Jeremiah 45

¹In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

⁴So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and at the dictation of Jeremiah, Baruch wrote on a scroll all the words that the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah.

¹²and I gave this deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of my cousin Hanamel and the witnesses who were signing the purchase agreement and all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

³²Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the scribe Baruch son of Neriah, and at Jeremiah’s dictation he wrote on it all the words of the scroll that Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And many similar words were added to them.

¹⁶After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord:

⁵Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord his God.

⁹In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

⁴who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.

¹⁸Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.

⁷But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.’”

⁶But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the arrival of Titus,

¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.

¹Therefore, since God in His mercy has given us this ministry, we do not lose heart.

⁹Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

⁵Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech, that I live among the tents of Kedar!

¹¹God has delivered me to unjust men; He has thrown me to the clutches of the wicked.

¹²I was at ease, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me. He has set me up as His target;

²²Let all their wickedness come before You, and deal with them as You have dealt with me because of all my transgressions. For my groans are many, and my heart is faint.

²⁸Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord.

⁷At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.

⁸But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.

¹⁰See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.”

⁸You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it.

⁹You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.

⁶And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.

⁷So the Lord said, “I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”

²He dug it up and cleared the stones and planted the finest vines. He built a watchtower in the middle and dug out a winepress as well. He waited for the vineyard to yield good grapes, but the fruit it produced was sour!

³“And now, O dwellers of Jerusalem and men of Judah, I exhort you to judge between Me and My vineyard.

¹⁸For I will surely rescue you so that you do not fall by the sword. Because you have trusted in Me, you will escape with your life like a spoil of war, declares the Lord.’”

⁶Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.

⁷For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it.

⁵Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

¹⁶Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited.

²⁵Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

²⁶Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

⁹Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who besiege you will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war.