Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 God Almighty, turn us to come back to you.
Look at us with a smile on your face!
Then we will be safe.
8 You pulled us out from Egypt,
like a vine that you dug out of the ground.
You chased nations out of this land,
and you planted us here.[a]
9 You prepared the ground ready for us.
We put down roots like a vine.[b]
We grew well and we covered all the land.
10 Our branches gave shade to the mountains,
and to the big cedar trees.
11 Our branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,
and as far as the Euphrates River.
12 Why have you knocked down the walls
that protected us?[c]
Now, anyone who passes can rob our fruit.
13 Wild pigs from the forest attack your vine.
Other wild animals eat all the fruit.
14 Come back to us, God Almighty!
Look down from heaven
and see what is happening!
Take care of your special vine.
15 You planted it with your own right hand.
You caused it to grow, like a strong son.[d]
Jeremiah warns the people of Jerusalem
6 You descendants of Benjamin,
you must run away to be safe!
Escape from Jerusalem!
Make a noise with a trumpet in Tekoa!
Light a fire to warn people in Beth-Hakkerem!
A great army is coming from the north.
It will come to destroy everything!
2 Jerusalem is a beautiful city,
like a daughter that I love.
She cannot protect herself,
and I will destroy her.
3 Kings will come to attack the city.
They will bring their armies,
like shepherds with their sheep.
They will make their camps all around the city.
Each of them will take their own piece of land.
4 They will say to their soldiers,
‘Get ready to attack the city!
We will attack at noon!’
But if the day is almost finished, they will say,
‘It is already evening and it will soon be dark.
5 So we should attack them in the night.
We will destroy all their strong buildings!’
6 This will happen because Lord Almighty has said,
‘Cut down the trees around Jerusalem.
Use them to build towers to the top of the city's walls.
I must punish Jerusalem.
It is full of cruel people.
7 They never stop doing wicked things,
like water that pours out from a spring.
It is full of the noise of violence and fights.
Everywhere I see people who have disease and wounds.
8 Listen to me as I warn you, Jerusalem.
If not, I will turn away from you.
I will destroy you completely.
Nobody will live on your land any more.’
9 The Lord Almighty said this:
‘I will let the enemy take all the people from Israel,
like a farmer who picks all the grapes from his vine.
So check the vines carefully,
to see if there are some grapes that you can save.’
10 I replied,
‘If I speak to people and I warn them,
nobody will listen to me.
They have shut their ears so that they cannot hear.
They hate the Lord's message.
They do not want to hear it.
The people argue about who Jesus is
40 The people in the crowd heard Jesus say these words. Some of them said, ‘Surely this man must be the Prophet from God that we have been waiting for!’ 41 Other people said, ‘This man is the Messiah.’ But some other people said, ‘The Messiah will not come from Galilee! 42 The Bible says that the Messiah will come from King David's family.[a] He will come from Bethlehem, the town where David lived.’ 43 In this way the people had different thoughts about Jesus. 44 Some people wanted to take hold of him. But nobody could put their hands on him to take him away.
45 The officers returned to the leaders of the priests and the Pharisees. The leaders asked their officers, ‘Why did you not bring Jesus here?’ 46 The officers answered, ‘Nobody has ever spoken great things like this man speaks.’ 47 The Pharisees replied, ‘He seems to have made you believe his lies! 48 None of the Pharisees or our leaders believe in him. 49 But this crowd does not know what God's Law teaches. God will surely punish them.’
50 Nicodemus spoke to them. He himself was one of the Pharisees. He was the man who had gone to speak with Jesus before. He said, 51 ‘We must find out first what this man has done. Then we can decide if it is right to punish him. Our law says that we must listen to him first.’ 52 They answered Nicodemus, ‘Perhaps you come from Galilee, as well as him! Study what the Bible teaches. You will learn that no prophet of God ever comes from Galilee.’
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