I said, ¹  “Oh, mother, how I regret ²  that you ever gave birth to me! I am always starting arguments and quarrels with the people of this land. ³  I have not lent money to anyone and I have not borrowed from anyone. Yet all of these people are treating me with contempt.” ⁴ 

But I have not pestered you to bring disaster. ¹  I have not desired the time of irreparable devastation. ²  You know that. You are fully aware of every word that I have spoken. ³ 

For even if you were to defeat all the Babylonian forces ¹  fighting against you so badly that only wounded men were left lying in their tents, they would get up and burn this city down.”’” ² 

“The people of Israel are like scattered sheep which lions have chased away. First the king of Assyria devoured them. ¹  Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones. ² 

This is the order Jeremiah the prophet gave to Seraiah son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went to King Zedekiah of Judah in Babylon during the fourth year of his reign. ¹  (Seraiah was a quartermaster.) ² 

“As for you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says concerning the Ammonites and their coming humiliation; ¹  say: “‘A sword, a sword drawn for slaughter, polished to consume, ²  to flash like lightning –

Ephraim was a well-trained heifer who loved to thresh grain; I myself put a fine yoke ¹ on her neck. I will harness Ephraim. Let Judah plow! ²  Let Jacob break up ³  the unplowed ground for himself!

Jerusalem, why are you ¹  now shouting so loudly? ²  Has your king disappeared? ³  Has your wise leader ⁴  been destroyed? Is this why ⁵  pain grips ⁶  you as if you were a woman in labor?

Before that time there was no compensation for man or animal, nor was there any relief from adversity for those who came and went, because I had pitted everybody – each one – against everyone else.

Look at the birds in the sky: ¹  They do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds ²  them. Aren’t you more valuable ³  than they are?

His master answered, ¹  ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’

His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’

Consider the ravens: ¹  They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds ²  them. How much more valuable are you than the birds!

But the one who did not know his master’s will ¹  and did things worthy of punishment ²  will receive a light beating. ³  From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, ⁴  and from the one who has been entrusted with much, ⁵  even more will be asked. ⁶ 

And the king ¹  said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful ²  in a very small matter, you will have authority ³  over ten cities.’

When they opposed him ¹  and reviled him, ²  he protested by shaking out his clothes ³  and said to them, “Your blood ⁴  be on your own heads! I am guiltless! ⁵  From now on I will go to the Gentiles!”

But I do not consider my life ¹  worth anything ²  to myself, so that ³  I may finish my task ⁴  and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news ⁵  of God’s grace.

But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance ¹  as a servant and witness ²  to the things ³  you have seen ⁴  and to the things in which I will appear to you.

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master-builder I laid a foundation, but someone else builds on it. And each one must be careful how he builds.

even because of the extraordinary character of the revelations. Therefore, ¹  so that I would not become arrogant, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to trouble ²  me – so that I would not become arrogant. ³