Jeremiah 16

New International Version

Day of Disaster

16 Then the word of the Lord came to me: ²“You must not marry^(A) and have sons or daughters in this place.” ³For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers:^(B) ⁴“They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried^(C) but will be like dung lying on the ground.^(D) They will perish by sword and famine,^(E) and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”^(F)

⁵For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity^(G) from this people,” declares the Lord. ⁶“Both high and low will die in this land.^(H) They will not be buried or mourned,^(I) and no one will cut^(J) themselves or shave^(K) their head for the dead. ⁷No one will offer food^(L) to comfort those who mourn^(M) for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console^(N) them.

⁸“And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink.^(O) ⁹For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds^(P) of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride^(Q) and bridegroom in this place.^(R)

¹⁰“When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?’^(S) ¹¹then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped^(T) them. They forsook me and did not keep my law.^(U) ¹²But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors.^(V) See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts^(W) instead of obeying me. ¹³So I will throw you out of this land^(X) into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known,^(Y) and there you will serve other gods^(Z) day and night, for I will show you no favor.’^(AA)

¹⁴“However, the days are coming,”^(AB) declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’^(AC) ¹⁵but it will be said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north^(AD) and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’^(AE) For I will restore^(AF) them to the land I gave their ancestors.^(AG)

¹⁶“But now I will send for many fishermen,” declares the Lord, “and they will catch them.^(AH) After that I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt^(AI) them down on every mountain and hill and from the crevices of the rocks.^(AJ) ¹⁷My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden^(AK) from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.^(AL) ¹⁸I will repay^(AM) them double^(AN) for their wickedness and their sin, because they have defiled my land^(AO) with the lifeless forms of their vile images^(AP) and have filled my inheritance with their detestable idols.^(AQ)”^(AR)

¹⁹Lord, my strength and my fortress,
    my refuge^(AS) in time of distress,
to you the nations will come^(AT)
    from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,^(AU)
    worthless idols^(AV) that did them no good.^(AW)
²⁰Do people make their own gods?
    Yes, but they are not gods!”^(AX)

²¹“Therefore I will teach them—
    this time I will teach them
    my power and might.
Then they will know
    that my name^(AY) is the Lord.

Jeremiah 17

New International Version

17 “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool,^(A)
    inscribed with a flint point,
on the tablets of their hearts^(B)
    and on the horns^(C) of their altars.
²Even their children remember
    their altars and Asherah poles^[a]^(D)
beside the spreading trees
    and on the high hills.^(E)
³My mountain in the land
    and your^[b] wealth and all your treasures
I will give away as plunder,^(F)
    together with your high places,^(G)
    because of sin throughout your country.^(H)
⁴Through your own fault you will lose
    the inheritance^(I) I gave you.
I will enslave you to your enemies^(J)
    in a land^(K) you do not know,
for you have kindled my anger,
    and it will burn^(L) forever.”

⁵This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,^(M)
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.^(N)
⁶That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places^(O) of the desert,
    in a salt^(P) land where no one lives.

⁷“But blessed^(Q) is the one who trusts^(R) in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
⁸They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.^(S)
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought^(T)
    and never fails to bear fruit.”^(U)

⁹The heart^(V) is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

¹⁰“I the Lord search the heart^(W)
and examine the mind,^(X)
to reward^(Y) each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”^(Z)

¹¹Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay
are those who gain riches by unjust means.
When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them,
and in the end they will prove to be fools.^(AA)

¹²A glorious throne,^(AB) exalted from the beginning,
    is the place of our sanctuary.
¹³Lord, you are the hope^(AC) of Israel;
    all who forsake^(AD) you will be put to shame.
Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust^(AE)
    because they have forsaken the Lord,
    the spring of living water.^(AF)

¹⁴Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;^(AG)
    save^(AH) me and I will be saved,
    for you are the one I praise.^(AI)
¹⁵They keep saying to me,
    “Where is the word of the Lord?
    Let it now be fulfilled!”^(AJ)
¹⁶I have not run away from being your shepherd;
    you know I have not desired the day of despair.
    What passes my lips^(AK) is open before you.
¹⁷Do not be a terror^(AL) to me;
    you are my refuge^(AM) in the day of disaster.^(AN)
¹⁸Let my persecutors be put to shame,
    but keep me from shame;
let them be terrified,
    but keep me from terror.
Bring on them the day of disaster;
    destroy them with double destruction.^(AO)

Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy

¹⁹This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and stand at the Gate of the People,^[c] through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem.^(AP) ²⁰Say to them, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem^(AQ) who come through these gates.^(AR) ²¹This is what the Lord says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath^(AS) day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. ²²Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors.^(AT) ²³Yet they did not listen or pay attention;^(AU) they were stiff-necked^(AV) and would not listen or respond to discipline.^(AW) ²⁴But if you are careful to obey me, declares the Lord, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy^(AX) by not doing any work on it, ²⁵then kings who sit on David’s throne^(AY) will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever.^(AZ) ²⁶People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev,^(BA) bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and incense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. ²⁷But if you do not obey^(BB) me to keep the Sabbath^(BC) day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire^(BD) in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.’”^(BE)

Footnotes

Jeremiah 17:2 That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
Jeremiah 17:3 Or hills / ³and the mountains of the land. / Your
Jeremiah 17:19 Or Army

Psalm 96

New International Version

Psalm 96^(A)

¹Sing to the Lord^(B) a new song;^(C)
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
²Sing to the Lord, praise his name;^(D)
    proclaim his salvation^(E) day after day.
³Declare his glory^(F) among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds^(G) among all peoples.

⁴For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;^(H)
    he is to be feared^(I) above all gods.^(J)
⁵For all the gods of the nations are idols,^(K)
    but the Lord made the heavens.^(L)
⁶Splendor and majesty^(M) are before him;
    strength and glory^(N) are in his sanctuary.

⁷Ascribe to the Lord,^(O) all you families of nations,^(P)
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
⁸Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering^(Q) and come into his courts.^(R)
⁹Worship the Lord^(S) in the splendor of his^[a] holiness;^(T)
    tremble^(U) before him, all the earth.^(V)
¹⁰Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.^(W)”
    The world is firmly established,^(X) it cannot be moved;^(Y)
    he will judge^(Z) the peoples with equity.^(AA)

¹¹Let the heavens rejoice,^(AB) let the earth be glad;^(AC)
    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
¹²Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest^(AD) sing for joy.^(AE)
¹³Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
    he comes to judge^(AF) the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness^(AG)
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.^(AH)

Footnotes

Psalm 96:9 Or Lord with the splendor of

John 16

New International Version

16 “All this^(A) I have told you so that you will not fall away.^(B) ²They will put you out of the synagogue;^(C) in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.^(D) ³They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.^(E) ⁴I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember^(F) that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you,^(G) ⁵but now I am going to him who sent me.^(H) None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’^(I) ⁶Rather, you are filled with grief^(J) because I have said these things. ⁷But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate^(K) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.^(L) ⁸When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹about sin,^(M) because people do not believe in me; ¹⁰about righteousness,^(N) because I am going to the Father,^(O) where you can see me no longer; ¹¹and about judgment, because the prince of this world^(P) now stands condemned.

¹²“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.^(Q) ¹³But when he, the Spirit of truth,^(R) comes, he will guide you into all the truth.^(S) He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵All that belongs to the Father is mine.^(T) That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to Joy

¹⁶Jesus went on to say, “In a little while^(U) you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”^(V)

¹⁷At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’^(W) and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”^(X) ¹⁸They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

¹⁹Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? ²⁰Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn^(Y) while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.^(Z) ²¹A woman giving birth to a child has pain^(AA) because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. ²²So with you: Now is your time of grief,^(AB) but I will see you again^(AC) and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.^(AD) ²³In that day^(AE) you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.^(AF) ²⁴Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive,^(AG) and your joy will be complete.^(AH)

²⁵“Though I have been speaking figuratively,^(AI) a time is coming^(AJ) when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. ²⁶In that day you will ask in my name.^(AK) I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me^(AL) and have believed that I came from God.^(AM) ²⁸I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”^(AN)

²⁹Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech.^(AO) ³⁰Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe^(AP) that you came from God.”^(AQ)

³¹“Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. ³²“A time is coming^(AR) and in fact has come when you will be scattered,^(AS) each to your own home. You will leave me all alone.^(AT) Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.^(AU)

³³“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.^(AV) In this world you will have trouble.^(AW) But take heart! I have overcome^(AX) the world.”