Jeremiah 12

JEREMIAH’S COMPLAINT
You will be righteous, Lord,
even if I bring a case against you.
Yet, I wish to contend with you:
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all the treacherous live at ease?
2 You planted them, and they have taken root.
They have grown and produced fruit.
You are ever on their lips,
but far from their conscience.
3 As for you, Lord, you know me; you see me.
You test whether my heart is with you.
Drag the wicked away like sheep to slaughter
and set them apart for the day of killing.
4 How long will the land mourn
and the grass of every field wither?
Because of the evil of its residents,
animals and birds have been swept away,
for the people have said,
“He cannot see what our end will be.”
THE LORD’S RESPONSE
5 If you have raced with runners
and they have worn you out,
how can you compete with horses?
If you stumble in a peaceful land,
what will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
6 Even your brothers ​— ​your own father’s family —
even they were treacherous to you;
even they have cried out loudly after you.
Do not have confidence in them,
though they speak well of you.
7 I have abandoned my house;
I have deserted my inheritance.
I have handed the love of my life
over to her enemies.
8 My inheritance has behaved toward me
like a lion in the forest.
She has roared against me.
Therefore, I hate her.
9 Is my inheritance like a hyena to me?
Are birds of prey circling her?
Go, gather all the wild animals;
bring them to devour her.
10 Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard;
they have trampled my plot of land.
They have turned my desirable plot
into a desolate wasteland.
11 They have made it a desolation.
It mourns, desolate, before me.
All the land is desolate,
but no one takes it to heart.
12 Over all the barren heights in the wilderness
the destroyers have come,
for the Lord has a sword that devours
from one end of the earth to the other.
No one has peace.
13 They have sown wheat but harvested thorns.
They have exhausted themselves but have no profit.
Be put to shame by your harvests
because of the Lord’s burning anger.
14 This is what the Lord says: “Concerning all my evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to my people, Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them. 15 After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land. 16 If they will diligently learn the ways of my people ​— ​to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ just as they taught my people to swear by Baal ​— ​they will be built up among my people. 17 However, if they will not obey, then I will uproot and destroy that nation.”

This is the Lord’s declaration.

Jeremiah 13

LINEN UNDERWEAR
This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment and put it on. But do not put it in water.”
2 So I bought underwear as the Lord instructed me and put it on.

3 Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time: 4 “Take the underwear that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to the Euphrates and hide it in a rocky crevice.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

6 A long time later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to the Euphrates and get the underwear that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined ​— ​of no use at all.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “This is what the Lord says: Just like this I will ruin the great pride of both Judah and Jerusalem. 10 These evil people, who refuse to listen to me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who have followed other gods to serve and bow in worship ​— ​they will be like this underwear, of no use at all. 11 Just as underwear clings to one’s waist, so I fastened the whole house of Israel and of Judah to me” ​— ​this is the Lord’s declaration ​— ​“so that they might be my people for my fame, praise, and glory, but they would not obey.

THE WINE JARS
12 “Say this to them: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Every jar should be filled with wine.’ Then they will respond to you, ‘Don’t we know that every jar should be filled with wine? ’ 13 And you will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to fill all who live in this land ​— ​the kings who reign for David on his throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the residents of Jerusalem ​— ​with drunkenness. 14 I will smash them against each other, fathers and sons alike ​— ​this is the Lord’s declaration. I will allow no mercy, pity, or compassion to keep me from destroying them.’ ”

THE LORD’S WARNING
15 Listen and pay attention. Do not be proud,
for the Lord has spoken.
16 Give glory to the Lord your God
before he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the mountains at dusk.
You wait for light,
but he brings darkest gloom
and makes total darkness.
17 But if you will not listen,
my innermost being will weep in secret
because of your pride.
My eyes will overflow with tears,
for the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.
18 Say to the king and the queen mother:
Take a humble seat,
for your glorious crowns
have fallen from your heads.
19 The cities of the Negev are under siege;
no one can help them.
All of Judah has been taken into exile,
taken completely into exile.
20 Look up and see
those coming from the north.
Where is the flock entrusted to you,
the sheep that were your pride?
THE DESTINY OF JERUSALEM
21 What will you say when he appoints
close friends as leaders over you,
ones you yourself trained?
Won’t labor pains seize you,
as they do a woman in labor?
22 And when you ask yourself,
“Why have these things happened to me? ”
it is because of your great guilt
that your skirts have been stripped off,
your body exposed.
23 Can the Cushite change his skin,
or a leopard his spots?
If so, you might be able to do what is good,
you who are instructed in evil.
24 I will scatter you like drifting chaff
before the desert wind.
25 This is your lot,
what I have decreed for you —
this is the Lord’s declaration —
because you have forgotten me
and trusted in lies.
26 I will pull your skirts up over your face
so that your shame might be seen.
27 Your adulteries and your lustful neighing,
your depraved prostitution
on the hills, in the fields —
I have seen your abhorrent acts.
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
You are unclean —
for how long yet?

1 Timothy 4

DEMONIC INFLUENCE
Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
2 through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared. 3 They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods that God created to be received with gratitude by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 since it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer.

A GOOD SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST
6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of the faith and the good teaching that you have followed. 7 But have nothing to do with pointless and silly myths. Rather, train yourself in godliness. 8 For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance. 10 For this reason we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MINISTRY
11 Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. 13 Until I come, give your attention to public reading, exhortation, and teaching. 14 Don’t neglect the gift that is in you; it was given to you through prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the council of elders. 15 Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.

— 1 Timothy 4:1-16 (CSB)