Today's Reading

¹Thus said the Lord, "Go, and buy a potter's earthen bottle, and take some of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;

²and go forth to the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell you;

³and say, 'Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold, I will bring evil on this place, which whoever hears, his ears shall tingle.

⁴Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods, that they did not know, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,

⁵and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal; which I did not command, nor spoke it, neither came it into my mind:

⁶therefore, behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter.

⁷I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.

⁸I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; everyone who passes thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues.

⁹I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, shall distress them."'

¹⁰Then you shall break the bottle in the sight of the men who go with you,

¹¹and shall tell them, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: "Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel, that can't be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, until there is no place to bury.

¹²Thus will I do to this place," says the Lord, "and to its inhabitants, even making this city as Topheth:

¹³and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky, and have poured out drink offerings to other gods."'"

¹⁴Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the Lord's house, and said to all the people:

¹⁵"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.'"

¹Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the house of the Lord, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.

²Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of the Lord.

³It happened on the next day, that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, "The Lord has not called your name 'Pashhur,' but 'Magormissabib.'

⁴For thus says the Lord, 'Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself, and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall kill them with the sword.

⁵Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all its gains, and all the precious things of it, yes, all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies; and they shall make them a prey, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.

⁶You, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house shall go into captivity; and you shall come to Babylon, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.'"

⁷Lord, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded; you are stronger than I, and have prevailed: I am become a laughing-stock all the day, every one mocks me.

⁸For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, "Violence and destruction!" because the word of the Lord is made a reproach to me, and a derision, all the day.

⁹If I say, "I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name," then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with forbearing, and I can't contain it.

¹⁰For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side. "Denounce, and we will denounce him," say all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall; "perhaps he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him."

¹¹But the Lord is with me as an awesome mighty one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; they shall be utterly disappointed, because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which shall never be forgotten.

¹²But, the Lord of hosts, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them; for to you have I revealed my cause.

¹³Sing to the Lord, praise the Lord; for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers.

¹⁴Cursed is the day in which I was born: do not let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed.

¹⁵Cursed is the man who brought news to my father, saying, A boy is born to you; making him very glad.

¹⁶Let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew, and did not repent: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime;

¹⁷because he did not kill me from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.

¹⁸Why came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, when king Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,

²"Please inquire of the Lord for us; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us: perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us."

³Then Jeremiah said to them, "You shall tell Zedekiah:

⁴'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, "Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you, without the walls; and I will gather them into the midst of this city.

⁵I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation.

⁶I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal: they shall die of a great pestilence.

⁷Afterward," says the Lord, "I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life: and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy."'

⁸To this people you shall say, "Thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

⁹He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out, and passes over to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey.

¹⁰For I have set my face on this city for evil, and not for good,' says the Lord: 'it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.'

¹¹Touching the house of the king of Judah, hear the word of the Lord:

¹²'House of David, thus says the Lord, "Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

¹³Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, and of the rock of the plain," says the Lord; "you that say, 'Who shall come down against us? Or who shall enter into our habitations?'

¹⁴I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings," says the Lord; "and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is around her."'"

¹Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father; the younger men as brothers;

²the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, in all purity.

³Honor widows who are widows indeed.

⁴But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety towards their own family, and to repay their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God.

⁵Now she who is a widow indeed, and desolate, has her hope set on God, and continues in petitions and prayers night and day.

⁶But she who gives herself to pleasure is dead while she lives.

⁷Also command these things, that they may be without reproach.

⁸But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹Let no one be enrolled as a widow under sixty years old, having been the wife of one man,

¹⁰being approved by good works, if she has brought up children, if she has been hospitable to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, and if she has diligently followed every good work.

¹¹But refuse younger widows, for when they have grown wanton against Christ, they desire to marry;

¹²having condemnation, because they have rejected their first pledge.

¹³Besides, they also learn to be idle, going about from house to house. Not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not.

¹⁴I desire therefore that the younger widows marry, bear children, rule the household, and give no occasion to the adversary for reviling.

¹⁵For already some have turned aside after Satan.

¹⁶If any woman who believes has widows, let her assist them, and do not let the church be burdened; that it might help those widows who are truly in need.

¹⁷Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching.

¹⁸For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain." And, "The laborer is worthy of his wages."

¹⁹Do not receive an accusation against an elder, except at the word of two or three witnesses.

²⁰Those who sin, reprove in the sight of all, that the rest also may be in fear.

²¹I command you in the sight of God, and Christ Jesus, and the chosen angels, that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality.

²²Lay hands hastily on no one, neither be a participant in other men's sins. Keep yourself pure.

²³Be no longer a drinker of water only, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities.

²⁴Some men's sins are evident, preceding them to judgment, and some also follow later.

²⁵In the same way also there are good works that are obvious, and those that are otherwise cannot be hidden.

¹Wisdom has built her house. She has carved out her seven pillars.

²She has prepared her meat. She has mixed her wine. She has also set her table.

³She has sent out her maidens. She cries from the highest places of the city:

⁴"Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" As for him who is void of understanding, she says to him,

⁵"Come, eat some of my bread, Drink some of the wine which I have mixed!

⁶Leave your simple ways, and live. Walk in the way of understanding."

⁷He who corrects a mocker invites insult. He who reproves a wicked man invites abuse.

⁸Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

⁹Instruct a wise man, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.

¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

¹¹For by me your days will be multiplied. The years of your life will be increased.

¹²If you are wise, you are wise for yourself. If you mock, you alone will bear it.

¹³The foolish woman is loud, Undisciplined, and knows nothing.

¹⁴She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,

¹⁵To call to those who pass by, who go straight on their ways,

¹⁶"Whoever is simple, let him turn in here." as for him who is void of understanding, she says to him,

¹⁷"Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant."

¹⁸But he doesn't know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.