Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A song to sing as we climb.

Servants of the Lord

¹⁶ Jeremiah, you must not pray for this people. Do not ask me to help them. If you ask me to save them, I will not listen to you. ¹⁷ You can see what they are doing in Jerusalem and in all the towns of Judah. ¹⁸ The children fetch wood and their fathers use it to light a fire. The women prepare flour to cook cakes. Then they offer them to the “Queen of Heaven”. And they offer gifts of drink to other false gods. They do that to make me angry. ¹⁹ But they are not hurting me. They are hurting themselves, and they will be ashamed.’ That is what the Lord says.

²⁰ The Lord God says, ‘Because I am so angry, I will punish this land very much. It will be like a fire that nobody can stop. My punishment will destroy people, animals, trees and crops.’

²¹ The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this to Judah's people: ‘You should eat the meat from your burnt offerings, as well as your other sacrifices. You are not offering them to me!^{[a] 22} Remember this: I brought your ancestors safely out of Egypt. Then I gave them my commands. Those commands were not only about burnt offerings and sacrifices. ²³ I also told them, “Obey me. Then I will be your God, and you will be my people. You must live in the way that I have commanded you. If you do that, you will enjoy your lives.” ²⁴ But your ancestors refused to obey me. They did anything that their wicked thoughts made them want to do. They refused to return to me. Instead, they went further away. ²⁵ Since the time that your ancestors left Egypt, I have sent my servants, the prophets to speak to you. I have continued to do that many times, even until now. ²⁶ But my people did not listen to me. They have refused to obey me. They have continued to do evil things, even worse than their ancestors did.’

⁷ Take a careful look at what is happening among you. If anyone is sure that he belongs to Christ, he should remember this: We also belong to Christ, just as he does. ⁸ You may think that I am too proud of my authority. But it is the Lord who has given that authority to us apostles. We have that authority so that we can help you become stronger as believers. We do not have it so that we can destroy you! So I am not ashamed to be proud of this.

⁹ When I write letters to you, I am not trying to frighten you. Please do not think that. ¹⁰ Some people say: ‘Paul's letters are powerful and they say strong things. But when he himself is here with us, he seems to be weak. And the words that he speaks have no value.’ ¹¹ Anyone who says things like that should understand this: There is no difference between what we write and what we do. When we come to you, we will do what we have written in our letters.