Old/New Testament
Failures of Judah
9 Oh, that my head were waters
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
that I might weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people!
2 Oh, that I had in the wilderness
a lodging place of wayfaring men,
that I might leave my people
and go from them!
For they all are adulterers,
an assembly of treacherous men.
3 They bend their tongues like their bow;
lies and not truth prevail upon the land;
for they proceed from evil to evil,
and they do not know Me,
says the Lord.
4 Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor,
and do not trust in any brother;
for every brother supplants,
and every neighbor walks about with slanders.
5 Everyone deceives his neighbor
and does not speak the truth.
They have taught their tongue to speak lies;
they weary themselves in committing iniquity.
6 Your habitation is in the midst of deceit;
through deceit they refuse to know Me,
says the Lord.
7 Therefore thus says the Lord of Hosts:
Now, I will refine them and assay them;
for what else shall I do
for the daughter of My people?
8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceit.
One speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth,
but in his heart he lies in wait.
9 Shall I not punish them for these things?
says the Lord.
Shall not My soul be avenged
on such a nation as this?
10 For the mountains I will take up a weeping and wailing,
and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation,
because they are burned up so that no one can pass through them;
nor can men hear the lowing of the cattle.
Both the fowl of the heavens and the beast have fled;
they are gone.
11 I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins
and a den of jackals;
and I will make the cities of Judah desolate,
without an inhabitant.
12 Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and burned up like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?
13 And the Lord said: Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, nor walked in it, 14 but have walked after the imagination of their own heart and after the Baals, which their fathers taught them. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood and give them water of gall to drink. 16 I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. And I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.
17 Thus says the Lord of Hosts:
Consider and call for the mourning women, that they may come;
and send for wailing women, that they may come.
18 And let them make haste
and take up a wailing for us,
that our eyes may run down with tears
and our eyelids gush out with waters.
19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion,
“How devastated we are!
We are greatly humiliated,
because we have forsaken the land,
because our dwellings have cast us out.”
20 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O you women,
and let your ear receive the word of His mouth;
and teach your daughters wailing,
and everyone her neighbor a lamentation.
21 “For death has come up into our windows;
and has entered our palaces,
to cut off the children from the streets,
and the young men from the squares.”
22 Speak, Thus says the Lord:
“The carcasses of men shall fall
as dung upon the open field,
and as the sheaf after the harvester,
and no one shall gather them.”
23 Thus says the Lord:
Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
and let not the mighty man glory in his might,
let not the rich man glory in his riches;
24 but let him who glories glory in this,
that he understands and knows Me,
that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness,
justice, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these things I delight,
says the Lord.
25 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, that I will punish all who are circumcised and yet uncircumcised— 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the children of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the wilderness who clip the hair on their temples; for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised of heart.
The True God and Idols(A)
10 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the Lord:
Do not learn the way of the nations;
do not be terrified at the signs of heaven,
although the nations are terrified at them.
3 For the customs of the people are vain;
for with the axe one cuts a tree out of the forest,
the work of the hands of the workman.
4 They deck it with silver and with gold;
they fasten it with nails and with hammers
so that it may not move.
5 They are as a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
but do not speak;
they must be carried,
because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of them,
for they cannot do evil,
nor can they do good.
6 There is no one like You, O Lord.
You are great,
and Your name is great in might.
7 Who would not fear You,
O King of the nations?
Indeed, it is Your due.
For among all the wise men of the nations,
and in all their kingdoms,
there is no one like You.
8 But they are altogether unthinking and foolish;
the tree is a doctrine of vanities.
9 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish,
and gold from Uphaz,
the work of the workman and of the hands of the founder;
blue and purple are their clothing;
they all are the work of skilled men.
10 But the Lord is the true God;
He is the living God and an everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth trembles,
and the nations cannot endure His indignation.
11 Thus you shall say to them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.
12 He has made the earth by His power.
He has established the world by His wisdom
and has stretched out the heavens by His discretion.
13 When He utters His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens,
and He causes the vapors to ascend from the remote parts of the earth;
He makes lightning with rain,
and brings out the wind from His storehouses.
14 Every man is stupid, without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by an idol;
for his molded image is false,
and there is no breath in them.
15 They are vain and a work of mockery;
in the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 The portion of Jacob is not like them,
for He is the Maker of all things,
and Israel is the rod of His inheritance.
The Lord of Hosts is His name.
The Exile Prophesied
17 Gather up your wares out of the land,
O inhabitant of the fortress.
18 For thus says the Lord:
I will sling out
the inhabitants of the land at this time,
and will distress them
that they may be found.
19 Woe is me because of my brokenness!
My wound is grievous.
But I said,
“Truly this is an illness, and I must bear it.”
20 My tabernacle is devastated,
and all my cords are broken.
My sons have gone from me and are no more.
There is no one to spread my tent anymore,
and to set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds have become unthinking
and have not sought the Lord.
Therefore they have not prospered,
and all their flocks are scattered.
22 Listen! The sound of the report has come,
and a great commotion out of the north country,
to make the cities of Judah desolate
and a den of jackals.
The Prayer of Jeremiah
23 O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself;
it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
24 O Lord, correct me, but with justice,
not in Your anger,
lest You bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out Your fury upon the nations
that do not know You
and upon the families that do not call on Your name;
for they have eaten up Jacob
and devoured him, and consumed him,
and have made his habitation desolate.
The Broken Covenant
11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 2 Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 3 And say you to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant, 4 which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey My voice, and do according to all which I command you. So you shall be My people, and I will be your God, 5 that I may perform the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day.
Then I answered and said, “So be it, O Lord.”
6 Then the Lord said to me: Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: saying, Hear the words of this covenant, and do them. 7 For I earnestly warned your fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, even to this day, rising early and warning, saying, Obey My voice. 8 Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the imagination of their evil heart. Therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but which they did not do.
9 The Lord said to me: A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words. And they have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers. 11 Therefore thus says the Lord, Surely, I will bring calamity upon them which they will not be able to escape. And though they cry to Me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they offer incense. But they will not save them at all in the time of their trouble. 13 For according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah. And according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem you have set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense to Baal.
14 Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them. For I will not hear them in the time that they cry to Me because of their trouble.
15 What right has My beloved in My house,
seeing that she has done many lewd deeds?
Can the sacrificial meat take away from you your disaster,
so that you can rejoice while doing evil?
16 The Lord called your name,
“A green olive tree, fair in fruit and form.”
With the noise of a great tumult
He has kindled fire upon it,
and its branches are broken.
17 For the Lord of Hosts, who planted you, has pronounced disaster against you, because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done against themselves to provoke Me to anger in offering incense to Baal.
Jeremiah’s Life Threatened
18 The Lord has made it known to me and I knew it; then You showed me their deeds. 19 But I was like a gentle lamb that is brought to the slaughter, and I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with the fruit,
and let us cut him off from the land of the living
so that his name may be remembered no more.”
20 But, O Lord of Hosts, who judges righteously,
who tries the feelings and the heart,
let me see Your vengeance on them,
for to You I have revealed my cause.
21 Therefore thus says the Lord of the men of Anathoth who seek your life, saying, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord so that you not die by our hand.” 22 Therefore thus says the Lord of Hosts: I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword. Their sons and their daughters shall die by famine. 23 And there shall be no remnant of them, for I will bring calamity upon the men of Anathoth, even the year of their punishment.
6 Let as many servants as are under the yoke of slavery count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be slandered. 2 Let those who have believing masters not despise them, because they are brothers. Instead, let them serve as slaves, because those who receive their service are faithful and beloved.
False Teaching and True Wealth
Teach and command these things. 3 Anyone who teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to godly doctrine 4 is conceited and knows nothing. He has a morbid disposition for controversy and verbal disputes, from which come envy, strife, blasphemies, evil speculations, 5 constant disputes by men of corrupt minds, being destitute of the truth, and supposing that financial gain is godliness. Withdraw yourself from such men.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. 8 If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with these things. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil. While coveting after money, some have strayed from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
The Good Fight of Faith
11 But you, O man of God, escape these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, to which you are called and have professed a good profession before many witnesses. 13 I command you, in the sight of God, who gives life to all things, and in the sight of Christ Jesus, who testified a good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 to keep this commandment without blemish, blameless until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which He, who is the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will reveal at the proper time. 16 He alone has immortality, living in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen, nor can see. To Him be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
17 Command those who are rich in this world that they not be conceited, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who richly gives us all things to enjoy. 18 Command that they do good, that they be rich in good works, generous, willing to share, 19 and laying up in store for themselves a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of eternal life.
20 O Timothy, guard that which is committed to your trust. Avoid profane babblings and opposing views from so-called knowledge. 21 By professing it, some have erred concerning the faith.
Grace be with you. Amen.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.