Today's Reading

¹"At that time," says the Lord, "will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people."

²Thus says the Lord, "The people who were left of the sword found favor in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.

³The Lord appeared of old to me, saying, 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you.

⁴Again will I build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel: again you shall be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who make merry.

⁵Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall enjoy its fruit.

⁶For there shall be a day, that the watchmen on the hills of Ephraim shall cry, "Arise, and let us go up to Zion to the Lord our God."'"

⁷For thus says the Lord, "Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout for the chief of the nations: publish, praise, and say, 'Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.'

⁸'Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her who travails with child together: a great company shall they return here.

⁹They shall come with weeping; and with petitions will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.'"

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord, you nations, and declare it in the islands afar off; and say, "He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as shepherd does his flock."

¹¹For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.

¹²They shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow to the goodness of the Lord, to the grain, and to the new wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.

¹³"Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.

¹⁴I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness," says the Lord.

¹⁵Thus says the Lord: "A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more."

¹⁶Thus says the Lord: "Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded," says the Lord; "and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.

¹⁷There is hope for your latter end," says the Lord; "and your children shall come again to their own border.

¹⁸I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, 'You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as an untrained calf: turn me, and I shall be turned; for you are the Lord my God.

¹⁹Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I struck on my thigh: I was ashamed, yes, even confounded, because I bore the reproach of my youth.'

²⁰Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him," says the Lord.

²¹"Set up road signs, make guideposts; set your heart toward the highway, even the way by which you went: turn again, virgin of Israel, turn again to these your cities.

²²How long will you go here and there, you backsliding daughter? For the Lord has created a new thing in the earth: a woman shall encompass a man."

²³Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, "Yet again shall they use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I shall bring again their captivity: 'The Lord bless you, habitation of righteousness, mountain of holiness.'

²⁴Judah and all its cities shall dwell therein together, the farmers, and those who go about with flocks.

²⁵For I have satiated the weary soul, and every sorrowful soul have I replenished."

²⁶On this I awakened, and saw; and my sleep was sweet to me.

²⁷"Behold, the days come, " says the Lord, "that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of animal.

²⁸It shall happen that, like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to overthrow and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them to build and to plant," says the Lord.

²⁹"In those days they shall say no more, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'

³⁰But everyone shall die for his own iniquity: every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

³¹Behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

³²not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband to them," says the Lord.

³³"But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days," says the Lord: "I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people:

³⁴and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord'; for they shall all know me, from their least to their greatest," says the Lord: "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more."

³⁵Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar; the Lord of hosts is his name:

³⁶"If these ordinances depart from before me," says the Lord, "then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever."

³⁷Thus says the Lord: "If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then will I also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done," says the Lord.

³⁸"Behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananel to the gate of the corner.

³⁹The measuring line shall go out further straight onward to the hill Gareb, and shall turn about to Goah.

⁴⁰The whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields to the brook Kidron, to the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy to the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more forever."

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

²Now at that time the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah's house.

³For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, "Why do you prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord, "Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;

⁴and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall see his eyes;

⁵and he shall bring Zedekiah to Babylon, and he shall be there until I visit him," says the Lord: "though you fight with the Chaldeans, you shall not prosper?"'"

⁶Jeremiah said, "The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁷'Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you, saying, "Buy my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it."'

⁸So Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of the Lord, and said to me, "Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

⁹I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel my uncle's son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.

¹⁰I subscribed the deed, and sealed it, and called witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.

¹¹So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, containing the terms and conditions, and that which was open;

¹²and I delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses who subscribed the deed of the purchase, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard.

¹³I commanded Baruch before them, saying,

¹⁴'Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: "Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase which is sealed, and this deed which is open, and put them in an earthen vessel; that they may continue many days."'

¹⁵For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Houses and fields and vineyards shall yet again be bought in this land.'

¹⁶Now after I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying,

¹⁷'Ah, Lord God! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm; there is nothing too hard for you,

¹⁸who show loving kindness to thousands, and recompense the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them; the great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts is his name;

¹⁹great in counsel, and mighty in work; whose eyes are open on all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:

²⁰who performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, both in Israel and among other men; and made yourself a name, as in this day;

²¹and brought forth your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror;

²²and gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey;

²³and they came in, and possessed it, but they did not obey your voice, neither walked in your law; they have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do: therefore you have caused all this evil to come on them.

²⁴Behold, the mounds, they have come to the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence; and what you have spoken has happened; and behold, you see it.

²⁵You have said to me, Lord God, "Buy the field for money, and call witnesses"; whereas the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.'"

²⁶Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁷"Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too difficult for me?

²⁸Therefore thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it:

²⁹and the Chaldeans, who fight against this city, shall come and set this city on fire, and burn it, with the houses, on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.

³⁰For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only that which was evil in my sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says the Lord.

³¹For this city has been to me a provocation of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even to this day; that I should remove it from before my face,

³²because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets, and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

³³They have turned to me the back, and not the face: and though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.

³⁴But they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it.

³⁵They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through fire to Molech; which I did not command them, neither did it come into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.'

³⁶"Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, about which you say, 'It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence':

³⁷'Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries, where I have driven them in my anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:

³⁸and they shall be my people, and I will be their God:

³⁹and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good, and of their children after them:

⁴⁰and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.

⁴¹Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.'

⁴²"For thus says the Lord: 'Just as I have brought all this great disaster on this people, so will I bring on them all the good that I have promised them.

⁴³Fields shall be bought in this land, about which you say, "It is desolate, without man or animal; it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans."

⁴⁴Men shall buy fields for money, and subscribe the deeds, and seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the hill country, and in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the Negev: for I will cause their captivity to return,' says the Lord."

¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,

²"Thus says the Lord who does it, the Lord who forms it to establish it; the Lord is his name:

³'Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you do not know.'

⁴For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which are broken down to make a defense against the mounds and against the sword;

⁵while men come to fight with the Chaldeans, and to fill them with the dead bodies of men, whom I have killed in my anger and in my wrath, and for all whose wickedness I have hidden my face from this city:

⁶'Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth.

⁷I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first.

⁸I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, by which they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, by which they have sinned against me, and by which they have transgressed against me.

⁹This city shall be to me for a name of joy, for a praise and for a glory, before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do to them, and shall fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I procure to it.'

¹⁰"Thus says the Lord: 'Yet again there shall be heard in this place, about which you say, "It is waste, without man and without animal," even in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without animal,

¹¹the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, "Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his loving kindness endures forever; who bring thanksgiving into the house of the Lord." For I will cause the captivity of the land to return as at the first,' says the Lord.

¹²Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'Yet again shall there be in this place, which is waste, without man and without animal, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.

¹³In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks again pass under the hands of him who numbers them,' says the Lord.

¹⁴'Behold, the days come,' says the Lord, 'that I will perform that good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.

¹⁵In those days, and at that time, will I cause a Branch of righteousness to grow up to David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.

¹⁶In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name by which she shall be called: "The Lord our righteousness."

¹⁷For thus says the Lord: "David shall never want a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel;

¹⁸neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to burn meal offerings, and to do sacrifice continually."'"

¹⁹The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁰"Thus says the Lord: 'If you can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, so that there shall not be day and night in their season;

²¹then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.

²²As the army of the sky can't be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured; so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the Levites who minister to me.'"

²³The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying,

²⁴"Do not consider what this people has spoken, saying, 'The two families which the Lord chose, he has cast them off?' Thus do they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.

²⁵Thus says the Lord: 'If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth;

²⁶then will I also cast away the seed of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to return, and will have mercy on them.'"

¹But know this, that in the last days, grievous times will come.

²For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

³without natural affection, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good,

⁴traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God;

⁵holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof. Turn away from these, also.

⁶For of these are those who creep into houses, and take captive gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,

⁷always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

⁸Even as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so do these also oppose the truth; men corrupted in mind, reprobate concerning the faith.

⁹But they will proceed no further. For their folly will be evident to all men, as theirs also came to be.

¹⁰But you did follow my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, steadfastness,

¹¹persecutions, and sufferings: those things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. Out of them all the Lord delivered me.

¹²Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

¹³But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

¹⁴But you remain in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them.

¹⁵From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness,

¹⁷that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

¹A wise son listens to his father's instruction, but a scoffer doesn't listen to rebuke.

²By the fruit of his lips, a man enjoys good things; but the unfaithful crave violence.

³He who guards his mouth guards his soul. One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

⁴The soul of the sluggard desires, and has nothing, but the desire of the diligent shall be fully satisfied.

⁵A righteous man hates lies, but a wicked man brings shame and disgrace.

⁶Righteousness guards the way of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.

⁷There are some who pretend to be rich, yet have nothing. There are some who pretend to be poor, yet have great wealth.

⁸The ransom of a man's life is his riches, but the poor hear no threats.

⁹The light of the righteous shines brightly, but the lamp of the wicked is snuffed out.

¹⁰Pride only breeds quarrels, but with ones who take advice is wisdom.

¹¹Wealth gained dishonestly dwindles away, but he who gathers by hand makes it grow.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.

¹³Whoever despises instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command will be rewarded.

¹⁴The teaching of the wise is a spring of life, to turn from the snares of death.

¹⁵Good understanding wins favor; but the way of the unfaithful is hard.

¹⁶Every prudent man acts from knowledge, but a fool exposes folly.

¹⁷A wicked messenger falls into trouble, but a trustworthy envoy gains healing.

¹⁸Poverty and shame come to him who refuses discipline, but he who heeds correction shall be honored.

¹⁹Longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil.

²⁰One who walks with wise men grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

²¹Misfortune pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous.

²²A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored for the righteous.

²³An abundance of food is in poor people's fields, but injustice sweeps it away.

²⁴One who spares the rod hates his son, but one who loves him is careful to discipline him.

²⁵The righteous one eats to the satisfying of his soul, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry.