Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Thanksgiving for Return from Captivity.

A Song of Ascents.

²⁴ To ^(A)Shemaiah the Nehelamite you shall speak, saying, ²⁵ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Because you have sent ^(B)letters in your own name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to ^(C)Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying, ²⁶ “The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the ^[a](D)overseer in the house of the Lord over every ^(E)madman who ^(F)prophesies, to ^(G)put him in the stocks and in the iron collar, ²⁷ now then, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of ^(H)Anathoth who prophesies to you? ²⁸ For he has ^(I)sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘The exile will be ^(J)long; ^(K)build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their ^[b]produce.’”’”

^29 (L)Zephaniah the priest read this letter ^[c]to Jeremiah the prophet. ³⁰ Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, saying, ³¹ “Send to ^(M)all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord concerning ^(N)Shemaiah the Nehelamite, “Because Shemaiah has ^(O)prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has ^(P)made you trust in a lie,” ³² therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to ^(Q)punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his ^[d]descendants; he will ^(R)not have anyone living among this people, ^(S)and he will not see the good that I am about to do to My people,” declares the Lord, “because he has ^[e](T)preached rebellion against the Lord.”’”

²² And they *came to ^(A)Bethsaida. And they *brought a blind man to Jesus and *implored Him to ^(B)touch him. ²³ Taking the blind man by the hand, He ^(C)brought him out of the village; and after ^(D)spitting on his eyes and ^(E)laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he ^[a]looked up and said, “I see men, for ^[b]I see them like trees, walking around.” ²⁵ Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. ²⁶ And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter ^(F)the village.”