Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁵ Then Jeremiah, the man of God, spoke to Hananiah, the man who told what would happen, in front of the religious leaders and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. ⁶ And Jeremiah, the man who spoke for God, said, “Let it be so! May the Lord do so. May the Lord make the words you have spoken come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the objects of the Lord’s house and all the people of Judah. ⁷ Yet listen now to what I am about to say in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. ⁸ The men who spoke for God before us from long ago spoke of war and trouble and disease coming to many lands and great nations. ⁹ As for the man who told that peace would come, when his word comes to pass, then that man will be known as the one that the Lord has sent.”

God’s Promise to David

89 I will sing of the loving-kindness of the Lord forever. I will make known with my mouth how faithful You are to all people. ² For I said, “Loving-kindness will be built up forever. You will make known how faithful You are in the heavens.”

³ You said, “I have made an agreement with My chosen one. I have promised to David, Your servant. ⁴ I will make your seed last forever. I will build up your throne for all the children-to-come.”

¹⁵ How happy are the people who know the sound of joy! They walk in the light of Your face, O Lord. ¹⁶ They are full of joy in Your name all day long. And by being right with You, they are honored. ¹⁷ For You are the shining-greatness of their strength. And our horn is lifted high by Your favor. ¹⁸ For our safe-covering belongs to the Lord. And our king belongs to the Holy One of Israel.

¹² So do not let sin have power over your body here on earth. You must not obey the body and let it do what it wants to do. ¹³ Do not give any part of your body for sinful use. Instead, give yourself to God as a living person who has been raised from the dead. Give every part of your body to God to do what is right. ¹⁴ Sin must not have power over you. You are not living by the Law. You have life because of God’s loving-favor.

¹⁵ What are we to do then? Are we to sin because we have God’s loving-favor and are not living by the Law? No, not at all! ¹⁶ Do you not know that when you give yourself as a servant to be owned by someone, that one becomes your owner? If you give yourself to sin, the end is death. If you give yourself to God, the end is being right with Him. ¹⁷ At one time you were held by the power of sin. But now you obey with all your heart the teaching that was given to you. Thank God for this! ¹⁸ You were made free from the power of sin. Being right with God has power over you now. ¹⁹ I speak with words easy to understand because your human thinking is weak. At one time you gave yourselves over to the power of sin. You kept on sinning all the more. Now give yourselves over to being right with God. Set yourself apart for God-like living and to do His work.

²⁰ When sin had power over your life, you were not right with God. ²¹ What good did you get from the things you are ashamed of now? Those things bring death. ²² But now you are free from the power of sin. You have become a servant for God. Your life is set apart for God-like living. The end is life that lasts forever. ²³ You get what is coming to you when you sin. It is death! But God’s free gift is life that lasts forever. It is given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴⁰ “Whoever receives you, receives Me. Whoever receives Me, receives Him Who sent Me. ⁴¹ Whoever receives a preacher who speaks for God because he is a preacher, will get the reward of a preacher who speaks for God. Whoever receives a man right with God, because he is a man right with God, will get the reward of a man right with God. ⁴² For sure, I tell you, anyone who gives a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he follows Me, will not lose his reward.”