Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Shin
161 Princes persecute me without reason,
but my heart remains true and is awed by Your words.
162 I celebrate because of Your promise,
like someone who discovers great treasure.
163 I despise and abhor lies,
but I love Your law.
164 Seven times every day I praise You
because of Your right rulings.
165 Those who love Your law have an abundance of peace,
and nothing along their paths can cause them to stumble.
166 I wait for Your salvation, O Eternal One,
and I live out Your commands.
167 My soul is faithful to Your decrees,
and my love for them is extraordinary.
168 I live according to Your precepts and decrees
because everything I do is right before Your eyes.
18 The word of the Eternal came to Jeremiah.
Now God’s message comes through another prophetic drama played out in a potter’s shop somewhere in the city. The prophet sees an ordinary event but receives an extraordinary message.
Eternal One: 2 Go down to the potter’s shop in the city, and wait for My word.
3 So I went down to the potter’s shop and found him making something on his wheel. 4 And as I watched, the clay vessel in his hands became flawed and unusable. So the potter started again with the same clay. He crushed and squeezed and shaped it into another vessel that was to his liking. 5 In that moment, I heard again God’s word for His rebellious people.
Eternal One: 6 O people of Israel, can I not do the same to you as this potter has done? You are like clay in My hands—I will mold you as I see fit. 7 If I declare that I am going to uproot, stamp out, or destroy a nation or kingdom because of its wicked ways, and 8 then that same nation I warned turns away from its evil, then I will change My plans. In My compassion, I will not destroy it. 9 If at some other time I declare that I am going to build up and establish a nation, 10 but then it ignores My voice, thus committing evil right in front of Me, I will hold back the good I had planned for them.
(to Jeremiah) 11 Now, prophet, say to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem these words from the Eternal: “Look! I am planning and shaping disaster against you. Like clay on a wheel, I will shape you and your destiny. Turn back from your evil ways—all of you—before it is too late. Do what is right and good.”
20 Then Jesus began to preach about the towns He’d visited. He’d performed some of His most fantastic miracles in places like Chorazin and Bethsaida, but still the people in those places hadn’t turned to God.
Jesus: 21 Woe to you, Chorazin! And woe to you, Bethsaida! Had I gone to Tyre and Sidon and performed miracles there, they would have repented immediately, taking on sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you this: the people from Tyre and Sidon will fare better on the day of judgment than you will. 23 And Capernaum! Do you think you will reign exalted in heaven? No, you’ll rot in hell. Had I gone to Sodom and worked miracles there, the people would have repented, and Sodom would still be standing, thriving, bustling. 24 Well, you know what happened to Sodom. But know this—the people from Sodom will fare better on the day of judgment than you will.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.