Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Jeremiah’s Lesson at the Temple

26 This message came from the Lord. It was during the first year Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah. ² This is what the Lord said: “Jeremiah, stand in the courtyard of the Temple of the Lord. Give this message to all the people of the towns of Judah. They are coming to worship at the Temple of the Lord. Tell them everything I tell you to say. Don’t leave out any part of my message. ³ Maybe they will listen and stop their evil ways. I have plans to bring disaster on them because of the evil they have done. But if they change, I will change my mind about bringing disaster on them. ⁴ Say to them: ‘This is what the Lord says: I gave my teachings to you. You must obey me and follow my teachings. ⁵ You must listen to what my servants the prophets say to you. I have sent prophets to you again and again. But you did not listen to them. ⁶ If you don’t obey me, I will destroy my Temple in Jerusalem. I will destroy it as I destroyed my Holy Tent at Shiloh. People all over the world will curse Jerusalem.’”

⁷ The priests, the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah. He said all of these words in the Temple of the Lord. ⁸ Jeremiah finished speaking everything the Lord had commanded him to say. Then the priests, prophets and all the people grabbed Jeremiah. They said, “You must die! ⁹ How dare you prophesy such a thing in the name of the Lord! How dare you say that this Temple will be destroyed like the one at Shiloh! How dare you say that Jerusalem will become a desert without anyone to live in it!” All the people crowded around Jeremiah in the Temple of the Lord.

¹⁰ Now the officers of Judah heard about what was happening. So they came out of the king’s palace and went up to the Temple of the Lord. There they took their places at the entrance of the New Gate. ¹¹ Then the priests and prophets spoke to the officers and all the other people. They said, “Jeremiah should be killed. He said bad things about Jerusalem! You heard him say it.”

¹² Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officers of Judah and all the other people. He said, “The Lord sent me to say these things about this Temple and this city. Everything that you have heard is from the Lord. ¹³ Now change your lives! You must start doing good things. You must obey the Lord your God. If you do that, the Lord will change his mind. He will not bring on you the disaster he has told you about. ¹⁴ As for me, I am in your power. Do to me what you think is good and right. ¹⁵ But if you kill me, be sure of one thing. You will be guilty of killing an innocent person. You will make this city and everyone who lives in it guilty, too! The Lord sent me to you. The message you heard is from the Lord!”

²² Then Paul stood before the meeting of the Areopagus. He said, “Men of Athens, I can see that you are very religious in all things. ²³ I was going through your city, and I saw the things you worship. I found an altar that had these words written on it: “TO A GOD WHO IS NOT KNOWN.” You worship a god that you don’t know. This is the God I am telling you about! ²⁴ He is the God who made the whole world and everything in it. He is the Lord of the land and the sky. He does not live in temples that men build! ²⁵ This God is the One who gives life, breath, and everything else to people. He does not need any help from them. He has everything he needs. ²⁶ God began by making one man. From him came all the different people who live everywhere in the world. He decided exactly when and where they must live. ²⁷ God wanted them to look for him and perhaps search all around for him and find him. But he is not far from any of us: ²⁸ ‘By his power we live and move and exist.’ Some of your own poets have said: ‘For we are his children.’ ²⁹ We are God’s children. So, you must not think that God is like something that people imagine or make. He is not like gold, silver, or rock. ³⁰ In the past, people did not understand God, but God ignored this. But now, God tells everyone in the world to change his heart and life. ³¹ God has decided on a day that he will judge all the world. He will be fair. He will use a man to do this. God chose that man long ago. And God has proved this to everyone by raising that man from death!”

³² When the people heard about Jesus being raised from death, some of them laughed. They said, “We will hear more about this from you later.” ³³ So Paul went away from them. ³⁴ But some of the people believed Paul and joined him. One of those who believed was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus. Also a woman named Damaris and some others believed.