Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Messiah’s Triumph and Kingdom^(A)

The Sign of the Broken Flask

19 Thus says the Lord: “Go and get a potter’s earthen flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests. ² And go out to ^(A)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I will tell you, ^3 (B)and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will ^(C)tingle.

⁴ “Because they ^(D)have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with ^(E)the blood of the innocents ^5 (F)(they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, ^(G)which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind), ⁶ therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that this place shall no more be called Tophet or ^(H)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. ⁷ And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, ^(I)and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives; their ^(J)corpses I will give as meat for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. ⁸ I will make this city ^(K)desolate and a hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues. ⁹ And I will cause them to eat the ^(L)flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the desperation with which their enemies and those who seek their lives shall drive them to despair.” ’

^10 (M)“Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, ¹¹ and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(N)“Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot be ^[a]made whole again; and they shall ^(O)bury them in Tophet till there is no place to bury. ¹² Thus I will do to this place,” says the Lord, “and to its inhabitants, and make this city like Tophet. ¹³ And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled ^(P)like the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose ^(Q)roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and ^(R)poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ”

¹⁴ Then Jeremiah came from Tophet, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in ^(S)the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people, ¹⁵ “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on this city and on all her towns all the doom that I have pronounced against it, because ^(T)they have stiffened their necks that they might not hear My words.’ ”

A Good Servant of Jesus Christ

⁶ If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, ^(A)nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. ⁷ But ^(B)reject profane and old wives’ fables, and ^(C)exercise yourself toward godliness. ⁸ For ^(D)bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, ^(E)having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. ⁹ This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. ¹⁰ For to this end ^[a]we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, ^(F)who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. ¹¹ These things command and teach.

Take Heed to Your Ministry

¹² Let no one ^[b]despise your youth, but be an ^(G)example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, ^[c]in spirit, in faith, in purity. ¹³ Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to ^[d]doctrine. ^14 (H)Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy ^(I)with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. ¹⁵ Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. ¹⁶ Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.