Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
5 The prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in front of the priests and all[a] the people who were standing in the Lord’s Temple. 6 The prophet Jeremiah said, “May the Lord truly do this thing! May the Lord fulfill the words[b] that you prophesied to bring back the vessels of the Lord’s Temple and all the exiles from Babylon to this place. 7 But please listen to what I’m saying in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who came before us[c] from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and plague against many lands and great kingdoms. 9 When a prophet prophesies peace, and what the prophet speaks comes about, he will be known as the prophet whom the Lord has truly sent.”
An instruction[a]. By Ethan, the Ezrahite
God’s Covenant with David
89 I will sing forever about the gracious love of the Lord;
from generation to generation
I will declare your faithfulness with my mouth.
2 I will declare that your gracious love was established forever;
in the heavens itself, you have established your faithfulness.
3 I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise to David, my servant.
4 “I will establish your dynasty forever,
and I will lift up one who will build[b] your throne
from generation to generation.”
15 How happy are the people who can worship joyfully![a]
Lord, they walk in the light of your presence.
16 In your name they rejoice all day long;
they exult in your justice.[b]
17 For you are their strength’s grandeur;
by your favor you exalted our power.[c]
18 Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord,
and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
12 Therefore, do not let sin rule your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires. 13 Stop offering[a] the parts of your body[b] to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. Instead, offer yourselves to God as people who have been brought from death to life and the parts of your body[c] as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin will not have mastery over you, because you are not under Law but under grace.
15 What, then, does this mean?[d] Should we go on sinning because we are not under Law but under grace? Of course not! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thank God that, though you were once slaves of sin, you became obedient from your hearts to that form of teaching with which you were entrusted! 18 And since you have been freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.
19 I am speaking in simple[e] terms because of the frailty of your human nature.[f] Just as you once offered the parts of your body[g] as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater disobedience, so now, in the same way, you must offer the parts of your body[h] as slaves to righteousness that leads to sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were “free” as far as righteousness was concerned. 21 What benefit did you get from doing those things you are now ashamed of? For those things resulted in death. 22 But now that you have been freed from sin and have become God’s slaves, the benefit you reap is sanctification, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in union with the Messiah[i] Jesus our Lord.
Rewards(A)
40 “The one who receives you receives me, and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41 The one who receives a prophet as[a] a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person as[b] a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 I tell all of you[c] with certainty, whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is[d] a disciple will never lose his reward.”
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