Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Jeremiah’s Lesson at the Temple

26 This message came from the Lord during the first year that Jehoiakim^[a] son of Josiah was king of Judah. ² The Lord said, “Jeremiah, stand in the Temple yard of the Lord. Give this message to all the people of Judah who are coming to worship at the Temple of the Lord. Tell them everything that I tell you to speak. Don’t leave out any part of my message. ³ Maybe they will listen and obey my message. Maybe they will stop living such evil lives. If they change, I will change my mind about my plans to punish them. I am planning this punishment because of the many evil things they have done. ⁴ You will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I gave my teachings to you. You must obey me and follow my teachings. ⁵ You must listen to what my servants say to you. The prophets are my servants. I have sent my prophets to you again and again, but you did not listen to them. ⁶ If you don’t obey me, I will make my Temple in Jerusalem just like my Holy Tent at Shiloh.^[b] People all over the world will think of Jerusalem when they ask for bad things to happen to other cities.’”

⁷ The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah say all these words at the Lord’s Temple. ⁸ Jeremiah finished speaking everything the Lord had commanded him to say to the people. Then the priests, the prophets, and all the people grabbed Jeremiah. They said, “You will die for saying such terrible things! ⁹ How dare you say such a thing in the name of the Lord! How dare you say that this Temple will be destroyed like the one at Shiloh! How dare you say that Jerusalem will become a desert with no one living in it!” All the people gathered around Jeremiah in the Temple of the Lord.

¹² Then Jeremiah spoke to all the rulers of Judah and all the other people. He said, “The Lord sent me to say these things about this Temple and this city. Everything that you have heard is from the Lord. ¹³ You people, change your lives! You must start doing good! You must obey the Lord your God. If you do that, he will change his mind. He will not do the bad things he told you about. ¹⁴ As for me, I am in your power. Do to me what you think is good and right. ¹⁵ But if you kill me, be sure of one thing. You will be guilty of killing an innocent person. You will make this city and everyone living in it guilty too. The Lord really did send me to you. The message you heard really is from the Lord.”

Some Jews Against Stephen

⁸ Stephen received a great blessing. God gave him power to do great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. ⁹ But some of the Jews there were from the synagogue of Free Men, as it was called. The group included Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia. They started arguing with Stephen. ¹⁰ But the Spirit was helping him speak with wisdom. His words were so strong that these Jews could not argue with him.

¹¹ So they told some men to say, “We heard Stephen say bad things against Moses and against God!” ¹² By doing this, these Jews upset the people, the older Jewish leaders, and the teachers of the law. They became so angry that they came and grabbed Stephen and took him to a meeting of the high council.

¹³ The Jews brought some men into the meeting to tell lies about Stephen. These men said, “This man is always saying things against this holy place and against the Law of Moses. ¹⁴ We heard him say that Jesus from Nazareth will destroy this place and change what Moses told us to do.” ¹⁵ Everyone there in the council meeting was staring at Stephen. They saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.

⁵¹ Then Stephen said, “You stubborn Jewish leaders! You refuse to give your hearts to God or even listen to him. You are always against what the Holy Spirit wants you to do. That’s how your ancestors were, and you are just like them! ⁵² They persecuted every prophet who ever lived. They even killed those who long ago said that the Righteous One would come. And now you have turned against that Righteous One and killed him. ⁵³ You are the people who received God’s law, which he gave you through his angels. But you don’t obey it!”

Stephen Is Killed

⁵⁴ When those in the council meeting heard this, they became very angry. They were so mad they were grinding their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked up into heaven and saw the glory of God. And he saw Jesus standing at God’s right side. ⁵⁶ Stephen said, “Look! I see heaven open. And I see the Son of Man standing at God’s right side.”

⁵⁷ Everyone there started shouting loudly, covering their ears with their hands. Together they all ran at Stephen. ⁵⁸ They took him out of the city and began throwing stones at him. The men who told lies against Stephen gave their coats to a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ As they were throwing the stones at him, Stephen was praying. He said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” ⁶⁰ He fell on his knees and shouted, “Lord, don’t blame them for this sin!” These were his last words before he died.