Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹² In the tenth day of the fifth month, which was the nineteenth year of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan commander of the guard came to Jerusalem on behalf of his king. ¹³ He burned down the Lord’s temple, the royal palace, all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the important buildings. ¹⁴ The entire Babylonian army and the commander of the guard destroyed the walls surrounding Jerusalem. ¹⁵ Nebuzaradan commander of the guard deported some of the poorest people, the rest of the people left in the city, a few skilled workers, and those who had joined the king of Babylon. ¹⁶ But Nebuzaradan commander of the guard left some of the poor to tend the vineyards and till the land.

¹⁷ The Babylonians broke apart the bronze columns, the stands, and the bronze Sea in the Lord’s temple. They carried the bronze to Babylon. ¹⁸ They took the pots, the shovels, the wick trimmers, the sprinkling bowls, the incense dishes, and all the bronze equipment used for the temple services. ¹⁹ The commander of the guard took whatever gold or silver he could find as well: the small bowls, the fire pans, the sprinkling bowls, the pots, the lampstands, the basins, and the offering bowls. ²⁰ There was too much bronze to be weighed: two columns, the bronze Sea and the twelve bronze bulls that held it up, and the stands, all of which Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple. ²¹ Each column was about twenty-seven feet high and eighteen feet around. They were hollow, but the bronze was about three inches thick. ²² Each had a capital of bronze above it that towered seven and a half feet high, and each had an ornate design of bronze pomegranates around it. The second column was the same, also with pomegranates. ²³ There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides, a total of one hundred pomegranates around the ornate design.

²⁴ The commander of the guard also took Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the deputy priest, and the three doorkeepers. ²⁵ From the city, he took a eunuch who was appointed over the army and the seven royal advisors who remained in the city. He also took the scribe of the commander of the army in charge of military conscription and sixty military personnel^[a] who were found in the city. ²⁶ Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. ²⁷ The king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. And Judah went away from its land into exile.

²⁸ This is the number of people whom Nebuchadnezzar deported: In the seventh year, 3,023 Judeans. ²⁹ In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, he took 832 people from Jerusalem. ³⁰ In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, he dispatched Nebuzaradan commander of the guard, who deported 745 Judeans. Altogether, 4,600 were taken captive.

Message to Pergamum

¹² “Write this to the angel of the church in Pergamum:

These are the words of the one who has the sharp, two-edged sword: ¹³ I know that you are living right where Satan’s throne is. You are holding on to my name, and you didn’t break faith with me even at the time that Antipas, my faithful witness, was killed among you, where Satan lives. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against you, because you have some there who follow Balaam’s teaching. Balaam had taught Balak to trip up the Israelites so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. ¹⁵ In the same way, you have some who follow the Nicolaitans’ teaching. ¹⁶ So change your hearts and lives. If you don’t, I am coming to you soon, and I will make war on them with the sword that comes from my mouth. ¹⁷ If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. I will give those who emerge victorious some of the hidden manna to eat. I will also give to each of them a white stone with a new name written on it, which no one knows except the one who receives it.

Message to Thyatira

¹⁸ “Write this to the angel of the church in Thyatira:

These are the words of God’s Son, whose eyes are like a fiery flame, and whose feet are like fine brass. ¹⁹ I know your works, your love and faithfulness, your service and endurance. I also know that the works you have done most recently are even greater than those you did at first. ²⁰ But I have this against you: you put up with that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. You allow her to teach and to mislead my servants into committing sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I gave her time to change her heart and life, but she refuses to change her life of prostitution. ²² Look! I’m throwing her onto a sickbed. I am casting those who have committed adultery with her into terrible hardship—if they don’t change their hearts from following her practices— ²³ and I will even put her children to death with disease. Then all the churches will know that I’m the one who examines minds and hearts, and that I will give to each of you what your actions deserve. ²⁴ As for the rest of you in Thyatira—those of you who don’t follow this teaching and haven’t learned the so-called “deep secrets” of Satan—I won’t burden you with anything else. ²⁵ Just hold on to what you have until I come. ²⁶ To those who emerge victorious, keeping my practices until the end, I will give authority over the nations— ²⁷ to rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like pottery— ²⁸ just as I received authority from my Father. I will also give them the morning star. ²⁹ If you can hear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.