Jeremiah 1-2

English Standard Version

1 The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one ^(A)of the priests who were in ^(B)Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, ²to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of ^(C)Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in ^(D)the thirteenth year of his reign. ³It came also in the days of ^(E)Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and ^(F)until the end of the eleventh year of ^(G)Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, ^(H)until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month.

The Call of Jeremiah

⁴Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁵^(I)“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born ^(J)I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet ^(K)to the nations.”

⁶Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, ^(L)I do not know how to speak, ^(M)for I am only a youth.” ⁷But the Lord said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and ^(N)whatever I command you, you shall speak.
⁸^(O)Do not be afraid of them,
^(P)for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the Lord.”

⁹^(Q)Then the Lord put out his hand and ^(R)touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,

“Behold, I have put ^(S)my words in your mouth.
¹⁰See, I have set you this day ^(T)over nations and over kingdoms,
^(U)to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”

¹¹And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ^(V)“Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond^[a] branch.” ¹²Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

¹³The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see ^(W)a boiling pot, facing away ^(X)from the north.” ¹⁴Then the Lord said to me, ^(Y)“Out of the north disaster^[b] shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁵For behold, ^(Z)I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, ^(AA)and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. ¹⁶And ^(AB)I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil ^(AC)in forsaking me. ^(AD)They have made offerings to other gods and ^(AE)worshiped the works of their own hands. ¹⁷But you, ^(AF)dress yourself for work;^[c] arise, and ^(AG)say to them everything that I command you. ^(AH)Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. ¹⁸And I, behold, I make you this day ^(AI)a fortified city, ^(AJ)an iron pillar, and ^(AK)bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. ¹⁹^(AL)They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for ^(AM)I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”

Israel Forsakes the Lord

2 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord,

“I remember the devotion of ^(AN)your youth,
    your love ^(AO)as a bride,
^(AP)how you followed me in the wilderness,
    ^(AQ)in a land not sown.
³^(AR)Israel was holy to the Lord,
    ^(AS)the firstfruits of his harvest.
^(AT)All who ate of it incurred guilt;
    disaster came upon them,
declares the Lord.”

⁴Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel. ⁵Thus says the Lord:

^(AU)“What wrong did your fathers find in me
    that they went far from me,
^(AV)and went after ^(AW)worthlessness, and became worthless?
⁶They did not say, ^(AX)‘Where is the Lord
    who brought us up from the land of Egypt,
who led us ^(AY)in the wilderness,
    in a land of deserts and pits,
in a land of drought and deep darkness,
    in a land that none passes through,
    where no man dwells?’
⁷^(AZ)And I brought you into a plentiful land
    to enjoy its fruits and its good things.
But when you came in, ^(BA)you defiled my land
    and made my heritage an abomination.
⁸The priests did not say, ‘Where is the Lord?’
    ^(BB)Those who handle the law did not know me;
^(BC)the shepherds^[d] transgressed against me;
    ^(BD)the prophets prophesied by Baal
    and went after ^(BE)things that do not profit.

⁹“Therefore ^(BF)I still contend with you,
declares the Lord,
    and ^(BG)with your children's children I will contend.
¹⁰For cross to the coasts of ^(BH)Cyprus and see,
    or send to ^(BI)Kedar and examine with care;
    see if there has been such a thing.
¹¹^(BJ)Has a nation changed its gods,
    ^(BK)even though they are no gods?
But my people ^(BL)have changed their glory
    for ^(BM)that which does not profit.
¹²Be appalled, ^(BN)O heavens, at this;
    be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
¹³for my people have committed two evils:
^(BO)they have forsaken ^(BP)me,
    the fountain of ^(BQ)living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
    broken cisterns that can hold no water.

¹⁴^(BR)“Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant?
    Why then has he become a prey?
¹⁵^(BS)The lions have roared against him;
    they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste;
    his cities are in ruins, ^(BT)without inhabitant.
¹⁶Moreover, the men of ^(BU)Memphis and ^(BV)Tahpanhes
    ^(BW)have shaved^[e] the crown of your head.
¹⁷^(BX)Have you not brought this upon yourself
    by forsaking the Lord your God,
    when ^(BY)he led you in the way?
¹⁸^(BZ)And now what do you gain by going to Egypt
    to drink the waters of ^(CA)the Nile?
^(CB)Or what do you gain by going to Assyria
    to drink the waters of ^(CC)the Euphrates?^[f]
¹⁹^(CD)Your evil will chastise you,
    and ^(CE)your apostasy will reprove you.
Know and see that it is evil and ^(CF)bitter
    for ^(CG)you to forsake the Lord your God;
    the fear of me is not in you,
declares the Lord God of hosts.

²⁰“For long ago I ^(CH)broke your yoke
    and burst your bonds;
    but you said, ^(CI)‘I will not serve.’
Yes, ^(CJ)on every high hill
    and under every green tree
    you bowed down ^(CK)like a whore.
²¹^(CL)Yet I planted you a choice vine,
    wholly of pure seed.
^(CM)How then have you turned degenerate
    and become a wild vine?
²²Though you wash yourself with lye
    and use much soap,
    ^(CN)the stain of your guilt is still before me,
declares the Lord God.
²³^(CO)How can you say, ‘I am not unclean,
    I have not gone after the Baals’?
Look at your way ^(CP)in the valley;
    know what you have done—
a restless young camel running here and there,
²⁴    ^(CQ)a wild donkey used to the wilderness,
in her heat sniffing the wind!
    Who can restrain her lust?
None who seek her need weary themselves;
    in her month they will find her.
²⁵Keep ^(CR)your feet from going unshod
    and ^(CS)your throat from thirst.
But you said, ‘It is hopeless,
    ^(CT)for I have loved foreigners,
    and after them I will go.’

²⁶“As a thief is shamed when caught,
    so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
^(CU)they, their kings, their officials,
    their priests, and their prophets,
²⁷who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
    and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to me,
    and not their face.
But ^(CV)in the time of their trouble they say,
    ‘Arise and save us!’
²⁸But ^(CW)where are your gods
    that you made for yourself?
Let them arise, ^(CX)if they can save you,
    in your time of trouble;
for ^(CY)as many as your cities
    are your gods, O Judah.

²⁹“Why do you contend with me?
    You have all transgressed against me,
declares the Lord.
³⁰In vain have I ^(CZ)struck your children;
    they took no correction;
^(DA)your own sword devoured your prophets
    like a ravening lion.
³¹And you, O generation, behold the word of the Lord.
Have I been a wilderness to Israel,
    or a land of thick darkness?
Why then do my people say, ‘We are free,
    we will come no more to you’?
³²^(DB)Can a virgin forget her ornaments,
    or a bride her attire?
Yet ^(DC)my people have forgotten me
    days without number.

³³“How well you direct your course
    to seek love!
So that even to wicked women
    you have taught your ways.
³⁴Also on your skirts is found
    ^(DD)the lifeblood of the guiltless poor;
you did not find them ^(DE)breaking in.
    Yet in spite of all these things
³⁵you say, ‘I am innocent;
    surely his anger has turned from me.’
^(DF)Behold, I will bring you to judgment
    for ^(DG)saying, ‘I have not sinned.’
³⁶^(DH)How much you go about,
    changing your way!
You shall be ^(DI)put to shame by Egypt
    as you were put to shame by Assyria.
³⁷From it too you will come away
    with ^(DJ)your hands on your head,
for the Lord has rejected those in whom you trust,
    and you will not prosper by them.

Footnotes

Jeremiah 1:11 Almond sounds like the Hebrew for watching (compare verse 12)
Jeremiah 1:14 The Hebrew word can mean evil, harm, or disaster, depending on the context; so throughout Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1:17 Hebrew gird up your loins
Jeremiah 2:8 Or rulers
Jeremiah 2:16 Hebrew grazed
Jeremiah 2:18 Hebrew the River

Acts 26

English Standard Version

Paul's Defense Before Agrippa

26 So ^(A)Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

²“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today ^(B)against all the accusations of the Jews, ³especially because you are familiar with all the ^(C)customs and ^(D)controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴^(E)“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among ^(F)my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. ⁵They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that ^(G)according to the strictest ^(H)party of our ^(I)religion I have lived as ^(J)a Pharisee. ⁶And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in ^(K)the promise made by God to our fathers, ⁷^(L)to which ^(M)our twelve tribes hope to ^(N)attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope ^(O)I am accused by Jews, O king! ⁸Why is it thought ^(P)incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

⁹^(Q)“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of ^(R)Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰^(S)And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority ^(T)from the chief priests, but ^(U)when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. ¹¹And ^(V)I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them ^(W)blaspheme, and ^(X)in raging fury against them I ^(Y)persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

¹²“In this connection ^(Z)I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me ^(AA)in the Hebrew language,^[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶But rise and ^(AB)stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ^(AC)to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ¹⁷^(AD)delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—^(AE)to whom I ^(AF)am sending you ¹⁸^(AG)to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from ^(AH)the power of Satan to God, that they may receive ^(AI)forgiveness of sins and ^(AJ)a place among those who are sanctified ^(AK)by faith in me.’

¹⁹“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to ^(AL)the heavenly vision, ²⁰but declared first ^(AM)to those in Damascus, ^(AN)then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also ^(AO)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(AP)repent and ^(AQ)turn to God, performing deeds ^(AR)in keeping with their repentance. ²¹For this reason ^(AS)the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ²²^(AT)To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so ^(AU)I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what ^(AV)the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ²³^(AW)that the Christ ^(AX)must suffer and that, ^(AY)by being the first ^(AZ)to rise from the dead, ^(BA)he would proclaim ^(BB)light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, ^(BC)you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” ²⁵But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, ^(BD)most excellent Festus, but I am speaking ^(BE)true and ^(BF)rational words. ²⁶For ^(BG)the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. ²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” ²⁸And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be ^(BH)a Christian?”^[b] ²⁹And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day ^(BI)might become such as I am—except for ^(BJ)these chains.”

³⁰Then the king rose, and ^(BK)the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. ³¹And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, ^(BL)“This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” ³²And Agrippa said to Festus, ^(BM)“This man could have been set ^(BN)free if he had not appealed ^(BO)to Caesar.”