Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A song to sing as we climb.
The Lord has done great things for us![a]
126 When the Lord turned us round,
so that we enjoyed a good life in Zion again,
we thought that we were dreaming!
2 At that time, we laughed a lot.
We shouted because we were so happy!
People in other countries said to each other,
‘The Lord has done great things for them!’
3 Yes, the Lord has done great things for us.
So we are very happy.
4 Lord, please bless us like before.
That will be like streams of water that return to the desert.[b]
5 When people went out to plant their seeds,
they were crying.
But they will be happy when they bring in the harvest!
6 People were weeping when they took their bags of seeds to plant.[c]
But when they carry their crops back home,
they will shout because they are so happy![d]
12 Then Jeremiah said to all the officers and to all the people, ‘The Lord sent me to say all the things that you have heard me speak. He told me to prophesy against this temple and against this city. 13 Now you must change the way that you have been living. You must do what is good and right. Obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will not punish you as he said that he would do. 14 As for me, I am under your authority. Do with me whatever you think is good and right. 15 But you should know this: If you punish me with death, you will bring great trouble on yourselves, this city, and everyone who lives here. You will be guilty of murder, because I have not done anything wrong. The Lord has sent me to speak all these words for you to hear. That is the truth!’
16 Then the officers and all the people gave their answer to the priests and the prophets. They said, ‘This man does not deserve to die. The Lord our God has given him authority to say these things to us.’
17 Then some of Judah's leaders stood up to speak to all the people who were there. 18 They said, ‘Micah from Moresheth prophesied when Hezekiah was king of Judah. He gave this message to all the people of Judah:
“The Lord Almighty says this:
Zion will be like a field that a farmer has dug.
Jerusalem will become a heap of stones.
Trees will cover the hill where the temple is now.”
19 When Micah said that, King Hezekiah and all Judah's people did not punish him with death. Instead, Hezekiah gave honour to the Lord. He wanted to please the Lord. So the Lord did not destroy them as he had said he would do. If we are not careful, we will bring great trouble on ourselves!’
20 There was another prophet who was called Uriah. He was the son of Shemaiah, from Kiriath-Jearim. Uriah prophesied against this city and this nation, with the Lord's authority, as Jeremiah did. 21 When King Jehoiakim, his personal guards and all his officers heard what Uriah was saying, the king wanted to kill him. But Uriah heard about it and he was afraid. So he ran away to Egypt. 22 But King Jehoiakim sent Akbor's son Elnathan and some other men to Egypt. 23 They brought Uriah back from there to King Jehoiakim. The king punished Uriah with death. They threw his dead body in the place where they buried poor people.[a]
24 But Shaphan's son Ahikam, spoke on Jeremiah's behalf. He stopped the people from taking hold of Jeremiah and killing him.
11 The Levite priests were a necessary part of God's Law for Israel's people. But those priests could not make the people completely right with God. If that had been possible, the Levite priests could have continued their work. But we see that God has chosen a different kind of priest to serve him. That priest is not someone from Aaron's family, as the Levites were. Instead, he is a priest in the same way that Melchizedek was God's priest. 12 When there is a change in the kind of priest like that, there must also be a change in the law. 13 It is the Lord Jesus Christ that the Bible speaks about in this way, as God's special priest. But he belongs to a different tribe. He is not a Levite. Nobody else from his tribe ever served God as a priest. 14 We know that our Lord came from Judah's tribe. Moses never said that priests could come from Judah's tribe. So we see that the old law has changed.
Jesus is a different kind of priest
15 What we have said becomes even clearer now. Another kind of priest has come, who is a priest like Melchizedek. 16 Jesus did not become a priest because of a law about which family he came from. He became God's priest because of his powerful life that nothing could ever destroy. 17 The Bible speaks about him as a priest like this:
‘You will be a priest for ever,
in the same way that Melchizedek was God's priest.’[a]
18 So the old law about priests no longer has authority. It was weak and it could not help people. 19 God's Laws that he gave to Moses could not make anything completely right. But now God has brought us something better to hope for. And in that way, we ourselves can come near to God.
20 Also, when God said that Jesus would be his special priest, he made a strong promise. When the Levites became priests, he did not make a strong promise like that. 21 But when Jesus became God's priest, God made a strong promise. God said:
‘The Lord God has promised this strongly.
He will not change his mind.
You will be a priest for ever.’
22 Because God promised that to Jesus, we know that his new agreement with his people is very strong. It is a much better agreement than the old one.
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