Now Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, who was chief officer in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things. Then Pashhur beat Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper Benjamin Gate of the house of the LORD. The next day, when Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD does not call your name Pashhur, but Terror on Every Side. For thus says the LORD: Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They shall fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon. He shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall strike them down with the sword. Moreover, I will give all the wealth of the city, all its gains, all its prized belongings, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, who shall plunder them and seize them and carry them to Babylon. And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity. To Babylon you shall go, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.”

    O LORD, you have deceived me,
        and I was deceived;
    you are stronger than I,
        and you have prevailed.
    I have become a laughingstock all the day;
        everyone mocks me.
    For whenever I speak, I cry out,
        I shout, “Violence and destruction!”
    For the word of the LORD has become for me
        a reproach and derision all day long.
    If I say, “I will not mention him,
        or speak any more in his name,”
    there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
        shut up in my bones,
    and I am weary with holding it in,
        and I cannot.
    For I hear many whispering.
        Terror is on every side!
    “Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
        say all my close friends,
        watching for my fall.
    “Perhaps he will be deceived;
        then we can overcome him
        and take our revenge on him.”
    But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior;
        therefore my persecutors will stumble;
        they will not overcome me.
    They will be greatly shamed,
        for they will not succeed.
    Their eternal dishonor
        will never be forgotten.
    O LORD of hosts, who tests the righteous,
        who sees the heart and the mind,
    let me see your vengeance upon them,
        for to you have I committed my cause.
    
    
    Sing to the LORD;
        praise the LORD!
    For he has delivered the life of the needy
        from the hand of evildoers.
    
    
    Cursed be the day
        on which I was born!
    The day when my mother bore me,
        let it not be blessed!
    Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father,
    “A son is born to you,”
        making him very glad.
    Let that man be like the cities
        that the LORD overthrew without pity;
    let him hear a cry in the morning
        and an alarm at noon,
    because he did not kill me in the womb;
        so my mother would have been my grave,
        and her womb forever great.
    Why did I come out from the womb
        to see toil and sorrow,
        and spend my days in shame?
    
    
      This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, “Inquire of the LORD for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the LORD will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”

  Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst of this city. I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath. And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence. Afterward, declares the LORD, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.’

  “And to this people you shall say: ‘Thus says the LORD: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.’

  “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O house of David! Thus says the LORD:

    “‘Execute justice in the morning,
        and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
        him who has been robbed,
    lest my wrath go forth like fire,
        and burn with none to quench it,
        because of your evil deeds.’”
    
    
    “Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley,
        O rock of the plain,
                                            declares the LORD;
    you who say, ‘Who shall come down against us,
        or who shall enter our habitations?’
    I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds,
                                            declares the LORD;
        I will kindle a fire in her forest,
        and it shall devour all that is around her.” (ESV)

Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

  Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

  Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. For some have already strayed after Satan. If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.

  Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure. No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden. (ESV)