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Prophet against prophet
28 That same year, early in the rule of Judah’s King Zedekiah, in the fifth month of his fourth year, the prophet Hananiah, Azzur’s son from Gibeon, spoke to me in the Lord’s temple before the priests and all the people. 2 He said: “The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. 3 In two years I will restore to this place all of the temple equipment that Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar carted off to Babylon. 4 I will also restore to this place Judah’s King Jeconiah, Jehoiakim’s son, along with all the exiles from Judah who were deported to Babylon, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon, declares the Lord.”
5 Then the prophet Jeremiah responded to Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the Lord’s temple. 6 The prophet Jeremiah said: “Indeed. May the Lord do just as you have said! May the Lord fulfill the words that you have prophesied and bring back from Babylon the equipment of the Lord’s temple and all the exiles to this place. 7 However, listen closely to what I have to say to you and all the people: 8 The prophets who came before you and me long ago prophesied war, disaster, and disease against many lands and great kingdoms. 9 So the prophet who prophesies peace is recognized as one who is actually sent by the Lord only when that prophet’s message is fulfilled.”
10 Then the prophet Hananiah took hold of the yoke that was on the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. 11 He said before all the people, “This is what the Lord says: Just as this yoke has been broken, I will break the yoke of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar from the neck of all the nations within two years.” Then the prophet Jeremiah walked away.
12 Sometime after Hananiah had broken the yoke that was on Jeremiah’s neck, the Lord told him: 13 Go, say to Hananiah, The Lord proclaims: You have broken a wooden yoke,[a] but I[b] will replace it with an iron one. 14 The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: I will put iron yokes on the necks of all these nations, and they will serve Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar; even the wild animals will be subject to him!
15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah: “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord hasn’t sent you. All you are doing is persuading these people to believe a lie. 16 Therefore, the Lord proclaims: I’m going to send you somewhere—right off the face of the earth! Before the year ends, you will die since you have incited rebellion against the Lord.” 17 The prophet Hananiah died in the seventh month[c] of that year.
Disturbing hope: Settle down in Babylon
29 The prophet Jeremiah sent a letter from Jerusalem to the few surviving elders among the exiles, to the priests and the prophets, and to all the people Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon from Jerusalem. 2 The letter was sent after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the government leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the craftsmen and smiths had left Jerusalem. 3 It was delivered to Babylon by Elasah, Shaphan’s son, and Gemariah, Hilkiah’s son—two men dispatched to Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar by King Zedekiah.
4 The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims to all the exiles I have carried off from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and settle down; cultivate gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Get married and have children; then help your sons find wives and your daughters find husbands in order that they too may have children. Increase in number there so that you don’t dwindle away. 7 Promote the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because your future depends on its welfare.
8 The Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: Don’t let the prophets and diviners in your midst mislead you. Don’t pay attention to your dreams. 9 They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I didn’t send them, declares the Lord.
10 The Lord proclaims: When Babylon’s seventy years are up, I will come and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the Lord; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope. 12 When you call me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. 13 When you search for me, yes, search for me with all your heart, you will find me. 14 I will be present for you, declares the Lord, and I will end your captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have scattered you, and I will bring you home after your long exile,[d] declares the Lord.
15 Yet you say, The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon:
16 This is what the Lord proclaims concerning the king sitting on David’s throne and all the people who live in this city, that is, those among you who didn’t go into exile: 17 The Lord of heavenly forces proclaims: I’m going to send the sword, famine, and disease against them. I will make them like rotten figs that are too spoiled to eat. 18 I will pursue them with the sword, famine, and disease; and I will make them an object of horror to all nations on earth and an object of cursing, scorn, shock, and disgrace among all the countries where I have scattered them, 19 because they wouldn’t listen to my words, declares the Lord, which I sent them time and again through my servants the prophets. They[e] wouldn’t listen, declares the Lord.
20 But now, all you exiles I deported from Jerusalem to Babylon, listen to the Lord’s word. 21 This is what the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims concerning Ahab, Kolaiah’s son, and Zedekiah, Maaseiah’s son, who are prophesying lies to you in my name: I will hand them over to Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar, and he will slay them before your very eyes. 22 Because of them, all the Judean exiles in Babylon will use this curse: “The Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, who were burned alive by the king of Babylon.” 23 They committed a horrible scandal in Israel—adultery with their neighbors’ wives and deceit spoken in my name, with which I had nothing to do. Yet I’m still aware of it and am witness to it, declares the Lord.
24 Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, 25 This is what the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, proclaims: [f] You sent letters on your own accord to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah, Maaseiah’s son, and to the rest of the priests. 26 You said to Zephaniah:[g] The Lord has appointed you priest in charge of the Lord’s temple instead of Jehoiada. You are responsible for putting every madman who prophesies into stocks and neck irons. 27 So why haven’t you threatened Jeremiah of Anathoth, who pretends to be a prophet among you? 28 He has sent a letter telling those of us in Babylon: “You are going to be there a long time, so build houses and settle down, plant gardens and eat what they produce.”
29 The priest Zephaniah read this letter to the prophet Jeremiah. 30 Then the Lord’s word came to Jeremiah: 31 Send word to all the exiles: The Lord proclaims concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah prophesied to you when I didn’t send him, and because he convinced you to believe a lie, 32 I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants, declares the Lord. Not one member of this people will be around to see the good that I have in store for my people, declares the Lord, for he incited rebellion against me.
Greeting
1 From Paul, who is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the command of God our savior and of Christ Jesus our hope.
2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.
Timothy’s purpose in Ephesus
3 When I left for Macedonia, I asked you to stay behind in Ephesus so that you could instruct certain individuals not to spread wrong teaching. 4 They shouldn’t pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. Their teaching only causes useless guessing games instead of faithfulness to God’s way of doing things. 5 The goal of instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. 6 Because they missed this goal, some people have been distracted by talk that doesn’t mean anything. 7 They want to be teachers of Law without understanding either what they are saying or what they are talking about with such confidence. 8 Now we know that the Law is good if used appropriately. 9 We understand this: the Law isn’t established for a righteous person but for people who live without laws and without obeying any authority. They are the ungodly and the sinners. They are people who are not spiritual, and nothing is sacred to them. They kill their fathers and mothers, and murder others. 10 They are people who are sexually unfaithful, and people who have intercourse with the same sex. They are kidnappers,[a] liars, individuals who give false testimonies in court, and those who do anything else that is opposed to sound teaching. 11 Sound teaching agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God that has been trusted to me.
Thanksgiving
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength because he considered me faithful. So he appointed me to ministry 13 even though I used to speak against him, attack his people, and I was proud. But I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and without faith. 14 Our Lord’s favor poured all over me along with the faithfulness and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 This saying is reliable and deserves full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I’m the biggest sinner of all. 16 But this is why I was shown mercy, so that Christ Jesus could show his endless patience to me first of all. So I’m an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life. 17 Now to the king of the ages, to the immortal, invisible, and only God, may honor and glory be given to him forever and always! Amen.
Importance of faith and a good conscience
18 Timothy, my child, I’m giving you these instructions based on the prophecies that were once made about you. So if you follow them, you can wage a good war 19 because you have faith and a good conscience. Some people have ruined their faith because they refused to listen to their conscience, 20 such as Hymenaeus and Alexander. I’ve handed them over to Satan so that they can be taught not to speak against God.
Psalm 86
A prayer of David.
86 Lord, listen closely to me and answer me,
because I am poor and in need.
2 Guard my life because I am faithful.
Save your servant who trusts in you—you! My God!
3 Have mercy on me, Lord,
because I cry out to you all day long.
4 Make your servant’s life[a] happy again
because, my Lord, I offer my life to you,
5 because, my Lord, you are good and forgiving,
full of faithful love for all those who cry out to you.
6 Listen closely to my prayer, Lord;
pay close attention to the sound of my requests for mercy.
7 Whenever I am in trouble, I cry out to you,
because you will answer me.
8 My Lord! There is no one like you among the gods!
There is nothing that can compare to your works!
9 All the nations that you’ve made will come
and bow down before you, Lord;
they will glorify your name,
10 because you are awesome
and a wonder-worker.
You are God. Just you.
11 Teach me your way, Lord,
so that I can walk in your truth.
Make my heart focused
only on honoring your name.
12 I give thanks to you, my Lord, my God,
with all my heart,
and I will glorify your name forever,
13 because your faithful love toward me is awesome
and because you’ve rescued my life
from the lowest part of hell.[b]
14 The arrogant rise up against me, God.
A gang of violent people want me dead.
They don’t give a thought for you.
15 But you, my Lord,
are a God of compassion and mercy;
you are very patient and full of faithful love.
16 Come back to me! Have mercy on me!
Give your servant your strength;
save this child of your servant!
17 Show me a sign of your goodness
so that those who hate me will see it and be put to shame—
show a sign that you, Lord,
have helped me and comforted me.
17 Don’t spend too much time in your neighbor’s house.
Otherwise, they’ll get fed up with you and hate you.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible