Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
161 [a]The powerful persecute me without cause,
but it is your word that awes my heart.[b]
162 I rejoice in your word
like one who discovers a great treasure.
163 Falsehood I abhor and detest,
but I love your law.
164 Seven times[c] a day I praise you
for your righteous judgments.
165 Those who love your law have great peace;[d]
they encounter no stumbling blocks.
166 I await your salvation, O Lord,
and I carry out your precepts.
167 I obey your statutes,
for I love them dearly.
168 I obey your commands and your statutes;
indeed, all my ways are known to you.[e]
Taw
Chapter 18
The Potter’s House.[a] 1 This is the message delivered by the Lord to Jeremiah. 2 “Arise and go forth to the potter’s house, and then I will tell you what I have to say.” 3 Therefore, I proceeded to the potter’s house, where I found him working at his wheel. 4 Whenever the vessel he was making of clay turned out badly in his hands, he would use that clay to remold it into another vessel as he saw fit.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 Can I not do to you what this potter does, O house of Israel? Like the clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 On occasion I may threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a particular nation or kingdom. 8 However, should that nation which I have threatened turn away from its evil ways, I will then relent and not inflict the disaster I had devised. 9 On another occasion I may promise to build up and plant a nation or kingdom. 10 However, if that nation follows an evil path and refuses to obey me, then I will cease to bestow upon it the blessings that I had promised.
11 Therefore, now deliver this message to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Be forewarned! I am preparing a disaster for you and designing a plan against you. So now, each one of you, turn away from your evil pursuits and amend your conduct and your actions.
20 Woe to the Cities of Galilee.[a] Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his mighty deeds had been performed because they had refused to repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the mighty deeds performed in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And as for you, Capernaum:
‘Will you be exalted to heaven?
You will be cast down to the netherworld.’
For if the mighty deeds performed in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would be standing to this day. 24 But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.