Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Lord, Bring Your People Back
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
126 When the Lord ·brought the prisoners back to [brought back those who returned to; or restored the fortunes of] Jerusalem [L Zion; C probably the return from the exile; 2 Chr. 36:22–23; Ezra 1],
it seemed as if we were dreaming [C so surprised and happy that it did not seem real].
2 Then ·we [L our mouths] were filled with laughter,
and ·we [L our tongues] ·sang happy songs [shouted joyfully].
Then the other nations said,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we ·are very glad [rejoice].
4 Lord, ·return our prisoners [bring back those who return; or restore our fortunes] again,
as you bring streams to the ·desert [L Negev; C an arid area in the south of Israel].
5 Those who cry as they ·plant crops [sow; plant seed]
will ·sing [shout for joy] at harvest time.
6 Those who ·cry [L go out weeping]
as they carry out the ·seeds [L bag with seeds]
will return singing
and carrying ·bundles of grain [sheaves].
12 Then Jeremiah spoke these words to all the officers of Judah and all the other people: “The Lord sent me to ·say [L prophesy] ·everything [L all these words] you have heard about this ·Temple [L house] and this city. 13 Now ·change [improve; mend] your ·lives and start doing good [L ways and your deeds] and ·obey [L listen to the voice of] the Lord your God. Then he will ·change his mind and not bring on you [relent of] the ·disaster [evil; trouble] he has told you about. 14 As for me, I am in your ·power [L hand]. Do to me what you think is good and right in your eyes. 15 But be sure of one thing. If you kill me, you will be ·guilty of killing an innocent person [L placing innocent blood on yourselves; Ex. 23:7; Deut. 19:10, 13]. ·You will make this city and everyone who lives in it guilty, too [L …and on this city and everyone who lives in it]! The Lord truly sent me to ·you to give you this message [L speak this word in your ears].”
16 Then the officers and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, “·Jeremiah must not be killed [L This man does not deserve the death penalty]. ·What he told us comes from [L He has spoken to us in the name of] the Lord our God.”
17 Then some of the elders of the land [C of Judah] stood up and said to all the people, 18 “Micah, from the city of Moresheth [Micah 1:1, 14], was a prophet during the ·time Hezekiah was [L days of Hezekiah] king of Judah. Micah said to all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says:
·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple] will be plowed like a field.
·It [L Jerusalem] will become a ·pile of rocks [a heap of ruins],
and the ·hill [L mountain] where the ·Temple [L house] stands will be ·covered with bushes [L a forested high place; Mic. 3:12].’
19 “·Hezekiah king of Judah and the people of Judah did not [L Did Hezekiah king of Judah and people of Judah try to…?] kill Micah. ·You know [L Do you not know…?] that Hezekiah feared the Lord [Prov. 1:7] and ·tried to please [sought the favor of] the Lord. So the Lord ·changed his mind [relented] and did not bring on Judah the ·disaster [evil; harm] he had promised. We will bring a terrible ·disaster [evil; harm] on ourselves [C by hurting Jeremiah]!”
20 (Now there was another man who prophesied in the name of the Lord. His name was Uriah son of Shemaiah from the city of Kiriath Jearim. He ·preached [L prophesied] the same things against this city [C Jerusalem] and this land [C Judah] that Jeremiah did. 21 When King Jehoiakim, all his army officers, and all the leaders of Judah heard ·Uriah preach [L his words], King Jehoiakim ·wanted [sought] to kill Uriah. But Uriah heard about it and was afraid. So he escaped to Egypt. 22 Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan son of Acbor and some other men to Egypt, 23 and they brought Uriah back from Egypt. Then they took him to King Jehoiakim, who had Uriah ·killed [L struck] with a sword. His body was thrown into the burial place where ·poor [common] people are buried.)
24 ·Ahikam son of Shaphan supported [L The hand of Ahikam son of Shaphan was with] Jeremiah [2 Kin. 22:3, 8–10]. So Ahikam did not hand Jeremiah over to be killed by the people.
11 ·The people were given the law concerning the system of priests from the tribe of Levi, but they could not be made perfect through that system [L If perfection could be attained through the Levitical priesthood, established for the people in the law…]. ·So there was [L …why was there…?] a need for another priest to come, a priest ·like [L in the priestly order/line of] Melchizedek, not [L in the priestly order/line of] Aaron [C Moses’ brother and Israel’s first high priest (5:4; Ex. 28:1); the existence of Melchizedek’s priestly line implies that the priesthood through Levi and Aaron was inadequate]. 12 And when a different ·kind of priest [priesthood; priestly line] comes, the law must be changed, too. 13 ·We are saying these things about Christ, who [L For the one about whom these things are said] belonged to a different tribe [C Jesus belonged to the tribe of Judah, not Levi]. No one from that tribe [C Judah] ever served as a priest at the altar. 14 It is clear that our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses said nothing about priests belonging to that tribe [C the kings from David’s line (including Jesus) came from the tribe of Judah, but the OT priesthood came through Levi and Aaron].
Jesus Is like Melchizedek
15 And this becomes even more clear ·when we see that [L if] another priest ·comes [arises; appears on the scene] who is like Melchizedek [vv. 1–14]. 16 He was not made a priest by ·human rules and laws [or regulations about physical descent/ancestry] but through the power of his life, which ·continues forever [or is indestructable]. 17 [L For] It is said about him,
“You are a priest forever,
·a priest like [L in the priestly order/line of] Melchizedek [Ps. 110:4; Heb. 5:6, 10].”
18 The ·old [former] ·rule [commandment; regulation] is now ·set aside [nullified; abolished], because it was weak and ·useless [ineffective]. 19 The law [C of Moses] could not make anything perfect. But now a better hope has been given to us, and ·with [by means of; through] this hope we can ·come near to [approach] God. 20 ·It is important that God did this with an oath [L And it was not without an oath]. Others became priests without an oath, 21 but ·Christ [L he] became a priest with an oath, ·when God said [L by the one who said] to him:
“The Lord has ·made a promise [L sworn; C an oath]
and will not change his mind.
‘You are a priest forever [v. 17; Ps. 110:4].’”
22 ·This means that [Because of this oath,] Jesus is the guarantee of a better ·agreement from God to his people [covenant; contract; 8:7–13; Jer. 31:31–34; C the new covenant is greater than the old (the law of Moses) because it provides true forgiveness of sins].
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