21 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, ^uand eat the flesh. 22 For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, ^vI did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and ^wI will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, ^xthat it may be well with you.’ 24 But ^ythey did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the ^zstubbornness of their evil hearts, and went ^abackward and not forward. 25 From the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day. 26 ^bYet ^cthey did not listen to me or incline their ear, but ^dstiffened their neck. ^eThey did worse than their fathers.

27 “So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. 28 And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.

The Valley of Slaughter

30 “For the sons of Judah have done evil in my sight, declares the Lord. ^hThey have set their detestable things in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. 31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, ⁱto burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, ^jwhich I did not command, nor did it come into my mind. 32 ^kTherefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no more be called Topheth, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will ^lbury in Topheth, because there is no room elsewhere. 33 And the dead bodies of this people will be ^mfood for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away. 34 And I will ⁿsilence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem ^othe voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

13 For the ^ypromise to Abraham and his offspring ^zthat he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 ^aFor if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but ^bwhere there is no law ^cthere is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to ^dthe one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, ^e“I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God ^fin whom he believed, who ^ggives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ^h“So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith ⁱwhen he considered his own body, which was ^jas good as dead (since he was about ^ka hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness¹ of Sarah’s womb. 20 No ^lunbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was ^m“counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but ⁿfor ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in ^ohim who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up ^pfor our trespasses and ^qraised for our ^rjustification.

Rivers of Living Water

37 ^gOn the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ^h“If anyone thirsts, let him ⁱcome to me and drink. 38 Whoever ^jbelieves in me, as¹ the Scripture has said, ^k‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of ^lliving water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were ^mto receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, ⁿbecause Jesus was not yet ^oglorified.

Division Among the People

40 When they heard these words, some of the people said, ^p“This really is ^qthe Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, ^r“Is the Christ to come from Galilee? 42 ^sHas not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the ^toffspring of David, and comes ^ufrom Bethlehem, ^vthe village where David was?” 43 So there was a ^wdivision among the people over him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, ^x“No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been ^ydeceived? 48 ^zHave any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, ^awho had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” 52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”