Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.

¹⁶ “Jeremiah, do not pray for these people. Do not make any appeal or request for them. Do not beg me. I will not listen to you. ¹⁷ Don’t you see what they are doing? They are worshiping other gods in the towns of Judah. They are offering sacrifices to them in the streets of Jerusalem. ¹⁸ The children go out and gather wood. The fathers light the fire. The women mix the dough. They make flat cakes of bread to offer to the female god called the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods. That makes me very angry. ¹⁹ But am I the one they are hurting?” announces the Lord. “Aren’t they only harming themselves? They should be ashamed of it.”

²⁰ So the Lord and King says, “I will pour out my burning anger on this place. It will strike people and animals alike. It will destroy the trees in the fields and the crops in your land. It will burn, and no one will be able to put it out.”

²¹ The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “Go ahead! Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices. Eat the meat yourselves! ²² When I brought your people out of Egypt, I spoke to them. But I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. ²³ I also gave them another command. I said, ‘Obey me. Then I will be your God. And you will be my people. Live the way I command you to live. Then things will go well with you.’ ²⁴ But they did not listen. They refused to pay any attention to me. Instead, they did what their stubborn and evil hearts wanted them to do. They went backward and not forward. ²⁵ Again and again I sent my servants the prophets to you. They came to you day after day. They prophesied from the time your people left Egypt until now. ²⁶ But your people of long ago did not listen. They refused to pay any attention to me. They were stubborn. They did more evil things than their people who lived before them.

⁷ You are judging only by how things look on the surface. Suppose someone is sure they belong to Christ. Then they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. ⁸ Do I brag too much about the authority the Lord gave me? If I do, it’s because I want to build you up, not tear you down. And I’m not ashamed of that kind of bragging. ⁹ Don’t think that I’m trying to scare you with my letters. ¹⁰ Some say, “His letters sound important. They are powerful. But in person he doesn’t seem like much. And what he says doesn’t amount to anything.” ¹¹ People like that have a lot to learn. What I say in my letters when I’m away from you, I will do in my actions when I’m with you.