Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 131
My Heart Is Not Proud
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A song of the ascents. By David.
Like a Satisfied Baby
1 Lord, my heart is not haughty,
and my eyes are not proud.
So I do not intrude into great matters
or into things too wonderful for me.
2 Instead I have soothed and quieted my soul.
As a nursed child rests with its mother,
like a nursed[a] child my soul rests with me.
3 Wait confidently, O Israel, for the Lord
from now to eternity.
The Yoke of Babylon
27 Early in the reign of Zedekiah[a] son of Josiah, king of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord.
2 This is what the Lord said to me.
Make a yoke and straps and put them on your neck. 3 Then send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, Tyre, and Sidon, through the messengers who came to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah. 4 Give them a message for their masters. Tell them the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says, “Tell your masters: 5 By my great power I made the earth, the people, and the animals that are on it. I give it to anyone I please. 6 Now I will give all these lands to my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I will even make the wild animals serve him. 7 All the nations will serve him, his son, and his grandson, until the time for his own land comes. Then he will serve many nations and great kings.”
8 The Lord also said:
I will punish any nation or kingdom that will not submit to this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, that will not put their necks under the yoke of Babylon’s king. I will punish that nation with sword, famine, and plague, until I have consumed them by his hand. 9 So do not listen to your prophets, to your omen readers, to your dream interpreters, to your mediums, or to those who cast spells for you. Do not listen to those who tell you, “You will not serve the king of Babylon,” 10 because they are prophesying lies to you in order to remove you from your land. I will drive you out, and you will perish. 11 But if a nation bows its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will let that nation remain on its own land. They will plow the soil and live on it, declares the Lord.
16 I also spoke to the priests and to all of the people.
The Lord says this. Do not listen to the words of your prophets who are prophesying to you that the vessels of the Lord’s house will soon be brought back again from Babylon, because they are prophesying a lie to you. 17 Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live. Why should this city become a ruin? 18 If they really are prophets, and if the word of the Lord is with them, then let them intercede with the Lord of Armies, so that the vessels which are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, will not go to Babylon. 19 For this is what the Lord of Armies says about the pillars, the Sea, the carts for water, and the rest of the vessels that are left in the city, 20 which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had not taken away when he exiled Jeconiah[a] son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem— 21 yes, this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says concerning the vessels that are still in the house of the Lord and in the house of the king of Judah in Jerusalem: 22 They will be taken to Babylon, and there they will remain until the day I come for them, declares the Lord. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.
God’s Anger on All Who Reject Him
18 Indeed, God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who try to suppress the truth by unrighteousness. 19 This happens because what can be known about God is evident among them, because God made it evident among them. 20 In fact, his invisible characteristics—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, because they are understood from the things he made. As a result, people are without excuse, 21 because, even though they knew God, they did not honor him or give him thanks as God. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless heart was darkened.
22 Although they claim to be wise, they have become fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human, or like birds, four-footed animals, and crawling things. 24 So, as they followed the sinful desires of their hearts, God handed them over to the impurity of degrading their own bodies among themselves. 25 Such people have traded the truth about God for the lie, worshipping and serving the creation rather than the Creator, who is worthy of praise forever. Amen.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.