Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The two paths[a]
1 If someone does not do what wicked people tell him to do,
if he does not join with sinners,
if he does not meet with those who laugh at God,
God has blessed that person!
2 He is happy when he obeys the Law of the Lord.[b]
He thinks about God's Law during the day and at night.
3 He will become like a tree that grows beside streams of water.
It gives its fruit at the right season.
Its leaves do not fall off.
Everything that person does will have a good result.
4 But wicked people are as empty as chaff.
The wind blows them away.[c]
5 So they will not go free when God judges them.
Sinners cannot join with God's people,
the people who are right with God.[d]
6 The Lord takes care of people who respect him.
But wicked people are living in a way that will take them to a bad end.
Jeremiah's vision of figs
24 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took Jeconiah away as his prisoner. Jeconiah was the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah.[a] Nebuchadnezzar also took all Jeconiah's officers and the workers in Judah who had special skills. He took them all away from Jerusalem to Babylon as his prisoners.
After that happened, the Lord showed me a vision. I saw two baskets of figs. Somebody had put them in front of the Lord's temple. 2 One basket had very good figs, like those that are ready to eat early in the year. The other basket had very bad figs. They were too bad to eat.
3 Then the Lord asked me, ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’
I answered, ‘Figs. The good figs are very good. But the bad figs are so bad that nobody can eat them.’
4 Then the Lord gave me this message:
5 ‘The Lord, Israel's God, says, “The people that I sent away from Judah to Babylon as prisoners are like the good figs. I see them as good. 6 I will watch them carefully and I will take care of them. I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and make them strong. I will not knock them down. I will help them to grow in the land, like plants with good roots. I will not pull them up.[b] 7 I will cause them to want to know me. They will know that I am the Lord. They will be my people and I will be their God, because they will choose to return to me.”
8 But I, the Lord, also tell you this: “King Zedekiah of Judah and his officers are like the bad figs. That is true of the people who still live in Jerusalem, and those who have run away to Egypt to live there. They are all like the figs that are too bad to eat. 9 I will send great trouble to punish them. It will make everyone afraid. The people of all the kingdoms on the earth will think that they are disgusting. People will insult them. They will use them as an example in proverbs. They will use their name as a curse. That will happen in all the places where I send my people. 10 I will send war, famine and disease to kill them. I will destroy them all. They will disappear from the land that I gave to them and to their ancestors.” ’
Help for God's people
16 You asked me about the money that you want to give to God's people at Jerusalem. You should do it in the same way that I told the churches in Galatia.[a] 2 On the first day of every week, each of you should put some of your money in a safe place. Think about how much God has given you. Then decide how much you can give each week. If you do that, the gift will be ready when I come to you. We will not need to start doing it after I come. 3 When I arrive there, you should choose people from your group who will take your gift to Jerusalem. I will write some letters that they will take with them. The letters will explain about your gift. 4 I may also go myself, if that seems the right thing for me to do. Then they can travel with me.
5 But I must travel through Macedonia first.[b] After I have been to Macedonia, then I will come to you. 6 I will probably remain with you for some time. I may even stay for the whole winter. Then you can help me to continue my journey to the next place. I am not sure yet where that may be. 7 If I come now, I would only have a short time with you. But I want to stay with you for a longer time, if the Lord will let me do that. 8 So I will remain here at Ephesus city until the Pentecost festival.[c] 9 God has given me the chance to do a great work here. But many people are against what I am doing.
10 If Timothy comes to you, please take care of him. Make sure that you welcome him. He is doing the Lord's work, as I am also doing. 11 So you should all respect him properly. When he is ready to leave, help him with the things that he needs. Then he can continue his journey and come to me here. I am waiting for him to come with the other believers.
12 As for our Christian friend Apollos, I wanted him to visit you. I have often told him to come to you together with the other believers. But he does not think that this is the right time. He will come to you when he has the chance.
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