Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

He

The Siege of Jerusalem

24 ^(A)In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (B)“Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. ³ And ^(C)utter a parable to ^(D)the rebellious house and say to them, Thus says the Lord God:

⁶ “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(G)Woe to the bloody city, to ^(H)the pot whose corrosion is in it, and whose corrosion has not gone out of it! Take out of it piece after piece, without making any choice.^{[b] 7} For the blood she has shed is in her midst; she put it on ^(I)the bare rock; ^(J)she did not pour it out on the ground to cover it with dust. ⁸ To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance, I have set on the bare rock the blood she has shed, that it may not be covered. ⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord God: Woe to the bloody city! ^(K)I also will make the pile great. ¹⁰ Heap on the logs, kindle the fire, boil the meat well, mix in the spices,^[c] and let the bones be burned up. ¹¹ Then set it empty upon the coals, that it may become hot, and its copper may burn, ^(L)that its uncleanness may be melted in it, its corrosion consumed. ^12 (M)She has wearied herself with toil;^[d] its abundant corrosion does not go out of it. Into the fire with its corrosion! ¹³ On account of your unclean lewdness, because I would have cleansed you and you were not cleansed from your uncleanness, ^(N)you shall not be cleansed any more till ^(O)I have satisfied my fury upon you. ^14 (P)I am the Lord. I have spoken; it shall come to pass; I will do it. I will not go back; ^(Q)I will not spare; ^(R)I will not relent; ^(S)according to your ways and your deeds you will be judged, declares the Lord God.”

Concern for the Corinthian Church

^11 (A)I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was ^(B)not at all inferior to these super-apostles, ^(C)even though I am nothing. ^12 (D)The signs of a true apostle were performed among you ^(E)with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. ¹³ For in what were you less favoured than the rest of the churches, except that ^(F)I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

¹⁴ Here ^(G)for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for ^(H)I seek not what is yours but you. For ^(I)children are not bound to save up for their parents, but ^(J)parents for their children. ^15 (K)I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If ^(L)I love you more, am I to be loved less? ¹⁶ But granting that ^(M)I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. ¹⁷ Did I take advantage of you ^(N)through any of those whom I sent to you? ^18 (O)I urged Titus to go, and sent ^(P)the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

¹⁹ Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is ^(Q)in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and ^(R)all for your upbuilding, beloved. ²⁰ For I fear that perhaps ^(S)when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarrelling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. ²¹ I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those ^(T)who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, ^(U)sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practised.