The Beatitudes

²⁰ And ^(A)he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, ^(B)and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for ^(C)yours is the kingdom of God.

^21 (D)“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

^(E)“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

²² “Blessed are you when ^(F)people hate you and when they ^(G)exclude you and revile you and ^(H)spurn your name as evil, ^(I)on account of the Son of Man! ^23 (J)Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for ^(K)so their fathers did to the prophets.

Jesus Pronounces Woes

^24 (L)“But woe to you who are rich, ^(M)for you ^(N)have received your consolation.

²⁵ “Woe to you who are full now, for ^(O)you shall be hungry.

“Woe to ^(P)you who laugh now, ^(Q)for you shall mourn and weep.

²⁶ “Woe to you, ^(R)when all people speak well of you, for ^(S)so their fathers did to ^(T)the false prophets.

Love Your Enemies

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, ^(U)Love your enemies, ^(V)do good to those who hate you, ^28 (W)bless those who curse you, ^(X)pray for those who abuse you. ^29 (Y)To one who ^(Z)strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic^[a] either. ^30 (AA)Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. ³¹ And ^(AB)as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

^32 (AC)“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And ^(AD)if you ^(AE)lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. ³⁵ But ^(AF)love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and ^(AG)you will be sons of ^(AH)the Most High, for ^(AI)he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. ^36 (AJ)Be merciful, even as ^(AK)your Father is merciful.

Judging Others

^37 (AL)(AM)“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; ^(AN)forgive, and you will be forgiven; ^38 (AO)give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put ^(AP)into your lap. For ^(AQ)with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

³⁹ He also told them a parable: ^(AR)“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? ^40 (AS)A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is ^(AT)fully trained will be like his teacher. ^41 (AU)Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but ^(AV)do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³ “For ^(AW)no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, ⁴⁴ for ^(AX)each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. ^45 (AY)The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces ^(AZ)evil, ^(BA)for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Build Your House on the Rock

^46 (BB)“Why ^(BC)do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? ^47 (BD)Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.^{[b] 49 (BE)}But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and ^(BF)the ruin of that house was great.”

Jeremiah Cast into the Cistern

38 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, ^(A)Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and ^(B)Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people: ² “Thus says the Lord: ^(C)He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, ^(D)but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live. ³ Thus says the Lord: ^(E)This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and be taken.” ⁴ Then the officials said to the king, ^(F)“Let this man be put to death, ^(G)for he is weakening the hands of the soldiers who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking ^(H)the welfare of this people, but their harm.” ⁵ King Zedekiah said, “Behold, he is in your hands, ^(I)for the king can do nothing against you.” ⁶ So they took Jeremiah ^(J)and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in ^(K)the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down ^(L)by ropes. ^(M)And there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and ^(N)Jeremiah sank in the mud.

Jeremiah Rescued from the Cistern

⁷ When ^(O)Ebed-melech ^(P)the Ethiopian, ^(Q)a eunuch who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting ^(R)in the Benjamin Gate— ^8 (S)Ebed-melech went from the king's house and said to the king, ⁹ “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they did to Jeremiah the prophet by casting him into the cistern, and he will die there of ^(T)hunger, ^(U)for there is no bread left in the city.” ¹⁰ Then the king commanded ^(V)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take thirty men with you from here, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.” ¹¹ So ^(W)Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe in the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern ^(X)by ropes. ¹² Then ^(Y)Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and ^(Z)the ropes.” Jeremiah did so. ¹³ Then they drew Jeremiah up with ^(AA)ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the ^(AB)court of the guard.

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah Again

¹⁴ King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the Lord. The king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me.” ¹⁵ Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.” ¹⁶ Then King Zedekiah swore ^(AC)secretly to Jeremiah, ^(AD)“As the Lord lives, ^(AE)who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of ^(AF)these men who seek your life.”

¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: ^(AG)If you will surrender to ^(AH)the officials of the king of Babylon, ^(AI)then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. ¹⁸ But if you do not surrender to ^(AJ)the officials of the king of Babylon, ^(AK)then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, ^(AL)and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.” ¹⁹ King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans ^(AM)who have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest I be handed over to them and they deal cruelly with me.” ²⁰ Jeremiah said, “You shall not be given to them. Obey now the voice of the Lord in what I say to you, ^(AN)and it shall be well with you, and your life shall be spared. ²¹ But if you refuse to ^(AO)surrender, this is the vision which the Lord has shown to me: ²² Behold, all the women left in the house of the king of Judah were being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and were saying,

²³ All your wives and ^(AQ)your sons shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire.”

²⁴ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die. ²⁵ If ^(AR)the officials hear that I have spoken with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; hide nothing from us and we will not put you to death,’ ²⁶ then you shall say to them, ^(AS)‘I made a humble plea to the king that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” ²⁷ Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he answered them as the king had instructed him. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been overheard. ²⁸ And Jeremiah remained ^(AT)in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.

The Fall of Jerusalem

39 ^(AU)In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it. ² In the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. ³ Then all ^(AV)the officials of the king of Babylon came ^(AW)and sat in the middle gate: Nergal-sar-ezer of Samgar, Nebu-sar-sekim ^(AX)the Rab-saris, Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag, with all the rest of the officers of the king of Babylon. ⁴ When Zedekiah king of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the king's garden through the gate between the two walls; and they went toward ^(AY)the Arabah. ⁵ But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in ^(AZ)the plains of Jericho. And when they had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, at ^(BA)Riblah, in the land of Hamath; ^(BB)and he passed sentence on him. ⁶ The king of Babylon ^(BC)slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at ^(BD)Riblah before his eyes, and the king of Babylon ^(BE)slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. ^7 (BF)He put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains to take him to Babylon. ^8 (BG)The Chaldeans burned the king's house and the house of the people, ^(BH)and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. ⁹ Then ^(BI)Nebuzaradan, the ^(BJ)captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, ^(BK)those who had deserted to him, and the people who remained. ¹⁰ Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, ^(BL)left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when ^(A)Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.