Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Help in Time of Trouble[a]
6 (A)Lord, don't be angry and rebuke me!
Don't punish me in your anger!
2 I am worn out, O Lord; have pity on me!
Give me strength; I am completely exhausted
3 and my whole being is deeply troubled.
How long, O Lord, will you wait to help me?
4 Come and save me, Lord;
in your mercy rescue me from death.
5 In the world of the dead you are not remembered;
no one can praise you there.
6 I am worn out with grief;
every night my bed is damp from my weeping;
my pillow is soaked with tears.
7 I can hardly see;
my eyes are so swollen
from the weeping caused by my enemies.
8 (B)Keep away from me, you evil people!
The Lord hears my weeping;
9 he listens to my cry for help
and will answer my prayer.
10 My enemies will know the bitter shame of defeat;
in sudden confusion they will be driven away.
Jeremiah Is Brought to Trial
26 (A)Soon after Jehoiakim son of Josiah became king of Judah, 2 the Lord said to me, “Stand in the court of the Temple and proclaim all I have commanded you to say to the people who come from the towns of Judah to worship there. Do not leave out anything. 3 Perhaps the people will listen and give up their evil ways. If they do, then I will change my mind about the destruction I plan to bring on them for all their wicked deeds.”
4 The Lord told me to say to the people, “I, the Lord, have said that you must obey me by following the teaching that I gave you, 5 and by paying attention to the words of my servants, the prophets, whom I have kept on sending to you. You have never obeyed what they said. 6 (B)If you continue to disobey, then I will do to this Temple what I did to Shiloh,[a] and all the nations of the world will use the name of this city as a curse.”
7 The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard me saying these things in the Temple, 8 and as soon as I had finished all that the Lord had commanded me to speak, they grabbed me and shouted, “You ought to be killed for this! 9 Why have you said in the Lord's name that this Temple will become like Shiloh and that this city will be destroyed and no one will live in it?” Then the people crowded around me.
10 When the leaders of Judah heard what had happened, they hurried from the royal palace to the Temple and took their places at the New Gate. 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the leaders and to the people, “This man deserves to be sentenced to death because he has spoken against our city. You heard him with your own ears.”
12 Then I said, “The Lord sent me to proclaim everything that you heard me say against this Temple and against this city.
The Message to Smyrna
8 (A)“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
“This is the message from the one who is the first and the last, who died and lived again. 9 I know your troubles; I know that you are poor—but really you are rich! I know the evil things said against you by those who claim to be Jews but are not; they are a group that belongs to Satan! 10 Don't be afraid of anything you are about to suffer. Listen! The Devil will put you to the test by having some of you thrown into prison, and your troubles will last ten days. Be faithful to me, even if it means death, and I will give you life as your prize of victory.
11 (B)“If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!
“Those who win the victory will not be hurt by the second death.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.