Old/New Testament
1 The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. 2 Yahweh’s[a] word came to him in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, to the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. 4 Now Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.
Before you were born, I sanctified you.
I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord[b] Yahweh! Behold,[c] I don’t know how to speak; for I am a child.”
7 But Yahweh said to me, “Don’t say, ‘I am a child;’ for you must go to whomever I send you, and you must say whatever I command you. 8 Don’t be afraid because of them, for I am with you to rescue you,” says Yahweh.
9 Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. Then Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. 10 Behold, I have today set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
11 Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
12 Then Yahweh said to me, “You have seen well; for I watch over my word to perform it.”
13 Yahweh’s word came to me the second time, saying, “What do you see?”
I said, “I see a boiling cauldron; and it is tipping away from the north.”
14 Then Yahweh said to me, “Out of the north, evil will break out on all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” says Yahweh.
“They will come, and they will each set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,
and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Judah.
16 I will utter my judgments against them concerning all their wickedness,
in that they have forsaken me,
and have burned incense to other gods,
and worshiped the works of their own hands.
17 “You therefore put your belt on your waist, arise, and say to them all that I command you. Don’t be dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them. 18 For behold, I have made you today a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they will not prevail against you; for I am with you”, says Yahweh, “to rescue you.”
2 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 2 “Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Yahweh says,
“I remember for you the kindness of your youth,
your love as a bride,
how you went after me in the wilderness,
in a land that was not sown.
3 Israel was holiness to Yahweh,
the first fruits of his increase.
All who devour him will be held guilty.
Evil will come on them,”’ says Yahweh.”
4 Hear Yahweh’s word, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel! 5 Yahweh says,
“What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me,
that they have gone far from me,
and have walked after worthless vanity,
and have become worthless?
6 They didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
who led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and of pits,
through a land of drought and of the shadow of death,
through a land that no one passed through,
and where no man lived?’
7 I brought you into a plentiful land
to eat its fruit and its goodness;
but when you entered, you defiled my land,
and made my heritage an abomination.
8 The priests didn’t say, ‘Where is Yahweh?’
and those who handle the law didn’t know me.
The rulers also transgressed against me,
and the prophets prophesied by Baal
and followed things that do not profit.
9 “Therefore I will yet contend with you,” says Yahweh,
“and I will contend with your children’s children.
10 For pass over to the islands of Kittim, and see.
Send to Kedar, and consider diligently,
and see if there has been such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed its gods,
which really are no gods?
But my people have changed their glory for that which doesn’t profit.
12 “Be astonished, you heavens, at this
and be horribly afraid.
Be very desolate,” says Yahweh.
13 “For my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters,
and cut out cisterns for themselves: broken cisterns that can’t hold water.
14 Is Israel a slave?
Is he born into slavery?
Why has he become a captive?
15 The young lions have roared at him and raised their voices.
They have made his land waste.
His cities are burned up, without inhabitant.
16 The children also of Memphis and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of your head.
17 “Haven’t you brought this on yourself,
in that you have forsaken Yahweh your God,[d] when he led you by the way?
18 Now what do you gain by going to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor?
Or why do you go on the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?[e]
19 “Your own wickedness will correct you,
and your backsliding will rebuke you.
Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing,
that you have forsaken Yahweh your God,
and that my fear is not in you,” says the Lord, Yahweh of Armies.
20 “For long ago I broke off your yoke,
and burst your bonds.
You said, ‘I will not serve;’
for on every high hill and under every green tree you bowed yourself,
playing the prostitute.
21 Yet I had planted you a noble vine,
a pure and faithful seed.
How then have you turned into the degenerate branches of a foreign vine to me?
22 For though you wash yourself with lye,
and use much soap,
yet your iniquity is marked before me,” says the Lord Yahweh.
23 “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled.
I have not gone after the Baals’?
See your way in the valley.
Know what you have done.
You are a swift dromedary traversing her ways, 24 a wild donkey used to the wilderness, that sniffs the wind in her craving.
When she is in heat, who can turn her away?
All those who seek her will not weary themselves. In her month, they will find her.
25 “Keep your feet from being bare,
and your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is in vain.
No, for I have loved strangers,
and I will go after them.’
26 As the thief is ashamed when he is found,
so the house of Israel is ashamed—
they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets,
27 who tell wood, ‘You are my father,’
and a stone, ‘You have given birth to me,’
for they have turned their back to me,
and not their face,
but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise, and save us!’
28 “But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?
Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble,
for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.
29 “Why will you contend with me?
You all have transgressed against me,” says Yahweh.
30 “I have struck your children in vain.
They received no correction.
Your own sword has devoured your prophets,
like a destroying lion.
31 Generation, consider Yahweh’s word.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel?
Or a land of thick darkness?
Why do my people say, ‘We have broken loose.
We will come to you no more’?
32 “Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me for days without number.
33 How well you prepare your way to seek love!
Therefore you have even taught the wicked women your ways.
34 Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts.
You didn’t find them breaking in,
but it is because of all these things.
35 “Yet you said, ‘I am innocent.
Surely his anger has turned away from me.’
“Behold, I will judge you,
because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’
36 Why do you go about so much to change your ways?
You will be ashamed of Egypt also,
as you were ashamed of Assyria.
37 You will also leave that place with your hands on your head;
for Yahweh has rejected those in whom you trust,
and you won’t prosper with them.
3 This is a faithful saying: someone who seeks to be an overseer[a] desires a good work. 2 The overseer therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, modest, hospitable, good at teaching; 3 not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having children in subjection with all reverence; 5 (for how could someone who doesn’t know how to rule his own house take care of God’s assembly?) 6 not a new convert, lest being puffed up he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have good testimony from those who are outside, to avoid falling into reproach and the snare of the devil.
8 Servants,[b] in the same way, must be reverent, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for money, 9 holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. 10 Let them also first be tested; then let them serve[c] if they are blameless. 11 Their wives in the same way must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, and faithful in all things. 12 Let servants[d] be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. 13 For those who have served well[e] gain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus.
14 These things I write to you, hoping to come to you shortly, 15 but if I wait long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in God’s house, which is the assembly of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. 16 Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great:
God[f] was revealed in the flesh,
justified in the spirit,
seen by angels,
preached among the nations,
believed on in the world,
and received up in glory.
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