Old/New Testament
Jeremiah’s Prayer
12 (A)Righteous are You, O Lord, that I would plead my case with You;
Indeed I would (B)discuss matters of justice with You:
Why has the (C)way of the wicked prospered?
Why are all those who (D)deal in treachery at ease?
2 You have (E)planted them, they have also taken root;
They grow, they have even produced fruit.
You are (F)near [a]to their lips
But far from their [b]mind.
3 But You (G)know me, O Lord;
You see me;
And You (H)examine my heart’s attitude toward You.
Drag them off like sheep for the slaughter
And [c]set them apart for a (I)day of carnage!
4 How long is the (J)land to mourn
And the (K)vegetation of the countryside to wither?
For the (L)wickedness of those who dwell in it,
(M)Animals and birds have been snatched away,
Because men have said, “He will not see our latter (N)ending.”
5 “If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out,
Then how can you compete with horses?
If you fall down in a land of peace,
How will you do in the [d](O)thicket of the Jordan?
6 “For even your (P)brothers and the household of your father,
Even they have dealt treacherously with you,
Even they have cried aloud after you.
Do not believe them, although they may say (Q)nice things to you.”
God’s Answer
7 “I have (R)forsaken My house,
I have abandoned My inheritance;
I have given the (S)beloved of My soul
Into the hand of her enemies.
8 “My inheritance has become to Me
Like a lion in the forest;
She has [e](T)roared against Me;
Therefore I have come to (U)hate her.
9 “Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me?
Are the (V)birds of prey against her on every side?
Go, gather all the (W)beasts of the field,
Bring them to devour!
10 “Many (X)shepherds have ruined My (Y)vineyard,
They have (Z)trampled down My field;
They have made My (AA)pleasant field
A desolate wilderness.
11 “[f]It has been made a desolation,
Desolate, it (AB)mourns [g]before Me;
The (AC)whole land has been made desolate,
Because no man (AD)lays it to heart.
12 “On all the [h](AE)bare heights in the wilderness
Destroyers have come,
For a (AF)sword of the Lord is devouring
From one end of the land even to the [i]other;
There is (AG)no peace for [j]anyone.
13 “They have (AH)sown wheat and have reaped thorns,
They have (AI)strained themselves [k]to no profit.
But be ashamed of your [l](AJ)harvest
Because of the (AK)fierce anger of the Lord.”
14 Thus says the Lord concerning all My (AL)wicked neighbors who (AM)strike at the inheritance with which I have endowed My people Israel, “Behold I am about to uproot them from their land and will (AN)uproot the house of Judah from among them. 15 And it will come about that after I have uprooted them, I will (AO)again have compassion on them; and I will (AP)bring them back, each one to his inheritance and each one to his land. 16 Then if they will really (AQ)learn the ways of My people, to (AR)swear by My name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught My people to (AS)swear by Baal, they will be (AT)built up in the midst of My people. 17 But if they will not listen, then I will (AU)uproot that nation, uproot and destroy it,” declares the Lord.
The Ruined Waistband
13 Thus the Lord said to me, “Go and (AV)buy yourself a linen waistband and put it around your waist, but do not put it in water.” 2 So I bought the waistband in accordance with the (AW)word of the Lord and put it around my waist. 3 Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, 4 “Take the waistband that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to [m]the (AX)Euphrates and hide it there in a crevice of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, (AY)as the Lord had commanded me. 6 After many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates and take from there the waistband which I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the waistband from the place where I had hidden it; and lo, the waistband was ruined, it was totally worthless.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Just so will I destroy the (AZ)pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This wicked people, who (BA)refuse to listen to My words, who (BB)walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless. 11 For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah (BC)cling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for [n](BD)renown, for (BE)praise and for glory; but they (BF)did not listen.’
Captivity Threatened
12 “Therefore you are to speak this word to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jug is to be filled with wine.”’ And when they say to you, ‘Do we not very well know that every jug is to be filled with wine?’ 13 then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings that sit for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with (BG)drunkenness! 14 I will (BH)dash them against each other, both the (BI)fathers and the sons together,” declares the Lord. “I will (BJ)not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion so as not to destroy them.”’”
15 Listen and give heed, do not be (BK)haughty,
For the Lord has spoken.
16 (BL)Give glory to the Lord your God,
Before He brings (BM)darkness
And before your (BN)feet stumble
On the dusky mountains,
And while you are hoping for light
He makes it into (BO)deep darkness,
And turns it into gloom.
17 But (BP)if you will not listen to it,
My soul will (BQ)sob in secret for such pride;
And my eyes will bitterly weep
And flow down with tears,
Because the (BR)flock of the Lord has been taken captive.
18 Say to the (BS)king and the queen mother,
“(BT)Take a lowly seat,
For your beautiful (BU)crown
Has come down from your head.”
19 The (BV)cities of the Negev have been locked up,
And there is no one to open them;
All (BW)Judah has been carried into exile,
Wholly carried into exile.
20 “Lift up your eyes and see
Those coming (BX)from the north.
Where is the (BY)flock that was given you,
Your beautiful sheep?
21 “What will you say when He appoints over you—
And you yourself had taught them—
Former [o](BZ)companions to be head over you?
Will not (CA)pangs take hold of you
Like a woman in childbirth?
22 “If you (CB)say in your heart,
‘(CC)Why have these things happened to me?’
Because of the (CD)magnitude of your iniquity
(CE)Your skirts have been removed
And your heels have [p]been exposed.
23 “(CF)Can the Ethiopian change his skin
Or the leopard his spots?
Then you also can (CG)do good
Who are accustomed to doing evil.
24 “Therefore I will (CH)scatter them like drifting straw
To the desert (CI)wind.
25 “This is your (CJ)lot, the portion measured to you
From Me,” declares the Lord,
“Because you have (CK)forgotten Me
And trusted in falsehood.
26 “So I Myself have also (CL)stripped your skirts off over your face,
That your shame may be seen.
27 “As for your (CM)adulteries and your lustful neighings,
The (CN)lewdness of your prostitution
On the (CO)hills in the field,
I have seen your abominations.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
(CP)How long will you remain unclean?”
Drought and a Prayer for Mercy
14 That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah in regard to the (CQ)drought:
2 “Judah mourns
And (CR)her gates languish;
They sit on the ground (CS)in mourning,
And the (CT)cry of Jerusalem has ascended.
3 “Their nobles have (CU)sent their [q]servants for water;
They have come to the (CV)cisterns and found no water.
They have returned with their vessels empty;
They have been (CW)put to shame and humiliated,
And they (CX)cover their heads.
4 “Because the (CY)ground is [r]cracked,
For there has been (CZ)no rain on the land;
The (DA)farmers have been put to shame,
They have covered their heads.
5 “For even the doe in the field has given birth only to abandon her young,
Because there is (DB)no grass.
6 “The (DC)wild donkeys stand on the bare heights;
They pant for air like jackals,
Their eyes fail
For there is (DD)no vegetation.
7 “Although our (DE)iniquities testify against us,
O Lord, act (DF)for Your name’s sake!
Truly our (DG)apostasies have been many,
We have (DH)sinned against You.
8 “O (DI)Hope of Israel,
Its (DJ)Savior in (DK)time of distress,
Why are You like a stranger in the land
Or like a traveler who has pitched his tent for the night?
9 “Why are You like a man dismayed,
Like a mighty man who (DL)cannot save?
Yet (DM)You are in our midst, O Lord,
And we are (DN)called by Your name;
Do not forsake us!”
10 Thus says the Lord to this people, “Even so they have (DO)loved to wander; they have not (DP)kept their feet in check. Therefore the Lord does (DQ)not accept them; now He will (DR)remember their iniquity and call their sins to account.” 11 So the Lord said to me, “(DS)Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12 When they fast, I am (DT)not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer (DU)burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to (DV)make an end of them by the (DW)sword, famine and pestilence.”
False Prophets
13 But, “Ah, Lord [s]God!” I said, “Look, the prophets are telling them, ‘You (DX)will not see the sword nor will you have famine, but I will give you [t]lasting (DY)peace in this place.’” 14 Then the Lord said to me, “The (DZ)prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. (EA)I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a (EB)false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own [u]minds. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who are prophesying in My name, although it was not I who sent them—yet they keep saying, ‘There will be no sword or famine in this land’—(EC)by sword and famine those prophets shall [v]meet their end! 16 The people also to whom they are prophesying will be (ED)thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and there will be no one to (EE)bury them—neither them, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters—for I will (EF)pour out their own wickedness on them.
17 “You will say this word to them,
‘(EG)Let my eyes flow down with tears night and day,
And let them not cease;
For the virgin (EH)daughter of my people has been crushed with a mighty blow,
With a sorely (EI)infected wound.
18 ‘If I (EJ)go out to the country,
Behold, those [w]slain with the sword!
Or if I enter the city,
Behold, diseases of famine!
For (EK)both prophet and priest
Have [x]gone roving about in the land that they do not know.’”
19 Have You completely (EL)rejected Judah?
Or have [y]You loathed Zion?
Why have You stricken us so that we (EM)are beyond healing?
We (EN)waited for peace, but nothing good came;
And for a time of healing, but behold, terror!
20 We (EO)know our wickedness, O Lord,
The iniquity of our fathers, for (EP)we have sinned against You.
21 Do not despise us, (EQ)for Your own name’s sake;
Do not disgrace the (ER)throne of Your glory;
Remember and do not annul Your covenant with us.
22 Are there any among the [z](ES)idols of the nations who (ET)give rain?
Or can the heavens grant showers?
Is it not You, O Lord our God?
Therefore we [aa](EU)hope in You,
For You are the one who has done all these things.
Timothy Charged to Guard His Trust
1 Paul, (A)an apostle of (B)Christ Jesus [a](C)by the will of God, according to the promise of (D)life in Christ Jesus,
2 To (E)Timothy, my beloved [b](F)son: (G)Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 (H)I thank God, whom I (I)serve with a (J)clear conscience [c]the way my forefathers did, (K)as I constantly remember you in my [d]prayers night and day, 4 (L)longing to see you, (M)even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 [e]For I am mindful of the (N)sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and (O)your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh (P)the gift of God which is in you through (Q)the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a (R)spirit of [f]timidity, but of power and love and [g]discipline.
8 Therefore (S)do not be ashamed of the (T)testimony of our Lord or of me (U)His prisoner, but join with me in (V)suffering for the (W)gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has (X)saved us and (Y)called us with a holy (Z)calling, (AA)not according to our works, but according to His own (AB)purpose and grace which was granted us in (AC)Christ Jesus from (AD)all eternity, 10 but (AE)now has been revealed by the (AF)appearing of our Savior (AG)Christ Jesus, who (AH)abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 (AI)for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things, but (AJ)I am not ashamed; for I know (AK)whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to (AL)guard what I have entrusted to Him [h]until (AM)that day. 13 [i](AN)Retain the (AO)standard of (AP)sound words (AQ)which you have heard from me, in the (AR)faith and love which are in (AS)Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who (AT)dwells in us, the [j](AU)treasure which has been entrusted to you.
15 You are aware of the fact that all who are in [k](AV)Asia (AW)turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 The Lord grant mercy to (AX)the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and (AY)was not ashamed of my [l](AZ)chains; 17 but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me— 18 the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on (BA)that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at (BB)Ephesus.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.