Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Wishing to Be in the Temple
For the director of music. On the gittith [C perhaps a musical term or instrument]. A psalm of the sons of Korah [C descendants of Kohath, son of Levi, who served as temple musicians; 1 Chr. 6:22].
84 Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts],
how lovely is your ·Temple [L residence; dwelling place]!
2 I ·want more than anything
to be in [L long, even faint for] the courtyards of the ·Lord’s Temple [L Lord].
My ·whole being wants
to be with [L heart/mind and flesh sing for joy to] the living God.
3 The sparrows have found a home,
and the swallows have nests.
They raise their young near your altars,
Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], my King and my God.
4 ·Happy [Blessed] are the people who live at your ·Temple [L house];
they are always praising you. ·
5 ·Happy [Blessed] are those whose strength comes from you,
·who want to travel to Jerusalem [L in whose hearts are highways; C they want to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate religious festivals].
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca [C “weeping,” location unknown],
they make it ·like [L a place with] a spring.
The ·autumn [early] rains ·fill [wrap; cover] it with ·pools of water [or blessings].
7 The people ·get stronger as they go [L go from strength to strength],
and everyone ·meets with [L sees] ·God [L the God of gods] in ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple].
9 ·I wish [Oh that] my head were like a spring of water
and my eyes like a fountain of tears!
Then I could cry day and night
for ·my people who have been killed [L the corpses of the daughter of my people].
2 ·I wish [Oh that] I had a place in the ·desert [wilderness]—
a house where travelers spend the night—
so I could ·leave [abandon; forsake] my people.
I could go away from them,
because they are all adulterers [C unfaithful to God; 2:20, 23–24; 3:1–5; Hos. 7:4];
·they are all turning against him [L a band of traitors].
Judah’s Failures
3 “They ·use [L bend] their tongues like a bow [C shooting lies from their mouths like arrows; Ps. 64:3–4].
Lies, not truth,
have grown strong in the land.
They go from one evil thing to another.
They do not know ·who I am [L me],” says the Lord.
4 “·Watch out [Be on guard] for your ·friends [or neighbors],
and don’t ·trust [have confidence in] your own ·relatives [L brothers],
because every ·relative [L brother] is a ·cheater [L Jacob, who supplants; Gen. 25:19—35:29],
and every ·friend [or neighbor] ·tells lies about [L goes around slandering] you.
5 Everyone ·lies to [deceives] his ·friend [or neighbor],
and no one speaks ·the truth [honestly].
They [C the people of Judah] have taught their tongues to ·lie [L tell falsehoods].
They have become tired from ·sinning [their iniquity].
6 You [C Jeremiah] live in the middle of lies.
The people refuse to know me,” says the Lord.
7 So this is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says:
“I will test them [C the people of Judah] as a person ·tests [refines] metal in a fire [6:27–30].
·I have no other choice [L For what else can I do…],
because ·my people have sinned [L of the daughter of my people?].
8 Their tongues are like ·sharp [L deadly] arrows.
Their mouths speak ·lies [deceit].
Everyone speaks ·nicely [peace] to his ·neighbor [or friend],
but he ·is secretly planning to attack him [L sets his ambush in his innards/inwardly].
9 Shouldn’t I punish the people [C of Judah] for doing this?” says the Lord.
“Shouldn’t I ·give a nation like this the punishment [L get revenge on a nation as] it deserves?”
10 I [C Jeremiah] will ·cry loudly [L take up crying and wailing] for the mountains
and sing a ·funeral song [lamentation] for the ·empty fields [L pastures of the wilderness].
They are ·empty [scorched], and no one passes through.
The ·mooing [L sound] of cattle cannot be heard.
The birds of the ·air [heavens]
and the animals have fled and are gone.
11 “I, the Lord, will make the city of Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
a home for wild dogs.
I will destroy the cities of Judah
so no one can live there.”
12 What person is wise enough to understand these things? Is there someone who has been ·taught [L spoken to] by the Lord who can explain them [Hos. 14:9]? Why was the land ·ruined [scorched]? Why has it been made like an empty desert where no one goes?
13 The Lord answered, “It is because Judah ·quit following [abandoned; forsook] my ·teachings [laws; instructions] that I gave them. They have not ·obeyed me [L listened to my voice] or ·done what I told them to do [L walked in it]. 14 Instead, they ·were stubborn [L walked after their stubborn hearts] and ·followed [L walked after] the Baals, as their ·ancestors [fathers] taught them to do.” 15 So this is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], the God of Israel, says: “I will soon make the people of Judah eat ·bitter food [L wormwood; C the bitter tasting leaves of a shrub] and drink poisoned water. 16 I will scatter them through other nations that they and their ·ancestors [fathers] never knew about. I will ·chase [pursue; L send after] them [C the people of Judah] with the sword until they are all ·killed [consumed; finished].”
The Last Days
3 ·Remember [Know] this! In the last days there will be ·many troubles [L difficult/terrible times], 2 because people will love themselves, love money, ·brag [boast], and be ·proud [arrogant]. They will ·say evil things against others [speak abusively; or blaspheme] and will not obey their parents or be ·thankful [grateful] or be ·the kind of people God wants [holy; pious]. 3 They will not love others, will refuse to ·forgive [reconcile], will ·gossip [slander], and will not control themselves. They will be ·cruel [brutal], will ·hate [L not love] what is good, 4 will ·turn against their friends [be treacherous/traitors], and will ·do foolish things without thinking [be reckless]. They will be conceited, will love pleasure instead of God, 5 ·and will act as if they serve God [L having a form/appearance of godliness/piety] but will ·not have his [or deny his/its] power. ·Stay away from [Avoid] those people. 6 [L For] Some of them ·go [sneak; worm their way; talk their way] into homes and ·get control of [captivate; gain influence over] ·silly [vulnerable; or idle] women who are ·full of [or burdened with (the guilt of)] sin and are ·led [swayed; controlled] by ·many [all kinds of] evil desires. 7 These women are always ·learning [or seeking out] new teachings, but they are never able to ·understand [arrive at] the truth fully. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres were against Moses [C the traditional names (not found in the OT) of the Egyptian magicians who opposed Moses; Ex. 7:11], these people are against the truth. Their ·thinking has been ruined [minds/thoughts are corrupted/depraved], and they ·have failed in trying to follow the faith [or are teaching a counterfeit faith]. 9 But they will not ·be successful in what they do [or get much further], because as with Jannes and Jambres, everyone will see ·that they are foolish [their folly/ignorance].
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