Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Book One

The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked

¹⁰ “For thus says the Lord: ^(A)When seventy years are completed for Babylon, ^(B)I will visit you, ^(C)and I will fulfill to you my promise ^(D)and bring you back to this place. ^11 (E)For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare^[a] and not for evil, ^(F)to give you a future and a hope. ^12 (G)Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, ^(H)and I will hear you. ^13 (I)You will seek me and find me, when you seek me ^(J)with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you, declares the Lord, ^(K)and I will restore your fortunes and ^(L)gather you from all the nations and all the places ^(M)where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

¹⁵ “Because you have said, ‘The Lord has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ ¹⁶ thus says the Lord concerning ^(N)the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: ¹⁷ ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, behold, I am sending on them ^(O)sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like ^(P)vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. ¹⁸ I will pursue them with ^(Q)sword, famine, and pestilence, ^(R)and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, ^(S)to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations ^(T)where I have driven them, ¹⁹ because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the Lord, ^(U)that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the Lord.’

^13 (A)Be watchful, ^(B)stand firm in the faith, ^(C)act like men, ^(D)be strong. ^14 (E)Let all that you do be done in love.

¹⁵ Now I urge you, brothers^[a]—you know that ^(F)the household^[b] of Stephanas were ^(G)the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves ^(H)to the service of the saints— ^16 (I)be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. ¹⁷ I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for ^(J)your absence, ¹⁸ for they ^(K)refreshed my spirit as well as yours. ^(L)Give recognition to such people.

Greetings

¹⁹ The churches of Asia send you greetings. ^(M)Aquila and Prisca, together with ^(N)the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. ²⁰ All the brothers send you greetings. ^(O)Greet one another with a holy kiss.

²¹ I, Paul, write ^(P)this greeting with my own hand. ²² If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be ^(Q)accursed. Our Lord, come!^{[c] 23 (R)}The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. ²⁴ My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.