Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

I Have Calmed and Quietened My Soul

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of David.

The Yoke of Nebuchadnezzar

27 In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah^[a] the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. ² Thus the Lord said to me: ^(A)“Make yourself straps and ^(B)yoke-bars, and put them on your neck. ³ Send word^[b] to the king of ^(C)Edom, the king of ^(D)Moab, the king of the sons of ^(E)Ammon, the king of ^(F)Tyre, and the king of Sidon by the hand of the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. ⁴ Give them this charge for their masters: ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: This is what you shall say to your masters: ⁵ “It is I who ^(G)by my great power and my outstretched arm ^(H)have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, ^(I)and I give it to whomever it seems right to me. ^6 (J)Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, ^(K)my servant, ^(L)and I have given him also the beasts of the field to serve him. ^7 (M)All the nations shall serve him and ^(N)his son and ^(O)his grandson, ^(P)until the time of his own land comes. ^(Q)Then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.

⁸ “‘“But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ^(R)and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation ^(S)with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, declares the Lord, until I have consumed it by his hand. ⁹ So ^(T)do not listen to your ^(U)prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your ^(V)fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.’ ^10 (W)For it is a lie that they are prophesying to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land, and I will drive you out, and you will perish. ^11 (X)But any nation that will bring its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him, I will leave on its own land, to work it and dwell there, declares the Lord.”’”

¹⁶ Then I spoke to the priests and to all this people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ^(A)Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you, saying, ^(B)‘Behold, the vessels of the Lord's house will now shortly be brought back from Babylon’, ^(C)for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you. ^17 (D)Do not listen to them; ^(E)serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city ^(F)become a desolation? ¹⁸ If they are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, then ^(G)let them intercede with the Lord of hosts, ^(H)that the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem may not go to Babylon. ^19 (I)For thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, the sea, the stands, and the rest of the vessels that are left in this city, ²⁰ which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away, ^(J)when he took into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— ²¹ thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ^(K)concerning the vessels that are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem: ^22 (L)They shall be carried to Babylon ^(M)and remain there ^(N)until the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. ^(O)Then I will bring them back ^(P)and restore them to this place.”

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness

¹⁸ For ^(A)the wrath of God ^(B)is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹ For what can be ^(C)known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, ^(D)have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honour him as God or give thanks to him, but they ^(E)became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^22 (F)Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and ^(G)exchanged the glory of ^(H)the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

²⁴ Therefore ^(I)God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to ^(J)the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for ^(K)a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, ^(L)who is blessed for ever! Amen.