The Lord’s temple

7 Jeremiah received the Lord’s word: ² Stand near the gate of the Lord’s temple and proclaim there this message: Listen to the Lord’s word, all you of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. ³ This is what the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel, says: Improve your conduct and your actions, and I will dwell with you^[a] in this place. ⁴ Don’t trust in lies: “This is the Lord’s temple! The Lord’s temple! The Lord’s temple!” ⁵ No, if you truly reform your ways and your actions; if you treat each other justly; ⁶ if you stop taking advantage of the immigrant, orphan, or widow; if you don’t shed the blood of the innocent in this place, or go after other gods to your own ruin, ⁷ only then will I dwell with you^[b] in this place, in the land that I gave long ago to your ancestors for all time.

⁸ And yet you trust in lies that will only hurt you. ⁹ Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, sacrifice to Baal and go after other gods that you don’t know, ¹⁰ and then come and stand before me in this temple that bears my name, and say, “We are safe,” only to keep on doing all these detestable things? ¹¹ Do you regard this temple, which bears my name, as a hiding place for criminals? I can see what’s going on here, declares the Lord.

Psalm 84

For the music leader. According to the Gittith. Of the Korahites. A psalm.

Parable of the weeds

²⁴ Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like someone who planted good seed in his field. ²⁵ While people were sleeping, an enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat and went away. ²⁶ When the stalks sprouted and bore grain, then the weeds also appeared.

²⁷ “The servants of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Master, didn’t you plant good seed in your field? Then how is it that it has weeds?’

²⁸ “‘An enemy has done this,’ he answered.

“The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and gather them?’

²⁹ “But the landowner said, ‘No, because if you gather the weeds, you’ll pull up the wheat along with them. ³⁰ Let both grow side by side until the harvest. And at harvesttime I’ll say to the harvesters, “First gather the weeds and tie them together in bundles to be burned. But bring the wheat into my barn.”’”