Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Kaph: A Wineskin in the Smoke
81 My soul is worn out, as I wait for your salvation.
I wait confidently for your word.
82 My eyes are worn out, as I look for your sayings.
I say, “When will you comfort me?”
83 Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke,
I do not forget your statutes.
84 How many days does your servant have?
When will you inflict judgment on my persecutors?
85 The arrogant dig pits for me.
This is against your laws.
86 All your commandments are trustworthy.
The arrogant persecute me wrongfully. Help me.
87 They almost put an end to me here on earth,
but I have not forsaken your precepts.
88 Give me life according to your mercy,
and I will obey the testimony from your mouth.
Jeremiah Must Not Marry
16 The word of the Lord came to me.
2 You are not to marry a wife in this place
or to have sons and daughters,
3 because this is what the Lord says
about the sons and daughters born in this place,
about the mothers who bore them,
and about the fathers who conceived them in this land:
4 They will die of deadly diseases.
They will not be mourned.
They will not be buried.
They will lie on the ground like manure.
They will be devoured by sword and famine,
and their carcasses will become food for the birds in the sky
and the wild animals in the land.
5 This is what the Lord says.
Do not enter a house where people are grieving.
Do not go there to mourn for anyone or to comfort anyone,
for I have taken away my peace from this people, declares the Lord,
along with my mercy and my compassion.
6 Both the greatest and the least will die in this land.
No one will bury them or mourn for them.
No one will cut himself or shave himself for them.
7 No one will break bread to comfort those who mourn the dead.
No one will offer a consoling cup, even for a father or a mother.
8 Do not enter a house where there is feasting,
or sit down there to eat and drink.
9 For this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says.
I will certainly put an end to the sounds of joy and happiness in this place,
as well as the voices of bride and groom.
This will take place before your eyes and in your lifetime.
An Evil Day
10 When you tell the people all of this, they will ask you, “Why has the Lord decreed all this great disaster against us? What are we guilty of? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?”
11 Then say this to them:
It is because your fathers abandoned me, declares the Lord, and followed other gods. They served them, and they worshipped them. They abandoned me and did not keep my law. 12 But you have done more evil than your fathers. Look, each of you follows his own stubborn, evil heart, and you do not listen to me. 13 Therefore, I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your fathers have known. There you will serve other gods day and night, and I will show you no mercy.
Be Patient
7 Therefore, brothers, be patient until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the valuable harvest from the ground, patiently waiting for it, until it receives the early and late rain. 8 You be patient too. Strengthen your hearts because the coming of the Lord is near.
9 Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged. Look! The Judge is standing at the doors! 10 Brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering with patient endurance. 11 See, we consider those who endured to be blessed. You have heard of the patient endurance of Job and have seen what the Lord did in the end, because the Lord is especially compassionate and merciful.
Do Not Swear
12 Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Just let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no,” so that you do not fall under judgment.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.