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Jeremiah 11-13 (Listen)

The Broken Covenant

11:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Hear the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. You shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man who does not hear the words of this covenant that I commanded your fathers when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Listen to my voice, and do all that I command you. So shall you be my people, and I will be your God, that I may confirm the oath that I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as at this day.” Then I answered, “So be it, Lord.”

And the Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Hear the words of this covenant and do them. For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice. Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart. Therefore I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.”

Again the Lord said to me, “A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.

“Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble. What right has my beloved in my house, when she has done many vile deeds? Can even sacrificial flesh avert your doom? Can you then exult? The Lord once called you ‘a green olive tree, beautiful with good fruit.’ But with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed. The Lord of hosts, who planted you, has decreed disaster against you, because of the evil that the house of Israel and the house of Judah have done, provoking me to anger by making offerings to Baal.”

The Lord made it known to me and I knew;
  then you showed me their deeds.
But I was like a gentle lamb
  led to the slaughter.
I did not know it was against me
  they devised schemes, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit,
  let us cut him off from the land of the living,
  that his name be remembered no more.”
But, O Lord of hosts, who judges righteously,
  who tests the heart and the mind,
let me see your vengeance upon them,
  for to you have I committed my cause.

Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the men of Anathoth, who seek your life, and say, “Do not prophesy in the name of the Lord, or you will die by our hand”— therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.”

Jeremiah's Complaint

12:1 Righteous are you, O Lord,
  when I complain to you;
  yet I would plead my case before you.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
  Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
You plant them, and they take root;
  they grow and produce fruit;
you are near in their mouth
  and far from their heart.
But you, O Lord, know me;
  you see me, and test my heart toward you.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
  and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
How long will the land mourn
  and the grass of every field wither?
For the evil of those who dwell in it
  the beasts and the birds are swept away,
  because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

The Lord Answers Jeremiah

“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
  how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
  what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?
For even your brothers and the house of your father,
  even they have dealt treacherously with you;
  they are in full cry after you;
do not believe them,
  though they speak friendly words to you.”

“I have forsaken my house;
  I have abandoned my heritage;
I have given the beloved of my soul
  into the hands of her enemies.
My heritage has become to me
  like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
  therefore I hate her.
Is my heritage to me like a hyena's lair?
  Are the birds of prey against her all around?
Go, assemble all the wild beasts;
  bring them to devour.
Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
  they have trampled down my portion;
they have made my pleasant portion
  a desolate wilderness.
They have made it a desolation;
  desolate, it mourns to me.
The whole land is made desolate,
  but no man lays it to heart.
Upon all the bare heights in the desert
  destroyers have come,
for the sword of the Lord devours
  from one end of the land to the other;
  no flesh has peace.
They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
  they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their [1] harvests
  because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

Thus says the Lord concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage that I have given my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. And after I have plucked them up, I will again have compassion on them, and I will bring them again each to his heritage and each to his land. And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”

The Ruined Loincloth

13:1 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Thus says the Lord: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

The Jars Filled with Wine

“You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that every jar will be filled with wine?’ Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: the kings who sit on David's throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”

Exile Threatened

Hear and give ear; be not proud,
  for the Lord has spoken.
Give glory to the Lord your God
  before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
  on the twilight mountains,
and while you look for light
  he turns it into gloom
  and makes it deep darkness.
But if you will not listen,
  my soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,
  because the Lord's flock has been taken captive.

Say to the king and the queen mother:
  “Take a lowly seat,
for your beautiful crown
  has come down from your head.”
The cities of the Negeb are shut up,
  with none to open them;
all Judah is taken into exile,
  wholly taken into exile.

“Lift up your eyes and see
  those who come from the north.
Where is the flock that was given you,
  your beautiful flock?
What will you say when they set as head over you
  those whom you yourself have taught to be friends to you?
Will not pangs take hold of you
  like those of a woman in labor?
And if you say in your heart,
  ‘Why have these things come upon me?’
it is for the greatness of your iniquity
  that your skirts are lifted up
  and you suffer violence.
Can the Ethiopian change his skin
  or the leopard his spots?
Then also you can do good
  who are accustomed to do evil.
I will scatter you [2] like chaff
  driven by the wind from the desert.
This is your lot,
  the portion I have measured out to you, declares the Lord,
because you have forgotten me
  and trusted in lies.
I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
  and your shame will be seen.
I have seen your abominations,
  your adulteries and neighings, your lewd whorings,
  on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
  How long will it be before you are made clean?”

1 Timothy 4 (Listen)

Some Will Depart from the Faith

4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

A Good Servant of Christ Jesus

If you put these things before the brothers, [3] you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, [4] because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

Command and teach these things. Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, [5] so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Footnotes

[1] 12:13 Hebrew your
[2] 13:24 Hebrew them
[3] 4:6 Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church
[4] 4:10 Some manuscripts and suffer reproach
[5] 4:15 Greek be in them