Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A song of David.
26 Lord, you be the judge and prove that I have lived a pure life.
I have depended on you, Lord, to keep me from falling.
2 Look closely at me, Lord, and test me.
Judge my deepest thoughts and emotions.
3 I always remember your faithful love.
I depend on your faithfulness.
4 I don’t run around with troublemakers.
I have nothing to do with hypocrites.
5 I hate being around evil people.
I refuse to join those gangs of crooks.
6 Lord, I wash my hands to make myself pure,
so that I can come to your altar.
7 I sing a song to give you thanks,
and I tell about all the wonderful things you have done.
8 Lord, I love the house[a] where you live,
the place where your glory is.
13 But I said, “Lord God, the prophets were telling the people something different. They were telling the people of Judah, ‘You will not suffer from war or from hunger. The Lord will give you peace in this land.’”
14 Then the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, those prophets are telling lies in my name. I did not send them or command them or speak to them. Their prophecies came from false visions, worthless magic, and their own wishful thinking. 15 So this is what I, the Lord, say about the prophets who are speaking in my name. I did not send them. They said, ‘No enemy will ever attack this country. There will never be hunger in this land.’ So those prophets will die from hunger or by an enemy’s sword. 16 And the people they spoke to will be thrown into the streets. The people will die from hunger and war. I will punish them, and no one will be there to bury them, their wives, their sons, or their daughters.
17 “Jeremiah, speak this message to the people of Judah:
‘My eyes fill with tears
night and day without stopping.
I cry for my virgin daughter,[a] and for my dear people,
because someone hit them and crushed them.
They have been hurt very badly.
18 If I go into the country,
I see the bodies of those killed in war.
If I go into the city,
I see people sick from hunger.
The priests and prophets continue their work,
but they don’t understand what is happening.’”
5 You are God’s dear children, so try to be like him. 2 Live a life of love. Love others just as Christ loved us. He gave himself for us—a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But there must be no sexual sin among you. There must not be any kind of evil or selfishly wanting more and more, because such things are not right for God’s holy people. 4 Also, there must be no evil talk among you. Don’t say things that are foolish or filthy. These are not for you. But you should be giving thanks to God. 5 You can be sure of this: No one will have a place in the kingdom of Christ and of God if that person commits sexual sins, or does evil things, or is a person who selfishly wants more and more. A greedy person like that is serving a false god.
6 Don’t let anyone fool you with words that are not true. God gets very angry when people who don’t obey him talk like that.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International