Psalm 119^[a]

א Aleph

ב Beth

ג Gimel

Psalm 12^[a]

For the director of music. According to sheminith.^[b] A psalm of David.

Psalm 13^[d]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

Psalm 14^(AE)

For the director of music. Of David.

³ King Zedekiah, however, sent^(A) Jehukal^(B) son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah^(C) son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray^(D) to the Lord our God for us.”

⁴ Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison.^{(E) 5} Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt,^(F) and when the Babylonians^[a] who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew^(G) from Jerusalem.^(H)

⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: ⁷ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire^(I) of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched^(J) out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.^{(K) 8} Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture^(L) it and burn^(M) it down.’

⁹ “This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive^(N) yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! ¹⁰ Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian^[b] army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn^(O) this city down.”

¹¹ After the Babylonian army had withdrawn^(P) from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property^(Q) among the people there. ¹³ But when he reached the Benjamin Gate,^(R) the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”^(S)

¹⁴ “That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested^(T) Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵ They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten^(U) and imprisoned^(V) in the house^(W) of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.

¹⁶ Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. ¹⁷ Then King Zedekiah sent^(X) for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked^(Y) him privately,^(Z) “Is there any word from the Lord?”

“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered^(AA) into the hands of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime^(AB) have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where are your prophets^(AC) who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? ²⁰ But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”^(AD)

²¹ King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread^(AE) in the city was gone.^(AF) So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.^(AG)

¹³ For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say.^{(A) 14} For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays,^(B) but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵ So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit,^(C) but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing^(D) with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. ¹⁶ Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer,^[a] say “Amen”^(E) to your thanksgiving,^(F) since they do not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.^(G)

¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. ¹⁹ But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.^(H)

²⁰ Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children.^(I) In regard to evil be infants,^(J) but in your thinking be adults. ²¹ In the Law^(K) it is written:

²² Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy,^(M) however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. ²³ So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?^{(N) 24} But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, ²⁵ as the secrets^(O) of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”^(P)

²⁴ “The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master.^{(A) 25} It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul,^(B) how much more the members of his household!

²⁶ “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.^{(C) 27} What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. ²⁸ Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One^(D) who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.^{[a] 30} And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.^{(E) 31} So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.^(F)

³² “Whoever acknowledges me before others,^(G) I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. ³³ But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.^(H)