Oct 23rd

Then go out to the valley of Ben-hinnom, which is by the entrance of the potsherd gate, and there call out the words that I tell you

and say, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to bring a calamity upon this place, at which the ears of everyone that hears of it will tingle.

Because they have forsaken Me and have made this a foreign place and have burned incense in it to other gods, that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah had ever known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent

and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, a thing which I never commanded or spoke of, nor did it ever come upon My heart,

therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when this place will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-hinnom, but rather the valley of Slaughter.

I will empty out the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem to the point of destruction in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

I will also make this city an object of horror and of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and hiss because of all its slaughtering.

I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them.” ’

“Then you are to break the jar in the sight of the men who accompany you,

and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “Just so will I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired; and they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place for burial.

This is what I will do to this place and its inhabitants,” declares Yahweh, “so as to make this city like Topheth.

And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be defiled like the place Topheth because of all the houses on whose rooftops they burned incense to all the heavenly host and poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ”

Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the house of Yahweh and said to all the people:

“Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to bring on this city and all its towns the entire calamity that I have spoken against it because they have stiffened their necks so as not to hear My words.’ ”

Then Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was ruling overseer in the house of Yahweh, heard Jeremiah prophesying these words;

and Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet struck and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of Yahweh.

Now it happened that on the next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks. And Jeremiah said to him, “Pashhur is not the name Yahweh has called you, but rather Magor-missabib.

For thus says Yahweh, ‘Behold, I am going to make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; and while your eyes look on, they will fall by the sword of their enemies. So I will give over all Judah to the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take them away into exile to Babylon and will strike them down with the sword.

I will also give over all the wealth of this city, all the fruit of its labor, and all its precious things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will give over to the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them, take them away, and bring them to Babylon.

And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into captivity; and you will enter Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies.’ ”

The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying,

“Please inquire of Yahweh on our behalf, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is warring against us; perhaps Yahweh will deal with us according to all His wonderful acts, so that the enemy will go up from us.”

Then Jeremiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah,

‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to turn 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 gather them into the center of this city.

I Myself will war against you with an outstretched hand and a strong arm, even in anger and wrath and great indignation.

I will also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great pestilence.

Then afterwards,” declares Yahweh, “I 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 will not show pity on them nor spare nor have compassion.” ’

“You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.

He who inhabits this city will die by the sword 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.

For I have set My face against this city for evil and not for good,” declares Yahweh. “It will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.” ’

“Then say to the household of the king of Judah, ‘Hear the word of Yahweh,

O house of David, thus says Yahweh:

And for this reason we also thank God without ceasing that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also is at work in you who believe.

For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also suffered the same things at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews,

who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and do not please God, and are hostile to all men,

hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon them to the utmost.

But we, brothers, having been taken away from you for a short while—in face but not in heart—were all the more eager with great desire to see your face.

For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered us.

For who is our hope or joy or crown of boasting? Is it not even you, before our Lord Jesus at His coming?

For you are our glory and joy.

Therefore when we could endure it no longer, we were pleased to be left behind at Athens alone,

and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith,

so that no one would be shaken by these afflictions, for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.

For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction, just as it happened and as you know.

For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to know about your faith, lest somehow the tempter has tempted you, and our labor be in vain.

But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always remember us kindly, longing to see us just as we also long to see you,

for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith;

for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.

For what thanks can we render to God for you in return for all the joy with which we rejoice before our God because of you,

as we night and day keep praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is lacking in your faith?

Now may our God and Father Himself and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you,

and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you,

so that He may strengthen your hearts blameless in holiness, before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.