Jeremiah 18
18The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,H1697H3414H3068H5592“Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.”H6965H3381H3335H1004H8085H16973So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel.H3381H3335H1004H2009H6213H4399H704But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.H3627H6213H2563H7843H3027H3335H6213H7725H312H3627H5869H3474H3335H62135Then the Lord gave me this message:H1697H3068H5596“O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.H1004H3478H3201H6213H3335H5002H3068H2563H3335H3027H3027H1004H34787If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed,H7281H1696H1471H4467H5428H5422H68but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned.H1471H1696H7725H7451H5162H7451H2803H62139And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom,H7281H1696H1471H4467H1129H519310but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.H6213H7451H5869H8085H6963H5162H2896H559H319011“Therefore, Jeremiah, go and warn all Judah and Jerusalem. Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.’”H559H376H3063H3427H3389H559H559H3068H3335H7451H2803H4284H7725H376H7451H1870H1870H4611H319012But the people replied, “Don’t waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires.”H559H2976H3212H310H4284H376H6213H8307H7451H382013So this is what the Lord says: “Has anyone ever heard of such a thing, even among the pagan nations? My virgin daughter Israel has done something terrible!H559H3068H7592H1471H8085H1330H3478H6213H3966H818614Does the snow ever disappear from the mountaintops of Lebanon? Do the cold streams flowing from those distant mountains ever run dry?H5800H7950H3844H6697H7704H7119H5140H4325H2114H542815But my people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me; they burn incense to worthless idols. They have stumbled off the ancient highways and walk in muddy paths.H5971H7911H6999H7723H3782H1870H5769H7635H7635H3212H5410H1870H554916Therefore, their land will become desolate, a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be astonished and will shake their heads in amazement.H7760H776H8047H5769H8292H8292H5674H8074H5110H721817I will scatter my people before their enemies as the east wind scatters dust. And in all their trouble I will turn my back on them and refuse to notice their distress.”H6327H6921H7307H6440H341H7200H6203H6440H3117H34318Then the people said, “Come on, let’s plot a way to stop Jeremiah. We have plenty of priests and wise men and prophets. We don’t need him to teach the word and give us advice and prophecies. Let’s spread rumors about him and ignore what he says.”H559H3212H2803H4284H3414H8451H6H3548H6098H2450H1697H5030H3212H5221H3956H7181H169719Lord, hear me and help me! Listen to what my enemies are saying.H7181H3068H8085H6963H340120Should they repay evil for good? They have dug a pit to kill me, though I pleaded for them and tried to protect them from your anger.H7451H7999H2896H3738H7745H5315H2142H5975H6440H1696H2896H7725H253421So let their children starve! Let them die by the sword! Let their wives become childless widows. Let their old men die in a plague, and let their young men be killed in battle!H5414H1121H7458H5064H3027H2719H802H7909H490H582H2026H4194H970H5221H2719H442122Let screaming be heard from their homes as warriors come suddenly upon them. For they have dug a pit for me and have hidden traps along my path.H2201H8085H1004H935H1416H6597H3738H7745H7882H3920H2934H6341H727223Lord, you know all about their murderous plots against me. Don’t forgive their crimes and blot out their sins. Let them die before you. Deal with them in your anger.H3068H3045H6098H4194H3722H5771H4229H2403H6440H3782H6440H6213H6256H639
Jeremiah 19
19This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a clay jar. Then ask some of the leaders of the people and of the priests to follow you.H559H3068H1980H7069H3335H2789H1228H2205H5971H2205H3548 2Go out through the Gate of Broken Pots to the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and give them this message.H3318H1516H1121H2011H6607H2777H8179H7121H1697H1696 3Say to them, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem! This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will bring a terrible disaster on this place, and the ears of those who hear about it will ring!H559H8085H1697H3068H4428H3063H3427H3389H559H3068H6635H430H3478H935H7451H4725H8085H241H6750 4“‘For Israel has forsaken me and turned this valley into a place of wickedness. The people burn incense to foreign gods—idols never before acknowledged by this generation, by their ancestors, or by the kings of Judah. And they have filled this place with the blood of innocent children.H5800H5234H4725H6999H312H430H1H3045H4428H3063H4390H4725H1818H5355 5They have built pagan shrines to Baal, and there they burn their sons as sacrifices to Baal. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing!H1129H1116H1168H8313H1121H784H5930H1168H6680H1696H5927H3820 6So beware, for the time is coming, says the Lord, when this garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.H3117H935H5002H3068H4725H7121H8612H1516H1121H2011H1516H2028 7“‘For I will upset the careful plans of Judah and Jerusalem. I will allow the people to be slaughtered by invading armies, and I will leave their dead bodies as food for the vultures and wild animals.H1238H6098H3063H3389H4725H5307H2719H6440H341H3027H1245H5315H5038H5414H3978H5775H8064H929H776 8I will reduce Jerusalem to ruins, making it a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be astonished and will gasp at the destruction they see there.H7760H5892H8047H8322H5674H8074H8319H4347 9I will see to it that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is gone. Then those trapped inside will eat their own sons and daughters and friends. They will be driven to utter despair.’H398H1320H1121H1320H1323H398H376H1320H7453H4692H4689H341H1245H5315H6693 10“As these men watch you, Jeremiah, smash the jar you brought.H7665H1228H5869H582H1980 11Then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair. They will bury the bodies here in Topheth, the garbage dump, until there is no more room for them.H559H559H3068H6635H3602H7665H5971H5892H7665H3335H3627H3201H7495H6912H8612H4725H6912 12This is what I will do to this place and its people, says the Lord. I will cause this city to become defiled like Topheth.H6213H4725H5002H3068H3427H5414H5892H8612 13Yes, all the houses in Jerusalem, including the palace of Judah’s kings, will become like Topheth—all the houses where you burned incense on the rooftops to your star gods, and where liquid offerings were poured out to your idols.’”H1004H3389H1004H4428H3063H2931H4725H8612H1004H1406H6999H6635H8064H5258H5262H312H430 14Then Jeremiah returned from Topheth, the garbage dump where he had delivered this message, and he stopped in front of the Temple of the Lord. He said to the people there,H935H3414H8612H3068H7971H5012H5975H2691H3068H1004H559H5971 15“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will bring disaster upon this city and its surrounding towns as I promised, because you have stubbornly refused to listen to me.’”H559H3068H6635H430H3478H935H5892H5892H7451H1696H7185H6203H8085H1697
Jeremiah 20
20Now Pashhur son of Immer, the priest in charge of the Temple of the Lord, heard what Jeremiah was prophesying.H6583H1121H564H3548H6496H5057H1004H3068H8085H3414H5012H16972So he arrested Jeremiah the prophet and had him whipped and put in stocks at the Benjamin Gate of the Lord’s Temple.H6583H5221H3414H5030H5414H4115H5945H8179H1144H1004H30683The next day, when Pashhur finally released him, Jeremiah said, “Pashhur, the Lord has changed your name. From now on you are to be called ‘The Man Who Lives in Terror.’H4283H6583H3318H3414H4115H559H3414H3068H7121H8034H6583H40364For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will send terror upon you and all your friends, and you will watch as they are slaughtered by the swords of the enemy. I will hand the people of Judah over to the king of Babylon. He will take them captive to Babylon or run them through with the sword.H559H3068H5414H4032H157H5307H2719H341H5869H7200H5414H3063H3027H4428H894H1540H894H5221H27195And I will let your enemies plunder Jerusalem. All the famed treasures of the city—the precious jewels and gold and silver of your kings—will be carried off to Babylon.H5414H2633H5892H3018H3366H214H4428H3063H5414H3027H341H962H3947H935H8946As for you, Pashhur, you and all your household will go as captives to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you prophesied that everything would be all right.’”H6583H3427H1004H3212H7628H935H894H4191H6912H157H5012H82677O Lord, you misled me, and I allowed myself to be misled. You are stronger than I am, and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked every day; everyone laughs at me.H3068H6601H6601H2388H3201H7814H3117H39328When I speak, the words burst out. “Violence and destruction!” I shout. So these messages from the Lord have made me a household joke.H1767H1696H2199H7121H2555H7701H1697H3068H2781H7047H31179But if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!H559H2142H1696H8034H3820H1197H784H6113H6106H3811H3557H320110I have heard the many rumors about me. They call me “The Man Who Lives in Terror.” They threaten, “If you say anything, we will report it.” Even my old friends are watching me, waiting for a fatal slip. “He will trap himself,” they say, “and then we will get our revenge on him.”H8085H1681H7227H4032H5439H5046H5046H582H7965H8104H6763H6761H6601H3201H3947H536011But the Lord stands beside me like a great warrior. Before him my persecutors will stumble. They cannot defeat me. They will fail and be thoroughly humiliated. Their dishonor will never be forgotten.H3068H1368H6184H7291H3782H3201H3966H954H7919H5769H3639H791112O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, you test those who are righteous, and you examine the deepest thoughts and secrets. Let me see your vengeance against them, for I have committed my cause to you.H3068H6635H974H6662H7200H3629H3820H7200H5360H1540H737913Sing to the Lord! Praise the Lord! For though I was poor and needy, he rescued me from my oppressors.H7891H3068H1984H3068H5337H5315H34H3027H748914Yet I curse the day I was born! May no one celebrate the day of my birth.H779H3117H3205H3117H517H3205H128815I curse the messenger who told my father, “Good news—you have a son!”H779H376H1319H1H559H2145H1121H3205H8055H805516Let him be destroyed like the cities of old that the Lord overthrew without mercy. Terrify him all day long with battle shouts,H376H5892H3068H2015H5162H8085H2201H1242H8643H6256H667217because he did not kill me at birth. Oh, that I had died in my mother’s womb, that her body had been my grave!H4191H7358H517H6913H7358H5769H203018Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and shame.H3318H7358H7200H5999H3015H3117H3615H1322
Jeremiah 21
21The Lord spoke through Jeremiah when King Zedekiah sent Pashhur son of Malkijah and Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, to speak with him. They begged Jeremiah,H1697H3414H3068H4428H6667H7971H6583H1121H4441H6846H1121H4641H3548H5592“Please speak to the Lord for us and ask him to help us. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking Judah. Perhaps the Lord will be gracious and do a mighty miracle as he has done in the past. Perhaps he will force Nebuchadnezzar to withdraw his armies.”H1875H3068H1157H5019H4428H894H3898H3068H6213H6381H59273Jeremiah replied, “Go back to King Zedekiah and tell him,H559H3414H559H66674‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will make your weapons useless against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside your walls attacking you. In fact, I will bring your enemies right into the heart of this city.H559H3068H430H3478H5437H3627H4421H3027H3898H4428H894H3778H6696H2351H2346H622H8432H58925I myself will fight against you with a strong hand and a powerful arm, for I am very angry. You have made me furious!H3898H5186H3027H2389H2220H639H2534H1419H71106I will send a terrible plague upon this city, and both people and animals will die.H5221H3427H5892H120H929H4191H1419H16987And after all that, says the Lord, I will hand over King Zedekiah, his staff, and everyone else in the city who survives the disease, war, and famine. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their other enemies. He will slaughter them and show them no mercy, pity, or compassion.’H310H5002H3068H5414H6667H4428H3063H5650H5971H7604H5892H1698H2719H7458H3027H5019H4428H894H3027H341H3027H1245H5315H5221H6310H2719H2347H2550H73558“Tell all the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: Take your choice of life or death!H5971H559H559H3068H5414H6440H1870H2416H1870H41949Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life!H3427H5892H4191H2719H7458H1698H3318H5307H3778H6696H2421H2421H5315H799810For I have decided to bring disaster and not good upon this city, says the Lord. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will reduce it to ashes.’H7760H6440H5892H7451H2896H5002H3068H5414H3027H4428H894H8313H78411“Say to the royal family of Judah, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord!H1004H4428H3063H8085H1697H306812This is what the Lord says to the dynasty of David: “‘Give justice each morning to the people you judge! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Otherwise, my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins.H1004H1732H559H3068H1777H4941H1242H5337H1497H3027H6231H2534H3318H784H1197H3518H6440H7455H461113I will personally fight against the people in Jerusalem, that mighty fortress—the people who boast, “No one can touch us here. No one can break in here.”H3427H6010H6697H4334H5002H3068H559H5181H935H458514And I myself will punish you for your sinfulness, says the Lord. I will light a fire in your forests that will burn up everything around you.’”H6485H6529H4611H5002H3068H3341H784H3293H398H5439
Dublin, OH
H4283
