Old/New Testament
God Contemplates Divorcing Israel
3 “When a man divorces his wife, she leaves him and
becomes another man’s wife,
will the first husband[a] return to her again?
The land would be deeply polluted, would it not?
Since you have committed fornication with many lovers,
would you now return to me?”
declares the Lord.
2 “Look up to the barren heights and see.
Is there any place[b] where you have not been ravished?
You have sat beside the road, waiting[c] for them[d]
like a nomad in the desert.
And you have polluted the land
with your fornication and your wickedness.
3 This is why the rain has been withheld
and there are no spring showers.
Yet you have a harlot’s look[e]
and you refuse to be ashamed.
4 Have you not just called out to me,
‘My father, you are the friend of my youth—
5 will he hold on to his anger forever,
will he persist in his wrath to the end?’
Look, you have spoken and done evil things,
and you have succeeded in it.”[f]
The Example of Samaria
6 In the time of King Josiah the Lord told me, “Have you seen what unfaithful Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she committed fornication there. 7 I thought,[g] ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to me.’ But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw this. 8 I saw that even though I had sent unfaithful Israel away for all her adulteries and had given her a[h] divorce decree, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t fear, and she, too, committed adultery. 9 She took her fornication so lightly that she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.[i] 10 Yet in all this her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to me with her whole heart, but rather deceptively,” declares the Lord.
A Call for Repentance
11 Then the Lord told me, “Unfaithful Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go, proclaim these words to the north, and say,
‘Return, unfaithful Israel,’
declares the Lord.
‘I won’t look on you in anger,
for I am gracious,’[j]
declares the Lord.
‘I won’t remain angry forever.
13 ‘Only acknowledge your iniquity,
that you have rebelled against the Lord your God,
and have scattered your favors to strangers
under every green tree.
But you haven’t obeyed me,’
declares the Lord.
14 “Return, unfaithful people,”[k] declares the Lord, “for I am your husband.[l] I’ll take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I’ll bring you to Zion. 15 I’ll give you shepherds[m] after my own heart, and they’ll shepherd you with knowledge and good sense.”
16 “And in those days when you increase in numbers and multiply in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord,’ and it won’t come to mind, and they won’t remember it or miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 At that time people will call Jerusalem, “The Throne of the Lord,” and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. They’ll no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires.[n] 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and together they’ll come to the land that I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.”
God’s Desire for His People
19 “I said,
‘How I wanted to treat you like children,
and give you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful inheritance of the nations.’
I said, ‘You will call me, my father,
and won’t turn back from following me.’
20 Instead, like an unfaithful wife leaves her husband,
so you have been unfaithful to me, house of Israel,”
declares the Lord.
Israel Cries for Help
21 “A voice is heard on the barren heights,
the weeping and pleading of the children of Israel
because they have perverted their way.
They have forgotten the Lord their God.”
God Calls for Repentance
22 “Turn back, unfaithful people,[o]
and I’ll heal your unfaithfulness.”
Israel Replies
“Look, we’re coming to you
because you are the Lord our God.
23 Truly the hills are a deception,[p]
and the mountains[q] are confusion.
Truly, in the Lord our God is Israel’s salvation.”
24 Since our youth the false gods have consumed
the products of our ancestors’ hard work,
their sheep and their cattle,
their sons and their daughters.
25 “Let us lie down in our shame,
and let our humiliation cover us,
because both we and our ancestors have sinned
against the Lord our God from our youth
until this present time.
We haven’t obeyed the Lord our God.”
Instructions for True Repentance
4 “Israel, if you return to me,”
declares the Lord,
“Return to me,
remove your detestable idols from my presence,
and don’t waver.
2 If you swear, ‘as surely as the Lord lives,’
in truth, in justice, and in righteousness,
then nations will be blessed[r] by him,
and in him they will boast.”
3 For this is what the Lord says
to the men[s] of Judah and Jerusalem,
“Break up your unplowed ground,
and don’t sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord
and remove the foreskin of your heart,
you men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem,
or else my wrath will break out like fire
and burn with no one to put it out,
because of your evil deeds.”
Warning of the Coming Disaster
5 Declare in Judah, make known in Jerusalem, by saying,
“Blow the trumpet in the land, cry out, and say,
‘Gather together
and let’s go to the fortified cities!’
6 Raise a standard in the direction of Zion.
Flee! Don’t stand around!
For I’m bringing calamity from the north,
along with great destruction.
7 A lion has gone up from his thicket,
and a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his place
to make your land a waste.
Your cities will be ruined,
and without inhabitants.
8 So, put on sackcloth,
mourn and wail,
because the burning anger of the Lord
has not turned away from us.”
9 “On that day,” declares the Lord,
“the courage of the king and the leaders will fail.
The priests will be appalled
and the prophets astounded.”
10 Then I replied, “Ah, Lord God, you have completely deceived this people and Jerusalem when you said, ‘You will have peace,’ while the sword is at their[t] throat!”
The Scorching Wind of Judgment
11 At that time, it will be told this people and to Jerusalem, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert is coming[u] toward my people, and it’s not for winnowing or cleansing. 12 A wind too strong for that is coming at my bidding.[v] Now I’m judging them as I speak.”
The People’s Response to Judgment
13 Look, he comes up like clouds,
and his chariots are like a whirlwind.
His horses are as swift as eagles.
Woe to us—we’re destroyed!
14 Jerusalem, wash your evil from your heart
so that you may be delivered.
How long will you harbor
evil schemes within you?
15 For a voice announces from Dan
and declares disaster from Mount Ephraim.
The Lord Speaks
16 “Tell the nations, ‘Here they come!’[w]
Proclaim to Jerusalem,
‘The besieging forces are coming from a distant land.
They cry out[x] against the cities of Judah.
17 They have surrounded her like those guarding a field
because they have rebelled against me,’”
declares the Lord.
18 “Your lifestyles and your actions
have brought these things on you.
This is your calamity—it is indeed bitter,
for it has reached your heart!”
Jeremiah’s Lament for His People
19 “My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain.
Oh, the aching[y] of my heart!
My heart pounds within me;
I cannot keep silent.
For I hear the sound of the trumpet,[z]
the alarm for war.
20 Disaster upon disaster is proclaimed,
for the entire land is devastated.
Suddenly, my tent is destroyed,
in a moment my curtains.
21 How long will I see the battle standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?
The Lord’s Complaint about His People
22 “For my people are foolish,
they don’t know me.
They’re stupid children,
they have no understanding.
They’re skilled at doing evil,
but how to do good, they don’t know.”
A Vision of Chaos
23 I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void,[aa]
at the heavens, and there was no light there.
24 I looked at the mountains; they were quaking,
and all the hills moved back and forth.
25 I looked, and no people were there.
All the birds of the sky had gone.
26 I looked, and the fruitful land[ab] had become a desert.
All its towns were broken down
because of the Lord,
because of his burning anger.
27 For this is what the Lord says:
“The entire land will be devastated,
but I won’t completely destroy[ac] it.
28 Because of this, the land will mourn,
and the heavens above will be dark.
Because I have spoken and decided,
I won’t turn back from doing it.”
A Lament for Zion
29 At the sound of the horseman and the archer
the entire city flees.
Its residents go into the thickets and climb among the rocks.
Every city is abandoned, and no one lives in them.
30 You are ruined! What are you doing
dressing in scarlet,
putting on golden ornaments,
and highlighting your eyes with makeup?
You are making yourself beautiful in vain.
Your lovers reject you—
they’re out to kill you.
31 I heard a cry like that of a woman in labor,
anguish like one giving birth to her firstborn,
the cry of the daughter of Zion gasping for air,
stretching out her hand:
“Woe is me! I’m about to faint in front of killers!”
A Dialogue about Righteousness: The Lord Speaks
5 “Wander through the streets of Jerusalem.
Look and investigate;[ad]
search through her squares
and see whether you find anyone—
even one person there—doing justice and seeking truth.
Then I’ll forgive them.[ae]
2 Although they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’
still they are swearing falsely.”[af]
The Prophet Speaks
3 Lord, don’t your eyes look for truth?
You struck[ag] them, but they didn’t flinch.[ah]
You brought them to an end,
but they refused to receive discipline.
They made their faces harder than stone,
and they refused to repent.
4 Then I said, “These are only the poor,
they’re foolish,
for they don’t know the Lord’s way,
the requirement[ai] of their God.
5 Let me go to the leaders[aj] and speak to them.
For they know the Lord’s way,
the requirement[ak] of their God.”
The Lord Answers
“But they, all together, have broken the yoke
and torn off the restraints.[al]
6 Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them,
a wolf from the desert will devastate them.
A leopard is watching their towns,
and everyone who goes out of them
will be torn to pieces.
For their transgressions are many,
and their apostasies numerous.
7 Why should I forgive you?
Your sons have forsaken me,
and you have sworn by those
who aren’t gods.
When I gave them enough food to satisfy them,
they committed adultery
and marched to the prostitute’s house.
8 They were well-fed, lusty stallions,
each one neighing after his neighbor’s wife.
9 “Should I not punish them for these things?”
asks the Lord,
“And on a nation like this,
should I not seek retribution?”
The People Reject God’s Warning
10 “Go through her rows of vines and destroy them,
but don’t completely destroy them.
Strip away her branches,
because they aren’t the Lord’s.
11 For both the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly unfaithful to me,”
declares the Lord.
12 “They have lied about the Lord
by saying, ‘He wouldn’t do that![am]
Disaster won’t come on us.
We won’t see sword and famine.
13 The prophets are nothing but[an] wind,
and the word is not in them.
So may the disaster happen to them!’”[ao]
14 Therefore, this is what the Lord God of the Heavenly Armies says:
“Because you people[ap] have said this,
my words in your[aq] mouth will become a fire
and these people the wood.
The fire[ar] will destroy them.
15 People of Israel, I’m now bringing
a nation from far away to attack you,”
declares the Lord.
“It is an enduring nation,
an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you don’t know.
And you won’t understand what they say.
16 Their quiver is like an open grave,
and all of them are powerful warriors.
17 “They’ll devour your harvest and your food.
They’ll devour your sons and your daughters.
They’ll devour your vines and your fig trees.
With their swords they’ll batter down
your fortified cities in which you trust.
18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I won’t destroy you completely. 19 When the people[as] ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ you are to say to them, ‘Just as you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you will serve strangers in a land that is not yours.’”
The Lord Warns a Stubborn People
20 “Declare this to the descendants[at] of Jacob,
and proclaim it in Judah:
21 ‘Hear this, you foolish and stupid people:
They have eyes, but don’t see;
they have ears, but don’t hear.
22 ‘You don’t fear me, do you?’ declares the Lord.
‘You don’t tremble before me, do you?
I’m the one who put the sand as a boundary for the sea,
a perpetual barrier that it cannot cross.[au]
Though the waves toss, they cannot prevail against it,
though they roar, they cannot cross it.’
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts.
They have turned aside and have gone away.
24 They don’t say to themselves,
‘Let’s fear the Lord our God,
who gives rain in its season,
both the autumn and the spring rain.
He sets aside for us the weeks appointed
for the harvest.’
25 Your iniquities have turned these things away,
and your sins have held back from you what is good.
26 “Evil men are found among my people.
They lie in wait like someone who traps birds.
They set a trap,
but they do so to catch people.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
so their houses are filled with treachery.
This is how they have become prominent and rich,
28 and have grown fat and sleek.
There is no limit[av] to their evil deeds.
They don’t argue the case of the orphan to secure[aw] justice.
They don’t defend the rights of[ax] the poor.
29 ‘Should I not punish them for this?’[ay]
asks the Lord.
‘Should I not avenge myself
on a nation like this?’
30 “An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
the priests rule by their own authority,
and my people love it this way.
But what will you do in the end?”
A Prophecy about the Future
4 Now the Spirit says clearly that in the last times some people will abandon the faith by following deceitful spirits, the teachings of demons, 2 and the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences have been burned by a hot iron. 3 They will try to stop people from marrying and from eating certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything God created is good, and nothing should be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
How to be a Good Servant of the Messiah Jesus
6 If you continue to point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good servant of the Messiah[a] Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the healthy teaching that you have followed closely. 7 Do not have anything to do with godless myths and fables of old women. Instead, train yourself to be godly. 8 Physical exercise is of limited value, but
Godliness is very dear,
a pledge of life, both there and here.
9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves complete acceptance.[b] 10 To this end we work hard and struggle,[c] because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, that is, of those who believe.
11 These are the things you must insist on and teach. 12 Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but be an example for other believers in your speech, behavior, love, faithfulness,[d] and purity. 13 Until I arrive, give your full concentration to the public reading of Scripture,[e] to exhorting, and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect[f] the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy when the elders laid their hands on you. 15 Think on these things. Devote your life to them so that everyone can see your progress. 16 Pay close attention to your life and your teaching. Persevere in these things, because if you do so, you will save both yourself and those who listen to you.
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