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16 “Behold, I am going to send for many (A)fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will (B)hunt them (C)from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks. 17 (D)For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, (E)nor is their iniquity concealed from My eyes. 18 I will first (F)doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have (G)polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their (H)detestable idols and with their abominations.”
19 O Lord, my (I)strength and my stronghold,
And my (J)refuge in the day of distress,
To You the (K)nations will come
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Our fathers have inherited nothing but (L)falsehood,
Futility and [a](M)things of no profit.”
20 Can man make gods for himself?
Yet they are (N)not gods!
21 “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—
This time I will (O)make them know
My [b]power and My might;
And they shall (P)know that My name is the Lord.”
The Deceitful Heart
17 The (Q)sin of Judah is written down with an (R)iron stylus;
With a diamond point it is (S)engraved upon the tablet of their heart
And on the horns of [c]their altars,
2 As they remember their (T)children,
So they remember their altars and their [d](U)Asherim
By (V)green trees on the high hills.
3 O (W)mountain of Mine in the countryside,
I will (X)give over your wealth and all your treasures for booty,
Your high places for sin throughout your borders.
4 And you will, even of yourself, (Y)let go of your inheritance
That I gave you;
And I will make you serve your (Z)enemies
In the (AA)land which you do not know;
For you have (AB)kindled a fire in My anger
Which will burn forever.
5 Thus says the Lord,
“(AC)Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes (AD)flesh his [e]strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 “For he will be like a (AE)bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A (AF)land of salt [f]without inhabitant.
7 “(AG)Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose (AH)trust is the Lord.
8 “For he will be like a (AI)tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of (AJ)drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.
9 “The (AK)heart is more (AL)deceitful than all else
And is desperately (AM)sick;
Who can understand it?
10 “I, the Lord, (AN)search the heart,
I test the [g]mind,
Even (AO)to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the [h]results of his deeds.
11 “As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid,
So is he who (AP)makes a fortune, but unjustly;
In the midst of his days it will forsake him,
And in [i]the end he will be a (AQ)fool.”
12 (AR)A glorious throne on high from the beginning
Is the place of our sanctuary.
13 O Lord, the (AS)hope of Israel,
All who (AT)forsake You will be put to shame.
Those who turn [j]away on earth will be (AU)written down,
Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the Lord.
14 (AV)Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;
(AW)Save me and I will be saved,
For You are my (AX)praise.
15 Look, they keep (AY)saying to me,
“Where is the word of the Lord?
Let it come now!”
16 But as for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd after You,
Nor have I longed for the woeful day;
(AZ)You Yourself know that the utterance of my lips
Was in Your presence.
17 Do not be a (BA)terror to me;
You are my (BB)refuge in the day of disaster.
18 Let those who persecute me be (BC)put to shame, but as for me, (BD)let me not be put to shame;
Let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed.
(BE)Bring on them a day of disaster,
And crush them with twofold destruction!
The Sabbath Must Be Kept
19 Thus the Lord said to me, “Go and stand in the [k]public gate, through which the kings of Judah come in and go out, as well as in all the gates of Jerusalem; 20 and say to them, ‘(BF)Listen to the word of the Lord, (BG)kings of Judah, and all Judah and all inhabitants of Jerusalem who come in through these gates: 21 Thus says the Lord, “(BH)Take heed for yourselves, and (BI)do not carry any load on the sabbath day or bring anything in through the gates of Jerusalem. 22 You shall not bring a load out of your houses on the sabbath day (BJ)nor do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I (BK)commanded your [l]forefathers. 23 Yet they (BL)did not listen or incline their ears, but (BM)stiffened their necks in order not to listen or take correction.
24 “But it will come about, if you (BN)listen attentively to Me,” declares the Lord, “to (BO)bring no load in through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, (BP)but to keep the sabbath day holy by doing no work on it, 25 (BQ)then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes (BR)sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this (BS)city will be inhabited forever. 26 They will come in from the (BT)cities of Judah and from the environs of Jerusalem, from the land of Benjamin, from the (BU)lowland, from the hill country and from the (BV)Negev, bringing burnt offerings, sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing sacrifices of thanksgiving to the house of the Lord. 27 But (BW)if you do not listen to Me to keep the sabbath day holy by not carrying a load and coming in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then (BX)I will kindle a fire in its gates and it will (BY)devour the palaces of Jerusalem and (BZ)not be quenched.”’”
The Potter and the Clay
18 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, 2 “Arise and (CA)go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the [m]wheel. 4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 6 “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Behold, like the (CB)clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. 7 At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to (CC)uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; 8 (CD)if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will [n](CE)relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. 9 Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to (CF)build up or to plant it; 10 if it does (CG)evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will [o](CH)think better of the good with which I had promised to [p]bless it. 11 So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am (CI)fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh (CJ)turn back, each of you from his evil way, and [q]reform your ways and your deeds.”’ 12 But (CK)they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the (CL)stubbornness of his evil heart.’
13 “Therefore thus says the Lord,
‘(CM)Ask now among the nations,
Who ever heard the like of [r]this?
The (CN)virgin of Israel
Has done a most (CO)appalling thing.
14 ‘Does the snow of Lebanon forsake the rock of the open country?
Or is the cold flowing water from a foreign land ever snatched away?
15 ‘For (CP)My people have forgotten Me,
(CQ)They burn incense [s]to worthless gods
And they [t]have stumbled [u]from their ways,
[v]From the (CR)ancient paths,
To walk in bypaths,
Not on a (CS)highway,
16 To make their land a (CT)desolation,
An object of perpetual (CU)hissing;
Everyone who passes by it will be astonished
And (CV)shake his head.
17 ‘Like an (CW)east wind I will (CX)scatter them
Before the enemy;
I will [w]show them (CY)My back and not My face
(CZ)In the day of their calamity.’”
18 Then they said, “Come and let us (DA)devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the (DB)law is not going to be lost to the priest, nor (DC)counsel to the sage, nor the divine (DD)word to the prophet! Come on and let us (DE)strike at him with our tongue, and let us (DF)give no heed to any of his words.”
19 Do give heed to me, O Lord,
And listen to [x]what my opponents are saying!
20 (DG)Should good be repaid with evil?
For they have (DH)dug a pit for [y]me.
Remember how I (DI)stood before You
To speak good on their behalf,
So as to turn away Your wrath from them.
21 Therefore, (DJ)give their children over to famine
And deliver them up to the [z]power of the sword;
And let their wives become (DK)childless and (DL)widowed.
Let their men also be smitten to death,
Their (DM)young men struck down by the sword in battle.
22 May an (DN)outcry be heard from their houses,
When You suddenly bring raiders upon them;
(DO)For they have dug a pit to capture me
And (DP)hidden snares for my feet.
23 Yet You, O Lord, know
All their [aa]deadly designs against me;
(DQ)Do not [ab]forgive their iniquity
Or blot out their sin from Your sight.
But may they be [ac](DR)overthrown before You;
Deal with them in the (DS)time of Your anger!
Sanctification and Love
4 (A)Finally then, (B)brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to [a](C)walk and (D)please God (just as you actually do [b]walk), that you (E)excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you [c]by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you (F)abstain from [d]sexual immorality; 4 that (G)each of you know how to [e]possess his own [f](H)vessel in sanctification and (I)honor, 5 not in [g](J)lustful passion, like the Gentiles who (K)do not know God; 6 and that no man transgress and (L)defraud his brother (M)in the matter because (N)the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also (O)told you before and solemnly warned you. 7 For (P)God has not called us for (Q)the purpose of impurity, but [h]in sanctification. 8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who (R)gives His Holy Spirit to you.
9 Now as to the (S)love of the brethren, you (T)have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are (U)taught by God to love one another; 10 for indeed (V)you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to (W)excel still more, 11 and to make it your ambition (X)to lead a quiet life and (Y)attend to your own business and (Z)work with your hands, just as we commanded you, 12 so that you will [i](AA)behave properly toward (AB)outsiders and [j](AC)not be in any need.
Those Who Died in Christ
13 But (AD)we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who (AE)are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do (AF)the rest who have (AG)no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, (AH)even so God will bring with Him (AI)those who have fallen asleep [k]in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you (AJ)by the word of the Lord, that (AK)we who are alive [l]and remain until (AL)the coming of the Lord, will not precede (AM)those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord (AN)Himself (AO)will descend from heaven with a [m](AP)shout, with the voice of (AQ)the archangel and with the (AR)trumpet of God, and (AS)the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then (AT)we who are alive [n]and remain will be (AU)caught up together with them (AV)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always (AW)be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
The Day of the Lord
5 Now as to the (AX)times and the epochs, brethren, you (AY)have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that (AZ)the day of the Lord [o]will come (BA)just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, “(BB)Peace and safety!” then [p](BC)destruction [q]will come upon them suddenly like (BD)labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.
God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.
For the choir director; [a]on the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.
81 (A)Sing for joy to God our (B)strength;
Shout (C)joyfully to the (D)God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, strike (E)the timbrel,
The sweet sounding (F)lyre with the (G)harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the (H)new moon,
At the full moon, on our (I)feast day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He established it for a testimony in Joseph
When he [b](J)went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard a (K)language that I did not know:
6 “I [c](L)relieved his shoulder of the burden,
His hands were freed from the [d]basket.
7 “You (M)called in trouble and I rescued you;
I (N)answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I proved you at the (O)waters of Meribah. [e]Selah.
8 “(P)Hear, O My people, and I will [f]admonish you;
O Israel, if you (Q)would listen to Me!
9 “Let there be no (R)strange god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10 “(S)I, the Lord, am your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
(T)Open your mouth wide and I will (U)fill it.
11 “But My people (V)did not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not [g]obey Me.
12 “So I (W)gave [h]them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk in their own devices.
13 “Oh that My people (X)would listen to Me,
That Israel would (Y)walk in My ways!
14 “I would quickly (Z)subdue their enemies
And (AA)turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 “(AB)Those who hate the Lord would (AC)pretend obedience to Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
16 “[i]But I would feed you with the [j](AD)finest of the wheat,
And with (AE)honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
6 Do not claim honor in the presence of the king,
And do not stand in the place of great men;
7 For (A)it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”
Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,
Whom your eyes have seen.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.