Evil in the Land

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 ^j“Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^kAmend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 ^lDo not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

5 “For if you truly ^mamend your ways and your deeds, if you truly ⁿexecute justice one with another, 6 if you ⁿdo not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, ^mor shed innocent blood in this place, ^oand if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7 ^pthen I will let you dwell in this place, ^qin the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.

8 “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 ^rWill you steal, murder, commit adultery, ^sswear falsely, ^tmake offerings to Baal, ^oand go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, ^uwhich is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 ^vHas this house, ^uwhich is called by my name, ^wbecome a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. 12 Go now to ^xmy place that was in Shiloh, ^ywhere I made my name dwell at first, and ^zsee what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and ^awhen I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and ^bwhen I called you, you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to ^cthe house ^uthat is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, ^zas I did to Shiloh. 15 ^cAnd I will cast you out of my sight, ^das I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of ^eEphraim.

Abraham Justified by Faith

1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, ^tour forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but ^unot before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? ^v“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now ^wto the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but ^xbelieves in¹ him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

9 Is this blessing then only for ^athe circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? ^bFor we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 ^cHe received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was ^dto make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up ^hinto the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews therefore ⁱmarveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,¹ when he has never studied?” 16 So Jesus answered them, ^j“My teaching is not mine, but his ^kwho sent me. 17 ^lIf anyone’s will is to do God’s² will, ^mhe will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I ⁿam speaking on my own authority. 18 The one who speaks on his own authority ^oseeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. 19 ^pHas not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. ^qWhy do you seek to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, ^r“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did ^sone work, and you all marvel at it. 22 ^tMoses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but ^ufrom the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, ^vare you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? 24 ^wDo not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Can This Be the Christ?

25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom ^xthey seek to kill? 26 And here he is, ^yspeaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that ^zthe authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27 But ^awe know ^bwhere this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, ^cno one will know where he comes from.” 28 So Jesus proclaimed, ^das he taught in the temple, ^a“You know me, and you know where I come from. But ^eI have not come of my own accord. ^fHe who sent me is true, ^gand him you do not know. 29 ^hI know him, for I come ⁱfrom him, and ^jhe sent me.” 30 ^kSo they were seeking to arrest him, but ^lno one laid a hand on him, ^mbecause his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet ⁿmany of the people believed in him. They said, ^o“When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

Officers Sent to Arrest Jesus

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd ^pmuttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent ^qofficers to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, ^r“I will be with you a little longer, and then ^sI am going to him who sent me. 34 ^tYou will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? ^uDoes he intend to go to ^vthe Dispersion among ^wthe Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ^x‘You will seek me and you will not find me,’ and, ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”