Seventy Years of Captivity
1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the lfourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), 2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: 3 “For twenty-three years, mfrom the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken npersistently to you, but you have not listened. 4 You have neither olistened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, 5 saying, p‘Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. 6 Do not qgo after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ 7 Yet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands rto your own harm.
8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for sall the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, tmy servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them uthe voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon vseventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste. 13 I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written in this wbook, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the xnations. 14 yFor many nations and great kings shall make slaves even of them, and I will zrecompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
The Cup of the Lord’s Wrath
15 Thus the Lord, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this acup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.”
17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it: 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day; 19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his officials, all his people, 20 and all the mixed tribes among them; all the kings of the land of Uz and all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod); 21 Edom, Moab, and the sons of Ammon; 22 all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and the kings of the coastland across the sea; 23 Dedan, Tema, Buz, and all who bcut the corners of their hair; 24 all the kings of Arabia and all the kings of the mixed tribes who dwell in the desert; 25 all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of Media; 26 all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another, and all the kingdoms of the world that are on the face of the earth. And after them the king of Babylon1 shall drink.
27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.’
28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: cYou must drink! 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is dcalled by my name, eand shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.’
30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:
“‘The Lord will froar from on high,
and from ghis holy habitation utter his voice;
he will roar mightily against his fold,
and shout, like those who tread grapes,
against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
for the Lord has an indictment against the nations;
he is hentering into judgment with all flesh,
and the wicked he will put to the sword,
declares the Lord.’
32 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
Behold, disaster is going forth
from nation to nation,
and a great itempest is stirring
from the farthest parts of the earth!
33 “And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; jthey shall be dung on the surface of the ground.
34 “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,
and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,
for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,
and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
35 No refuge will remain for the shepherds,
nor escape for the lords of the flock.
36 A voice—the cry of the shepherds,
and the wail of the lords of the flock!
For the Lord is laying waste their pasture,
37 and the peaceful folds are devastated
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
38 Like a lion he has left his lair,
for their land has become a waste
kbecause of the sword of the oppressor,
and because of his fierce anger.”
Jeremiah Threatened with Death
1 In the beginning of the reign of lJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord: 2 “Thus says the Lord: mStand nin the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. 3 oIt may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may prelent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds. 4 You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, 5 and to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you qurgently, though you have not listened, 6 then I will make this house rlike Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.’”
7 The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. 8 And swhen Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! 9 Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, twithout inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
10 When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and took their seat in the entry of the uNew Gate of the house of the Lord. 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, v“This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”
12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13 Now therefore wmend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will xrelent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. 14 But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15 Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”
Jeremiah Spared from Death
16 Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” 17 And certain of the elders of the land arose and spoke to all the assembled people, saying, 18 y“Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and said to all the people of Judah: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts,
z“‘Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
and the mountain of the house a wooded height.’
19 aDid Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, and did not the Lord relent of the disaster that he had pronounced against them? But we are about to bring great disaster upon ourselves.”
20 There was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah. 21 And when King Jehoiakim, with all his warriors and all the officials, heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt. 22 Then King Jehoiakim sent to Egypt certain men, bElnathan the son of Achbor and others with him, 23 and they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, who struck him down with the sword and dumped his dead body into the burial place of the common people.
24 But the hand of cAhikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death.
Great Are the Lord’s Works
1 1 Praise the Lord!
eI will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the Lord,
fstudied by all who gdelight in them.
3 Full of splendor and majesty is his work,
and hhis righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wondrous works to be iremembered;
the Lord is jgracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he kremembers his covenant forever.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy;
8 they are established forever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He sent lredemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant forever.
mHoly and awesome is his name!
10 nThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!
Greeting
1 Paul, acalled bby the will of God to be an capostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,
2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those dsanctified in Christ Jesus, ecalled to be fsaints together with all those who in every place gcall upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving
4 hI give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were ienriched in him in jall kspeech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any lgift, as you mwait for the nrevealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 owho will sustain you to the end, pguiltless in the qday of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the rfellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Divisions in the Church
10 I appeal to you, brothers,1 by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no sdivisions among you, but that you be united tin the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is uquarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow vApollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the wname of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except xCrispus and yGaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did zbaptize also the household of aStephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with bwords of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
Christ the Wisdom and Power of God
18 For the word of the cross is cfolly dto those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the epower of God. 19 For it is written,
f“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will gthwart.”
20 hWhere is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? iHas not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach2 to save those who believe. 22 For jJews demand signs and kGreeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach lChrist crucified, a mstumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the nwisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise oaccording to worldly standards,3 not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose pwhat is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 qso that no human being4 might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him5 you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, rrighteousness and ssanctification and tredemption, 31 so that, as it is written, u“Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
