Jeremiah Thrown into the Cistern

1Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, 2“Thus says the Lord, ‘He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.’ 3Thus says the Lord, ‘This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’ ” 4Then the officials said to the king, “Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm.” 5So King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you.” 6Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. 7But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin; 8and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying, 9“My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.” 10Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take thirty men from here under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies.” 11So Ebed-melech took the men under his authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah. 12Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes”; and Jeremiah did so. 13So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guardhouse.

The Lord’s Supper

1Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, 4*got up from supper, and *laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.

Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet

5Then He *poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6So He *came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” 7Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.” 8Peter *said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” 9Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” 10Jesus *said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11For He knew the one who was betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you are clean.”

12So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’ 19From now on I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am He. 20Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”

Jesus Predicts His Betrayal

21When Jesus had said this, He became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.” 22The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking. 23There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved. 24So Simon Peter *gestured to him, and *said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.” 25He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, *said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” 26Jesus then *answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He *took and *gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus *said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” 28Now no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him. 29For some were supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, “Buy the things we have need of for the feast”; or else, that he should give something to the poor. 30So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.

31Therefore when he had gone out, Jesus *said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; 32if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately. 33Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

36Simon Peter *said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” 37Peter *said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.” 38Jesus *answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.

1) How do the pit and betrayal frame Joseph’s first descent?

2) How does Yeshua’s table scene echo Genesis 37?

3) Where have betrayal and hardship become places יהוה later redeems?

Bildad Says God Rewards the Good

1Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

2“How long will you say these things,

And the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?

3Does God pervert justice?

Or does the Almighty pervert what is right?

4If your sons sinned against Him,

Then He delivered them into the power of their transgression.

5If you would seek God

And implore the compassion of the Almighty,

6If you are pure and upright,

Surely now He would rouse Himself for you

And restore your righteous estate.

7Though your beginning was insignificant,

Yet your end will increase greatly.

8“Please inquire of past generations,

And consider the things searched out by their fathers.

9For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,

Because our days on earth are as a shadow.

10Will they not teach you and tell you,

And bring forth words from their minds?

11“Can the papyrus grow up without a marsh?

Can the rushes grow without water?

12While it is still green and not cut down,

Yet it withers before any other plant.

13So are the paths of all who forget God;

And the hope of the godless will perish,

14Whose confidence is fragile,

And whose trust a spider’s web.

15He trusts in his house, but it does not stand;

He holds fast to it, but it does not endure.

16He thrives before the sun,

And his shoots spread out over his garden.

17His roots wrap around a rock pile,

He grasps a house of stones.

18If he is removed from his place,

Then it will deny him, saying, ‘I never saw you.’

19Behold, this is the joy of His way;

And out of the dust others will spring.

20Lo, God will not reject a man of integrity,

Nor will He support the evildoers.

21He will yet fill your mouth with laughter

And your lips with shouting.

22Those who hate you will be clothed with shame,

And the tent of the wicked will be no longer.”

Uzziah Succeeds Amaziah in Judah

1And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his father Amaziah. 2He built Eloth and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers. 3Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jechiliah of Jerusalem. 4He did right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done. 5He continued to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding through the vision of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God prospered him.

Uzziah Succeeds in War

6Now he went out and warred against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod; and he built cities in the area of Ashdod and among the Philistines. 7God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians who lived in Gur-baal, and the Meunites. 8The Ammonites also gave tribute to Uzziah, and his fame extended to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. 9Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the corner buttress and fortified them. 10He built towers in the wilderness and hewed many cisterns, for he had much livestock, both in the lowland and in the plain. He also had plowmen and vinedressers in the hill country and the fertile fields, for he loved the soil. 11Moreover, Uzziah had an army ready for battle, which entered combat by divisions according to the number of their muster, prepared by Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the official, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king’s officers. 12The total number of the heads of the households, of valiant warriors, was 2,600. 13Under their direction was an elite army of 307,500, who could wage war with great power, to help the king against the enemy. 14Moreover, Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows and sling stones. 15In Jerusalem he made engines of war invented by skillful men to be on the towers and on the corners for the purpose of shooting arrows and great stones. Hence his fame spread afar, for he was marvelously helped until he was strong.

Pride Is Uzziah’s Undoing

16But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the Lord his God, for he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17Then Azariah the priest entered after him and with him eighty priests of the Lord, valiant men. 18They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the Lord God.” 19But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, beside the altar of incense. 20Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also hastened to get out because the Lord had smitten him. 21King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king’s house judging the people of the land.

22Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first to last, the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, has written. 23So Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the grave which belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son became king in his place.

Prophecy against Philistia

1That which came as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh conquered Gaza. 2Thus says the Lord:

“Behold, waters are going to rise from the north

And become an overflowing torrent,

And overflow the land and all its fullness,

The city and those who live in it;

And the men will cry out,

And every inhabitant of the land will wail.

3Because of the noise of the galloping hoofs of his stallions,

The tumult of his chariots, and the rumbling of his wheels,

The fathers have not turned back for their children,

Because of the limpness of their hands,

4On account of the day that is coming

To destroy all the Philistines,

To cut off from Tyre and Sidon

Every ally that is left;

For the Lord is going to destroy the Philistines,

The remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.

5Baldness has come upon Gaza;

Ashkelon has been ruined.

O remnant of their valley,

How long will you gash yourself?

6Ah, sword of the Lord,

How long will you not be quiet?

Withdraw into your sheath;

Be at rest and stay still.

7How can it be quiet,

When the Lord has given it an order?

Against Ashkelon and against the seacoast—

There He has assigned it.”