Jeremiah 9–11; 1 Timothy 6

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Jeremiah 9–11

1 mOh that my head were waters,

and my eyes a fountain of tears,

that I might weep day and night

for the slain of jthe daughter of my people!

2 Oh that I had in the desert

a travelers’ lodging place,

that I might leave my people

and go away from them!

For they are all nadulterers,

a company of otreacherous men.

pThey bend their tongue like a bow;

falsehood and not truth has grown strong3 in the land;

for they proceed from evil to evil,

qand they do not know me, declares the Lord.

rLet everyone beware of his neighbor,

and put no trust in any brother,

for every sbrother is a deceiver,

and every neighbor tgoes about as a slanderer.

Everyone deceives his neighbor,

and no one speaks the truth;

they have taught their tongue to speak lies;

they weary themselves committing iniquity.

Heaping oppression upon oppression, and deceit upon deceit,

uthey refuse to know me, declares the Lord.

Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts:

Behold, vI will refine them and wtest them,

for what else can I do, jbecause of my people?

xTheir tongue is a deadly arrow;

yit speaks deceitfully;

with his mouth zeach speaks peace to his neighbor,

but in his heart ahe plans an ambush for him.

bShall I not punish them for these things? declares the Lord,

and shall I not avenge myself

on a nation such as this?

10  I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains,

and a lamentation for cthe pastures of the wilderness,

dbecause they are laid waste so that no one passes through,

and the lowing of cattle is not heard;

eboth the birds of the air and the beasts

have fled and are gone.

11  fI will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,

ga lair of jackals,

hand I will make the cities of Judah a desolation,

without inhabitant.

12 iWho is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined jand laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13 And the Lord says: kBecause they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, 14 but lhave stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. 15 Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: mBehold, I will feed this people with bitter food, and give them npoisonous water to drink. 16 oI will scatter them among the nations pwhom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will qsend the sword after them, until I have consumed them.

17  Thus says the Lord of hosts:

rConsider, and call for the mourning women to come;

send for the skillful women to come;

18  let them make haste sand raise a wailing over us,

tthat our eyes may run down with tears

and our eyelids flow with water.

19  For a sound of wailing is heard from Zion:

uHow we are ruined!

We are utterly shamed,

because we have left the land,

because they have cast down our dwellings.

20  Hear, O women, the word of the Lord,

and let your ear receive the word of his mouth;

teach to your daughters a lament,

and each to her neighbor a dirge.

21  For death has come up into our windows;

it has entered our palaces,

vcutting off the children from the streets

and the young men from the squares.

22  Speak: Thus declares the Lord,

wThe dead bodies of men shall fall

like dung upon the open field,

xlike sheaves after the reaper,

and none shall gather them.

23 Thus says the Lord: yLet not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, 24 but zlet him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. aFor in these things I delight, declares the Lord.

25 Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when bI will punish all those who are circumcised merely in the flesh 26 cEgypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and dall who dwell in the desert who cut the corners of their hair, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are euncircumcised in heart.

Idols and the Living God

Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord:

Learn not the way of the nations,

nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens

because the nations are dismayed at them,

ffor the customs of the peoples are vanity.4

gA tree from the forest is cut down

and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.

hThey decorate it with silver and gold;

ithey fasten it with hammer and nails

so that it cannot move.

Their idols5 are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,

and jthey cannot speak;

kthey have to be carried,

for they cannot walk.

Do not be afraid of them,

lfor they cannot do evil,

neither is it in them to do good.

mThere is none like you, O Lord;

you are great, and your name is great in might.

nWho would not fear you, O King of the nations?

For this is your due;

for among all the wise ones of the nations

and in all their kingdoms

there is none like you.

oThey are both pstupid and foolish;

the instruction of idols is but wood!

qBeaten silver is brought from rTarshish,

and gold from sUphaz.

qThey are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;

their clothing is violet and purple;

tthey are all the work of skilled men.

10  uBut the Lord is the true God;

vhe is the living God and the everlasting King.

At his wrath the earth quakes,

and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

11 Thus shall you say to them: wThe gods who did not make the heavens and the earth xshall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.6

12  yIt is he who zmade the earth by his power,

zwho established the world by his wisdom,

and aby his understanding stretched out the heavens.

13  bWhen he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,

cand he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.

cHe makes lightning dfor the rain,

cand he brings forth the wind efrom his storehouses.

14  fEvery man is stupid and without knowledge;

gevery goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,

for his images are false,

hand there is no breath in them.

15  They are worthless, a work of delusion;

at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

16  Not like these is he who is ithe portion of Jacob,

for he is the one who formed all things,

jand Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;

kthe Lord of hosts is his name.

17  lGather up your bundle from the ground,

O you who dwell under siege!

18  For thus says the Lord:

mBehold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land

at this time,

nand I will bring distress on them,

that they may feel it.

19  Woe is me because of my hurt!

oMy wound is grievous.

But I said, Truly this is an affliction,

and I must bear it.

20  pMy tent is destroyed,

and all my cords are broken;

my children have gone from me,

qand they are not;

there is no one to spread my tent again

and pto set up my curtains.

21  rFor the shepherds sare stupid

and do not inquire of the Lord;

therefore they have not prospered,

tand all their flock is scattered.

22  A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!

ua great commotion out of the north country

to make vthe cities of Judah a desolation,

va lair of jackals.

23  wI know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,

that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.

24  xCorrect me, O Lord, but in justice;

not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.

25  yPour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,

and on the peoples that call not on your name,

zfor they have devoured Jacob;

they have devoured him and consumed him,

and have laid waste his habitation.

The Broken Covenant

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: aHear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: bCursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, cfrom the iron furnace, saying, dListen to my voice, and do all that I command you. dSo shall you be my people, and I will be your God, ethat I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, fto give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day. Then I answered, So be it, Lord.

And the Lord said to me, gProclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: hHear the words of this covenant and do them. For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, iwarning them persistently, even to this day, saying, dObey my voice. jYet they did not obey or incline their ear, kbut everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all hthe words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.

Again the Lord said to me, lA conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10 They have turned back to mthe iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. mThey have gone after other gods to serve them. nThe house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. 11 Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. oThough they cry to me, I will not listen to them. 12 Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem pwill go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, pbut they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. 13 pFor your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, qaltars to make offerings to Baal.

14 Therefore rdo not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, ofor I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. 15 sWhat right has my beloved in my house, twhen she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? uCan you then exult? 16 The Lord once called you va green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit. But wwith the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and xits branches will be consumed. 17 The Lord of hosts, ywho planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, zprovoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.

18  The Lord made it known to me and I knew;

then you showed me their deeds.

19  But I was alike a gentle lamb

led to the slaughter.

I did not know bit was against me

they devised schemes, saying,

Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,

clet us cut him off from dthe land of the living,

that his name be remembered no more.

20  But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,

who etests fthe heart and the mind,

glet me see your vengeance upon them,

for to you have I committed my cause.

21 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of hAnathoth, iwho seek your life, and say, jDo not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand 22 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, 23 and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of kAnathoth, lthe year of their punishment.


1 Timothy 6

oLet all who are under a yoke as bondservants1 regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, pso that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are qbrothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.

False Teachers and True Contentment

rTeach and urge these things. If anyone steaches a different doctrine and does not agree with tthe sound2 words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching uthat accords with godliness, vhe is puffed up with conceit and wunderstands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for xcontroversy and for yquarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people zwho are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, aimagining that godliness is a means of gain. But bgodliness cwith contentment is great gain, for dwe brought nothing into the world, and3 we cannot take anything out of the world. But eif we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But fthose who desire to be rich fall into temptation, ginto a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that hplunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of iall kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

11 But as for you, jO man of God, kflee these things. lPursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 mFight the good fight of the faith. nTake hold of the eternal life oto which you were called and about which you made pthe good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 qI charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, rwho in his testimony before4 Pontius Pilate made pthe good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until sthe appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display tat the proper timehe who is uthe blessed and only Sovereign, vthe King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 wwho alone has immortality, xwho dwells in yunapproachable light, zwhom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

17 As for the rich in athis present age, charge them bnot to be haughty, nor cto set their hopes on dthe uncertainty of riches, but on God, ewho richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, fto be rich in good works, to be generous and gready to share, 19 thus hstoring up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may itake hold of jthat which is truly life.

20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. kAvoid the lirreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

mGrace be with you.5