Jeremiah 12; Jeremiah 13; Jeremiah 14; 2 Timothy 1

1 O LORD, even if I would argue my case with you, you would always be right. Yet, I want to talk to you about your justice. Why do wicked people succeed? Why do treacherous people have peace and quiet?

2 You plant them, and they take root. They grow, and they produce fruit. They speak well of you with their lips, but their hearts are far from you.

3 You know me, O LORD. You see me and test my devotion to you. Drag them away like sheep to be slaughtered. Prepare them for the day of slaughter.

4 How long will the land mourn? How long will the plants in every field remain dried up? The animals and the birds are dying, because people are wicked. They think that God doesn't know what they are doing.

5 "If you have raced against others on foot, and they have tired you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in open country, how can you live in the jungle along the Jordan River?

6 Even your relatives and members of your father's household betray you. They have also formed a mob to find you. Don't trust them when they say good things about you.

7 "I have abandoned my nation. I have left my own people. I have handed the people I love over to their enemies.

8 My people have turned on me like a lion in the forest. They roar at me, so I hate them.

9 My people are like a colorful bird of prey. Other birds of prey surround it. Go, gather all the animals in the field, and bring them to devour it.

10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard. They've trampled my property. They've turned my pleasant property into a wasteland.

11 They've left it a wasteland. Devastated, it mourns in my presence. The whole land is destroyed, but no one takes this to heart.

12 Looters swarm all over the bare hills in the desert. The LORD's sword destroys them from one end of the land to the other. No one will be safe.

13 My people planted wheat, but they harvested thorns. They worked until they became sick, but they gained nothing by it. They were disappointed by their harvests because of the burning anger of the LORD.

14 "This is what I, the LORD, say about all my evil neighbors who take the inheritance that I gave my people Israel: I am going to uproot those neighbors from their lands. I will also uproot the people of Judah from among them.

15 After I've uprooted them, I will have compassion on them again. I will return them to their inheritance and to their lands.

16 Suppose they learn carefully the ways of my people. Suppose they take an oath in my name, 'As the LORD lives...' as they taught my people to take an oath in [the name of] Baal. Then they will build homes among my people.

17 But suppose they don't listen. Then I will uproot that nation and destroy it," declares the LORD.

1 This is what the LORD said to me: "Buy a linen belt. Put it around your waist. Don't let it get wet."

2 So I bought the belt, as the LORD had told me, and put it around my waist.

3 The LORD spoke his word to me again. He said,

4 "Take the belt that you bought, the one you're wearing. Go to the Euphrates River, and bury it there in a crack in the rocks."

5 So I went and buried it by the Euphrates, as the LORD had told me.

6 After many days the LORD said to me, "Go to the Euphrates, and get the belt from where I told you to bury it."

7 So I went back to the Euphrates and dug it up. I got the belt from where I had buried it. Now the belt was ruined. It was good for nothing.

8 Then the LORD spoke his word to me. He said,

9 "This is what the LORD says: This is how I will destroy Judah's arrogance and Jerusalem's extreme arrogance.

10 These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They go their own stubborn ways and follow other gods in order to serve them and worship them. They are like this good-for-nothing belt.

11 As a belt clings to a person's waist, so I have made the entire nation of Israel and the entire nation of Judah cling to me," declares the LORD. "I did this so that they would be my people and bring fame, praise, and honor to me. However, they wouldn't listen.

12 "Give this message to them, 'This is what the LORD God of Israel says: Every bottle will be filled with wine.' Then they will say to you, 'We know that every bottle will be filled with wine.'

13 Say to them, 'This is what the LORD says: I'm going to make everyone who lives in this land drunk. The kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all those who live in Jerusalem will become drunk.

14 Then I will smash them like bottles against each other. I will smash parents and children together, declares the LORD. I will have no pity, mercy, or compassion when I destroy them.'"

15 Listen, and pay attention! Don't be arrogant. The LORD has spoken.

16 Honor the LORD your God before it gets dark, before your feet stumble on the mountains in the twilight. You will look for light, but the LORD will turn it into the shadow of death and change it into deep darkness.

17 If you won't listen, I will cry secretly over your arrogance. I will cry bitterly, and my eyes will flow with tears because the LORD's flock will be taken captive.

18 Say to the king and his mother, "Come down from your thrones, because your crowns have fallen off your heads."

19 The cities in the Negev will be locked up, and there will be no one to reopen them. All the people of Judah will be taken away into captivity.

20 Look up, and see those who are coming from the north. Where is the flock that was given to you--your beautiful sheep?

21 What will you say when God makes the people you thought were your friends your new masters? Won't pain grip you like a woman in labor?

22 If you ask yourself, "Why do these things happen to me?" it's because you have so many sins. Your clothes have been torn off and your limbs are bare.

23 Can Ethiopians change the color of their skin or leopards change their spots? Can you do good when you're taught to do wrong?

24 "I will scatter you like straw that is blown away by a desert wind.

25 This is your fate, the destiny I have planned for you," declares the LORD. "You have forgotten me and trusted false gods.

26 I will also tear off your clothes, and your shame will be seen.

27 I have seen you commit adultery and squeal with delight. I have seen you act like a shameless prostitute on the hills and in the fields. How horrible it will be for you, Jerusalem! Will you ever be clean?"

1 The LORD spoke his word to Jeremiah about the drought.

2 Judah mourns; its gates fall apart. The people of Judah sit in mourning on the ground. Their cry goes up from Jerusalem.

3 Important people send their assistants out for water. They go to the cisterns, but they don't find any water. They come back with their containers empty. They cover their heads, because they are ashamed and disgraced.

4 The ground is cracked because there has been no rain in the land. The farmers are disappointed. They cover their heads.

5 Even deer in the fields give birth and abandon their young because there's no grass.

6 Wild donkeys stand on the bare hills. They sniff the air like jackals. Their eyesight fails because they have no green plants.

7 Do something, LORD, for the sake of your name, even though our sins testify against us. We have been unfaithful and have sinned against you.

8 You are Israel's hope, the one who saves it in times of trouble. Why should you be like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only one night?

9 Why should you be like someone taken by surprise, like a strong man who cannot help? You, O LORD, are among us. We are called by your name. Don't leave us!

10 This is what the LORD says about these people: They love to wander. They don't keep their feet where they belong. So the LORD isn't happy with them. He will remember their crimes and punish their sins.

11 The LORD said to me, "Don't pray for the good of these people.

12 Even if they go without food, I won't listen to their cries for help. Even if they sacrifice burnt offerings and grain offerings, I won't be pleased with them. But I will destroy these people with wars, famines, and plagues."

13 Then I said, "Almighty LORD, prophets are saying to them, 'You won't see wars or famines, because I, the LORD, will give you lasting peace in this place.'"

14 Then the LORD told me, "These are the lies that the prophets are telling in my name: They claim that I sent them, commanded them, and spoke to them. They dreamed up the visions they tell you. Their predictions are worthless. They are the products of their own imagination.

15 "I didn't send these prophets. Yet, they prophesy in my name that there will be no wars or famines in this land. So this is what I, the LORD, say about them: Wars and famines will bring an end to these prophets.

16 The people they prophesy to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem. They will be victims of famines and wars. No one will bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters. I will pour on them the destruction that they deserve.

17 "Say this to them: 'My eyes flow with tears day and night without stopping because my dear people will suffer massive destruction. It will be a very serious blow.'"

18 If I go to the field, I see those killed because of war. If I go to the city, I see those sick because of famine. Prophets and priests wander through a land they haven't heard of.

19 Have you completely rejected Judah? Do you despise Zion? Why have you struck us so hard that we cannot heal? We hope for peace, but no good comes from it. We hope for a time of healing, but there's only terror.

20 O LORD, we realize our wickedness and the wrongs done by our ancestors. We have sinned against you.

21 For the sake of your name, don't despise us. Don't dishonor your glorious throne. Remember your promise to us; don't break it.

22 The worthless gods of the nations can't make it rain. By themselves, the skies can't give showers. But you can, O LORD our God. We have hope in you because you do all these things.

1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will--a will that contains Christ Jesus' promise of life.

2 To Timothy, my dear child. Good will, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord!

3 I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day when I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience as my ancestors did.

4 I remember your tears and want to see you so that I can be filled with happiness.

5 I'm reminded of how sincere your faith is. That faith first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. I'm convinced that it also lives in you.

6 You received a gift from God when I placed my hands on you [to ordain you]. Now I'm reminding you to fan that gift into flames.

7 God didn't give us a cowardly spirit but a spirit of power, love, and good judgment.

8 So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord or be ashamed of me, his prisoner. Instead, by God's power, join me in suffering for the sake of the Good News.

9 God saved us and called us to be holy, not because of what we had done, but because of his own plan and kindness. Before the world began, God planned that Christ Jesus would show us God's kindness.

10 Now with the coming of our Savior Christ Jesus, he has revealed it. Christ has destroyed death, and through the Good News he has brought eternal life into full view.

11 I was appointed to be a messenger of this Good News, an apostle, and a teacher.

12 For this reason I suffer as I do. However, I'm not ashamed. I know whom I trust. I'm convinced that he is able to protect what he had entrusted to me until that day.

13 With faith and love for Christ Jesus, consider what you heard me say to be the pattern of accurate teachings.

14 With the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us, protect the Good News that has been entrusted to you.

15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

16 May the Lord be merciful to the family of Onesiphorus. He often took care of my needs and wasn't ashamed that I was a prisoner.

17 When he arrived in Rome, he searched hard for me and found me.

18 May the Lord grant that Onesiphorus finds mercy when that day comes. You know very well that he did everything possible to help me in Ephesus.