Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Lord's king rules^[a]

A pot that breaks

19 The Lord said to me, ‘Go to a potter. Buy from him a pot that he has made from clay. Take with you some leaders of the people and some leaders of the priests. ² Go out into Ben-Hinnom Valley, which is near to the “Broken Pots” gate. There you must speak the words that I will tell you.

³ Say, “Hear the Lord's message, you kings of Judah and people who live in Jerusalem. The Lord Almighty, Israel's God says this: Listen to me! I will bring very great trouble to this place. It will be very bad. Everyone who hears about it will be very surprised. ⁴ That will happen because Judah's people have turned away from me. They worship foreign gods in this place. They have offered sacrifices to those gods. They are gods that their ancestors did not know about. The kings of Judah never knew about them either. In this place, Judah's people have killed people who did not deserve to die. ⁵ They have built altars here to give honour to Baal. They light fires to give their children to Baal as burnt offerings. I never even thought about it. I never commanded my people to offer those kinds of sacrifices. I never even thought about it. ⁶ So I tell you this: A time will soon come when people do not call this place Topheth or Ben-Hinnom Valley. Instead, they will call it Death Valley.^[a]

⁷ I will spoil all the ideas that the people of Judah and Jerusalem have. In this place I will put them under the power of their enemies. Their enemies will kill them in war. I will give their dead bodies as food to the birds and the wild animals. ⁸ I will make this city a heap of stones. People will see how disgusting my people are. Everybody who goes near there will be very surprised. They will see all the terrible trouble that has happened to the city and they will insult it. ⁹ Enemies will make their camp all around the city, so that they can kill the people who live there. The people will not have any food to eat. They will be so hungry that they will eat their own children and they will eat each other.” 

¹⁰ Then, Jeremiah, take the pot that you bought. Break it in front of all those people who are there with you. ¹¹ Tell them that the Lord Almighty says, “I will destroy this nation and this city. They will be like this broken pot that nobody is able to mend. They will bury lots of dead people here in Topheth. There will be no space left to bury any more people. ¹² I tell you this: I will cause this city and its people to become like Topheth. ¹³ The houses in Jerusalem will be full of dead bodies like Topheth. The palaces of the kings of Judah will be the same. I will do that because people went up on the roofs of their houses to offer sacrifices to the stars. They poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah left Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to speak his message. He went to the Lord's temple in the city. He stood in the yard of the temple. He spoke aloud to the people. ¹⁵ He said, ‘The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this: “Listen to me! I will soon punish this city and all the towns around it, as I have promised that I will do. I will do it because the people have refused to listen to my message.” ’

How Timothy can be a good servant of Christ

⁶ You must explain these things to the believers and teach them God's true message. If you do that, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus. Continue to study the message about Jesus that you have already learned. That will help you to be strong. ⁷ But you must refuse to listen to false stories. Stories like that are not from God and only silly people believe them. Instead, learn to live well in a way that makes God happy. ⁸ People say this: ‘If a person works to make his body strong and healthy, that will help him a little. But if a person works to live in a way that makes God happy, that will help him much more. It will help that person in his life now on earth. It will also help him in his future life with God in heaven.’ ⁹ We know that those words are true. Everyone should agree with them. ¹⁰ So that is why we work to serve God well. We continue to work, even when we have trouble. We do this because we believe that God will help us. He is the one who lives for ever and who saves all people. Certainly, he saves those who are believers.

¹¹ Teach people to do these things. ¹² You are still a young man, but everyone should respect you as the leader in the church. Show the believers how they should live. Be a good example to them in these ways:

¹³ Until I come, be careful to read the Bible aloud to people. Teach them to understand and to obey the message about Christ. ¹⁴ Remember the gift that God's Holy Spirit has given to you. You received that gift when the group of church leaders put their hands on you.^[a] They spoke messages from God about how you would serve him. So do not stop using that gift from God.

¹⁵ Be careful to do all these things well. Then everyone will see that you are serving God better and better. ¹⁶ Think carefully about how you live, and about the message that you teach. Continue to teach God's true message. Then God will save not only you, but also those people who listen to you.