1
How terrible will be the LORD's judgment on those rulers who destroy and scatter his people!
2
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the rulers who were supposed to take care of his people: "You have not taken care of my people; you have scattered them and driven them away. Now I am going to punish you for the evil you have done.
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I will gather the rest of my people from the countries where I have scattered them, and I will bring them back to their homeland. They will have many children and increase in number.
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I will appoint rulers to take care of them. My people will no longer be afraid or terrified, and I will not punish them again. I, the LORD, have spoken."
5
The LORD says, "The time is coming when I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land.
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When he is king, the people of Judah will be safe, and the people of Israel will live in peace. He will be called 'The LORD Our Salvation.'
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"The time is coming," says the LORD, "when people will no longer swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
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Instead, they will swear by me as the living God who brought the people of Israel out of a northern land and out of all the other countries where I had scattered them. Then they will live in their own land."
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My heart is crushed, and I am trembling. Because of the LORD, because of his holy words, I am like a man who is drunk, someone who has had too much wine.
10
The land is full of people unfaithful to the LORD; they live wicked lives and misuse their power. Because of the LORD's curse the land mourns and the pastures are dry.
11
The LORD says, "The prophets and the priests are godless; I have caught them doing evil in the Temple itself.
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The paths they follow will be slippery and dark; I will make them stumble and fall. I am going to bring disaster on them; the time of their punishment is coming. I, the LORD, have spoken.
13
I have seen the sin of Samaria's prophets: they have spoken in the name of Baal and have led my people astray.
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But I have seen the prophets in Jerusalem do even worse: they commit adultery and tell lies; they help people to do wrong, so that no one stops doing what is evil. To me they are all as bad as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
15
"So then, this is what I, the LORD Almighty, say about the prophets of Jerusalem: I will give them bitter plants to eat and poison to drink, because they have spread ungodliness throughout the land."
16
The LORD Almighty said to the people of Jerusalem, "Do not listen to what the prophets say; they are filling you with false hopes. They tell you what they have imagined and not what I have said.
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To the people who refuse to listen to what I have said, they keep saying that all will go well with them. And they tell everyone who is stubborn that disaster will never touch them."
18
I said, "None of these prophets has ever known the LORD's secret thoughts. None of them has ever heard or understood his message, or ever listened or paid attention to what he said.
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His anger is a storm, a furious wind that will rage over the heads of the wicked,
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and it will not end until he has done everything he intends to do. In days to come his people will understand this clearly."
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The LORD said, "I did not send these prophets, but even so they went. I did not give them any message, but still they spoke in my name.
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If they had known my secret thoughts, then they could have proclaimed my message to my people and could have made them give up the evil lives they live and the wicked things they do.
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"I am a God who is everywhere and not in one place only.
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No one can hide where I cannot see them. Do you not know that I am everywhere in heaven and on earth?
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I know what those prophets have said who speak lies in my name and claim that I have given them my messages in their dreams.
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How much longer will those prophets mislead my people with the lies they have invented?
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They think that the dreams they tell will make my people forget me, just as their ancestors forgot me and turned to Baal.
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The prophet who has had a dream should say it is only a dream, but the prophet who has heard my message should proclaim that message faithfully. What good is straw compared with wheat?
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My message is like a fire and like a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces.
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I am against those prophets who take each other's words and proclaim them as my message.
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I am also against those prophets who speak their own words and claim they came from me.
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Listen to what I, the LORD, say! I am against the prophets who tell their dreams that are full of lies. They tell these dreams and lead my people astray with their lies and their boasting. I did not send them or order them to go, and they are of no help at all to the people. I, the LORD, have spoken."
33
The LORD said to me, "Jeremiah, when one of my people or a prophet or a priest asks you, 'What is the LORD's message?' you are to say, 'You are a burden to the LORD, and he is going to get rid of you.'
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If any of my people or a prophet or a priest even uses the words 'the LORD's burden,' I will punish them and their families.
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Instead, each one of them should ask their friends and their relatives, 'What answer has the LORD given? What has the LORD said?'
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So they must no longer use the words 'the LORD's burden,' because if any of them do, I will make my message a real burden to them. The people have perverted the words of their God, the living God, the LORD Almighty.
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Jeremiah, ask the prophets, 'What answer did the LORD give you? What did the LORD say?'
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And if they disobey my command and use the words 'the LORD's burden,' then tell them that
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I will certainly pick them up and throw them far away from me, both them and the city that I gave to them and their ancestors.
40
I will bring on them everlasting shame and disgrace that will never be forgotten."
1
The LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the Temple. (This was after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had taken away Jehoiakim's son, King Jehoiachin of Judah, as a prisoner from Jerusalem to Babylonia, together with the leaders of Judah, the craftworkers, and the skilled workers.)
2
The first basket contained good figs, those that ripen early; the other one contained bad figs, too bad to eat.
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Then the LORD said to me, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" I answered, "Figs. The good ones are very good, and the bad ones are very bad, too bad to eat."
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So the LORD said to me,
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"I, the LORD, the God of Israel, consider that the people who were taken away to Babylonia are like these good figs, and I will treat them with kindness.
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I will watch over them and bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not pull them up.
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I will give them the desire to know that I am the LORD. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will return to me with all their heart.
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"As for King Zedekiah of Judah, the politicians around him, and the rest of the people of Jerusalem who have stayed in this land or moved to Egypt---I, the LORD, will treat them all like these figs that are too bad to be eaten.
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I will bring such a disaster on them that all the nations of the world will be terrified. People will make fun of them, make jokes about them, ridicule them, and use their name as a curse everywhere I scatter them.
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I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them until there is not one of them left in the land that I gave to them and their ancestors."
1
In the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, I received a message from the LORD concerning all the people of Judah. (This was the first year that Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylonia.)
2
I said to all the people of Judah and of Jerusalem,
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"For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah until this very day, the LORD has spoken to me, and I have never failed to tell you what he said. But you have paid no attention.
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You would not listen or pay attention, even though the LORD has continued to send you his servants the prophets.
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They told you to turn from your wicked way of life and from the evil things you are doing, so that you could go on living in the land that the LORD gave you and your ancestors as a permanent possession.
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They told you not to worship and serve other gods and not to make the LORD angry by worshiping the idols you had made. If you had obeyed the LORD, then he would not have punished you.
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But the LORD himself says that you refused to listen to him. Instead, you made him angry with your idols and have brought his punishment on yourselves.
8
"So then, because you would not listen to him, the LORD Almighty says,
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'I am going to send for all the peoples from the north and for my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia. I am going to bring them to fight against Judah and its inhabitants and against all the neighboring nations. I am going to destroy this nation and its neighbors and leave them in ruins forever, a terrible and shocking sight. I, the LORD, have spoken.
10
I will silence their shouts of joy and gladness and the happy sounds of wedding feasts. They will have no oil for their lamps, and there will be no more grain.
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This whole land will be left in ruins and will be a shocking sight, and the neighboring nations will serve the king of Babylonia for seventy years.
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After that I will punish Babylonia and its king for their sin. I will destroy that country and leave it in ruins forever.
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I will punish Babylonia with all the disasters that I threatened to bring on the nations when I spoke through Jeremiah---all the disasters recorded in this book.
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I will pay the Babylonians back for what they have done, and many nations and great kings will make slaves of them.' "
15
The LORD, the God of Israel, said to me, "Here is a wine cup filled with my anger. Take it to all the nations to whom I send you, and make them drink from it.
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When they drink from it, they will stagger and go out of their minds because of the war I am sending against them."
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So I took the cup from the LORD's hand, gave it to all the nations to whom the LORD had sent me, and made them drink from it.
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Jerusalem and all the towns of Judah, together with its kings and leaders, were made to drink from it, so that they would become a desert, a terrible and shocking sight, and so that people would use their name as a curse---as they still do.
19
Here is the list of all the others who had to drink from the cup: the king of Egypt, his officials and leaders; all the Egyptians and all the foreigners in Egypt; all the kings of the land of Uz; all the kings of the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and what remains of Ashdod; all the people of Edom, Moab, and Ammon; all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; all the kings of the Mediterranean lands; the cities of Dedan, Tema, and Buz; all the people who cut their hair short; all the kings of Arabia; all the kings of the desert tribes; all the kings of Zimri, Elam, and Media; all the kings of the north, far and near, one after another. Every nation on the face of the earth had to drink from it. Last of all, the king of Babylonia will drink from it.
27
Then the LORD said to me, "Tell the people that I, the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, am commanding them to drink until they are drunk and vomit, until they fall down and cannot get up, because of the war that I am sending against them.
28
And if they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink from it, then tell them that the LORD Almighty has said that they will still have to drink from it.
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I will begin my work of destruction in my own city. Do they think they will go unpunished? No, they will be punished, for I am going to send war on all the people on earth. I, the LORD Almighty, have spoken.
30
"You, Jeremiah, must proclaim everything I have said. You must tell these people, 'The LORD will roar from heaven and thunder from the heights of heaven. He will roar against his people; he will shout like a man treading grapes. Everyone on earth will hear him,
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and the sound will echo to the ends of the earth. The LORD has a case against the nations. He will bring all people to trial and put the wicked to death. The LORD has spoken.' "
32
The LORD Almighty says that disaster is coming on one nation after another, and a great storm is gathering at the far ends of the earth.
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On that day the bodies of those whom the LORD has killed will lie scattered from one end of the earth to the other. No one will mourn for them, and they will not be taken away and buried. They will lie on the ground like piles of manure.
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Cry, you leaders, you shepherds of my people, cry out loud! Mourn and roll in the dust. The time has come for you to be slaughtered, and you will be butchered like rams.
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There will be no way for you to escape.
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You moan and cry out in distress because the LORD in his anger has destroyed your nation and left your peaceful country in ruins.
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The LORD has abandoned his people like a lion that leaves its cave. The horrors of war and the LORD's fierce anger have turned the country into a desert.
1
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped.
2
The soldiers made a crown out of thorny branches and put it on his head; then they put a purple robe on him
3
and came to him and said, "Long live the King of the Jews!" And they went up and slapped him.
4
Pilate went back out once more and said to the crowd, "Look, I will bring him out here to you to let you see that I cannot find any reason to condemn him."
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So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Look! Here is the man!"
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When the chief priests and the Temple guards saw him, they shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "You take him, then, and crucify him. I find no reason to condemn him."
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The crowd answered back, "We have a law that says he ought to die, because he claimed to be the Son of God."
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When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid.
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He went back into the palace and asked Jesus, "Where do you come from?" But Jesus did not answer.
10
Pilate said to him, "You will not speak to me? Remember, I have the authority to set you free and also to have you crucified."
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Jesus answered, "You have authority over me only because it was given to you by God. So the man who handed me over to you is guilty of a worse sin."
12
When Pilate heard this, he tried to find a way to set Jesus free. But the crowd shouted back, "If you set him free, that means that you are not the Emperor's friend! Anyone who claims to be a king is a rebel against the Emperor!"
13
When Pilate heard these words, he took Jesus outside and sat down on the judge's seat in the place called "The Stone Pavement." (In Hebrew the name is "Gabbatha.")
14
It was then almost noon of the day before the Passover. Pilate said to the people, "Here is your king!"
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They shouted back, "Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Do you want me to crucify your king?" The chief priests answered, "The only king we have is the Emperor!"
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Then Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took charge of Jesus.
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He went out, carrying his cross, and came to "The Place of the Skull," as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called "Golgotha.")
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There they crucified him; and they also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus between them.
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Pilate wrote a notice and had it put on the cross. "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," is what he wrote.
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Many people read it, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city. The notice was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
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The chief priests said to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but rather, 'This man said, I am the King of the Jews.' "
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Pilate answered, "What I have written stays written."
23
After the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier. They also took the robe, which was made of one piece of woven cloth without any seams in it.
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The soldiers said to one another, "Let's not tear it; let's throw dice to see who will get it." This happened in order to make the scripture come true: "They divided my clothes among themselves and gambled for my robe." And this is what the soldiers did.
25
Standing close to Jesus' cross were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
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Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, "He is your son."
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Then he said to the disciple, "She is your mother." From that time the disciple took her to live in his home.
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Jesus knew that by now everything had been completed; and in order to make the scripture come true, he said, "I am thirsty."
29
A bowl was there, full of cheap wine; so a sponge was soaked in the wine, put on a stalk of hyssop, and lifted up to his lips.
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Jesus drank the wine and said, "It is finished!" Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31
Then the Jewish authorities asked Pilate to allow them to break the legs of the men who had been crucified, and to take the bodies down from the crosses. They requested this because it was Friday, and they did not want the bodies to stay on the crosses on the Sabbath, since the coming Sabbath was especially holy.
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So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man who had been crucified with Jesus.
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But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they did not break his legs.
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One of the soldiers, however, plunged his spear into Jesus' side, and at once blood and water poured out.
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(The one who saw this happen has spoken of it, so that you also may believe. What he said is true, and he knows that he speaks the truth.)
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This was done to make the scripture come true: "Not one of his bones will be broken."
37
And there is another scripture that says, "People will look at him whom they pierced."
38
After this, Joseph, who was from the town of Arimathea, asked Pilate if he could take Jesus' body. (Joseph was a follower of Jesus, but in secret, because he was afraid of the Jewish authorities.) Pilate told him he could have the body, so Joseph went and took it away.
39
Nicodemus, who at first had gone to see Jesus at night, went with Joseph, taking with him about one hundred pounds of spices, a mixture of myrrh and aloes.
40
The two men took Jesus' body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices according to the Jewish custom of preparing a body for burial.
41
There was a garden in the place where Jesus had been put to death, and in it there was a new tomb where no one had ever been buried.
42
Since it was the day before the Sabbath and because the tomb was close by, they placed Jesus' body there.
