Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁸¹ My soul fainteth for Thy salvation, but I hope in Thy word.

⁸² Mine eyes fail from seeking Thy word, saying, “When wilt Thou comfort me?”

⁸³ For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet do I not forget Thy statutes.

⁸⁴ How many are the days of Thy servant? When wilt Thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?

⁸⁵ The proud have dug pits for me, which is not according to Thy law.

⁸⁶ All Thy commandments are faithful; they persecute me wrongfully; help Thou me!

⁸⁷ They had almost consumed me from the earth, but I forsook not Thy precepts.

⁸⁸ Quicken me according to Thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of Thy mouth.

16 The word of the Lord came also unto me, saying,

² “Thou shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons or daughters in this place.”

³ For thus saith the Lord concerning the sons and concerning the daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them, and concerning their fathers who begot them in this land:

⁴ “They shall die of grievous deaths; they shall not be lamented, neither shall they be buried, but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth. And they shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and their carcasses shall be meat for the fowls of heaven and for the beasts of the earth.”

⁵ For thus saith the Lord: “Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them; for I have taken away My peace from this people,” saith the Lord, “even lovingkindness and mercies.

⁶ Both the great and the small shall die in this land. They shall not be buried, neither shall men lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald for them.

⁷ Neither shall men tear themselves for them in mourning to comfort them for the dead; neither shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for their father or for their mother.

⁸ Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting to sit with them to eat and to drink.”

⁹ For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place, in your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.

¹⁰ “And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt show this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, ‘Why hath the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we have committed against the Lord our God?’

¹¹ Then shalt thou say unto them, ‘Because your fathers have forsaken Me,’ saith the Lord, ‘and have walked after other gods and have served them, and have worshiped them, and have forsaken Me, and have not kept My law.

¹² And ye have done worse than your fathers, for behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto Me.

¹³ Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night, where I will not show you favor.’

⁷ Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

⁸ Be ye also patient; make firm your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

⁹ Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned. Behold, the Judge standeth before the door!

¹⁰ My brethren, take the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering affliction and of patience.

¹¹ Behold, we count them happy who endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, how the Lord is full of pity and of tender mercy.

¹² But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by earth, nor by any other oath; but let your “Yea” be yea, and your “Nay” be nay, lest ye fall into condemnation.