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A New Covenant
27 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will (A)sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. 28 As I have (B)watched over them to (C)pluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy and to bring disaster, so I will watch over them to (D)build and to plant,” declares the Lord.
29 “In those days they will not say again,
‘(E)The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are [a]set on edge.’
30 But (F)everyone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be [b]set on edge.
31 “(G)Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a (H)new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the (I)covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I (J)took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My (K)covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “But (L)this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “(M)I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and (N)I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 They will (O)not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all (P)know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will (Q)forgive their iniquity, and their (R)sin I will remember no more.”
35 Thus says the Lord,
Who (S)gives the sun for light by day
And the [c]fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
Who (T)stirs up the sea so that its waves roar;
(U)The Lord of hosts is His name:
36 “(V)If [d]this fixed order departs
From before Me,” declares the Lord,
“Then the offspring of Israel also will (W)cease
From being a nation before Me [e]forever.”
37 Thus says the Lord,
“(X)If the heavens above can be measured
And the foundations of the earth searched out below,
Then I will also (Y)cast off all the offspring of Israel
For all that they have done,” declares the Lord.
38 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when the (Z)city will be rebuilt for the Lord from the (AA)Tower of Hananel to the (AB)Corner Gate. 39 The (AC)measuring line will go out farther straight ahead to the hill Gareb; then it will turn to Goah. 40 And (AD)the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook (AE)Kidron, to the corner of the (AF)Horse Gate toward the east, shall be (AG)holy to the Lord; it will not be plucked up or overthrown anymore forever.”
Jeremiah Imprisoned
32 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the (AH)tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the (AI)court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah, 3 because Zedekiah king of Judah had (AJ)shut him up, saying, “Why do you (AK)prophesy, saying, ‘(AL)Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to (AM)give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; 4 and Zedekiah king of Judah will (AN)not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but he will surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will (AO)speak with him [f]face to face and see him eye to eye; 5 and he will (AP)take Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” declares the Lord. “If you fight against the Chaldeans, you will (AQ)not succeed”’?”
6 And Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 7 ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at (AR)Anathoth, for you have the (AS)right of redemption to buy it.”’ 8 Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the (AT)court of the guard according to the word of the Lord and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at (AU)Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the right of possession and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the (AV)word of the Lord.
9 “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I (AW)weighed out the silver for him, seventeen (AX)shekels of silver. 10 I [g](AY)signed and (AZ)sealed the deed, and (BA)called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. 11 Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the (BB)terms and conditions and the open copy; 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to (BC)Baruch the son of (BD)Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 And I commanded Baruch in their presence, saying, 14 ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may [h]last a long time.” 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “(BE)Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’
Jeremiah Prays and God Explains
16 “After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, then I (BF)prayed to the Lord, saying, 17 ‘(BG)Ah Lord [i]God! Behold, You have (BH)made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! (BI)Nothing is too difficult for You, 18 who (BJ)shows lovingkindness to thousands, but (BK)repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O (BL)great and (BM)mighty God. The (BN)Lord of hosts is His name; 19 (BO)great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose (BP)eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, (BQ)giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds; 20 who has (BR)set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have (BS)made a name for Yourself, as at this day. 21 You (BT)brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and with wonders, and with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terror; 22 and gave them this land, which You (BU)swore to their forefathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They (BV)came in and took possession of it, but they (BW)did not obey Your voice or (BX)walk in Your law; they have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have made (BY)all this calamity come upon them. 24 Behold, the (BZ)siege ramps have reached the city to take it; and the city is (CA)given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the (CB)sword, the famine and the pestilence; and what You have spoken has (CC)come to pass; and behold, You see it. 25 You have said to me, O Lord [j]God, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—although the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’”
26 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the (CD)God of all flesh; is anything (CE)too difficult for Me?” 28 Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to (CF)give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it. 29 The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city will enter and (CG)set this city on fire and burn it, with the (CH)houses where people have offered incense to Baal on their roofs and poured out drink offerings to other gods to provoke Me to anger. 30 Indeed the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have been doing only (CI)evil in My sight from their youth; for the sons of Israel have been only (CJ)provoking Me to anger by the work of their hands,” declares the Lord. 31 “Indeed this city has been to Me a (CK)provocation of My anger and My wrath from the day that they built it, even to this day, so that it should be (CL)removed from before My face, 32 because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their (CM)kings, their leaders, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 They have turned their back to Me and not their face; though I taught them, [k](CN)teaching again and again, they would not listen [l]and receive instruction. 34 But they (CO)put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35 They built the (CP)high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to (CQ)Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it [m]entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
36 “Now therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is (CR)given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine and by pestilence.’ 37 Behold, I will (CS)gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and (CT)make them dwell in safety. 38 They shall be (CU)My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will (CV)give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own (CW)good and for the good of their children after them. 40 I will make an (CX)everlasting covenant with them that I will (CY)not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will (CZ)put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. 41 I will (DA)rejoice over them to do them good and will [n]faithfully (DB)plant them in this land with (DC)all My heart and with all My soul. 42 For thus says the Lord, ‘(DD)Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to (DE)bring on them all the good that I am promising them. 43 (DF)Fields will be bought in this land of which you say, “(DG)It is a desolation, without man or beast; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” 44 Men will buy fields for money, [o](DH)sign and seal deeds, and call in witnesses in the (DI)land of Benjamin, in the environs of Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland and in the cities of the [p]Negev; for I will (DJ)restore their [q]fortunes,’ declares the Lord.”
Overseers and Deacons
3 (A)It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the (B)office of [a]overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. 2 [b](C)An overseer, then, must be above reproach, (D)the husband of one wife, (E)temperate, prudent, respectable, (F)hospitable, (G)able to teach, 3 (H)not addicted to wine [c]or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, (I)free from the love of money. 4 He must be one who (J)manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity 5 (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of (K)the church of God?), 6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become (L)conceited and fall into the (M)condemnation [d]incurred by the devil. 7 And he must (N)have a good reputation with (O)those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and (P)the snare of the devil.
8 (Q)Deacons likewise must be men of dignity, not [e]double-tongued, [f](R)or addicted to much wine [g](S)or fond of sordid gain, 9 (T)but holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 (U)These men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach. 11 [h]Women must likewise be dignified, (V)not malicious gossips, but (W)temperate, faithful in all things. 12 (X)Deacons must be (Y)husbands of only one wife, and [i](Z)good managers of their children and their own households. 13 For those who have served well as deacons (AA)obtain for themselves a [j]high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
14 I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; 15 but [k]in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how [l]one ought to conduct himself in (AB)the household of God, which is the (AC)church of (AD)the living God, the (AE)pillar and support of the truth. 16 By common confession, great is (AF)the mystery of godliness:
A Petition to Be Saved from Death.
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choir director; according to Mahalath Leannoth. A [a]Maskil of Heman [b]the Ezrahite.
88 O Lord, the (A)God of my salvation,
I have (B)cried out by day and in the night before You.
2 Let my prayer (C)come before You;
(D)Incline Your ear to my cry!
3 For my (E)soul has [c]had enough troubles,
And (F)my life has drawn near to [d]Sheol.
4 I am reckoned among those who (G)go down to the pit;
I have become like a man (H)without strength,
5 [e]Forsaken (I)among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,
And they are (J)cut off from Your hand.
6 You have put me in (K)the lowest pit,
In (L)dark places, in the (M)depths.
7 Your wrath (N)has rested upon me,
And You have afflicted me with (O)all Your waves. [f]Selah.
8 You have removed (P)my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an [g](Q)object of loathing to them;
I am (R)shut up and cannot go out.
9 My (S)eye has wasted away because of affliction;
I have (T)called upon You every day, O Lord;
I have (U)spread out my [h]hands to You.
10 Will You perform wonders for the dead?
Will (V)the [i]departed spirits rise and praise You? Selah.
11 Will Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave,
Your faithfulness in [j]Abaddon?
12 Will Your wonders be made known in the (W)darkness?
And Your [k]righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O Lord, have cried out (X)to You for help,
And (Y)in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 O Lord, why (Z)do You reject my soul?
Why do You (AA)hide Your face from me?
15 I was afflicted and (AB)about to die from my youth on;
I suffer (AC)Your terrors; I am [l]overcome.
16 Your (AD)burning anger has passed over me;
Your terrors have [m](AE)destroyed me.
17 They have (AF)surrounded me (AG)like water all day long;
They have (AH)encompassed me altogether.
18 You have removed (AI)lover and friend far from me;
My acquaintances are in darkness.
20 Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on [a]soda,
Is he who sings songs to [b]a troubled heart.
21 (A)If [c]your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
22 For you will [d]heap burning coals on his head,
And (B)the Lord will reward you.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.