How to Avoid Backsliding

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³³ Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees,
   that I may follow it to the end.
³⁴ Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
   and obey it with all my heart.
³⁵ Direct me in the path of your commands,
   for there I find delight.
³⁶ Turn my heart toward your statutes
   and not toward selfish gain.
³⁷ Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
   preserve my life according to your word.
³⁸ Fulfill your promise to your servant,
   so that you may be feared.
³⁹ Take away the disgrace I dread,
   for your laws are good.
⁴⁰ How I long for your precepts!
   In your righteousness preserve my life.

The Man of Lawlessness

2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, ² not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter —asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. ³ Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. ⁴ He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

⁵ Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? ⁶ And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. ⁷ For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. ⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendour of his coming. ⁹ The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, ¹⁰ and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. ¹¹ For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie ¹² and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

Stand Firm

¹³ But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. ¹⁴ He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁵ So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

¹⁶ May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, ¹⁷ encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

Message to Shemaiah

²⁴ Tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite, ²⁵ “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You sent letters in your own name to all the people in Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the other priests. You said to Zephaniah, ²⁶ ‘The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the Lord; you should put any maniac who acts like a prophet into the stocks and neck-irons. ²⁷ So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? ²⁸ He has sent this message to us in Babylon: It will be a long time. Therefore build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.’”

²⁹ Zephaniah the priest, however, read the letter to Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ³¹ “Send this message to all the exiles: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, ³² this is what the Lord says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good things I will do for my people, declares the Lord, because he has preached rebellion against me.’”

Restoration of Israel

30 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Write in a book all the words I have spoken to you. ³ The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their ancestors to possess,’ says the Lord.”

⁴ These are the words the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah: ⁵ “This is what the Lord says:

“‘Cries of fear are heard—
   terror, not peace.
⁶ Ask and see:
   Can a man bear children?
Then why do I see every strong man
   with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labour,
   every face turned deathly pale?
⁷ How awful that day will be!
   No other will be like it.
It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,
   but he will be saved out of it.

⁸ “‘In that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty,
   ‘I will break the yoke off their necks
and will tear off their bonds;
   no longer will foreigners enslave them.
⁹ Instead, they will serve the Lord their God
   and David their king,
   whom I will raise up for them.

¹⁰ “‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant;
   do not be dismayed, Israel,’
   declares the Lord.
‘I will surely save you out of a distant place,
   your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
   and no one will make him afraid.
¹¹ I am with you and will save you,’
   declares the Lord.
‘Though I completely destroy all the nations
   among which I scatter you,
   I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only in due measure;
   I will not let you go entirely unpunished.’

¹² “This is what the Lord says:

“‘Your wound is incurable,
   your injury beyond healing.
¹³ There is no one to plead your cause,
   no remedy for your sore,
   no healing for you.
¹⁴ All your allies have forgotten you;
   they care nothing for you.
I have struck you as an enemy would
   and punished you as would the cruel,
because your guilt is so great
   and your sins so many.
¹⁵ Why do you cry out over your wound,
   your pain that has no cure?
Because of your great guilt and many sins
   I have done these things to you.

¹⁶ “‘But all who devour you will be devoured;
   all your enemies will go into exile.
Those who plunder you will be plundered;
   all who make spoil of you I will despoil.
¹⁷ But I will restore you to health
   and heal your wounds,’
   declares the Lord,
‘because you are called an outcast,
   Zion for whom no one cares.’

¹⁸ “This is what the Lord says:

“‘I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents
   and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city will be rebuilt on her ruins,
   and the palace will stand in its proper place.
¹⁹ From them will come songs of thanksgiving
   and the sound of rejoicing.
I will add to their numbers,
   and they will not be decreased;
I will bring them honour,
   and they will not be disdained.
²⁰ Their children will be as in days of old,
   and their community will be established before me;
   I will punish all who oppress them.
²¹ Their leader will be one of their own;
   their ruler will arise from among them.
I will bring him near and he will come close to me—
   for who is he who will devote himself
to be close to me?’
   declares the Lord.
²² “‘So you will be my people,
   and I will be your God. ’”

²³ See, the storm of the Lord
   will burst out in wrath,
a driving wind swirling down
   on the heads of the wicked.
²⁴ The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
   until he fully accomplishes
   the purposes of his heart.
In days to come
   you will understand this.

31 “At that time,” declares the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

² This is what the Lord says:

“The people who survive the sword
   will find favour in the wilderness;
I will come to give rest to Israel.”

³ The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
   I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
⁴ I will build you up again,
   and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.
Again you will take up your tambourines
   and go out to dance with the joyful.
⁵ Again you will plant vineyards
   on the hills of Samaria;
the farmers will plant them
   and enjoy their fruit.
⁶ There will be a day when watchmen cry out
   on the hills of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Zion,
   to the Lord our God.’”

⁷ This is what the Lord says:

“Sing with joy for Jacob;
   shout for the foremost of the nations.
Make your praises heard, and say,
   ‘Lord, save your people,
   the remnant of Israel.’
⁸ See, I will bring them from the land of the north
   and gather them from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind and the lame,
   expectant mothers and women in labour;
   a great throng will return.
⁹ They will come with weeping;
   they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water
   on a level path where they will not stumble,
because I am Israel’s father,
   and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

¹⁰ “Hear the word of the Lord, you nations;
   proclaim it in distant coastlands:
‘He who scattered Israel will gather them
   and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’
¹¹ For the Lord will deliver Jacob
   and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.
¹² They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;
   they will rejoice in the bounty of the Lord—
the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,
   the young of the flocks and herds.
They will be like a well-watered garden,
   and they will sorrow no more.
¹³ Then young women will dance and be glad,
   young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into gladness;
   I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.
¹⁴ I will satisfy the priests with abundance,
   and my people will be filled with my bounty, ”
   declares the Lord.