Jeremiah 21 - 23, Romans 10, Psalm 106:1-27

Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah

21The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh when ^aKing Zedekiah sent to him ^bPashhur, the son of Malchijah, and ^cZephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, ²“Please ^ainquire of Yahweh on our behalf, for ¹^,^bNebuchadnezzar king of ^cBabylon is warring against us; perhaps Yahweh will deal with us ^daccording to all His ²wonderful acts, so that the enemy will go up from us.”

³Then Jeremiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, ⁴‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to ^aturn back the weapons of war which are in your hands, with which you are warring against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will ^bgather them into the center of this city. ⁵“I ^aMyself will war against you with an ^boutstretched hand and a strong arm, even in ^canger and wrath and great indignation. ⁶“I will also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great ^apestilence. ⁷“Then afterwards,” declares Yahweh, “^aI will give over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people, even those who remain in this city from the pestilence, the sword, and 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 lives; and he will strike them down with the edge of the sword. He ^bwill not show pity on them nor spare nor have compassion.”’

⁸“You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I ^aset before you the way of life and the way of death. ⁹“He who ^ainhabits this city will die by the ^bsword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as spoil. ¹⁰“For I have ^aset My face against this city for ¹evil and not for good,” declares Yahweh. “It will be ^bgiven into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will ^cburn it with fire.”’

¹¹“Then say to the household of the ^aking of Judah, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, ¹²O ^ahouse of David, thus says Yahweh: “^bRender justice ¹every ^cmorning;And deliver the person who has been robbed from the ²power of his oppressor,^dLest My wrath go forth like fireAnd ^eburn with none to extinguish it,Because of the evil of their deeds.

¹³“Behold, ^aI am against you, O ^binhabitant of the valley,O ¹rocky plain,” declares Yahweh,“You men who say, ‘^cWho will come down against us?Or who will enter into our dwelling places?’¹⁴“But I will punish you ^aaccording to the ¹results of your deeds,” declares Yahweh,“And I will ^bkindle a fire in its forestThat it may devour all its surroundings.”’”

O Land, Hear Yahweh

22Thus says Yahweh, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and there you shall speak this word ²and say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O king of Judah, who ^asits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who enter these gates. ³‘Thus says Yahweh, “^aDo justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his ^boppressor. Also ^cdo not mistreat or do violence to the sojourner, the orphan, or the widow; and do not ^dshed innocent blood in this place. ⁴“For if you men will indeed do this thing, then ^akings will enter the gates of this house, sitting for David on his throne, riding in chariots and on horses, even the king himself and his servants and his people. ⁵“^aBut if you will not obey these words, I ^bswear by Myself,” declares Yahweh, “that this house will become a waste place.”’” ⁶For thus says Yahweh concerning the house of the king of Judah: “You are like ^aGilead to Me,Like the summit of Lebanon;Yet most assuredly I will make you like a ^bwilderness,Like cities which are not inhabited.

⁷“For I will set apart ^adestroyers against you,Each with his weapons;And they will ^bcut down your choicest cedarsAnd ^cthrow them on the fire.

⁸“Many nations will pass by this city; and they will ^asay to one another, ‘Why has Yahweh done thus to this great city?’ ⁹“Then they will say, ‘Because they ^aforsook the covenant of Yahweh their God and worshiped other gods and served them.’”

¹⁰^aDo not weep for the dead or console him,But weep continually for the one who goes away,For ^bhe will never returnOr see the land of his birth.

¹¹For thus says Yahweh in regard to ¹^,^aShallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of Josiah his father, who went forth from this place, “He will never return there; ¹²but in the place where they took him away into exile, there he will ^adie and not see this land again.

¹³“Woe to him who builds his house ^awithout righteousnessAnd his ¹upper rooms without justice,Who uses his neighbor’s services without payAnd ^bdoes not give him his wages,¹⁴Who says, ‘I will ^abuild myself a roomy houseWith spacious ¹upper roomsAnd cut out its windows,²Paneling it with ^bcedar and painting it ³bright red.’¹⁵“Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar?Did not your father eat and drinkAnd ^ado justice and righteousness?Then it was ^bwell with him.¹⁶“He pled the cause of the ^aafflicted and needy;Then it was well.^bIs not that what it means to know Me?”Declares Yahweh.¹⁷“But your eyes and your heartAre set on nothing except your own ^agreedy gainAnd on ^bshedding innocent bloodAnd on doing oppression and extortion.”

¹⁸Therefore thus says Yahweh in regard to ^aJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, “They will not ^blament for him:‘^cAlas, my brother!’ or, ‘Alas, sister!’They will not lament for him:‘Alas for the master!’ or, ‘Alas for his splendor!’

¹⁹“He will be ^aburied with a donkey’s burial,Dragged off and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem.²⁰“Go up to Lebanon and cry out,And lift up your voice in Bashan;Cry out also from ^aAbarim,For all your ^blovers have been broken.²¹“I spoke to you in your prosperity,But ^ayou said, ‘I will not listen!’^bThis has been your way ^cfrom your youth,That you have not listened to My voice.²²“The wind will sweep away all your ^ashepherds,And your ^blovers will go into captivity;Then you will surely be ^cashamed and feel dishonorBecause of all your evil.²³“You who inhabit Lebanon,Nested in the cedars,How you will groan when pangs come upon you,^aPain like a woman in childbirth!

²⁴“As I live,” declares Yahweh, “even though ¹^,^aConiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a ^bsignet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull ²you ³off; ²⁵and I will ^agive you over into the hand of those who are seeking your life, indeed, into the hand of those whom you dread, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. ²⁶“I will ^ahurl you and your ^bmother who bore you into another land—there you were not born, but there you will die. ²⁷“But as for the land to which their soul desires to return, they will not return to it.

²⁸“Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered jar?Or is he an ^aundesirable vessel?Why have he and his seed been ^bhurled outAnd cast into a ^cland that they had not known?²⁹“^aO land, land, land,Hear the word of Yahweh!

³⁰“Thus says Yahweh, ‘Write this man down ^achildless,A man who will ^bnot succeed in his days;For no man of his ^cseed will succeedSitting on the throne of DavidOr ruling again in Judah.’”

The Righteous Branch

23“^aWoe to the shepherds who are ¹^,^bdestroying and scattering the ^csheep of My pasture!” declares Yahweh. ²Therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who are shepherding My people: “You have scattered My flock and banished them and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to ^aattend to you for the ^bevil of your deeds,” declares Yahweh. ³“Then I Myself will ^agather the remnant of My flock out of all the land where I have banished them and cause them to return to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply. ⁴“I will also raise up ^ashepherds over them, and they will ¹shepherd them; and they will ^bnot be afraid any longer, nor be terrified, ^cnor will any be left unattended,” declares Yahweh.

⁵“Behold, the ^adays are coming,” declares Yahweh,“When I will raise up for David a righteous ¹^,^bBranch;And He will ^creign as king and ²prosperAnd ^ddo justice and righteousness in the land.⁶“In His days Judah will be saved,And ^aIsrael will dwell securely;And this is His ^bname by which He will be called,‘^cYahweh our righteousness.’

⁷“^aTherefore behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when they will no longer say, ‘As Yahweh lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ ⁸^abut, ‘As Yahweh lives, who ^bbrought up and brought back the seed of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the lands where I had banished them.’ Then they will live on their own soil.”

False Prophets Condemned

⁹As for the prophets:My ^aheart is broken within me;All my bones tremble;I have become like a drunken man,Even like a man overcome with wine,Because of YahwehAnd because of His holy words.¹⁰For the land is full of ^aadulterers;For the land ^bmourns because of the curse.The ^cpastures of the wilderness have dried up.Their course also is evil,And their might is not right.¹¹“For ^aboth prophet and priest are polluted;Even in My house I have found their evil,” declares Yahweh.¹²“Therefore their way will be like ^aslippery paths to them;They will be driven away into the ^bthick darkness and fall down in it;For I will bring their ^cevil upon them,The year of their ¹punishment,” declares Yahweh.¹³“Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an ^aoffensive thing:They ^bprophesied by Baal and ^cled My people Israel astray.¹⁴“Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen an ^aappalling thing:The committing of ^badultery and walking in lying;And they strengthen the hands of ^cevildoers,So that no one has turned back from his evil.All of them have become to Me like ^dSodom,And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.

¹⁵“Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts concerning the prophets, ‘Behold, I am going to ^afeed them wormwoodAnd make them drink ¹poisoned water,For from the prophets of JerusalemPollution has gone forth into all the land.’”

¹⁶Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “^aDo not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you.They are ^bleading you into vanity;They speak a ^cvision of their own heart,Not ^dfrom the mouth of Yahweh.

¹⁷“They keep saying to those who ^aspurn Me,‘Yahweh has said, “^bYou will have peace”’;And as for everyone who walks in the ^cstubbornness of his own heart,They say, ‘^dEvil will not come upon you.’¹⁸“But ^awho has stood in the council of Yahweh,That he should see and hear His word?Who has given ^bheed to ¹His word and heard?¹⁹“Behold, the ^astorm of Yahweh has gone forth in wrath,Even a whirling storm;It will whirl down on the head of the wicked.²⁰“The ^aanger of Yahweh will not turn backUntil He has ^bdone and established the purposes of His heart;^cIn the last days you will clearly understand it.²¹“^aI did not send these prophets,But they ran.I did not speak to them,But they prophesied.²²“But if they had ^astood in My council,Then they would have ^bcaused My words to be heard by My peopleAnd would have turned them back from their evil wayAnd from the evil of their deeds.²³“Am I a God who is ^anear,” declares Yahweh,“And not a God far off?²⁴“Can a man ^ahide himself in hiding placesSo I do not see him?” declares Yahweh.“^bDo I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares Yahweh.

²⁵“I have ^aheard what the prophets have said who ^bprophesy a lie in My name, saying, ‘I had a ^cdream, I had a dream!’ ²⁶“How long? Is there anything in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy a lie, even these prophets of the ^adeception of their own heart, ²⁷who intend to ^amake My people forget My name by their dreams which they recount to one another, just as their fathers ^bforgot My name because of Baal? ²⁸“The prophet who has a dream may recount his dream, but let him who has ^aMy word speak My word in truth. ^bWhat does straw have in common with grain?” declares Yahweh. ²⁹“Is not My word like ^afire?” declares Yahweh, “and like a ^bhammer which shatters a rock? ³⁰“Therefore behold, ^aI am against the prophets,” declares Yahweh, “who steal My words from each other. ³¹“Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares Yahweh, “who take their tongues and declare, ‘Yahweh declares.’ ³²“Behold, I am against those who have prophesied ^alying dreams,” declares Yahweh, “and who recounted them and led My people astray by their lying and ^breckless boasting; yet ^cI did not send them, and I did not command them, and they do not ^dfurnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares Yahweh.

³³“Now when this people or the prophet or a priest asks you, saying, ‘What is the ¹^,^aoracle of Yahweh?’ then you shall say to them, ‘What oracle?’ Yahweh declares, ‘I will ^babandon you.’ ³⁴“Then as for the prophet or the priest or the people who say, ‘The ^aoracle of Yahweh,’ I will bring punishment upon that man and his household. ³⁵“Thus will each of you say to his neighbor and to his brother, ‘^aWhat has Yahweh answered?’ or, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’ ³⁶“For you will no longer remember the oracle of Yahweh because every man’s own word will become the oracle, and you have ^aperverted the words of the ^bliving God, Yahweh of hosts, our God. ³⁷“Thus you will say to that prophet, ‘What has Yahweh answered you?’ and, ‘What has Yahweh spoken?’ ³⁸“For if you all say, ‘The oracle of Yahweh!’ surely thus says Yahweh, ‘Because you said this word, “The oracle of Yahweh!” I have also sent to you, saying, “You shall not say, ‘The oracle of Yahweh!’”’ ³⁹“Therefore behold, ^aI will surely forget you and abandon you, along with the city which I gave you and your fathers, so that you are out of My presence. ⁴⁰“I will put an everlasting ^areproach on you and an everlasting humiliation which will not be forgotten.”

10Brothers, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. ²For I testify about them that they have ^aa zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. ³For not knowing about the ^arighteousness of God and ^bseeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. ⁴For ^aChrist is the ¹end of the law for righteousness to ^beveryone who believes.

Faith Comes by Hearing

⁵For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of law: “^aThe man who does these things shall live by them.” ⁶But ^athe righteousness of faith speaks in this way: “^bDo not say in your heart, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), ⁷or ‘Who will go down into the ^aabyss?’ (that is, to ^bbring Christ up from the dead).” ⁸But what does it say? “^aThe word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, ⁹¹that ^aif you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and ^bbelieve in your heart that ^cGod raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; ¹⁰for with the heart a person believes, ¹leading to righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, ²leading to salvation. ¹¹For the Scripture says, “^aWhoever believes upon Him will not be put to shame.” ¹²For ^athere is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is ^bLord of ^call, abounding in riches for all who call on Him, ¹³for “^aWhoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁴How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him ^awhom they have not heard? And how will they hear without ^ba preacher? ¹⁵And how will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “^aHow beautiful are the feet of those who ^bproclaim good news of good things!”

¹⁶However, they ^adid not all heed the ¹good news, for Isaiah says, “^bLord, who has believed our report?” ¹⁷So faith comes from ^ahearing, and hearing by ^bthe word ¹of Christ.

¹⁸But I say, have they never heard? On the contrary, they have; “^aTheir voice has gone out into all the earth,And their words to the ends of the ¹world.”

¹⁹But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says, “^aI will ^bmake you jealous by that which is not a nation,By a nation without understanding will I anger you.”

²⁰And Isaiah is very bold and says, “^aI was found by those who did not seek Me,I became manifest to those who did not ask for Me.”

²¹But as for Israel He says, “^aAll day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

Remember Me, O Yahweh

106¹Praise Yah!Oh ^agive thanks to Yahweh, for He ^bis good;For ^cHis lovingkindness endures forever.²Who can speak of the ^amighty deeds of Yahweh,Or can make all His praise to be heard?³How blessed are those who keep ¹justice,²And he who ^adoes righteousness at all times!⁴Remember me, O Yahweh, in Your ^afavor ¹toward Your people;Visit me with Your salvation,⁵That I may see the ^agoodness of Your chosen ones,That I may ^brejoice in the gladness of Your nation,That I may ^cboast with Your ¹inheritance.⁶^aWe have sinned ^bwith our fathers,We have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly.⁷Our fathers in Egypt did not consider Your wondrous deeds;They ^adid not remember Your abundant lovingkindnesses,But they ^brebelled by the sea, at the ¹Red Sea.⁸Yet He saved them ^afor the sake of His name,That He might ^bmake His might known.⁹Thus He ^arebuked the ¹Red Sea and it ^bdried up,And He ^cled them through the deeps, as through the wilderness.¹⁰So He ^asaved them from the ¹hand of the one who hated them,And ^bredeemed them from the ²hand of the enemy.¹¹^aThe waters covered their adversaries;Not one of them was left.¹²Then they ^abelieved His words;They ^bsang His praise.¹³They quickly ^aforgot His works;They ^bdid not wait for His counsel,¹⁴But ^acraved intensely in the wilderness,And ^bput God to the test in the wasteland.¹⁵So He ^agave them their request,But ^bsent a ¹wasting disease against their lives.¹⁶Then they became ^aenvious of Moses in the camp,And of Aaron, the holy one of Yahweh,¹⁷The ^aearth opened and swallowed up Dathan,And covered up the ¹company of Abiram.¹⁸And a ^afire burned up in their company;The flame consumed the wicked.¹⁹They ^amade a calf in HorebAnd worshiped a molten image.²⁰Thus they ^aexchanged their gloryFor the image of an ox that eats grass.²¹They ^aforgot God their Savior,Who had done ^bgreat things in Egypt,²²^aWondrous deeds in the land of HamAnd awesome things by the ¹Red Sea.²³Therefore ^aHe said that He would destroy them,Had not ^bMoses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,To turn away His wrath from ¹eradicating them.²⁴Then they ^adespised the ^bpleasant land;They ^cdid not believe in His word,²⁵But ^agrumbled in their tents;They did not listen to the voice of Yahweh.²⁶So He ¹^,^aswore to themTo make them fall in the wilderness,²⁷And to ^amake their seed fall among the nationsAnd to ^bscatter them in the lands.