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16 “I will soon send for many fishermen,” says the Lord. “And they will catch them [C the people of Judah]. After that, I will send for many hunters. And they will hunt them on every mountain and hill and in the ·cracks [clefts] of the rocks. 17 ·I see everything they do [L My eyes are on all their ways]. They ·cannot hide from me the things they do [L are not hidden from me]; their ·sin [iniquity] is not ·hidden [concealed] from my eyes. 18 I will first pay them back twice for ·every one of their sins [L their iniquities and their sins], because they have made my land unclean [C in a ritual sense] with their lifeless idols. They have filled my ·country [inheritance] with their ·hateful idols [L abominations].”
19 Lord, you are my strength and my ·protection [stronghold],
my ·safe place [refuge] in times of ·trouble [distress].
The nations will come to you from ·all over [L the ends of] the world
and say, “Our ·ancestors [fathers] ·had [L have inherited] only ·false gods [L lies],
·useless [meaningless] idols that didn’t ·help [profit] them.
20 Can people make gods for themselves?
They will not really be gods!”
21 The Lord says, “So I will teach those who make idols.
This time I will teach them
about my ·power [L hand] and my strength.
Then they will know
that my name is the Lord.
Judah’s Guilty Heart
17 “The sin of Judah is written with an iron ·tool [L pen].
Their sins were cut with a ·hard [L diamond] point into the ·stone that is [L tablet of] their hearts.
Their sins were cut into the ·corners [L horns] of their altars [Ex. 27:2].
2 Even their children remember
their altars [C to idols] and their ·Asherah idols [sacred poles; L Asherim]
beside the green trees
and on the high hills [2:20].
3 My mountain in the open country
and your wealth and treasures
I will give ·away to other people [L as plunder].
I will give away the places of worship in your country,
because you sinned by worshiping there.
4 You will ·lose [drop] the ·land [L inheritance] I gave you,
and it is your own fault.
I will ·let your enemies take you as their slaves [L make you serve your enemies]
to a land you have never known.
This is because you ·have made my anger burn like a hot fire [L kindled a fire in my anger],
and it will burn forever [15:11–14].”
Trusting in Humans or God
5 This is what the Lord says:
“·A curse is placed on [L Cursed are] those who ·trust [have confidence in] other people,
who ·depend on humans for [L make flesh their] strength,
who have ·stopped trusting [L turned their heart from] the Lord.
6 They are like a ·bush [shrub; or juniper] in a ·desert [steppe]
that ·grows in a land where no one lives [L lives in a salt land where no one lives],
a ·hot and dry land with bad soil [L parched land in the wilderness].
They don’t ·know about the good things God can give [L see when good comes].
7 “But the person who ·trusts [has confidence] in the Lord will be blessed.
·The Lord will show him that he can be trusted [L …whose trust/confidence is in him].
8 He will be like a tree planted near water [C vital and strong]
that sends its roots by a stream [Ps. 1:3].
It is not afraid when the ·days are hot [L heat comes];
its leaves are always green.
It ·does not worry [is not anxious] in a year ·when no rain comes [of drought];
it always produces fruit.
9 “·More than anything else [T Above all things], ·a person’s mind is evil [T the heart is deceitful; L the heart is devious/crooked]
and ·cannot be healed [T desperately wicked; L it is perverse/sick].
Who can ·understand [know] it?
10 But I, the Lord, ·look into a person’s [investigate/test the] heart
and test the ·mind [L kidneys].
·So I can decide what each one deserves [L …to give to each according to his way/path];
I can give each one the right payment for what he does.”
11 Like a ·bird [L partridge] hatching an egg it did not lay,
so are the people who get rich ·by cheating [unjustly].
When their ·lives [L days] are half finished, ·they will lose their riches [L it will leave/abandon them].
At the end of their lives, it will be clear they were fools.
12 From the beginning, our ·Temple [L sanctuary] has been ·honored [L exalted]
as a glorious throne [C for God; Is. 6:1–3; Ezek. 1:26–28; 43:2–5].
13 Lord, hope of Israel,
those who ·leave [abandon; forsake] you will be ·shamed [humiliated].
People who ·quit following the Lord [L turn away from you] will be ·written [recorded] in the ·dust [or underworld],
because they have ·left [abandoned; forsaken] the Lord, the spring of living water [2:13].
Jeremiah’s Third Complaint
14 Lord, heal me, and I will truly be healed.
·Save [Rescue] me, and I will truly be ·saved [rescued].
You are ·the one I praise [L my praise].
15 The people of Judah keep asking me,
“Where is the word from the Lord?
·Let’s see that message come true [L Let it come]!”
16 Lord, I didn’t ·run away from [or insist on] being the shepherd ·you wanted [L after you].
I didn’t want the ·terrible day [or day of despair] to come.
You know ·everything I have said [L what comes out of my lips];
·you see all that is happening [L it was before your face].
17 Don’t be a terror to me.
·I run to you for safety [L You are my refuge] in ·times [L days] of ·trouble [disaster; evil].
18 Make those who are ·hurting [persecuting; pursuing] me be ·ashamed [humiliated],
but don’t bring ·shame to [humiliation on] me.
Let them be terrified,
but keep me from terror.
Bring the day of ·disaster [evil; trouble] on them [C my enemies].
Destroy them, ·and destroy them again [L with double destruction].
Keeping the Sabbath Holy
19 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the People’s Gate [C of Jerusalem], where the kings of Judah go in and out. And then go to all the other gates of Jerusalem. 20 Say to them there: ‘Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, all you people of Judah, and all who live in Jerusalem, who come through these gates into the city. 21 This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to ·carry [lift] a ·load [burden] on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 Don’t take a ·load [burden] out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work on that day. But keep the Sabbath as a holy day, as I commanded your ·ancestors [fathers; Ex. 20:8–11; 31:12–18; Deut. 5:12–15]. 23 But your ·ancestors [fathers] did not listen or ·pay attention [L incline their ear] to me. They ·were very stubborn [L stiffened their necks] and did not listen. ·I punished them, but it didn’t do any good [L They did not take instruction/discipline]. 24 But you must ·be careful to obey [listen to] me, says the Lord. You must not bring a ·load [burden] through the gates of this city [C Jerusalem] on the Sabbath, but you must keep the Sabbath as a holy day and not do any work on that day.
25 “‘If you obey this command, kings who sit on David’s throne [2 Sam. 7:11–16] will come through the gates of ·Jerusalem [L this city] with their officers. They will come riding in chariots and on horses, along with the people of Judah and Jerusalem. And ·the city of Jerusalem [L this city] will have people living in it forever. 26 People will come [C to Jerusalem] from the villages around it, from the towns of Judah, from the land of Benjamin, from the ·western hills [L Shephelah], from the mountains, and from ·southern Judah [L the Negev]. They will all bring to the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17], sacrifices, ·grain [L gift; tribute] offerings [Lev. 2:1], incense, and ·offerings to show thanks to God [thank offerings]. 27 But you must obey me and keep the Sabbath day as a holy day. You must not carry any loads into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. If you don’t ·obey [listen to] me, to keep the Sabbath day as a holy day, I will ·start [kindle] a fire at its gates [C of Jerusalem], and it will ·burn until it burns even [L consume; devour] the ·strong towers [palaces]. And it will not be put out.’”
The Potter and the Clay
18 This is the word the Lord spoke to Jeremiah: 2 “Get up and go down to the potter’s house, and I will ·give you my message there [L make you hear my words].” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working at the potter’s wheel. 4 He was using his hands to make a pot from clay, but something went wrong with it. So he used that clay to make another pot the way he wanted it to be.
5 Then the Lord spoke his word to me: 6 “·Family [L House] of Israel, can’t I do the same thing with you?” says the Lord. “You are in my hands like the clay in the potter’s hands. 7 There may come a time when I will ·speak about [declare concerning] a nation or a kingdom that I will ·pull [pluck] up by its roots or that I will ·pull [tear] down to destroy it [1:10]. 8 But if the people of that nation ·stop doing the evil they have done [turn back/repent from its evil concerning which I have spoken], I will ·change my mind [repent] and not carry out my plans to bring ·disaster to [evil on] them. 9 There may come another time when I will ·speak about a [declare concerning that] nation that I will build up and plant. 10 But if ·I see it doing evil [L it does evil in my eyes] by not ·obeying [listening to] me, I will ·change my mind [repent] and not carry out my plans to do good for them.
11 “·So [Now], say this to the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem: ‘This is what the Lord says: I am ·preparing [shaping] ·disaster [evil] for you and making plans against you. ·So stop doing evil [L Turn away from your evil way/path]. ·Change [Improve/Amend] your ·ways [paths] and ·do what is right [L your actions].’ 12 But they [C the people of Judah] will answer, ‘It won’t do any good to try! We will ·continue to do what we want [L go after our plans]. Each of us will do what his stubborn, evil heart wants!’”
13 So this is what the Lord says:
“Ask ·the people in other nations this question [L among the nations]:
‘·Have you ever [L Who has] heard anything like this?’
The ·people [L virgin daughter] of Israel have done a horrible thing.
14 ·The [L Does the…?] snow of Lebanon
·never melts from [ever leave the] the rocks of ·the fields [L or Sirion; C another name for Mount Hermon].
Its cool, ·flowing [L foreign; strange] streams
do not ·dry up [L get plucked up].
15 But my people have forgotten me.
They burn incense to ·worthless [useless; meaningless] idols
and ·have stumbled [L they make them stumble] in ·what they do [L their ways/paths]
and in the ·old ways of their ancestors [L ancient ways].
They walk along back roads
·and on poor [L ways/paths that are not] highways.
16 So ·Judah’s country [L their land] will become an ·empty desert [wasteland; desolation].
People will not stop ·making fun of [L hissing at] it.
They will shake their heads as they pass by;
they will be shocked at how the country was destroyed.
17 Like a strong east wind,
I will scatter them [C the people of Judah] before their enemies.
·At that awful time [L In the day of their calamity] ·they will not see me coming to help them;
they will see me leaving [L I will show them my back and not my face].”
Jeremiah’s Fourth Complaint
18 Then the people said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah. Surely the ·teaching of the law [instruction] by the priest will not ·be lost [perish]. We will still have the ·advice [counsel] from the wise teachers and the words of the prophets. So let’s ·ruin him by telling lies about him [bring charges against him; L strike him with the tongue]. We won’t pay attention to ·anything he says [L his words].”
19 Lord, ·listen [pay attention] to me.
Listen to what my ·accusers [adversaries] are saying!
20 ·Good should not [L Should good…?] be paid back with evil,
but they have dug a pit ·in order to kill me [L for my life].
Remember that I stood before you
and asked you to do good things for these people
and to turn your anger away from them.
21 So now, ·let their children starve [L give their children to starvation],
and ·let their enemies kill them with swords [L give them over to the power of the sword].
Let their wives ·lose their children and husbands [L be childless and widows].
Let the men [C from Judah] be ·put to death [slain by pestilence]
and the young men be killed with swords in battle.
22 Let them cry out in their houses
when you bring ·an enemy [plunderers; marauders] against them suddenly.
Let all this happen, because my enemies have dug
a pit to capture me and have hidden traps for my feet.
23 Lord, you know
about all their plans to kill me.
Don’t forgive their ·crimes [iniquity]
or ·erase [wipe away; blot out] their sins from ·your mind [L before you].
Make them ·fall [stumble] ·from their places [L before you];
·punish [L deal with] them while you are angry.
A Life that Pleases God
4 [L Finally; or Now then; Furthermore] Brothers and sisters, we taught you how to ·live [walk] in a way that will please God, and you are living that way. Now we ask and ·encourage [urge; appeal to] you in the Lord Jesus to ·live that way [excel; abound] even more. 2 [L For] You know what ·we told [instructions/commands we gave] you to do ·by the authority of [L through] the Lord Jesus. 3 ·God wants you to be holy and [or For this is God’s will, your sanctification:] to stay away from sexual sins. 4 He wants each of you to ·learn to control your own body [or take a wife for yourself; or live with your own wife; L gain/possess his own vessel] in a way that is holy and honorable. 5 ·Don’t use your body for sexual sin [L …not in lustful passion] like the ·people [L Gentiles] who do not know God. 6 Also, do not ·wrong [exploit; transgress] or ·cheat [take advantage of] another ·Christian [L brother (or sister)] in this way. The Lord ·will punish people who do those [L is the avenger concerning these] things as we have already told you and ·warned [solemnly testified to] you. 7 [L For] God did not call us to ·a life of sin [L impurity], but to holiness. 8 ·So [Therefore] the person who ·refuses to obey [disregards; rejects; despises] this teaching is not simply ·disobeying [disregarding; rejecting; despising] ·a human being [human authority], but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
9 We do not need to write you about ·having love for your Christian family [L brotherly love], because God has already taught you to love each other. 10 And truly you do love the ·Christians [L brothers (and sisters)] in all of Macedonia [1:7]. Now we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to ·love them [excel; abound; v. 1] even more. 11 ·Do all you can […and to aspire] to live a peaceful life. ·Take care of [Attend to; Mind] your own business, and ·do your own work [L work with your hands] as we have already ·told [instructed; commanded] you. 12 If you do, then you will ·win the respect of [or live a respectable/proper life before] ·unbelievers [L outsiders], and you will not have to depend on others for what you need.
The Lord’s Coming
13 Brothers and sisters, we ·want you to know [do not want you to be uninformed] about those ·Christians who have died [L who sleep; C a euphemism for death] so you will not ·be sad [grieve], as ·others [L the rest] who have no hope. 14 [L For] We believe that Jesus died and that he rose again. ·So, through him, God will raise with Jesus those who have died [or So God will bring with Jesus those who have died/L fallen asleep in him]. 15 What we tell you now is ·the Lord’s own message [L by the word of the Lord]. We who are ·living [still alive] when the Lord comes again will [L certainly; surely] not go before those who have ·already died [L fallen asleep]. 16 The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud ·command [or shout], ·with [or accompanied by; or preceded by] the voice of the archangel [C a leading or ruling angel; Dan. 10:13; Jude 9], and with the trumpet call of God. And ·those who have died believing [L the dead] in Christ will rise first [1 Cor. 15:51–57]. 17 After that, we who are ·still alive [or alive and are left] will be ·gathered [caught; taken] up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And [L so; in this way] we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So ·encourage [comfort] each other with these words.
Be Ready for the Lord’s Coming
5 Now, brothers and sisters, we do not need to write you about times and ·dates [seasons; C related to end-time events]. 2 You know ·very well [accurately] that the ·day the Lord comes again [L day of the Lord; C the time of Christ’s return and the judgments associated with it] will ·be a surprise, like a thief that comes in the night [L come like a thief in the night]. 3 While people are saying, “·We have peace and we are safe [L Peace and safety/security],” they will be destroyed ·quickly [suddenly]. It is like pains that come quickly to a woman having a baby. Those people will not escape.
A Song for a Holiday
For the director of music. By the gittith [C perhaps a musical term or instrument]. A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
81 Sing for joy to God, our strength;
shout out loud to the God of Jacob [C another name for Israel].
2 ·Begin the music [Lift up a psalm]. ·Play [Sound; L Give] the tambourines [68:25; 149:3; 150:4; Ex. 15:20].
·Play pleasant music on the harps [L …the pleasant/sweet harps] and lyres.
3 Blow the ·trumpet [ram’s horn] at ·the time of the New Moon [L the month; C a monthly religious festival],
when the moon is full, when our feast begins.
4 This is the ·law [statute; ordinance; requirement] for Israel;
it is the ·command [judgment] of the God of Jacob [v. 1].
5 He ·gave [set] this ·rule [decree; testimony] to the people of Joseph [C reference to the northern tribes]
when they went out of the land of Egypt [C the exodus; Ex. 12–15].
I heard a ·language [L tongue] I did not know, saying [C God now speaks]:
6 “I ·took the load off [removed the burden from] their shoulders;
·I let them put down their baskets [L Their hands were removed from the baskets].
7 When you were in ·trouble [distress], you called, and I ·saved [rescued] you.
I answered you ·with thunder [L in the secret place of thunder; Ex. 19:18–19].
I tested you at the waters of Meribah [95:8; 106:32; Ex. 17:1–17; Num. 20:1–13]. ·
8 My people, listen. I ·am warning [bear testimony/witness against] you.
Israel, please listen to me!
9 You must not have ·foreign [strange] gods;
you must not worship any ·false [foreign] god.
10 I, the Lord, am your God,
who brought you out of Egypt.
·Open [L Widen] your mouth and I will feed you [Deut. 29:6; 32:10–14].
11 “But my people did not listen to ·me [L my voice];
Israel did not ·want [accept] me.
12 So I ·let them go their stubborn way [L threw them away because of their stubborn hearts]
and ·follow [walk according to] their own advice.
13 I wish my people would listen to me;
I wish Israel would ·live [L walk on] my way.
14 Then I would quickly ·defeat [subdue; quell] their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would ·bow [cringe; cower] before him.
Their ·punishment [doom] would continue forever.
16 But I would give you the finest wheat [Deut. 32:14]
and fill you with honey from the rocks [Deut. 32:13].”
6 Don’t ·brag [honor yourself] to the king
and ·act as if you are great [L don’t stand in the place of important people].
7 It is better for him to ·give you a higher position [L say to you, “Come up here”]
than to bring you down in front of the prince [Luke 14:7–11].
Because of something you have seen,
8 do not quickly take someone to court.
What will you do later
when your neighbor ·proves you wrong [L humiliates/shames you]?
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