Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 6

To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, set [possibly] an octave below. A Psalm of David.

¹ O Lord, rebuke me not in Your anger nor discipline and chasten me in Your hot displeasure.

² Have mercy on me and be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am weak (faint and withered away); O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

³ My [inner] self [as well as my body] is also exceedingly disturbed and troubled. But You, O Lord, how long [until You return and speak peace to me]?

⁴ Return [to my relief], O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of Your steadfast love and mercy.

⁵ For in death there is no remembrance of You; in Sheol (the place of the dead) who will give You thanks?

⁶ I am weary with my groaning; all night I soak my pillow with tears, I drench my couch with my weeping.

⁷ My eye grows dim because of grief; it grows old because of all my enemies.

⁸ Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.^(A)

⁹ The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord receives my prayer.

¹⁰ Let all my enemies be ashamed and sorely troubled; let them turn back and be put to shame suddenly.

38 Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal [also called Jehucal] son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying,

² Thus says the Lord: He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life as his only booty [as a prize of war], and he shall live.^(A)

³ Thus says the Lord: This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.

⁴ Therefore the princes said to the king, We beseech you, let this man [Jeremiah] be put to death; for [talking] thus he weakens the hands of the soldiers who remain in this city and the hands of all the people by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of these people, but [to do them] harm.

⁵ Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hands; for the king is in no position to do anything against you.

⁶ So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon or cistern pit [in the charge] of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard; and they let Jeremiah down [into the pit] with ropes. And in the dungeon or cistern pit there was no water, but only mire, and Jeremiah sank in the mire.

⁷ Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian [a Cushite], one of the eunuchs who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon or cistern pit; and while the king was then sitting in the Gate of Benjamin,

⁸ Ebed-melech went out of the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying,

⁹ My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon or cistern pit; and he is liable to die of hunger and is [as good as] dead in the place where he is, for there is no more bread left in the city.

¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from here thirty men with you and raise Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon or cistern pit before he dies.

¹¹ So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king [to a room] under the treasury, and took along from there old rags and worn-out garments and let them down by ropes into the dungeon or cistern pit to Jeremiah.

¹² And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Put now these old rags and worn-out garments under your armpits under the ropes. And Jeremiah did so.

¹³ So they drew up Jeremiah with the ropes and took him up out of the dungeon or cistern pit; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

⁵ Jesus sent out these twelve, charging them, Go nowhere among the Gentiles and do not go into any town of the Samaritans;

⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

⁷ And as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand!

⁸ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely (without pay) you have received, freely (without charge) give.

⁹ Take no gold nor silver nor [even] copper money in your purses (belts);

¹⁰ And do not take a provision bag or a ^[a]wallet for a collection bag for your journey, nor two undergarments, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the workman deserves his support (his living, his food).

¹¹ And into whatever town or village you go, inquire who in it is deserving, and stay there [at his house] until you leave [that vicinity].

¹² As you go into the house, give your greetings and wish it well.

¹³ Then if indeed that house is deserving, let come upon it your peace [that is, ^[b]freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin]. But if it is not deserving, let your peace return to you.

¹⁴ And whoever will not receive and accept and welcome you nor listen to your message, as you leave that house or town, shake the dust [of it] from your feet.

¹⁵ Truly I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

¹⁶ Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; be ^[c]wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and ^[d]without falsity) as doves.^(A)

¹⁷ Be on guard against men [whose ^[e]way or nature is to act in opposition to God]; for they will deliver you up to councils and flog you in their synagogues,

¹⁸ And you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a witness to bear testimony before them and to the Gentiles (the nations).

¹⁹ But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious about how or what you are to speak; for what you are to say will be given you in that very hour and ^[f]moment,

²⁰ For it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹ Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child; and children will take a stand against their parents and will have them put to death.

²² And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake, but he who perseveres and endures to the end will be saved [^[g]from spiritual disease and death in the world to come].

²³ When they persecute you in one town [that is, pursue you in a manner that would injure you and cause you to suffer because of your belief], flee to another town; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before ^[h] the Son of Man comes.