Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer of Thanks
118 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. 2 Let Israel say, “His loving-kindness lasts forever.”
19 Open to me the gates of what is right and good. I will go through them and give thanks to the Lord. 20 This is the gate of the Lord. Those who are right with God will pass through it. 21 I will give thanks to You, for You have answered me. And You are the One Who saves me.
22 The stone that was put aside by the workmen has become the most important stone in the building. 23 The Lord has done this. We think it is great! 24 This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be full of joy and be glad in it. 25 O Lord, we beg You to save us! O Lord, we ask that You let everything go well for us! 26 Great and honored is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We honor you from the house of the Lord. 27 The Lord is God. He has given us light. Tie the gift with rope to the horns of the altar on this special day. 28 You are my God and I will give You thanks. You are my God and I will praise You. 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever.
A Promise of Hope
33 While Jeremiah was still shut up in the open space of the prison, the Word of the Lord came to him a second time, saying, 2 “This is what the Lord says Who made the earth. The Lord made it to last. The Lord is His name. 3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you. And I will show you great and wonderful things which you do not know.’ 4 For this is what the Lord God of Israel says about the houses of this city and about the houses of the kings of Judah which have been torn down to make a strong wall to help in the battle against the Babylonians. 5 Some will come to fight with the Babylonians, and they will fill the houses with the dead bodies of men whom I have killed in My anger. I will hide My face from this city because of all their sin. 6 See, I will make it well again, and I will heal them. I will let them have much peace and truth. 7 I will return the land to Judah and to Israel, and I will help them to become as they were before. 8 I will make them clean from all the sins they have done against Me. I will forgive all their sins against Me. 9 This city will make My name known. It will be to Me joy, praise and shining-greatness before all the nations of the earth that hear of all the good that I do for them. And they will fear and shake because of all the good and all the peace that I give it.’
12 My Christian friends, you have obeyed me when I was with you. You have obeyed even more when I have been away. You must keep on working to show you have been saved from the punishment of sin. Be afraid that you may not please God. 13 He is working in you. God is helping you obey Him. God is doing what He wants done in you. 14 Be glad you can do the things you should be doing. Do all things without arguing and talking about how you wish you did not have to do them. 15 In that way, you can prove yourselves to be without blame. You are God’s children and no one can talk against you, even in a sin-loving and sin-sick world. You are to shine as lights among the sinful people of this world. 16 Take a strong hold on the Word of Life. Then when Christ comes again, I will be happy that I did not work with you for nothing. 17 Even if I give my life as a gift on the altar to God for you, I am glad and share this joy with you. 18 You must be happy and share your joy with me also.
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