Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

3 He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. ² They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. ³ He *said to the man with the withered hand, “^[a]Get up and come forward!” ⁴ And He *said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. ⁵ After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. ⁶ The Pharisees went out and immediately began ^[b]conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.

⁷ Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea, ⁸ and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him. ⁹ And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; ¹⁰ for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed around Him in order to touch Him. ¹¹ Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!” ¹² And He earnestly warned them not to ^[c]tell who He was.

The Twelve Are Chosen

¹³ And He *went up on the mountain and *summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. ¹⁴ And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have authority to cast out the demons. ¹⁶ And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter), ¹⁷ and ^[d]James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of ^[e]James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”); ¹⁸ and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and ^[f]James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the ^[g]Zealot; ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

Cities of Judah Warned

26 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying, ² “Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have come to worship in the Lord’s house all the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. Do not omit a word! ³ Perhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that I may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.’ ⁴ And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “If you will not listen to Me, to walk in My law which I have set before you, ⁵ to listen to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you ^[a]again and again, but you have not listened; ⁶ then I will make this house like Shiloh, and this city I will make a curse to all the nations of the earth.”’”

A Plot to Murder Jeremiah

⁷ The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. ⁸ When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You must die! ⁹ Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

¹⁰ When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat in the entrance of the New Gate of the Lord’s house. ¹¹ Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A death sentence for this man! For he has prophesied against this city as you have heard in your hearing.”

¹² Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. ¹³ Now therefore amend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will ^[b]change His mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you. ¹⁴ But as for me, behold, I am in your hands; do with me as is good and right in your sight. ¹⁵ Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, and on this city and on its inhabitants; for truly the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.”

Jeremiah Is Spared

¹⁶ Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets, “No death sentence for this man! For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” ¹⁷ Then some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying, ¹⁸ “^[c]Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, ‘Thus the Lord of hosts has said,

¹⁹ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and entreat the favor of the Lord, and the Lord ^[e]changed His mind about the misfortune which He had pronounced against them? But we are committing a great evil against ourselves.”

²⁰ Indeed, there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim; and he prophesied against this city and against this land words similar to all those of Jeremiah. ²¹ When King Jehoiakim and all his mighty men and all the officials heard his words, then the king sought to put him to death; but Uriah heard it, and he was afraid and fled and went to Egypt. ²² Then King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt: Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him went into Egypt. ²³ And they brought Uriah from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who slew him with a sword and cast his dead body into the ^[f]burial place of the ^[g]common people.

²⁴ But the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that he was not given into the hands of the people to put him to death.