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21 (A)I did not send these prophets,
But they ran.
I did not speak to them,
But they prophesied.
22 But if they had (B)stood in My council,
Then they would have (C)caused My words to be heard by My people
And would have turned them back from their evil way
And from the evil of their deeds.
23 “Am I a God who is (D)near,” declares Yahweh,
“And not a God far off?
24 Can a man (E)hide himself in hiding places
So I do not see him?” declares Yahweh.
“(F)Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares Yahweh.
25 “I have (G)heard what the prophets have said who (H)prophesy a lie in My name, saying, ‘I had a (I)dream, I had a dream!’ 26 How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy a lie, even these prophets of the (J)deception of their own heart, 27 who intend to (K)make My people forget My name by their dreams which they recount to one another, just as their fathers (L)forgot My name because of Baal? 28 The prophet who has a dream may recount his dream, but let him who has (M)My word speak My word in truth. (N)What does straw have in common with grain?” declares Yahweh. 29 “Is not My word like (O)fire?” declares Yahweh, “and like a (P)hammer which shatters a rock? 30 Therefore behold, (Q)I am against the prophets,” declares Yahweh, “who steal My words from each other. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares Yahweh, “who take their tongues and declare, ‘Yahweh declares.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who have prophesied (R)lying dreams,” declares Yahweh, “and who recounted them and led My people astray by their lying and (S)reckless boasting; yet (T)I did not send them, and I did not command them, and they do not (U)furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares Yahweh.
33 “Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you, saying, ‘What is the [a](V)oracle of Yahweh?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What oracle?’ Yahweh declares, ‘I will (W)abandon you.’ 34 Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘The (X)oracle of Yahweh,’ I will bring punishment upon that man and his household. 35 Thus will each of you say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘(Y)What has Yahweh answered?’ or, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’ 36 For you will no longer remember the oracle of Yahweh because every man’s own word will become the oracle, and you have (Z)perverted the words of the (AA)living God, Yahweh of hosts, our God. 37 Thus you will say to that prophet, ‘What has Yahweh answered you?’ and, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’ 38 For if you all say, ‘The oracle of Yahweh!’ surely thus says Yahweh, ‘Because you said this word, “The oracle of Yahweh!” I have also sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The oracle of Yahweh!’”’ 39 Therefore behold, (AB)I will surely forget you and abandon you, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers, so that you are out of My presence. 40 I will put an everlasting (AC)reproach on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten.”
The Good and the Rotten Figs
24 After (AD)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken away into exile Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, Yahweh showed me: behold, two (AE)baskets of figs set before the temple of Yahweh! 2 One basket had very good figs, like (AF)first-ripe figs, and the other basket had (AG)very rotten figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness. 3 Then Yahweh said to me, “(AH)What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the rotten figs, very rotten, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.”
4 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 5 “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will recognize (AI)as good the exiles of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans. 6 For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will (AJ)return them to this land; and I will (AK)build them up and not pull them down, and I will (AL)plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a (AM)heart to know Me, for I am Yahweh; and they will be (AN)My people, and I will be their God, for they will (AO)return to Me with their whole heart.
8 ‘But like the (AP)rotten figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness—indeed, thus says Yahweh—so I will give over (AQ)Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials and the (AR)remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who inhabit the land of (AS)Egypt. 9 I will (AT)give them over to be a terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a (AU)reproach and a proverb, a byword and a (AV)curse in all places where I will banish them. 10 I will send the (AW)sword, the famine, and the pestilence upon them until they come to an end from being upon the land which I gave to them and their fathers.’”
Seventy Years of Captivity
25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the (AX)fourth year of (AY)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the (AZ)first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the (BA)people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, 3 “From the (BB)thirteenth year of (BC)Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, [b]these (BD)twenty-three years the word of Yahweh has come to me, and I have spoken to you, [c](BE)rising up early and speaking, but you have not listened. 4 And Yahweh has sent to you all His (BF)slaves the prophets, rising up early and sending, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear, 5 saying, ‘(BG)Turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and live on the ground which Yahweh has given to you and your fathers (BH)forever and ever; 6 and (BI)do not walk after other gods to [d]serve them and to [e]worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will bring no evil against you.’ 7 Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares Yahweh, “in order that you might (BJ)provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own evil demise.
8 “Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, ‘Because you have not listened to My words, 9 behold, I will (BK)send and take all the families of the north,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, (BL)My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will [f]devote them to destruction and (BM)make them an object of horror and of hissing and an everlasting waste place. 10 Moreover, I will [g](BN)make the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the (BO)sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp, to perish from them. 11 (BP)This whole land will be a waste place and an object of horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon (BQ)seventy years.
Punishment Against Babylon
12 ‘Then it will be (BR)when seventy years are fulfilled, that I will (BS)punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares Yahweh, ‘for their iniquity, even the land of the Chaldeans; and (BT)I will make it an everlasting desolation. 13 I will bring upon that land all My words which I have spoken against it, all that is written in (BU)this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against (BV)all the nations. 14 —[h]For (BW)many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will (BX)repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands—’”
15 For thus Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this (BY)cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. 16 They will (BZ)drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”
17 Then I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and (CA)made all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me drink it: 18 (CB)Jerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a waste place, an object of horror, an object of hissing, and a curse, as it is this day; 19 (CC)Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes, and all his people, 20 and all the [i](CD)foreign people, all the kings of the (CE)land of Uz, all the kings of the land of the (CF)Philistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of (CG)Ashdod), 21 (CH)Edom, (CI)Moab, and the sons of (CJ)Ammon, 22 and all the kings of (CK)Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of (CL)the coastlands which are beyond the sea, 23 and (CM)Dedan, Tema, (CN)Buz, and all who (CO)cut [j]the corners of their hair, 24 and all the kings of (CP)Arabia and all the kings of the [k](CQ)foreign people who dwell in the desert, 25 and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of (CR)Elam, and all the kings of (CS)Media, 26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and (CT)all the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of [l](CU)Sheshach shall drink after them.
27 “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “(CV)Drink, be drunk, vomit, fall, and rise no more because of the (CW)sword which I will send among you.”’ 28 And it will be, if they (CX)refuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts: “(CY)You shall surely drink! 29 For behold, I am (CZ)beginning to bring evil against this city which is (DA)called by My name. But shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment, for (DB)I am calling for a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares Yahweh of hosts.’
30 “Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them,
‘(DC)Yahweh will (DD)roar from on high
And give forth His voice from His holy habitation;
He will roar mightily against His [m]pasture.
He will bellow a shout like those who tread the grapes,
Against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 A rumbling has come to the end of the earth
Because Yahweh has (DE)a contention against the nations.
He is entering into (DF)judgment with all flesh;
As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ declares Yahweh.”
32 Thus says Yahweh of hosts,
“Behold, evil is going forth
From (DG)nation to nation,
And a great (DH)storm is being stirred up
From the remotest parts of the earth.
33 “Those (DI)slain by Yahweh on that day will be from one end of the earth to the [n]other. They will (DJ)not be lamented, gathered, or buried; they will be like (DK)dung on the face of the ground.
34 Wail, you shepherds, and cry out;
And (DL)roll yourselves in ashes, you masters of the flock;
For the days of your (DM)slaughter and your scatterings are being fulfilled,
And you will fall like a desirable vessel.
35 (DN)Refuge will perish from the shepherds
And escape from the mighty ones of the flock.
36 Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds,
And the wailing of the mighty ones of the flock!
For Yahweh is destroying their pasture,
37 And the peaceful (DO)pastures are made silent
Because of the (DP)burning anger of Yahweh.
38 He has forsaken His hiding place (DQ)like the lion;
For their land has become an object of horror
Because of the burning desire of [o]the oppressor
And because of His burning anger.”
The Man of Lawlessness
2 Now we ask you, (A)brothers, with regard to the [a](B)coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our (C)gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken in your mind or be alarmed whether by a (D)spirit or a (E)word or a (F)letter as if from us, to the effect that (G)the day of the Lord (H)has come. 3 (I)Let no one in any way deceive you, for it has not come unless the [b](J)apostasy comes first, and the (K)man of lawlessness is revealed, the (L)son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above [c](M)every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the [d]sanctuary of God, (N)exhibiting himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that (O)while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And you know (P)what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For (Q)the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only (R)he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 And then that lawless one (S)will be revealed—whom the Lord [e]Jesus (T)will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the (U)appearance of His [f]coming— 9 whose [g]coming is in accord with the working of (V)Satan, with all power and [h](W)signs and false wonders, 10 and with [i]all the deception of unrighteousness for (X)those who perish, because they did not receive the love of (Y)the truth so as to be saved. 11 And for this reason (Z)God sends upon them a [j](AA)deluding influence so that they will believe [k]what is false, 12 in order that they all may be [l]judged who (AB)did not believe the truth, but [m](AC)took pleasure in unrighteousness.
13 (AD)But we should always give thanks to God for you, (AE)brothers beloved by the Lord, because (AF)God has chosen you [n]as the first fruits (AG)for salvation (AH)through sanctification [o]by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14 [p]It was for this He (AI)called you through (AJ)our gospel, [q]that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, (AK)stand firm and (AL)hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether (AM)by word of mouth or (AN)by letter [r]from us.
16 (AO)Now may our Lord Jesus Christ (AP)Himself and God our Father, who has (AQ)loved us and given us eternal comfort and (AR)good hope by grace, 17 (AS)encourage your hearts and (AT)strengthen them in every good work and word.
Blessed Is the Man Who Trusts in You
For the choir director. According to the [a]Gittith. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.
84 How lovely are Your (A)dwelling places,
O Yahweh of hosts!
2 My (B)soul has longed and even [b]fainted for the courts of Yahweh;
My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the (C)living God.
3 Even the bird has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she sets her young,
At Your (D)altars, O Yahweh of hosts,
(E)My King and my God.
4 How (F)blessed are those who dwell in Your house!
They are (G)ever praising You. [c]Selah.
5 How blessed is the man whose (H)strength is in You,
In [d]whose heart are the (I)highways to Zion!
6 Passing through the valley of [e]Baca they make it a [f]spring;
The (J)early rain also wraps it up with blessings.
7 They (K)go from strength to strength,
[g]Each one of them (L)appears before God in Zion.
8 O (M)Yahweh God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O (N)God of Jacob! Selah.
9 See our (O)shield, O God,
And look upon the face of (P)Your anointed.
10 For (Q)better is a day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.
I would choose to stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For Yahweh God is (R)a sun and (S)shield;
Yahweh gives grace and (T)glory;
(U)No good thing does He withhold [h]from those who walk blamelessly.
12 O Yahweh of hosts,
How (V)blessed is the man who trusts in You!
15 (A)When one is slow to anger, a ruler may be persuaded,
And a soft tongue breaks the bone.
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