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

1 If I took you to court, LORD, you would win. But I still have questions about your justice. Why do guilty persons enjoy success? Why are evildoers so happy?

2 You plant them, and they take root; they flourish and bear fruit. You are always on their lips but far from their hearts.

3 Yet you, LORD, you know me. You see me. You can tell that I love you. So drag them away and butcher them like sheep. Prepare them for the slaughterhouse.

4 How long will the land mourn and the grass in the fields dry up? The animals and birds are swept away due to the evil of those in the land. The people say, "God doesn't see what we're up to!"

5 If you have raced with people and are worn out, how will you compete with horses? If you fall down in an open field, how will you survive in the forest along the Jordan?

6 Even your relatives, your very family, are planning to trap you. They are out to get you. So don't trust them, even if they appear to be on your side.

7 I have abandoned my house; I have deserted my inheritance. I have given the one I love into the power of her enemies.

8 My inheritance has turned against me like a lion in the forest; she growls at me; therefore, I have rejected her.

9 My inheritance has become like a bird of prey, surrounded and attacked. Go, gather all the wild animals for the feast.

10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard; they have trampled down my field; they have reduced my treasured field to a desolate wilderness.

11 They have devastated her; desolate, she cries out to me in distress: "The whole land is desolate, and no one seems to care."

12 Over all the desert roads destroyers march; for the sword of the LORD devours from one end of the land to the other; no one is safe.

13 They have sown wheat and reaped weeds; they have worn themselves out for nothing. They will be ashamed of their harvest on account of the LORD's fierce anger.

14 The LORD proclaims: The evil nations have seized the land that I gave my people Israel. I'm going to dig them up from their own lands, and I will dig up the people of Judah from among them.

15 And after I have dug them up, I will again have compassion on them and restore their inheritance and their land.

16 And then, if they will learn the ways of my people, to make a solemn pledge in my name, "As the LORD lives," just as they once taught my people to swear to Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.

17 But if they don't listen, I will dig up that nation; yes, I will dig up and destroy, declares the LORD.

1 The LORD proclaimed to me: Go and buy a linen undergarment. Wear it for a while without washing it.

2 So I bought a linen undergarment, as the LORD told me, and I put it on.

3 The LORD spoke to me again:

4 Take the undergarment that you are wearing and go at once to the Euphrates and put it under a rock.

5 So I went and buried it at the Euphrates, as the LORD instructed.

6 After a long time, the LORD said to me: Return to the Euphrates and dig up the undergarment that I commanded you to bury there.

7 So I went to the Euphrates and I dug up the linen undergarment from the place I had buried it. But it was ruined and good for nothing.

8 Then the LORD's word came to me:

9 The LORD proclaims: In the same way I will ruin the brazen pride of Judah and Jerusalem!

10 Instead of listening to me, this wicked people follow their own willful hearts and pursue other gods, worshipping and serving them. They will become like this linen garment—good for nothing!

11 Just as a linen undergarment clings to the body, so I created the people of Israel and Judah to cling to me, declares the LORD, to be my people for my honor, praise, and grandeur. But they wouldn't obey.

12 So deliver this word to them: The LORD the God of Israel proclaims: Every wine jug should be filled with wine. And they will answer you, "Don't we already know that? Obviously every wine jug should be filled with wine!"

13 Then you should say to them: The LORD proclaims: I'm going to fill everyone who lives in this country with wine that makes them drunk, including the kings on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all those living in Jerusalem.

14 And I will shatter every one of them, even parents and children, declares the LORD. I won't take pity; I won't have compassion; I will show no mercy when I destroy them.

15 Listen closely, don't be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken.

16 Honor the LORD your God, before it's too late, before you stumble on the mountain paths in the evening shadows. Then you will hope for light, only to find darkness and gloom.

17 If you are too proud to listen, I will go off alone and cry my eyes out. I will weep uncontrollably because the LORD's flock will be dragged off into exile.

18 Tell the king and the queen mother: Come down from your lofty place, because your glorious crowns will soon be removed from your heads.

19 The towns of the arid southern plain will be surrounded; no one will get in or out; all Judah will be taken into exile; everyone will be led away.

20 Lift up your eyes and see who is approaching from the north. Where is the flock entrusted to you, your beautiful flock?

21 What will you say when he appoints someone as head over you: your defenders, your trusted allies? Won't pain grip you like that of a woman in labor?

22 And when you ask yourself, Why have all these things happened to me? it is because of your many sins that you have been stripped and violated.

23 Can a Cushite change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good when doing evil comes so naturally.

24 So I will scatter you like straw that is blown away by the desert winds.

25 This is the future that I have prepared for you, declares the LORD, because you have forgotten me and trusted in lies.

26 I myself will pull up your skirt over your face and expose your shame.

27 I have seen your adultery and lust, your disgusting idols and shameless prostitution on the hills and in the fields. How terrible for you, Jerusalem! How long will you remain dirty?

1 The LORD's word to Jeremiah concerning the droughts:

2 Judah mourns; her gates wither away. The people fall to the ground in sorrow, as sobs of Jerusalem ascend.

3 The rich send their servants for water, but the wells run dry. They return with empty jars, ashamed, bewildered, and in despair.

4 Because the ground is cracked due to lack of rain, the farmers too are ashamed; they cover their heads.

5 Even the doe in the field abandons her newborn, for there's no grass.

6 The wild donkeys stand on the well-traveled paths, panting like thirsty dogs; they go blind since there's nothing to eat.

7 Even though our sins testify against us, help us, LORD, for your name's sake. We have turned away from you and sinned against you time and again.

8 You are the hope of Israel, its savior in times of trouble. Why are you like a stranger in the land, like a tourist spending only the night?

9 Why are you like one taken by surprise, like a warrior unable to act? Yet you are in our midst, LORD; we are called by your name. Don't give up on us.

10 This is what the LORD proclaims about this people: Since they have loved to wander off and haven't restrained themselves, I won't accept them. Now I will recall their wrongdoing and punish their sin.

11 The LORD said to me: Don't pray for the safety of these people.

12 When they fast, I won't pay attention to their pleas, and when they offer entirely burned offerings and grain offerings, I won't accept them. Instead, I will devour them with war, famine, and disease.

13 I replied, "LORD God, the prophets are telling them: ‘You won't see war or famine, for I will give you lasting peace in this place.'"

14 Then the LORD said to me: The prophets are telling lies in my name. I haven't sent them. I haven't commanded them. I haven't spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, worthless predictions, and deceit they have made up on their own.

15 Therefore, this is what the LORD proclaims concerning the prophets who are speaking in my name when I didn't send them, and who are telling you that war or famine will never come to this land: Those very prophets will die in war and by famine!

16 And the people they are prophesying to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem, victims of famine and war. There will be no one to bury them or their wives and children. I will pour out on them their own wickedness.

17 So deliver this word to them: My eyes well up with tears; I can't stop weeping—day and night, because my virgin daughter, my people, has suffered a crushing blow and is mortally wounded.

18 If I go into the fields, I see only the slain in battle. If I enter the city, I see only those suffering from famine. Even both prophet and priest wander about aimlessly in ignorance.

19 Have you completely rejected Judah? Do you hate Zion? Why then have you mortally wounded us? We look for peace, but nothing good comes of it; for a time of healing, only to be terrorized.

20 We acknowledge our sin, LORD, the wrongdoing of our ancestors, because we have sinned against you.

21 For your name's sake, don't reject us, don't scorn your glorious throne. Remember your covenant with us; don't break it.

22 Can any of the false gods of the nations make it rain? Can the sky by itself bring showers? Aren't you the LORD, our God? You are our hope, since only you can do such things.

1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God's will, to promote the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus.

2 To Timothy, my dear child.

3 Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.I'm grateful to God, whom I serve with a good conscience as my ancestors did. I constantly remember you in my prayers day and night.

4 When I remember your tears, I long to see you so that I can be filled with happiness.

5 I'm reminded of your authentic faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. I'm sure that this faith is also inside you.

6 Because of this, I'm reminding you to revive God's gift that is in you through the laying on of my hands.

7 God didn't give us a spirit that is timid but one that is powerful, loving, and self-controlled.

8 So don't be ashamed of the testimony about the Lord or of me, his prisoner. Instead, share the suffering for the good news, depending on God's power.

9 God is the one who saved and called us with a holy calling. This wasn't based on what we have done, but it was based on his own purpose and grace that he gave us in Christ Jesus before time began.

10 Now his grace is revealed through the appearance of our savior, Christ Jesus. He destroyed death and brought life and immortality into clear focus through the good news.

11 I was appointed a messenger, apostle, and teacher of this good news.

12 This is also why I'm suffering the way I do, but I'm not ashamed. I know the one in whom I've placed my trust. I'm convinced that God is powerful enough to protect what he has placed in my trust until that day.

13 Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you heard from me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

14 Protect this good thing that has been placed in your trust through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

15 You know that everyone in Asia has turned away from me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.

16 May the Lord show mercy to Onesiphorus' household, because he supported me many times and he wasn't ashamed of my imprisonment.

17 After I arrived in Rome, he quickly looked for me and found me.

18 May the Lord allow him to find his mercy on that day (and you know very well how much he served me in Ephesus).