this time I will make them acknowledge
My strength and my power:
they shall know that my name is Lord.(AD)
Chapter 17
The Sin of Judah and Its Punishment
1 The sin of Judah is written
with an iron stylus,
Engraved with a diamond point
upon the tablets of their hearts,(AE)
And the horns of their altars, 2 when their children remember their altars and their asherahs, beside the green trees, on the high hills, 3 the peaks in the country.
Your wealth and all your treasures
I give as plunder,
As payment for all your sins
throughout your territory,
4 You will relinquish your hold on your heritage
which I have given you.
I will enslave you to your enemies
in a land you do not know:
For a fire has broken out from my anger,
burning forever.(AF)
True Wisdom
5 Thus says the Lord:
Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings,
who makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.(AG)
6 He is like a barren bush in the wasteland
that enjoys no change of season,
But stands in lava beds in the wilderness,
a land, salty and uninhabited.
7 Blessed are those who trust in the Lord;
the Lord will be their trust.(AH)
8 They are like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
It does not fear heat when it comes,
its leaves stay green;
In the year of drought it shows no distress,
but still produces fruit.(AI)
9 More tortuous than anything is the human heart,
beyond remedy; who can understand it?
10 I, the Lord, explore the mind
and test the heart,
Giving to all according to their ways,
according to the fruit of their deeds.(AJ)
11 A partridge that broods but does not hatch
are those who acquire wealth unjustly:
In midlife it will desert them;
in the end they are only fools.(AK)
The Source of Life
12 A throne of glory, exalted from the beginning,
such is our holy place.(AL)
13 O Hope of Israel, Lord!
all who forsake you shall be put to shame;
The rebels shall be enrolled in the netherworld;
they have forsaken the Lord, source of living waters.(AM)
Prayer for Vengeance
14 Heal me, Lord, that I may be healed;
save me, that I may be saved,
for you are my praise.
15 See how they say to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come to pass!”(AN)
16 Yet I did not press you to send disaster;
the day without remedy I have not desired.
You know what passed my lips;
it is present before you.
17 Do not become a terror to me,
you are my refuge in the day of disaster.(AO)
18 Let my persecutors be confounded—not me!
let them be terrified—not me!
Bring upon them the day of disaster,
crush them with double destruction.(AP)
Observance of the Sabbath. 19 Thus said the Lord to me: Go, stand at the Gate of Benjamin,[c] where the kings of Judah enter and leave, and at the other gates of Jerusalem.(AQ) 20 There say to them: Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all you inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter these gates! 21 Thus says the Lord: As you love your lives, take care not to carry burdens on the sabbath, to bring them in through the gates of Jerusalem.(AR) 22 Bring no burden from your homes on the sabbath. Do no work whatever, but keep holy the sabbath day, as I commanded your ancestors,(AS) 23 though they did not listen or give ear, but stiffened their necks so they could not hear or take correction.(AT) 24 If you truly obey me—oracle of the Lord—and carry no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath, keeping the sabbath day holy and abstaining from all work on it,(AU) 25 then, through the gates of this city, kings who sit upon the throne of David will continue to enter, riding in their chariots or upon their horses, along with their princes, and the people of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This city will remain inhabited forever.(AV) 26 To it people will come from the cities of Judah and the neighborhood of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin and from the Shephelah, from the hill country and the Negeb, to bring burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings, incense, and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.(AW) 27 But if you do not obey me and keep holy the sabbath day, if you carry burdens and come through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath, I will set fire to its gates—a fire never to be extinguished—and it will consume the palaces of Jerusalem.(AX)
Chapter 2
Timothy’s Conduct. 1 [a]So you, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And what you heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful people who will have the ability to teach others as well. 3 Bear your share of hardship along with me like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.(A) 4 To satisfy the one who recruited him, a soldier does not become entangled in the business affairs of life.(B) 5 Similarly, an athlete cannot receive the winner’s crown except by competing according to the rules.(C) 6 The hardworking farmer ought to have the first share of the crop.(D) 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.(E)
8 [b]Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David: such is my gospel,(F) 9 for which I am suffering, even to the point of chains, like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained.(G) 10 Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory.(H) 11 This saying is trustworthy:
If we have died with him
we shall also live with him;(I)
12 if we persevere
we shall also reign with him.
But if we deny him
he will deny us.(J)
13 If we are unfaithful
he remains faithful,
for he cannot deny himself.(K)
III. Instructions Concerning False Teaching
Warning Against Useless Disputes. 14 [c]Remind people of these things and charge them before God[d] to stop disputing about words. This serves no useful purpose since it harms those who listen.(L) 15 Be eager to present yourself as acceptable to God, a workman who causes no disgrace, imparting the word of truth without deviation.(M) 16 Avoid profane, idle talk, for such people will become more and more godless,(N) 17 and their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,(O) 18 who have deviated from the truth by saying that [the] resurrection has already taken place and are upsetting the faith of some.(P) 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands, bearing this inscription, “The Lord knows those who are his”; and, “Let everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord avoid evil.”(Q)
20 In a large household there are vessels not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for lofty and others for humble use. 21 If anyone cleanses himself of these things, he will be a vessel for lofty use, dedicated, beneficial to the master of the house, ready for every good work.(R) 22 So turn from youthful desires and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord[e] with purity of heart.(S) 23 Avoid foolish and ignorant debates, for you know that they breed quarrels.(T) 24 A slave of the Lord should not quarrel, but should be gentle with everyone, able to teach, tolerant,(U) 25 correcting opponents with kindness. It may be that God will grant them repentance that leads to knowledge of the truth,(V) 26 [f]and that they may return to their senses out of the devil’s snare,(W) where they are entrapped by him, for his will.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.