Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

(A song for worship.)

A Prayer for Mercy

Jeremiah Speaks in the Temple

(Jeremiah 26.1-6)

7 ^1-3 The Lord told me to stand by the gate of the temple^[a] and tell the people who were going in that the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said:

Pay attention, people of Judah! Change your ways and start living right, then I will let you keep on living in your own country.^{[b] 4} Don't fool yourselves! My temple is here in Jerusalem, but that doesn't mean I will protect you. ⁵ I will keep you safe only if you change your ways and are fair and honest with each other. ⁶ Stop taking advantage of foreigners, orphans, and widows. Don't kill innocent people. And stop worshiping other gods. ⁷ Then I will let you enjoy a long life in this land I gave your ancestors.

⁸ But just look at what is happening! You put your trust in worthless lies. ⁹ You steal and murder; you lie in court and are unfaithful in marriage. You worship idols and offer incense to Baal, when these gods have never done anything for you. ¹⁰ And then you come into my temple and worship me! Do you think I will protect you so that you can go on sinning? ^11 (A) You are thieves, and you have made my temple your hideout. But I've seen everything you have done.

^12 (B) Go to Shiloh, where my sacred tent once stood. Take a look at what I did there. My people Israel sinned, and so I destroyed Shiloh!

¹³ While you have been sinning, I have been trying to talk to you, but you refuse to listen. ¹⁴ Don't think this temple will protect you. Long ago I told your ancestors to build it and worship me here, but now I have decided to tear it down, just as I destroyed Shiloh. ¹⁵ And as for you, people of Judah, I'm going to send you away from my land, just as I sent away the people of Ephraim and the other northern tribes.

⁸ Are you already satisfied? Are you now rich? Have you become kings while we are still nobodies? I wish you were kings. Then we could have a share in your kingdom.

⁹ It seems to me that God has put us apostles in the worst possible place. We are like prisoners on their way to death. Angels and the people of this world just laugh at us. ¹⁰ Because of Christ we are thought of as fools, but Christ has made you wise. We are weak and hated, but you are powerful and respected. ¹¹ Even today we go hungry and thirsty and don't have anything to wear except rags. We are mistreated and don't have a place to live. ^12 (A) We work hard with our own hands, and when people abuse us, we wish them well. When we suffer, we are patient. ¹³ When someone curses us, we answer with kind words. Until now we are thought of as nothing more than the trash and garbage of this world.