Jeremiah 37

English Standard Version

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah

37 ^(A)Zedekiah the son of Josiah, ^(B)whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of ^(C)Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. ²^(D)But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord that he spoke through Jeremiah the prophet.

³King Zedekiah sent ^(E)Jehucal the son of ^(F)Shelemiah, and ^(G)Zephaniah the priest, the son of ^(H)Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “Please ^(I)pray for us to the Lord our God.” ⁴^(J)Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people, ^(K)for he had not yet been put in prison. ⁵^(L)The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when ^(M)the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, ^(N)they withdrew from Jerusalem.

⁶Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: ⁷“Thus says the Lord, God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who ^(O)sent you to me to inquire of me, ‘Behold, ^(P)Pharaoh's army that came to help you is about to ^(Q)return to Egypt, to its own land. ⁸And ^(R)the Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city. ^(S)They shall capture it and burn it with fire. ⁹Thus says the Lord, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. ¹⁰^(T)For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and ^(U)burn this city with fire.’”

Jeremiah Imprisoned

¹¹Now when ^(V)the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh's army, ¹²Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to ^(W)the land of Benjamin ^(X)to receive his portion there ^(Y)among the people. ¹³When he was at ^(Z)the Benjamin Gate, a sentry there named Irijah the son of ^(AA)Shelemiah, son of Hananiah, seized Jeremiah the prophet, saying, ^(AB)“You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” ¹⁴And Jeremiah said, “It is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and seized Jeremiah and brought him to ^(AC)the officials. ¹⁵And the officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him ^(AD)and imprisoned him in the house of Jonathan the secretary, for it had been made a prison.

¹⁶^(AE)When Jeremiah had come to the dungeon cells and remained there many days, ¹⁷King Zedekiah sent for him and received him. The king questioned him ^(AF)secretly in his house and said, “Is there any word from the Lord?” Jeremiah said, “There is.” Then he said, ^(AG)“You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” ¹⁸Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, ^(AH)that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹^(AI)Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? ²⁰Now hear, please, O my lord the king: ^(AJ)let my humble plea come before you and ^(AK)do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.” ²¹So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to ^(AL)the court of the guard. And a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers' street, ^(AM)until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in ^(AN)the court of the guard.

Jeremiah 21

English Standard Version

Jerusalem Will Fall to Nebuchadnezzar

21 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when King Zedekiah sent to him ^(A)Pashhur the son of Malchiah and ^(B)Zephaniah the priest, the son of ^(C)Maaseiah, saying, ²^(D)“Inquire of the Lord for us, ^(E)for Nebuchadnezzar^[a] king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to ^(F)all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”

³Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, ⁴‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^(G)Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. ^(H)And I will bring them together into the midst of this city. ⁵I myself will fight against you ^(I)with outstretched hand and strong arm, ^(J)in anger and in fury and in great wrath. ⁶And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. ⁷Afterward, declares the Lord, ^(K)I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. ^(L)He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’

⁸“And to this people you shall say: ^(M)‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, ^(N)I set before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹He who stays in this city shall die ^(O)by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and ^(P)surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live ^(Q)and shall have his life as a prize of war. ¹⁰For ^(R)I have set my face against this city for harm and ^(S)not for good, declares the Lord: ^(T)it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’

Message to the House of David

¹¹“And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, ¹²O house of David! Thus says the Lord:

^(U)“‘Execute justice ^(V)in the morning,
    and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
    him who has been robbed,
^(W)lest my wrath go forth like fire,
    and burn with none to quench it,
    because of your evil deeds.’”

¹³^(X)“Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
    O rock of the plain,
declares the Lord;
you who say, ^(Y)‘Who shall come down against us,
    or who shall enter our habitations?’
¹⁴^(Z)I will punish you according to ^(AA)the fruit of your deeds,
declares the Lord;
    ^(AB)I will kindle a fire in her forest,
    ^(AC)and it shall devour all that is around her.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 21:2 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, an alternate spelling of Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon) occurring frequently from Jeremiah 21–52; this latter spelling is used throughout Jeremiah for consistency

Jeremiah 34

English Standard Version

Zedekiah to Die in Babylon

34 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when ^(A)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army ^(B)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 ^(C)Zedekiah king of Judah and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(D)Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. ³^(E)You shall not escape from his hand but shall surely be captured and delivered into his hand. ^(F)You shall see the king of Babylon eye to eye and speak with him face to face. And you shall go to Babylon.’ ⁴Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah! ^(G)Thus says the Lord concerning you: ^(H)‘You shall not die by the sword. ⁵You shall die in peace. ^(I)And as spices were burned for your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so people shall ^(J)burn spices for you ^(K)and lament for you, saying, “Alas, lord!”’ For I have spoken the word, declares the Lord.”

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

⁸The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah ^(P)had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem ^(Q)to make a proclamation of liberty to them, ⁹^(R)that everyone should set free his Hebrew slaves, male and female, ^(S)so that no one should enslave a Jew, his brother. ¹⁰And 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. ¹¹But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves ^(T)they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves. ¹²The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ¹³“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I myself made a covenant with your fathers when ^(U)I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, saying, ¹⁴^(V)‘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; ^(W)you must set him free from your service.’ But ^(X)your fathers did not listen to me or incline their ears to me. ¹⁵You recently repented and did what was right in my eyes ^(Y)by proclaiming liberty, each to his neighbor, and ^(Z)you made a covenant before me in the ^(AA)house that is called by my name, ¹⁶but then you turned around ^(AB)and profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves, ^(AC)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 ^(AD)by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; ^(AE)behold, I proclaim to you liberty ^(AF)to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the Lord. ^(AG)I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. ¹⁸And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of ^(AH)the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like^[a] ^(AI)the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— ¹⁹the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, ^(AJ)the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf. ²⁰And I will give them into the hand of their enemies ^(AK)and into the hand of those who seek their lives. ^(AL)Their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth. ²¹And ^(AM)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, into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon ^(AN)which has withdrawn from you. ²²Behold, ^(AO)I will command, declares the Lord, and will ^(AP)bring them back to this city. ^(AQ)And they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire. ^(AR)I will make the cities of Judah a desolation ^(AS)without inhabitant.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 34:18 Hebrew lacks them like

Psalm 79

English Standard Version

How Long, O Lord?

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

79 O God, ^(B)the nations have come into your ^(C)inheritance;
    they have defiled your ^(D)holy temple;
    they have ^(E)laid Jerusalem in ruins.
²They have given ^(F)the bodies of your servants
    to the birds of the heavens for food,
    the flesh of your ^(G)faithful to ^(H)the beasts of the earth.
³They have poured out their blood like water
    all around Jerusalem,
    and there was ^(I)no one to bury them.
⁴We have become ^(J)a taunt to our neighbors,
    ^(K)mocked and derided by those around us.

⁵^(L)How long, O Lord? Will you be angry ^(M)forever?
    Will your ^(N)jealousy ^(O)burn like fire?
⁶^(P)Pour out your anger on the nations
    that ^(Q)do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
    that ^(R)do not call upon your name!
⁷For they have devoured Jacob
    and laid waste his habitation.

⁸^(S)Do not remember against us ^(T)our former iniquities;^[a]
    let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
    for we are ^(U)brought very low.
⁹^(V)Help us, O God of our salvation,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and ^(W)atone for our sins,
    for your ^(X)name's sake!
¹⁰^(Y)Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”
Let ^(Z)the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
    be known among the nations before our eyes!

¹¹Let ^(AA)the groans of the prisoners come before you;
    according to your great power, preserve those ^(AB)doomed to die!
¹²Return ^(AC)sevenfold into the ^(AD)lap of our neighbors
    the ^(AE)taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
¹³But we your people, the ^(AF)sheep of your pasture,
    will ^(AG)give thanks to you forever;
    from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

Footnotes

Psalm 79:8 Or the iniquities of former generations

James 5

English Standard Version

Warning to the Rich

5 Come now, ^(A)you rich, weep and howl for the ^(B)miseries that are coming upon you. ²^(C)Your riches have rotted and ^(D)your garments are moth-eaten. ³Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^(E)You have laid up treasure ^(F)in the last days. ⁴Behold, ^(G)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and ^(H)the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of ^(I)the Lord of hosts. ⁵^(J)You have lived on the earth in luxury and ^(K)in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in ^(L)a day of slaughter. ⁶You have condemned and ^(M)murdered ^(N)the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Patience in Suffering

⁷Be patient, therefore, brothers,^[a] until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives ^(O)the early and the late rains. ⁸You also, be patient. ^(P)Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ^(Q)is at hand. ⁹Do not grumble against one another, brothers, ^(R)so that you may not be judged; behold, ^(S)the Judge is standing ^(T)at the door. ¹⁰As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take ^(U)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of ^(V)the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen ^(W)the purpose of the Lord, how ^(X)the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹²But above all, my brothers, ^(Y)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

The Prayer of Faith

¹³Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him ^(Z)sing praise. ¹⁴Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, ^(AA)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And ^(AB)if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶Therefore, ^(AC)confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, ^(AD)that you may be healed. ^(AE)The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.^[b] ¹⁷Elijah was a man ^(AF)with a nature like ours, and ^(AG)he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for ^(AH)three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. ¹⁸^(AI)Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

¹⁹My brothers, ^(AJ)if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone ^(AK)brings him back, ²⁰let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering ^(AL)will save his soul from death and ^(AM)will cover a multitude of sins.