Jeremiah 49-50

English Standard Version

Judgment on Ammon

49 ^(A)Concerning the Ammonites.

Thus says the Lord:

“Has Israel no sons?
    Has he no heir?
Why then has ^(B)Milcom^[a] ^(C)dispossessed Gad,
    and his people settled in its cities?
²Therefore, behold, the days are coming,
    declares the Lord,
when I will cause ^(D)the battle cry to be heard
    against ^(E)Rabbah of the Ammonites;
it shall become a desolate ^(F)mound,
    and its villages shall be burned with fire;
then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him,
    says the Lord.

³“Wail, O ^(G)Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste!
    Cry out, O daughters of ^(H)Rabbah!
^(I)Put on sackcloth,
    lament, and run to and fro among the hedges!
For ^(J)Milcom shall go into exile,
    ^(K)with his priests and his officials.
⁴Why do you boast of your valleys,^[b]
    ^(L)O faithless daughter,
^(M)who trusted in her treasures, saying,
    ‘Who will come against me?’
⁵Behold, ^(N)I will bring terror upon you,
    declares the Lord God of hosts,
    from all who are around you,
and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him,
    with none to gather the fugitives.

⁶“But ^(O)afterward I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites, declares the Lord.”

Judgment on Edom

⁷Concerning ^(P)Edom.

Thus says the Lord of hosts:

^(Q)“Is wisdom no more in ^(R)Teman?
    ^(S)Has counsel perished from the prudent?
    ^(T)Has their wisdom vanished?
⁸^(U)Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths,
    O inhabitants of ^(V)Dedan!
For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him,
    ^(W)the time when I punish him.
⁹^(X)If grape gatherers came to you,
    would they not leave ^(Y)gleanings?
^(Z)If thieves came by night,
    would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
¹⁰^(AA)But I have stripped Esau bare;
    ^(AB)I have uncovered his hiding places,
    and he is not able to conceal himself.
His children are destroyed, and his brothers,
    and his neighbors; and ^(AC)he is no more.
¹¹^(AD)Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive;
    ^(AE)and let your widows trust in me.”

¹²For thus says the Lord: ^(AF)“If those who did not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, ^(AG)will you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you must drink. ¹³^(AH)For I have sworn by myself, declares the Lord, that ^(AI)Bozrah shall become ^(AJ)a horror, a taunt, a waste, and a curse, and all her cities shall be perpetual wastes.”

¹⁴^(AK)I have heard a message from the Lord,
    and an envoy has been sent among the nations:
^(AL)“Gather yourselves together and come against her,
    and rise up for battle!
¹⁵For behold, I will make you small among the nations,
    despised among mankind.
¹⁶The horror you inspire has deceived you,
    and the pride of your heart,
you who live in the clefts of the rock,^[c]
    who hold the height of the hill.
Though you ^(AM)make your nest as high as the eagle's,
    I will bring you down from there,
declares the Lord.

¹⁷^(AN)“Edom shall become a horror. ^(AO)Everyone who passes by it will be horrified ^(AP)and will hiss because of all its disasters. ¹⁸^(AQ)As when Sodom and Gomorrah and their ^(AR)neighboring cities were overthrown, says the Lord, ^(AS)no man shall dwell there, ^(AT)no man shall sojourn in her. ¹⁹^(AU)Behold, ^(AV)like a lion coming up from ^(AW)the jungle of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make him^[d] run away from her. And I will appoint over her whomever I choose. ^(AX)For who is like me? ^(AY)Who will summon me? ^(AZ)What shepherd can stand before me? ²⁰Therefore hear the plan that the Lord has made against ^(BA)Edom and the purposes that he has formed against the inhabitants of ^(BB)Teman: ^(BC)Even the little ones of the flock shall be dragged away. Surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. ²¹At the sound of their fall ^(BD)the earth shall tremble; the sound of their cry shall be heard at the Red Sea. ²²Behold, ^(BE)one shall mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against ^(BF)Bozrah, and the heart of the warriors of Edom shall be in that day like the heart ^(BG)of a woman in her birth pains.”

Judgment on Damascus

²³Concerning ^(BH)Damascus:

^(BI)“Hamath and ^(BJ)Arpad are confounded,
    for they have heard bad news;
they melt in fear,
    ^(BK)they are troubled like the sea that cannot be quiet.
²⁴^(BL)Damascus has become feeble, ^(BM)she turned to flee,
    and panic seized her;
anguish and sorrows have taken hold of her,
    as ^(BN)of a woman in labor.
²⁵How is ^(BO)the famous city not forsaken,
    the city of my joy?
²⁶^(BP)Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares,
    and all her soldiers shall be destroyed in that day,
declares the Lord of hosts.
²⁷And ^(BQ)I will kindle a fire in the wall of ^(BR)Damascus,
    and it shall devour the strongholds of ^(BS)Ben-hadad.”

Judgment on Kedar and Hazor

²⁸Concerning ^(BT)Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck down.

Thus says the Lord:
^(BU)“Rise up, advance against ^(BV)Kedar!
    Destroy ^(BW)the people of the east!
²⁹^(BX)Their tents and their flocks shall be taken,
    their ^(BY)curtains and all their goods;
their camels shall be led away from them,
    and men shall cry to them: ^(BZ)‘Terror on every side!’
³⁰^(CA)Flee, wander far away, dwell in the depths,
    O inhabitants of Hazor!
declares the Lord.
For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
    has made a plan against you
    and formed a purpose against you.

³¹^(CB)“Rise up, advance against a nation ^(CC)at ease,
    ^(CD)that dwells securely,
declares the Lord,
^(CE)that has no gates or bars,
    that dwells alone.
³²^(CF)Their camels shall become plunder,
    their herds of livestock a spoil.
^(CG)I will scatter to every wind
    ^(CH)those who cut the corners of their hair,
and I will bring their calamity
    from every side of them,
declares the Lord.
³³Hazor shall become ^(CI)a haunt of jackals,
    an everlasting waste;
^(CJ)no man shall dwell there;
    ^(CK)no man shall sojourn in her.”

Judgment on Elam

³⁴The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning ^(CL)Elam, in the beginning of the reign of ^(CM)Zedekiah king of Judah.

³⁵Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Behold, I will break ^(CN)the bow of ^(CO)Elam, the mainstay of their might. ³⁶And I will bring upon ^(CP)Elam the four winds from the four quarters of heaven. And I will scatter them to all those winds, and there shall be no nation to which those driven out of ^(CQ)Elam shall not come. ³⁷I will ^(CR)terrify ^(CS)Elam before their enemies and before those who seek their life. I will bring disaster upon them, ^(CT)my fierce anger, declares the Lord. ^(CU)I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them, ³⁸and I will set my throne in ^(CV)Elam and destroy their king and officials, declares the Lord.

³⁹“But in the latter days ^(CW)I will restore the fortunes of ^(CX)Elam, declares the Lord.”

Judgment on Babylon

50 The word that the Lord spoke concerning ^(CY)Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, ^(CZ)by Jeremiah the prophet:

²“Declare among the nations and proclaim,
    set up a banner and proclaim,
    conceal it not, and say:
^(DA)‘Babylon is taken,
    ^(DB)Bel is put to shame,
    Merodach is dismayed.
^(DC)Her images are put to shame,
    her idols are dismayed.’

³“For ^(DD)out of the north a nation has come up against her, ^(DE)which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; ^(DF)both man and beast shall flee away.

⁴^(DG)“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, ^(DH)the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, ^(DI)weeping as they come, and they ^(DJ)shall seek the Lord their God. ⁵^(DK)They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, ^(DL)saying, ‘Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an ^(DM)everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.’

⁶^(DN)“My people have been lost sheep. ^(DO)Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. ⁷All who found them have devoured them, ^(DP)and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for ^(DQ)they have sinned against the Lord, ^(DR)their habitation of righteousness, the Lord, ^(DS)the hope of their fathers.’

⁸^(DT)“Flee from the midst of Babylon, ^(DU)and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. ⁹For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon ^(DV)a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. ¹⁰^(DW)Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord.

¹¹^(DX)“Though you rejoice, though you exult,
    O plunderers of my heritage,
though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture,
    and neigh like stallions,
¹²your mother shall be utterly shamed,
    and she who bore you shall be disgraced.
Behold, she shall be the last of the nations,
    ^(DY)a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
¹³^(DZ)Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited
    but shall be an utter desolation;
^(EA)everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled,
    ^(EB)and hiss because of all her wounds.
¹⁴^(EC)Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around,
    ^(ED)all you who bend the bow;
shoot at her, spare no arrows,
    ^(EE)for she has sinned against the Lord.
¹⁵^(EF)Raise a shout against her all around;
    she has surrendered;
her bulwarks have fallen;
    ^(EG)her walls are thrown down.
For ^(EH)this is the vengeance of the Lord:
    take vengeance on her;
    ^(EI)do to her as she has done.
¹⁶Cut off from Babylon the sower,
    and the one who handles the sickle in time of harvest;
^(EJ)because of the sword of the oppressor,
    ^(EK)every one shall turn to his own people,
    and every one shall flee to his own land.

¹⁷^(EL)“Israel is a hunted sheep ^(EM)driven away by lions. ^(EN)First the king of Assyria ^(EO)devoured him, and now at last ^(EP)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ^(EQ)has gnawed his bones. ¹⁸Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, ^(ER)I am bringing punishment on the king of Babylon and his land, ^(ES)as I punished the king of Assyria. ¹⁹^(ET)I will restore Israel to his pasture, and ^(EU)he shall feed on ^(EV)Carmel and in ^(EW)Bashan, and his desire shall be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and in ^(EX)Gilead. ²⁰In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, ^(EY)iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none, and sin in Judah, and none shall be found, for ^(EZ)I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.

²¹“Go up against the land of Merathaim,^[e]
    and against the inhabitants of Pekod.^[f]
Kill, ^(FA)and devote them to destruction,^[g]
declares the Lord,
    and do all that I have commanded you.
²²^(FB)The noise of battle is in the land,
    and great destruction!
²³^(FC)How the hammer of the whole earth
    is cut down and broken!
^(FD)How Babylon ^(FE)has become
    a horror among the nations!
²⁴^(FF)I set a snare for you and you were taken, O Babylon,
    and ^(FG)you did not know it;
you were found and caught,
    because you opposed the Lord.
²⁵The Lord has opened his armory
    and brought out ^(FH)the weapons of his wrath,
for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do
    in the land of the Chaldeans.
²⁶Come against her from every quarter;
    open her granaries;
^(FI)pile her up like heaps of grain, and devote her to destruction;
    let nothing be left of her.
²⁷Kill all ^(FJ)her bulls;
    let them go down to the slaughter.
Woe to them, for their day has come,
    ^(FK)the time of their punishment.

²⁸“A voice! They ^(FL)flee and escape from the land of Babylon, ^(FM)to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for ^(FN)his temple.

²⁹^(FO)“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. ^(FP)Encamp around her; let no one escape. ^(FQ)Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has ^(FR)proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ³⁰^(FS)Therefore her young men shall fall in her squares, and all her soldiers shall be destroyed on that day, declares the Lord.

³¹“Behold, I am against you, O ^(FT)proud one,
    declares the Lord God of hosts,
^(FU)for your day has come,
    the time when I will punish you.
³²^(FV)The proud one shall stumble and fall,
    with none to raise him up,
^(FW)and I will kindle a fire in his cities,
    and it will devour all that is around him.

³³“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(FX)The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah with them. All who took them captive have held them fast; ^(FY)they refuse to let them go. ³⁴^(FZ)Their Redeemer is strong; ^(GA)the Lord of hosts is his name. ^(GB)He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon.

³⁵“A sword against the Chaldeans, declares the Lord,
    and against the inhabitants of Babylon,
    and against ^(GC)her officials and her ^(GD)wise men!
³⁶A sword against the diviners,
    that they may become fools!
A sword against her ^(GE)warriors,
    that they may be destroyed!
³⁷A sword against her horses and against her chariots,
    and against all ^(GF)the foreign troops in her midst,
    that ^(GG)they may become women!
^(GH)A sword against all her treasures,
    that they may be plundered!
³⁸^(GI)A drought against her waters,
    that they may be dried up!
^(GJ)For it is a land of images,
    and they are mad over idols.

³⁹^(GK)“Therefore wild beasts shall dwell with hyenas in Babylon,^[h] and ostriches shall dwell in her. She shall never again have people, nor be inhabited for all generations. ⁴⁰^(GL)As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the Lord, ^(GM)so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.

⁴¹^(GN)“Behold, a people comes from the north;
    a mighty nation and many kings
    are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
⁴²They lay hold of bow and spear;
    they are cruel and have no mercy.
The sound of them is like the roaring of the sea;
    they ride on horses,
arrayed as a man for battle
    against you, O daughter of Babylon!

⁴³“The king of Babylon heard the report of them,
and his hands fell helpless;
anguish seized him,
pain as of a woman in labor.

⁴⁴^(GO)“Behold, like a lion coming up from the thicket of the Jordan against a perennial pasture, I will suddenly make them run away from her, and I will appoint over her whomever I choose. For who is like me? Who will summon me? What shepherd ^(GP)can stand before me? ⁴⁵Therefore hear ^(GQ)the plan that the Lord has made against Babylon, ^(GR)and the purposes that he has formed against the land of the Chaldeans: ^(GS)Surely the little ones of their flock shall be dragged away; surely their fold shall be appalled at their fate. ⁴⁶^(GT)At the sound of the capture of Babylon the earth shall tremble, and her cry shall be heard among the nations.”

Footnotes

Jeremiah 49:1 Or their king; also verse 3
Jeremiah 49:4 Hebrew boast of your valleys, your valley flows
Jeremiah 49:16 Or of Sela
Jeremiah 49:19 Septuagint, Syriac them
Jeremiah 50:21 Merathaim means double rebellion
Jeremiah 50:21 Pekod means punishment
Jeremiah 50:21 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
Jeremiah 50:39 Hebrew lacks in Babylon

Ecclesiastes 12

English Standard Version

Remember Your Creator in Your Youth

12 Remember also your Creator in ^(A)the days of your youth, before ^(B)the evil days come and the years draw near of which ^(C)you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; ²before ^(D)the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, ³in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and ^(E)those who look through the windows are dimmed, ⁴and ^(F)the doors on the street are shut—when ^(G)the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all ^(H)the daughters of song are brought low— ⁵they are afraid also of what is high, and ^(I)terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,^[a] and desire fails, because man is going to his ^(J)eternal ^(K)home, and the ^(L)mourners go about the streets— ⁶before the silver cord is snapped, or ^(M)the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is ^(N)shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, ⁷and ^(O)the dust returns to the earth as it was, and ^(P)the spirit returns to God ^(Q)who gave it. ⁸^(R)Vanity^[b] of vanities, says ^(S)the Preacher; all is vanity.

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

⁹Besides being wise, ^(T)the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging ^(U)many proverbs with great care. ¹⁰^(V)The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

¹¹^(W)The words of the wise are like goads, and like ^(X)nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are ^(Y)given by ^(Z)one Shepherd. ¹²My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making ^(AA)many books there is no end, and ^(AB)much study is a weariness of the flesh.

¹³The end of the matter; all has been heard. ^(AC)Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.^[c] ¹⁴For ^(AD)God will bring every deed into judgment, with^[d] every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 12:5 Or is a burden
Ecclesiastes 12:8 The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a “vapor” or “mere breath” (three times in this verse); see note on 1:2
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Or the duty of all mankind
Ecclesiastes 12:14 Or into the judgment on

Hebrews 10

English Standard Version

Christ's Sacrifice Once for All

10 For since the law has but ^(A)a shadow ^(B)of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, ^(C)it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. ²Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? ³But ^(D)in these sacrifices ^(E)there is a reminder of sins every year. ⁴For ^(F)it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵Consequently, ^(G)when Christ^[a] came into the world, he said,

^(H)“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
    but a body have you prepared for me;
⁶in burnt offerings and sin offerings
    you have taken no pleasure.
⁷Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
    as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

⁸When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in ^(I)sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), ⁹then he added, ^(J)“Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰And by that will ^(K)we have been sanctified through the offering of ^(L)the body of Jesus Christ ^(M)once for all.

¹¹And every priest stands ^(N)daily at his service, ^(O)offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, ^(P)which can never take away sins. ¹²But when Christ^[b] had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he ^(Q)sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³waiting from that time ^(R)until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴For by a single offering ^(S)he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

¹⁵And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

¹⁶^(T)“This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,”

¹⁷then he adds,

^(U)“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

¹⁸Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

The Full Assurance of Faith

¹⁹^(V)Therefore, brothers,^[c] since we have confidence to enter ^(W)the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by ^(X)the new and living way that he opened for us through ^(Y)the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹and since we have ^(Z)a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts ^(AA)sprinkled clean ^(AB)from an evil conscience and our bodies ^(AC)washed with pure water. ²³^(AD)Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for ^(AE)he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And ^(AF)let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵^(AG)not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and ^(AH)all the more as you see ^(AI)the Day drawing near.

²⁶For ^(AJ)if we go on sinning deliberately ^(AK)after receiving the knowledge of the truth, ^(AL)there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷^(AM)but a fearful expectation of judgment, and ^(AN)a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ²⁸^(AO)Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy ^(AP)on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁹How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one ^(AQ)who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned ^(AR)the blood of the covenant ^(AS)by which he was sanctified, and has ^(AT)outraged the Spirit of grace? ³⁰For we know him who said, ^(AU)“Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, ^(AV)“The Lord will judge his people.” ³¹^(AW)It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³²But recall the former days when, after ^(AX)you were enlightened, you endured ^(AY)a hard struggle with sufferings, ³³sometimes being ^(AZ)publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. ³⁴For ^(BA)you had compassion on those in prison, and ^(BB)you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had ^(BC)a better possession and an abiding one. ³⁵Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has ^(BD)a great reward. ³⁶For ^(BE)you have need of endurance, so that ^(BF)when you have done the will of God you may ^(BG)receive what is promised. ³⁷For,

^(BH)“Yet a little while,
and ^(BI)the coming one will come and will not delay;
³⁸^(BJ)but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.”