1 The words of aJeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, 2 to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of bJosiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the cthirteenth year of his reign. 3 It came also in the days of dJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eeleventh year of fZedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the gfifth month.
The Call of Jeremiah
4 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
5 h“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, iI do not know how to speak, for I am jonly a youth.” 7 But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, kyou shall speak.
8 lDo not be afraid of them,
for I am mwith you to deliver you,
declares the Lord.”
9 Then the Lord put out his hand and ntouched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,
“Behold, oI have put my words in your mouth.
10 See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to ppluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
11 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, qwhat do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond1 branch.” 12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”
13 The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.” 14 Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the rnorth disaster2 shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I am calling sall the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall tset his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. 16 And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in uforsaking me. They have vmade offerings to other gods and worshiped the wworks of their own hands. 17 But you, xdress yourself for work;3 arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. 18 And I, behold, yI make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and zbronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23 sAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what tauthority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you unot believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a vprophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the wtax collectors and the prostitutes xgo into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For yJohn came to you in the zway of arighteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
The Parable of the Tenants
33 b“Hear another parable. cThere was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and dwent into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants1 to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, ekilled another, and stoned another. 36 fAgain he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 gFinally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the hheir. Come, let us ikill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and jlet out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
k“‘The stone that the builders rejected
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be mtaken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who nfalls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”3
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a oprophet.
