Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
10 Lord, why do you stay so far away?
Why do you hide from people in times of trouble?
2 The wicked are proud and make evil plans to hurt the poor,
who are caught in their traps and made to suffer.
3 Those greedy people brag about the things they want to get.
They curse the Lord and show that they hate him.
4 The wicked are too proud to ask God for help.
He does not fit into their plans.
5 They succeed in everything they do.
They don’t understand how you can judge them.
They make fun of all their enemies.
6 They say to themselves, “Nothing bad will ever happen to us.
We will have our fun and never be punished.”
7 They are always cursing, lying,
and planning evil things to do.
8 They hide just outside the villages,
waiting to kill innocent people,
always looking for any helpless person they can hurt.
9 They are like lions hiding in the bushes
to catch weak and helpless animals.
They lay their traps for the poor,
who are caught in their nets.
10 Again and again they hurt people
who are already weak and suffering.
11 They say to themselves, “God has forgotten about us.
He is not watching.
He will never see what we are doing.”
12 Lord, get up and do something.
Punish those who are wicked, God.
Don’t forget those who are poor and helpless.
13 The wicked turn against God
because they think he will not punish them.
14 But, Lord, you do see the pain and suffering they cause.
You see it, so punish them.
Those who were left helpless put their trust in you.
After all, you are the one who cares for orphans.
15 Break the arms of those who are wicked and evil.
Punish them for the evil they have done,
and stop them from doing any more.
16 Lord, you are King forever and ever,
so I know you will remove the wicked nations from your land.
17 Lord, you have heard what the poor want.
Listen to their prayers, and do what they ask.
18 Protect the orphans and those who have been hurt.
Don’t let powerful people drive us from our land!
Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon
7 This is the Lord’s message to Jeremiah: 2 “Jeremiah, stand at the gate of the Lord’s house. Teach this message at the gate:
“‘Hear the message from the Lord, all you people of the nation of Judah. All you who come through these gates to worship the Lord, hear this message. 3 The Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: Change your lives and do good things. If you do this, I will let you live in this place.[a] 4 Don’t trust the lies that some people say. They say, “This is the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord![b]” 5 If you change your lives and do good things, I will let you live in this place. You must be fair to each other. 6 You must be fair to strangers. You must help widows and orphans. Don’t kill innocent people! And don’t follow other gods, because they will only ruin your lives. 7 If you obey me, I will let you live in this place. I gave this land to your ancestors for them to keep forever.
8 “‘But you are trusting lies that are worthless. 9 Will you steal and murder? Will you commit adultery? Will you falsely accuse other people? Will you worship the false god Baal and follow other gods that you have not known? 10 If you commit these sins, do you think that you can stand before me in this house that is called by my name? Do you think you can stand before me and say, “We are safe,” just so you can do all these terrible things? 11 This Temple is called by my name. Is this Temple nothing more to you than a hideout for robbers? I have been watching you.’” This message is from the Lord.
12 “‘You people of Judah, go now to the town of Shiloh. Go to the place where I first made a house for my name. The people of Israel also did evil things. Go and see what I did to that place because of the evil they did.[c] 13 You people of Israel were doing all these evil things. This message is from the Lord! I spoke to you again and again, but you refused to listen to me. I called to you, but you did not answer. 14 So I will destroy the house called by my name in Jerusalem. I will destroy that Temple as I destroyed Shiloh. And that house in Jerusalem that is called by my name is the Temple you trust in. I gave that place to you and to your ancestors. 15 I will throw you away from me just as I threw away all your brothers from Ephraim.’
We Must Continue to Follow God
7 So it is just as the Holy Spirit says:
“If you hear God’s voice today,
8 don’t be stubborn as you were in the past,
when you turned against God.
That was the day you tested God in the desert.
9 For 40 years in the desert, your people saw what I did.
But they tested me and my patience.
10 So I was angry with them.
I said, ‘Their thoughts are always wrong.
They have never understood my ways.’
11 So I was angry and made a promise:
‘They will never enter my place of rest.’” (A)
12 So, brothers and sisters, be careful that none of you has the evil thoughts that cause so much doubt that you stop following the living God. 13 But encourage each other every day, while you still have something called “today.[a]” Help each other so that none of you will be fooled by sin and become too hard to change. 14 We have the honor of sharing in all that Christ has if we continue until the end to have the sure faith we had in the beginning. 15 That’s why the Spirit said,
“If you hear God’s voice today,
don’t be stubborn as in the past
when you turned against God.” (B)
16 Who were those who heard God’s voice and turned against him? It was all the people Moses led out of Egypt. 17 And who was God angry with for 40 years? He was angry with those who sinned. And their dead bodies were left in the desert. 18 And which people was God talking to when he promised that they would never enter his place of rest? He was talking to those who did not obey him. 19 So we see that they were not allowed to enter and have God’s rest, because they did not believe.
4 And we still have the promise that God gave those people. That promise is that we can enter his place of rest. So we should be very careful that none of you fails to get that promise. 2 Yes, the good news about it was told to us just as it was to them. But the message they heard did not help them. They heard it but did not accept it with faith. 3 Only we who believe it are able to enter God’s place of rest. As God said,
“I was angry and made a promise:
‘They will never enter my place of rest.’” (C)
But God’s work was finished from the time he made the world. 4 Yes, somewhere in the Scriptures he talked about the seventh day of the week. He said, “So on the seventh day God rested from all his work.”[b] 5 But in the Scripture above God said, “They will never enter my place of rest.”
6 So the opportunity is still there for some to enter and enjoy God’s rest. But those who first heard the good news about it did not enter, because they did not obey. 7 So God planned another special day. It is called “today.” He spoke about that day through David a long time later using the words we quoted before:
“If you hear God’s voice today,
don’t be stubborn.” (D)
8 We know that Joshua did not lead the people into the place of rest that God promised. We know this because God spoke later about another day for rest. 9 This shows that the seventh-day rest[c] for God’s people is still to come. 10 God rested after he finished his work. So everyone who enters God’s place of rest will also have rest from their own work just as God did. 11 So let us try as hard as we can to enter God’s place of rest. We must try hard so that none of us will be lost by following the example of those who refused to obey God.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International