Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 I have been put to shame because of You. Shame has covered my face. 8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, a stranger to my mother’s sons. 9 For the strong desire for Your house has burned me up. And the bad things said about You have fallen on me. 10 When I cried and went without food, I was put to shame.
11 When I put on clothes made from hair, they made fun of me. 12 Those who sit by the gate talk about me. And I am the song of those who drink too much.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You at the right time, O Lord. Answer me with Your saving truth in Your great loving-kindness, O God. 14 Take me out of the mud and do not let me go down in it. Take me away from those who hate me and from the deep waters. 15 Keep the flood water from covering me. Do not let the sea swallow me up. Do not let the deep hole close its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O Lord, for Your loving-kindness is good. Turn to me because of Your great loving-pity. 17 Do not hide Your face from Your servant, for I am in trouble. Hurry to answer me. 18 Come near to me and save me. Pay the price to set me free from those who hate me.
Plans to Kill Jeremiah
18 They said, “Come and let us make plans against Jeremiah. For the Law is not going to be lost to the religious leader, or wise words to the wise man, or the Word of God to the man of God! Come and let us hurt him with our tongue, and let us not listen to any of his words.”
19 Think of me, O Lord, and listen to what those who hate me are saying! 20 Should bad be given in return for good? Yet they have dug a deep hole for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good for them, to turn Your anger away from them. 21 So give their children over to hunger. Give them up to the power of the sword. Let their wives lose their children and husbands. Let their men be put to death. And let their young men be killed by the sword in battle. 22 May a cry be heard from their houses when You bring an army upon them by surprise. For they have dug a deep hole to take me, and have hidden traps for my feet. 23 Yet You, O Lord, know all their plans to kill me. Do not forgive their wrong-doing or cover their sin from Your eyes. Let them be taken down before You. Punish them in the time of Your anger.
The Missionaries Are Put in Prison
17 The head religious leader heard this. Some of the religious group who believe no one will be raised from the dead also heard of the people being healed. They became very jealous. 18 They took hold of the missionaries and put them in prison. 19 An angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison in the night and let them out. The angel said to them, 20 “Go, stand where you have been standing in the house of God. Keep on telling the people about this new life.”
21 When Peter and John heard this, they went in the house of God early in the morning and began to teach. When the head religious leader and those with him had come, they gathered the men of the court and the leaders of the Jews together. Then they sent to have the missionaries brought to them from the prison. 22 When the soldiers got there, they did not find them in prison. They went back and told the court. 23 The soldiers said, “We found the door of the prison locked and the soldiers watching the doors. When we opened the door, we found no one inside.”
24 When the religious leaders and the leader of the house of God heard this, they were much troubled as to what might happen. 25 Then someone came and told them, “The men you put in prison are now standing in the house of God and teaching the people.” 26 The leader of the house of God took his men and got them. They did not hurt the missionaries because they were afraid the people would throw stones at them.
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