Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Lamed: Your Commands Have No Limits
89 To eternity, O Lord, your word is fixed firmly in the heavens.
90 For generation after generation, your faithfulness remains.
You established the earth, and it stands.
91 As for your judgments, they stand to this day,
because all things are your servants.
92 Unless your law had been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
93 To eternity I will not forget your precepts,
because by them you have given me life.
94 I am yours. Save me,
because I have sought your precepts.
95 The wicked are lying in wait for me to kill me,
but I will ponder your testimonies.
96 I see a limit to all perfection,
but your commandment has no limits.
11 When Micaiah son of Gemariah, son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, 12 he went into the secretary’s room in the king’s palace. All the officials happened to be sitting there: Elishama the secretary, Delaiah son of Shemaiah, Elnathan son of Akbor, Gemariah son of Shaphan, Zedekiah son of Hananiah, and all the other officials. 13 Micaiah reported to them all the words he had heard when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. 14 Then all the officials sent Jehudi son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to tell Baruch, “Bring the scroll you have read in the hearing of the people, and come here.”
So Baruch son of Neriah brought the scroll in his hand and went to them. 15 They said, “Please sit down and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them.
16 When they had heard everything, they turned to one another in fear. They said to Baruch, “We have to report all of these things to the king.” 17 They asked Baruch, “Tell us, how did you come to write all of this? Did Jeremiah dictate this to you?”
18 Baruch answered, “He dictated[a] all of these things to me, and I wrote them with ink on the scroll.”
19 Then the officials said to Baruch, “You and Jeremiah go and hide. Do not let anyone know where you are.”
20 They put the scroll in the room of Elishama the secretary, and then they went to the king in the court. They repeated all of these words to the king. 21 Then the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll. After he took it from the room of Elishama the secretary, Jehudi read it to the king in the hearing of all the officials who stood beside the king. 22 Now the king was sitting in the winter house (it was the ninth month),[b] and there was a metal heating pan with a fire of burning coals in front of him. 23 Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king would cut it off with a scribe’s knife and throw it into the fire until the entire scroll was burned up in the fire. 24 Neither the king nor his attendants who heard all these words were afraid. They did not tear their clothing. 25 Even when Elnathan and Delaiah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. 26 Instead, the king commanded Jerahme’el the king’s son, along with Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abde’el, to arrest Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the Lord hid them.
You Encouraged Us
2 Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one. We have corrupted no one. We have taken advantage of no one. 3 I am not saying this to condemn you. In fact, I have said before that you are in our hearts—we died together and live together with you! 4 I have great confidence in you. I am very proud of you. I am filled with encouragement. I am overflowing with joy in all our trouble.
5 In fact, when we came to Macedonia, our flesh had no relief. Instead, we were troubled in every way—conflicts on the outside, fears on the inside. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us with the arrival of Titus, 7 and not only with his arrival, but also with the comfort he had received concerning you. He told us about your longing, your sorrow, and your serious concern for me. As a result, I rejoiced even more.
8 For even if I caused you sorrow with my letter, I do not regret it (even though I did regret it, for I see that my letter caused you sorrow—yet only for a little while). 9 Now I rejoice, not because you were made to feel sorrow, but because this sorrow resulted in repentance. Yes, you were made sorry in a godly way. So you were not harmed in any way by us. 10 In fact, godly sorrow produces repentance, which leads to salvation, leaving no regret. On the other hand, worldly sorrow produces death.
11 Yes, look what godly sorrow produced in you: what diligence, what eagerness to clear yourself, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what correction! In every way you proved yourselves to be pure in this matter. 12 So although I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did what was wrong, or because of the one who was harmed by it. I wrote instead so that your genuine concern for us would be revealed to you in the sight of God.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.