Jeremiah’s Letter to the Exiles

1 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to ⁱthe surviving elders of the exiles, and to ^jthe priests, ^jthe prophets, and ^jall the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 ⁿBuild houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and ^opray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^pDo not let your prophets and ^qyour diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,¹ 9 for ^rit is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; ^sI did not send them, declares the Lord.

10 “For thus says the Lord: ^tWhen seventy years are completed for Babylon, ^uI will visit you, ^vand I will fulfill to you my promise ^vand bring you back to this place. 11 ^wFor I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare² and not for evil, ^xto give you a future and a hope. 12 ^yThen you will call upon me and come and pray to me, ^yand I will hear you. 13 ^zYou will seek me and find me, when you seek me ^awith all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, ^band I will restore your fortunes and ^cgather you from all the nations and all the places ^dwhere I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as ^vI am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and ^wthus save some of them. 15 For if their rejection means ^xthe reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? 16 ^yIf the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 But if ^zsome of the branches were broken off, and you, ^aalthough a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root¹ of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you ^bstand fast through faith. So ^cdo not become proud, but ^dfear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. 22 Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, ^eprovided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise ^fyou too will be cut off. 23 And ^geven they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.

The Death of Lazarus

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of ^lMary and her sister Martha. 2 ^mIt was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, ⁿhe whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, ^o“This illness does not lead to death. It is for ^pthe glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

5 Now ^qJesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus¹ was ill, ^rhe stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, ^s“Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, ^t“Rabbi, ^uthe Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, ^v“Are there not twelve hours in the day? ^wIf anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But ^xif anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not ^xin him.” 11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus ^yhas fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 ^zSo Thomas, called the Twin,² said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, ^athat we may die with him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb ^bfour days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles³ off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary ^cto console them concerning their brother. 20 ^dSo when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to ^eJesus, “Lord, ^fif you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, ^gGod will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 ^hMartha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in ⁱthe resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, ^j“I am the resurrection and ^kthe life.⁴ Whoever believes in me, ^lthough he die, ^myet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me ⁿshall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; ^oI believe that ^pyou are the Christ, the Son of God, ^qwho is coming into the world.”