Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Jeremiah Is Imprisoned

32 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.

² At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem. Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard in the palace of the king of Judah. ³ Zedekiah king of Judah had confined him there.

Zedekiah had said, “Why do you prophesy and say that the Lord says that he will certainly give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and that he will capture it?

Jeremiah Redeems a Field

⁶ Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me. ⁷ Watch for this. Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to you and tell you to buy his field in Anathoth, because the right of redemption is yours. So buy it.”

⁸ Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in the courtyard of the guard, just as the Lord had said, and he told me to buy his field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, because the right to redeem it and take possession of it was mine. He told me to buy it for myself.

Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. ⁹ I purchased the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out for him seventeen shekels^[a] of silver. ¹⁰ I signed the deed, sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. ¹¹ Then I took the deed of the purchase containing the terms and conditions, both the sealed copy and an unsealed copy, ¹² and I gave them to Baruch son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, and in the presence of the witnesses who had signed the deed, and in the presence of all the Jews sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

¹³ I gave Baruch instructions in their presence. I told him ¹⁴ that this is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, said: “Take these deeds, the sealed deed of purchase and the unsealed copy, and put them in a clay jar so that they will be preserved for a long time. ¹⁵ For the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says this: Houses and fields and vineyards will again be purchased in this land.”

Psalm 91

The Shadow of Your Wings

The General Principle

Application to Oneself

Application to Others

God’s Promise of Delivery

⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly^[a] cannot take anything out. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be satisfied.

⁹ Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into complete destruction and utter ruin. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils. By striving for money, some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.

Fight the Good Fight

¹¹ But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of eternal life, to which you were called and about which you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who made a good confession as a witness before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you keep this command without spot and without fault, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which he will make known at the proper time—the blessed and only ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone has immortality, who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or is able to see. To him be honor and power forever! Amen.

¹⁷ Instruct those who are rich in this present age not to be arrogant or to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but rather in God, who richly supplies us with all things for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share. ¹⁹ In this way they are storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.^[b]

The Rich Man and Poor Lazarus

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. ²⁰ A beggar named Lazarus had been laid at his gate. Lazarus was covered with sores and ²¹ longed to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Besides this, the dogs also came and licked his sores. ²² Eventually the beggar died, and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ In hell,^[a] where he was in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus at his side. ²⁴ He called out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in misery in this flame.’

²⁵ “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are in misery. ²⁶ Besides all this, a great chasm has been set in place between us and you, so that those who want to cross from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

²⁷ “He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s home, ²⁸ because I have five brothers—to warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

²⁹ “Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. Let them listen to them.’

³⁰ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

³¹ “Abraham replied to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”