The Lord Promises Peace

1 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the ^xcourt of the guard: 2 “Thus says the Lord who made the earth,¹ the Lord who formed it to establish it—the Lord is his name: 3 ^yCall to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and ^zhidden things that you have not known. 4 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the ^asiege mounds and against the sword: 5 They are coming in to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them² with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have ^bhidden my face from this city because of all their evil. 6 Behold, I will bring to it ^chealth and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. 7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. 8 I will ^dcleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will ^eforgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. 9 And this city³ shall be to me ^fa name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

10 “Thus says the Lord: In this place ^gof which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again 11 ^hthe voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord:

For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.

12 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks. 13 In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the ^jShephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord.

The Lord’s Eternal Covenant with David

14 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous ^kBranch to spring up for David, and he shall execute ^ljustice and righteousness in the land. 16 ^mIn those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

17 “For thus says the Lord: ⁿDavid shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, 18 and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”

19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 20 “Thus says the Lord: ^oIf you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, 21 then also my covenant ^pwith David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant ^qwith the Levitical priests my ministers. 22 ^rAs the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”

23 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 24 “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. 25 Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, 26 ^sthen I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”

Zedekiah to Die in Babylon

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, ^twhen Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth under his dominion and all the peoples were fighting against Jerusalem and all of its cities: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ^u‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall ^vburn it with fire. 3 ^wYou shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. You shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face. And you shall go to Babylon.’ 4 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! Thus says the Lord concerning you: ‘You shall not die by the sword. 5 You shall die in peace. And as spices were ^xburned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shall burn spices for you and lament for you, saying, ^y“Alas, lord!”’ For I have spoken the word, declares the Lord.”

6 Then Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, 7 when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, Lachish and Azekah, for these were the only fortified cities of Judah that remained.

8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a ^zproclamation of liberty to them, 9 that everyone should set free his ^aHebrew slaves, male and female, so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. 10 And they obeyed, all the officials and all the people who had entered into the covenant that everyone would set free his slave, male or female, so that they would not be enslaved again. They obeyed and set them free. 11 But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves. 12 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 13 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself ^bmade a covenant with your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, 14 ^c‘At the end of seven years each of you must set free the fellow Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you six years; you must set him free from your service.’ But your fathers did not ^dlisten to me or incline their ears to me. 15 You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and you made a covenant before me in the house that is ^ecalled by my name, 16 but then you turned around and ^fprofaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your slaves.

17 “Therefore, thus says the Lord: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. I will make you a ^ghorror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like⁴ the calf that they ^hcut in two and passed between its parts— 19 the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. 20 And I will give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. ⁱTheir dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. 21 And Zedekiah king of Judah and his officials I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives, ^jinto the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you. 22 Behold, I will command, declares the Lord, and will bring them ^kback to this city. And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.”

To Your Name Give Glory

Food Offered to Idols

1 ^oNow concerning^{1 p}food offered to ^qidols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” ^rpuffs up, but love ^sbuilds up. 2 ^tIf anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is ^uknown by God.²

4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ^v“an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but ^wone.” 5 For although there may be ^xso-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, ^yfrom whom are all things and for whom we exist, and ^zone Lord, Jesus Christ, ^athrough whom are all things and through whom we exist.

7 ^bHowever, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being ^cweak, is defiled. 8 ^dFood will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But ^etake care that this right of yours does not somehow become a ^fstumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating³ in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged,⁴ if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 ^gAnd so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers⁵ and wounding their conscience when it is weak, ^hyou sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Paul Surrenders His Rights

1 Am I not free? Am I not an ⁱapostle? ^jHave I not seen Jesus our Lord? ^kAre not you my workmanship in the Lord? 2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you ^lare the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

3 This is my ^mdefense to those who would examine me. 4 ⁿDo we not have the right to eat and drink? 5 ^oDo we not have the right to take along a ^pbelieving wife,⁶ as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and ^qCephas? 6 Or is it only ^rBarnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? ^sWho plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

8 Do I say these things ^ton human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, ^u“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10 Does he not certainly speak ^vfor our sake? It was written for our sake, because ^wthe plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 ^xIf we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, ^ywe have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an ^zobstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.

13 Do you not know that ^athose who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, ^bthe Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

15 But ^cI have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ^dground for boasting. 16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. ^eFor necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still ^fentrusted with a ^gstewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel ^hfree of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a ⁱservant to all, that I might ^jwin more of them. 20 ^kTo the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those ^lunder the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one ^moutside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the ⁿlaw of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the ^oweak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become ^pall things to all people, that by all means I might ^qsave some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the ^rprize? So ^srun that you may obtain it. 25 Every ^tathlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable ^uwreath, but we an ^vimperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control,⁷ lest after preaching to others I myself should be ^wdisqualified.