Old/New Testament
Chapter 27
Jeremiah’s Message.[a] 1 At the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, the son of Josiah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 Thus said the Lord to me: Collect for yourself some straps and crossbars and put them on your neck as a yoke. 3 Then send word to the kings of Edom, of Moab, of the Ammonites, of Tyre, and of Sidon, through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to visit Zedekiah, the king of Judah.
4 Give them the following message for their masters: Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you are to say to your masters: 5 It was I who, by my great power and my outstretched arm, made the earth as well as the people and the animals that inhabit the earth, and I can give it to whomever I wish.
6 Now, at the present time, I have given all these lands to my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and I have even made the wild animals subject to him. 7 All nations will serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his land will also come, and mighty nations and great kings will make him their slave. 8 But in the meantime, if any nation or kingdom will not serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon or submit its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, then I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, says the Lord, until I have ensured their destruction by his hand.
9 You, therefore, must not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, and your sorcerers when they say to you that you are not to serve the king of Babylon. 10 For they are prophesying a lie to you, as a result of which you will be removed far away from your land. I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 However, if a nation is prepared to submit its neck to the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave it in peace on its own land, says the Lord, to till it and live there.
12 I addressed the identical message to King Zedekiah of Judah: Submit your necks to the yoke of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and you will live. 13 Why should you and your people die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, as the Lord has promised to any nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? 14 Do not listen to the words of those prophets who are urging you not to serve the king of Babylon, for they are prophesying lies to you. 15 I have not sent them, says the Lord, but they are prophesying falsely in my name. As a result, I will drive you out, and you will perish, as will all the prophets who are prophesying to you.
16 Then I spoke to the priests and all the prophets as follows: Thus says the Lord: Do not listen to the words of your prophets who say, “In a very short time, the vessels of the house of the Lord will be brought back from Babylon.” They are prophesying lies to you. 17 Refuse to listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and you will save your lives. Why should this city become a pile of ruins?
18 If they are truly prophets and the word of the Lord is really with them, then they should be pleading with the Lord of hosts that the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem will not be carried away to Babylon.
19 For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea,[b] the stands, and the rest of the vessels that remain in this city, 20 which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon did not carry away when he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon King Jeconiah of Judah, the son of Jehoiakim, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem. 21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, in regard to the vessels that still remain in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: 22 They will be carried off to Babylon, and there they will remain, until the day when I turn my attention to them, says the Lord. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.
Chapter 28
Breaking the Yokes. 1 During that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah, the son of Azzur, from Gibeon, said to the prophet Jeremiah in the house of the Lord in the presence of the priests and all the people, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the house of the Lord that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from this place and carried off to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place King Jeconiah of Judah, the son of Jehoiakim, and all the exiles of Judah who went to Babylon, says the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah replied to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. 6 He said, “Amen. May the Lord do so. May the Lord fulfill the words that you have prophesied by bringing the vessels of the house of the Lord and all the exiles back from Babylon to this place. 7 But now, listen carefully to what I am going to say for you and all the people to hear. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me in ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence for many countries and for great kingdoms. 9 However, the prophet who prophesies peace can be recognized as one who has been truly sent by God only when his word comes true.
10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broke it, 11 as he announced in the presence of all the people, “Thus says the Lord: This is how I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of the nations within two years.” On hearing this, the prophet Jeremiah departed.
12 A short time after the prophet Hananiah had removed the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah and broken it, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, 13 “Go to Hananiah and tell him this: Thus says the Lord: You have broken a wooden yoke, only to have it replaced with a yoke of iron. 14 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I will place a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations and force them to serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. They will become his slaves. I have even given him the wild animals.”
15 Then the prophet Jeremiah further said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen carefully, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, and you have led this people to trust in false prophecies. 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord, ‘I intend to remove you from the face of the earth. Before this year comes to a close, you will be dead, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’ ”
17 During that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.
Chapter 29
The Letter to the Exiles. 1 This is the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the court officials, the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the artisans, and the skilled workmen had gone into exile from Jerusalem. 3 He entrusted the letter to Elasah, the son of Shaphan, and to Gema-riah, the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had sent to Babylon, to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. The letter stated:
4 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and beget sons and daughters; choose wives for your sons and husbands for your daughters, so that they may bring forth sons and daughters. While you are there, you must increase in number, not decrease.
7 In addition, seek to promote the prosperity of the city to which I have exiled you. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for on its welfare will depend your welfare. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not be deceived by the prophets and the diviners who are in your midst or listen to the dreams they relate, 9 for they are prophesying lies to you in my name. I did not send them, says the Lord.
10 For thus says the Lord: When the seventy years that I have granted to Babylon have been completed, I will visit you and fulfill my promise to you and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know full well the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for your misfortune, plans that will offer you a future filled with hope.
12 When you call out to me and come forth and pray to me, I will listen to you. 13 When you search for me, you will find me. When you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will allow you to discover me, says the Lord. I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
15 You have said that the Lord has raised up prophets for you in Babylon. 16 This is what the Lord has to say concerning the king who sits on the throne of David and concerning all the people who live in this city, your countrymen who did not go forth with you into exile: 17 Thus says the Lord of hosts: I will afflict them with sword, famine, and pestilence; I will make them like rotten figs that are so repulsive they cannot be eaten.
18 I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth. They will be an object of cursing and horror, of scorn and derision, to all the nations among whom I have driven them. 19 For they refused to listen to my words, says the Lord, despite the fact that I persisted in sending them my servants the prophets. They continued in their stubbornness and refused to listen, says the Lord.
20 But now, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon, hear the voice of the Lord. 21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy lies to you in my name: I intend to hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and he will put them to death before your very eyes.
22 Because of them, all the exiles from Judah who were sent to Babylon will use this curse. “May the Lord make you like Zede-kiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted to death in a blazing fire.” 23 For they have perpetrated outrageous crimes in Israel; not only did they commit adultery with their neighbors’ wives, but in my name they have spoken lies that I never commanded them to utter. I know these things and bear witness to them, says the Lord.
24 Prophecy of Shemaiah. Address these words to Shemaiah the Nehelamite. 25 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Acting on your own authority, you have sent a letter to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests 26 asserting that the Lord has appointed you as priest in place of Jehoiada, and that you are to appoint officers to be in charge of the Lord’s house and place any madman into the stocks or the pillory who poses as a prophet. 27 Why then have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who poses as a prophet among you? 28 He has even sent us a message in Babylon, saying, ‘It will be a long time. Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’ ”
29 When the priest Zephaniah read this letter to the prophet Jeremiah, 30 the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. 31 “Send this message to all of the exiles. ‘Thus says the Lord in regard to Shemaiah of Nehelam, “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you even though I did not send him to do so, and has led you to place your trust in false prophecies, 32 therefore, says the Lord, I intend to punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. None of them will survive among this people to witness the happiness that I will bestow on my people, says the Lord, because he has preached rebellion against the Lord.” ’ ”
Chapter 3
1 Remind everyone to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey them, to be ready to perform any honorable task,[a] 2 to slander no one, to avoid quarrels, to be gentle, and to be gracious to everyone.
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, and enslaved by various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy. We ourselves were hateful, and we hated one another.
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness
of God our Savior appeared,
5 [b]not because of any righteous deeds on our part
but because of his mercy,
he saved us through the bath of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
6 whom he lavished on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that we might be justified by his grace
and become heirs in hope of eternal life.
8 This saying can be trusted.
Be Devoted to Good Works.[c] I want you to stress these points, so that those who have come to believe in God will be determined to devote themselves to good works. All this is right and beneficial for people. 9 But avoid foolish arguments, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the Law, for they are unprofitable and futile.
10 Warn a heretic once or twice, but afterward reject him. 11 You may be sure that such a person is perverted and sinful and stands self-condemned.
Conclusion[d]
12 Final Message. As soon as I have sent Artemas[e] or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, where I intend to spend the winter. 13 Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos[f] on their way, and see to it that they lack nothing. 14 Meanwhile, our people must be taught to devote themselves to good works in order to meet urgent needs[g] so that they will not be unfruitful.
15 Farewell. All those with me send you greetings. Greetings to those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with all of you.[h]
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