Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Child-Like Trust in the Lord

131 O Lord, my heart is not proud. My eyes are not filled with pride. And I do not trouble myself with important things or in things too great for me. ² For sure I have made my soul quiet like a child who no longer nurses while he is with his mother. My soul within me is like a child who no longer nurses. ³ O Israel, hope in the Lord, now and forever.

¹⁰ Then Hananiah, the man who told what would happen, took the cross-bar from the neck of Jeremiah the man of God and broke it. ¹¹ And Hananiah said in front of all the people, “The Lord says, ‘In this way I will break the cross-bar of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.’” Then Jeremiah the man of God went his way.

¹² Some time after Hananiah had broken the cross-bar from off the neck of Jeremiah, the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, ¹³ “Go and tell Hananiah, ‘The Lord says, “You have broken the cross-bars of wood, but you have made bars of iron in their place.” ¹⁴ For the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, “I have put the cross-bar of iron on the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. And they will serve him. I have given him the animals of the field also.”’” ¹⁵ Then Jeremiah who spoke for God said to Hananiah who told what would happen, “Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you. And you have made these people trust in a lie. ¹⁶ So the Lord says, ‘See, I am about to take you from the earth. This year you are going to die, because you have spoken against the right and power of the Lord.’” ¹⁷ So Hananiah, who had said these things in God’s name, died in the seventh month of the same year.

3 Do the Jews have anything that those who are not Jews do not have? What good does it do to go through the religious act of becoming a Jew? ² Yes, the Jews have much more in every way. First of all, God gave the Jews His Law. ³ If some of them were not faithful, does it mean that God will not be faithful? ⁴ No, not at all! God is always true even if every man lies. The Holy Writings say, “Speak the truth and you will not be proven guilty.” ^(A)

⁵ If our sins show how right God is, what can we say? Is it wrong for God to punish us for it? (I am speaking as men do.) ⁶ No, not at all! If it were wrong for God to punish us, how could He judge the world? ⁷ If my lies honor God by showing how true He is, why am I still being judged as a sinner? ⁸ Why not say, “Let us sin that good will come from it.” (Some people have said I talk like this!) They will be punished as they should be.