Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Jeremiah’s Enemies Make Evil Plans Against Him

¹⁸ The Lord told me about the evil plans of my enemies. That’s how I knew about them. He showed me what they were doing. ¹⁹ I had been like a gentle lamb led off to be killed. I didn’t realize they had made plans against me. They had said,

For the director of music. To be played on stringed instruments. A maskil of David when the men from Ziph had gone to Saul. They had said, “Isn’t David hiding among us?”

Two Kinds of Wisdom

¹³ Is anyone among you wise and understanding? That person should show it by living a good life. A wise person isn’t proud when they do good deeds. ¹⁴ But suppose your hearts are jealous and bitter. Suppose you are concerned only about getting ahead. Then don’t brag about it. And don’t say no to the truth. ¹⁵ Wisdom like this doesn’t come down from heaven. It belongs to the earth. It doesn’t come from the Holy Spirit. It comes from the devil. ¹⁶ Are you jealous? Are you concerned only about getting ahead? Then your life will be a mess. You will be doing all kinds of evil things.

¹⁷ But the wisdom that comes from heaven is pure. That’s the most important thing about it. And that’s not all. It also loves peace. It thinks about others. It obeys. It is full of mercy and good fruit. It is fair. It doesn’t pretend to be what it is not. ¹⁸ Those who make peace plant it like a seed. They will harvest a crop of right living.

Obey God

4 Why do you fight and argue among yourselves? Isn’t it because of your sinful desires? They fight within you. ² You want something, but you don’t have it. So you kill. You want what others have, but you can’t get what you want. So you argue and fight. You don’t have what you want, because you don’t ask God. ³ When you do ask for something, you don’t receive it. That’s because you ask for the wrong reason. You want to spend your money on your sinful pleasures.

⁷ So obey God. Stand up to the devil. He will run away from you. ⁸ Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Make your hearts pure, you who can’t make up your minds.

Jesus Speaks a Second Time About His Coming Death

³⁰ They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were. ³¹ That was because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be handed over to men. They will kill him. After three days he will rise from the dead.” ³² But they didn’t understand what he meant. And they were afraid to ask him about it.

Who Is the Most Important Person?

³³ Jesus and his disciples came to a house in Capernaum. There he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” ³⁴ But they kept quiet. On the way, they had argued about which one of them was the most important person.

³⁵ Jesus sat down and called for the 12 disciples to come to him. Then he said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last. They must be the servant of everyone.”

³⁶ Jesus took a little child and had the child stand among them. Then he took the child in his arms. He said to them, ³⁷ “Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me. And anyone who welcomes me also welcomes the one who sent me.”