The Letter of Shemaiah

²⁴ To Shemaiah of Nehelam you shall say: ²⁵ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: In your own name you sent a letter to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶ The Lord himself has made you priest instead of the priest Jehoiada, so that there may be officers in the house of the Lord to control any madman who plays the prophet, to put him in the stocks and the collar. ²⁷ So now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who plays the prophet for you? ²⁸ For he has actually sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘It will be a long time; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat what they produce.’

²⁹ The priest Zephaniah read this letter in the hearing of the prophet Jeremiah. ³⁰ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ³¹ Send to all the exiles, saying, Thus says the Lord concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, though I did not send him, and has led you to trust in a lie, ³² therefore thus says the Lord: I am going to punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants; he shall not have anyone living among this people to see^[a] the good that I am going to do to my people, says the Lord, for he has spoken rebellion against the Lord.

Psalm 126

A Harvest of Joy

A Song of Ascents.

Jesus Cures a Blind Man at Bethsaida

²² They came to Bethsaida. Some people^[a] brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. ²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ ²⁴ And the man^[b] looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ ²⁵ Then Jesus^[c] laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ Then he sent him away to his home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’^[d]