Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
68 “Let us thank the Lord God of Israel. He has bought His people and made them free. 69 He has raised up from the family of David One Who saves people from the punishment of their sins. 70 His holy early preachers told us this long ago. 71 God told us that we should be saved from those who hate us and from all those who work against us. 72 He would show loving-kindness to our early fathers. He would remember His holy promise. 73 God promised this to our early father Abraham. 74 He promised that we would be saved from those who hate us and that we might worship Him without being afraid. 75 We can be holy and right with God all the days of our life.
76 “And you, my son, will be the one who speaks for the Most High. For you will go before the Lord to make the way ready for Him. 77 You will tell His people how to be saved from the punishment of sin by being forgiven of their sins. 78 Because the heart of our God is full of loving-kindness for us, a light from heaven will shine on us. 79 It will give light to those who live in darkness and are under the shadow of death. It will lead our feet in the way of peace.”
Jerusalem to Be Taken
21 This is the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the religious leader, the son of Maaseiah, saying, 2 “Will you speak to the Lord about us? For King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is making war against us. It may be that the Lord will do something for us like He did in times past, and make him leave us.”
3 Then Jeremiah said to them, “Say this to Zedekiah: 4 ‘The Lord God of Israel says, “See, I will turn against you the objects of war you are using to fight with against the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are gathered outside the wall to shut you in. And I will bring them into the center of this city. 5 I Myself will fight against you with My hand out and with a strong arm, in much anger. 6 I will kill both man and animal in this city. They will die of a bad disease. 7 After this,” says the Lord, “I will give over Zedekiah king of Judah, his servants, and the people who were not killed in this city by the disease, the sword, and hunger. I will give them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of those who hate them, and into the hand of those who want to kill them. And he will kill them with the sword. He will not let them live or have pity for them.”’
8 “Also tell the people, ‘The Lord says, “See, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who lives in this city will die by the sword and by hunger and by disease. But he who goes out and gives himself up to the Babylonians whose armies shut you in will live, he will at least have his life. 10 For I have set My face against this city for trouble and not for good,” says the Lord. “It will be given to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it with fire.”’
Words against Judah
11 “Then say to those of the house of the king of Judah, ‘Hear the Word of the Lord, 12 O house of David, the Lord says, “Do what is right every morning. Take the person who has been robbed away from the one who has made it hard for him. So My anger will not go out like fire and burn with no one to put it out, because of the sinful things you have done.
13 “See, I am against you, O you who live in the valley, O rock of the plain,” says the Lord, “you who say, ‘Who will come down against us? Or who will come into our houses?’ 14 I will punish you for what has come of what you have done,” says the Lord. “I will start a fire among your trees, and it will destroy all that is around it.”’”
One Perfect Gift
23 The tent to worship in and the things inside to worship with were like the things in heaven. They were made clean by putting blood on them. But the things in heaven were made clean by a much better gift of worship. 24 For Christ did not go into the Holiest Place of All that was made by men, even if it was like the true one in heaven. He went to heaven itself and He is before God for us. 25 Christ has not given Himself many times, as the head religious leader here on earth went into the Holiest Place of All each year with blood that was not his own. 26 For then Christ would have had to die many times since the world began. But He came once at the end of the Old Way of Worship. He gave Himself once for all time. He gave Himself to destroy sin. 27 It is in the plan that all men die once. After that, they will stand before God and be judged. 28 It is the same with Christ. He gave Himself once to take away the sins of many. When He comes the second time, He will not need to give Himself again for sin. He will save all those who are waiting for Him.
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