Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
89 Forever, O Lord, your Word stands firm in heaven. 90-91 Your faithfulness extends to every generation, like the earth you created; it endures by your decree, for everything serves your plans.
92 I would have despaired and perished unless your laws had been my deepest delight. 93 I will never lay aside your laws, for you have used them to restore my joy and health. 94 I am yours! Save me! For I have tried to live according to your desires. 95 Though the wicked hide along the way to kill me, I will quietly keep my mind upon your promises.
96 Nothing is perfect except your words.
11 When Micaiah (son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan) heard the messages from God, 12 he went down to the palace to the conference room where the administrative officials were meeting. Elishama (the scribe) was there, as well as Delaiah (son of Shemaiah), Elnathan (son of Achbor), Gemariah (son of Shaphan), Zedekiah (son of Hananiah), and all the others with similar responsibilities. 13 When Micaiah told them about the messages Baruch was reading to the people, 14-15 the officials sent Jehudi (son of Nethaniah, son of Shelemiah, son of Cushi) to ask Baruch to come and read the messages to them too, and Baruch did.
16 By the time he finished they were badly frightened. “We must tell the king,” they said. 17 “But first, tell us how you got these messages. Did Jeremiah himself dictate them to you?” 18 So Baruch explained that Jeremiah had dictated them to him word by word, and he had written them down in ink upon the scroll. 19 “You and Jeremiah both hide,” the officials said to Baruch. “Don’t tell a soul where you are!” 20 Then the officials hid the scroll in the room of Elishama the scribe and went to tell the king.
21 The king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. Jehudi brought it from Elishama the scribe and read it to the king as all his officials stood by. 22 The king was in a winterized part of the palace at the time, sitting in front of a fireplace,[a] for it was December and cold. 23 And whenever Jehudi finished reading three or four columns, the king would take his knife, slit off the section, and throw it into the fire, until the whole scroll was destroyed. 24-25 And no one protested except Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah. They pled with the king not to burn the scroll, but he wouldn’t listen to them. Not another of the king’s officials showed any signs of fear or anger at what he had done.
26 Then the king commanded Jerahmeel (a member of the royal family[b]) and Seraiah (son of Azriel) and Shelemiah (son of Abdeel) to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah. But the Lord hid them!
2 Please open your hearts to us again, for not one of you has suffered any wrong from us. Not one of you was led astray. We have cheated no one nor taken advantage of anyone. 3 I’m not saying this to scold or blame you, for, as I have said before, you are in my heart forever, and I live and die with you. 4 I have the highest confidence in you, and my pride in you is great. You have greatly encouraged me; you have made me so happy in spite of all my suffering.
5 When we arrived in Macedonia there was no rest for us; outside, trouble was on every hand and all around us; within us, our hearts were full of dread and fear. 6 Then God who cheers those who are discouraged refreshed us by the arrival of Titus. 7 Not only was his presence a joy, but also the news that he brought of the wonderful time he had with you. When he told me how much you were looking forward to my visit, and how sorry you were about what had happened, and about your loyalty and warm love for me, well, I overflowed with joy!
8 I am no longer sorry that I sent that letter to you, though I was very sorry for a time, realizing how painful it would be to you. But it hurt you only for a little while. 9 Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you but because the pain turned you to God. It was a good kind of sorrow you felt, the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so that I need not come to you with harshness. 10 For God sometimes uses sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek eternal life. We should never regret his sending it. But the sorrow of the man who is not a Christian is not the sorrow of true repentance and does not prevent eternal death.
11 Just see how much good this grief from the Lord did for you! You no longer shrugged your shoulders but became earnest and sincere and very anxious to get rid of the sin that I wrote you about. You became frightened about what had happened and longed for me to come and help. You went right to work on the problem and cleared it up, punishing the man who sinned.[a] You have done everything you could to make it right.
12 I wrote as I did so the Lord could show how much you really do care for us. That was my purpose even more than to help the man who sinned or his father to whom he did the wrong.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.