Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Joyful Restoration of Zion

Psalm 126

¹² Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and to all the people, saying: “Adonai sent me to prophesy all the words you have heard against this House and against this city. ¹³ So now, mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of Adonai your God; so Adonai will relent of the calamity that He has pronounced against you.

¹⁴ “But as for me, here I am in your hand; do with me as is good and right in your eyes. ¹⁵ Only know for certain that, if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants. For in truth Adonai has sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

¹⁶ Then said the princes and all the people to the kohanim and to the prophets: “No death sentence for this man! For he has spoken to us in the Name of Adonai our God.”

¹⁷ Then some of the elders of the land rose up and addressed all the assembly of the people, saying: ¹⁸ “Micah the Morashtite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and he spoke to all the people of Judah, saying, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot:

¹⁹ “Did King Hezekiah of Judah and all Judah put him to death? Didn’t he fear Adonai and plead for the favor of Adonai, and then Adonai relented of the calamity that He had pronounced against them? So we may be committing great evil against our own souls.”

²⁰ Now there was a man who had prophesied in the Name of Adonai, Uriah son of Shemaiah of Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land words like all those of Jeremiah. ²¹ When King Jehoiakim with all his mighty men and all the princes heard his words, the king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard it, he was afraid and fled, and went to Egypt. ²² So King Jehoiakim sent men to Egypt—Elnathan son of Achbor and some others with him— ²³ and they brought Uriah back from Egypt, and led him to King Jehoiakim, who slew him with the sword and threw his corpse into the burial place of the common people.

²⁴ Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, so that they did not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death.

Yeshua, Our Kohen Gadol Forever

¹¹ Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for based on it the people had been given the Torah^[a]), what further need was there for a different kohen to arise—designated according to the order of Melchizedek, not according to the order of Aaron? ¹² For whenever the priesthood is altered, out of necessity an alteration^[b] of law also takes place. ¹³ For the one about whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. ¹⁴ For it is clear that our Lord has sprung forth^[c] from Judah—concerning this tribe, Moses said nothing about kohanim. ¹⁵ And it is even more evident, if another kohen arises like Melchizedek— ¹⁶ one made not by virtue of a Torah requirement of physical descent,^[d] but by virtue of the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷ For it is testified,

¹⁸ For on the one hand, a former requirement is set aside because of its weakness and ineffectiveness— ¹⁹ for Torah made nothing perfect. But on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

²⁰ Moreover, it was not without a sworn oath. (Others indeed have become kohanim without a sworn oath, ²¹ but He with an oath—sworn by the One who said to Him, “Adonai has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘You are a kohen forever.’”^[f]) ²² How much more then has Yeshua become the guarantee of a better covenant.