Message to Baruch
1 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to sBaruch the son of Neriah, twhen he wrote these words in a book at the dictation of Jeremiah, uin the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: 3 You said, v‘Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain. wI am weary with my groaning, xand I find no rest.’ 4 Thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord: yBehold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up—that is, the whole land. 5 And zdo you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, aI am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the Lord. But I will give you byour life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”
Judgment on Egypt
1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet cconcerning the nations.
2 About Egypt. dConcerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in ethe fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah:
3 f“Prepare buckler and shield,
and advance for battle!
4 gHarness the horses;
mount, O horsemen!
Take your stations with your helmets,
fpolish your spears,
put on your armor!
5 Why have I seen it?
They are dismayed
and have turned backward.
Their hwarriors are beaten down
and have fled in haste;
ithey look not back—
jterror on every side!
declares the Lord.
6 “The swift cannot flee away,
nor the warrior escape;
din the north by the river Euphrates
kthey have stumbled and fallen.
7 “Who is this, lrising like the Nile,
like rivers mwhose waters surge?
8 Egypt rises like the Nile,
like rivers mwhose waters surge.
He said, ‘I will rise, I will cover the earth,
I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.’
9 nAdvance, O horses,
and rage, O chariots!
Let the warriors go out:
men of Cush and oPut who handle the shield,
pmen of Lud, skilled in handling the bow.
10 qThat day is the day of the Lord God of hosts,
ra day of vengeance,
sto avenge himself on his foes.
tThe sword shall devour and be sated
and drink its fill of their blood.
For the Lord God of hosts holds ua sacrifice
vin the north country wby the river Euphrates.
11 xGo up to Gilead, and take xbalm,
O virgin daughter of Egypt!
In vain you have used many medicines;
ythere is no healing for you.
12 The nations have heard of your shame,
and the earth is full of your cry;
zfor warrior has stumbled against warrior;
they have both fallen together.”
13 The word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of aNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt:
14 “Declare in Egypt, and proclaim in bMigdol;
proclaim in bMemphis and bTahpanhes;
say, c‘Stand ready and be prepared,
for dthe sword shall devour around you.’
15 Why are your mighty ones face down?
They do not stand1
because the Lord thrust them down.
16 He made many stumble, fand they fell,
and they said one to another,
‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people
and to the land of our birth,
gbecause of the sword of the oppressor.’
17 Call the name of hPharaoh, king of Egypt,
‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’
18 i“As I live, declares the King,
jwhose name is the Lord of hosts,
like kTabor among the mountains
and like lCarmel by the sea, shall one come.
19 mPrepare yourselves baggage for exile,
O ninhabitants of Egypt!
For oMemphis shall become a waste,
a ruin, pwithout inhabitant.
20 “A beautiful qheifer is Egypt,
but a biting fly rfrom the north has come upon her.
21 Even her hired soldiers in her midst
are like sfattened calves;
yes, they have turned and fled together;
they did not stand,
for the day of their calamity has come upon them,
tthe time of their punishment.
22 “She makes ua sound like a serpent gliding away;
for her enemies march in force
and come against her with axes
vlike those who fell trees.
23 vThey shall cut down her forest,
declares the Lord,
though it is impenetrable,
because wthey are more numerous than locusts;
they are without number.
24 The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame;
she shall be delivered into the hand of ra people from the north.”
25 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, said: “Behold, I am bringing punishment upon xAmon of yThebes, and Pharaoh and Egypt zand her gods and her kings, upon Pharaoh and those who trust in him. 26 aI will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their life, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. bAfterward Egypt shall be inhabited cas in the days of old, declares the Lord.
27 d“But fear not, O Jacob my servant,
nor be dismayed, O Israel,
for behold, I will save you from far away,
and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
and none shall make him afraid.
28 dFear not, O Jacob my servant,
declares the Lord,
for I am with you.
I will make a full end of all the nations
to which I have driven you,
but of you I will not make a full end.
eI will discipline you in just measure,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished.”
Judgment on the Philistines
1 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet fconcerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck down gGaza.
2 “Thus says the Lord:
hBehold, waters are rising iout of the north,
hand shall become an overflowing torrent;
they shall overflow jthe land and all that fills it,
the city and those who dwell in it.
Men shall cry out,
and every inhabitant of the land shall wail.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions,
lat the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels,
the fathers mlook not back to their children,
so feeble are their hands,
4 because of the day that is coming to destroy
all fthe Philistines,
to cut off from nTyre and Sidon
every helper that remains.
For the Lord is destroying the Philistines,
othe remnant of the coastland of pCaphtor.
5 qBaldness has come upon Gaza;
rAshkelon has perished.
O remnant of their valley,
show long will you gash yourselves?
6 tAh, sword of the Lord!
How long till you are quiet?
Put yourself into your scabbard;
rest and be still!
7 How can it2 be quiet
uwhen the Lord has given it a charge?
Against vAshkelon and against the seashore
whe has appointed it.”
1 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem nto have failed to reach it. 2 For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because othey were not united by faith with those who listened.1 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,
p“As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest,’”
although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: q“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5 And again in this passage he said,
r“They shall not enter my rest.”
6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news sfailed to enter because of disobedience, 7 again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,
t“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God2 would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also urested from his works as God did from his.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so vthat no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For wthe word of God is living and xactive, ysharper than any ztwo-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and adiscerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And bno creature is hidden from his sight, but all are cnaked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Jesus the Great High Priest
14 Since then we have da great high priest ewho has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, flet us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest gwho is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been dtempted as we are, hyet without sin. 16 iLet us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
1 For every high priest chosen from among men jis appointed to act on behalf of men kin relation to God, lto offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 mHe can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself nis beset with weakness. 3 Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins ojust as he does for those of the people. 4 And pno one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, qjust as Aaron was.
5 So also Christ rdid not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,
s“You are my Son,
today I have begotten you”;
6 as he says also in another place,
t“You are a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.”
7 In the days of his flesh, uJesus3 offered up prayers and supplications, vwith loud cries and tears, to him wwho was able to save him from death, and xhe was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although yhe was a son, zhe learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And abeing made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest bafter the order of Melchizedek.
Warning Against Apostasy
11 About this we have much to say, and it is chard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again dthe basic principles of the oracles of God. You need emilk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is fa child. 14 But solid food is for gthe mature, for those who have their powers hof discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
