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Psalm 2

1  Why are the nations in tumult, ♦︎
   and why do the peoples devise a vain plot?
2  The kings of the earth rise up,
      and the rulers take counsel together, ♦︎
   against the Lord and against his anointed:
3  ‘Let us break their bonds asunder ♦︎
   and cast away their cords from us.’
4  He who dwells in heaven shall laugh them to scorn; ♦︎
   the Lord shall have them in derision.
5  Then shall he speak to them in his wrath ♦︎
   and terrify them in his fury:
6  ‘Yet have I set my king ♦︎
   upon my holy hill of Zion.’
7  I will proclaim the decree of the Lord; ♦︎
   he said to me: ‘You are my Son; this day have I begotten you.
8  ‘Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance ♦︎
   and the ends of the earth for your possession.
9  ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron ♦︎
   and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
10  Now therefore be wise, O kings; ♦︎
   be prudent, you judges of the earth.
11  Serve the Lord with fear, and with trembling kiss his feet, ♦︎
   lest he be angry and you perish from the way,
      for his wrath is quickly kindled.
12  Happy are all they ♦︎
   who take refuge in him.

The Broken Earthenware Jug

19Thus said the Lord: Go and buy a potter’s earthenware jug. Take with you^* some of the elders of the people and some of the senior priests, ²and go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom at the entry of the Potsherd Gate, and proclaim there the words that I tell you. ³You shall say: Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring such disaster upon this place that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. ⁴Because the people have forsaken me, and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their ancestors nor the kings of Judah have known, and because they have filled this place with the blood of the innocent, ⁵and gone on building the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as burnt-offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it enter my mind; ⁶therefore the days are surely coming, says the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of Slaughter. ⁷And in this place I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth. ⁸And I will make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its disasters. ⁹And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and all shall eat the flesh of their neighbours in the siege, and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.

10 Then you shall break the jug in the sight of those who go with you, ¹¹and shall say to them: Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it can never be mended. In Topheth they shall bury until there is no more room to bury. ¹²Thus will I do to this place, says the Lord, and to its inhabitants, making this city like Topheth. ¹³And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled like the place of Topheth—all the houses upon whose roofs offerings have been made to the whole host of heaven, and libations have been poured out to other gods.

14 When Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, he stood in the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people: ¹⁵Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I am now bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their necks, refusing to hear my words.

A Good Minister of Jesus Christ

6 If you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters,^* you will be a good servant^* of Christ Jesus, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching that you have followed. ⁷Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales. Train yourself in godliness, ⁸for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. ⁹The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance. ¹⁰For to this end we toil and struggle,^* because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, especially of those who believe.

11 These are the things you must insist on and teach. ¹²Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. ¹³Until I arrive, give attention to the public reading of scripture,^* to exhorting, to teaching. ¹⁴Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.^{* 15}Put these things into practice, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. ¹⁶Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers.