Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Tsadhe: My Zeal for the Word
137 You are righteous, O Lord,
and your judgments are right.
138 You have commanded your testimonies.
They are righteous and very trustworthy.
139 My zeal wears me out,
because my foes forget your words.
140 Your saying has been thoroughly refined,
and your servant loves it.
141 I am insignificant and despised,
but I do not forget your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is righteous forever,
and your law is truth.
143 Distress and anguish have found me,
but your commandments are my delights.
144 Your testimonies are right forever.
Give me understanding, and I will live.
14 Listen, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the good promises that I have spoken to the house of Israel and concerning the house of Judah.
15 In those days and at that time,
I will cause a righteous Branch to grow up from David’s line.
He will establish justice and righteousness on earth.
16 In those days Judah will be saved,
and Jerusalem will dwell securely.
This is what she[a] will be called:
The Lord Our Righteousness.
17 This is what the Lord says.
David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel. 18 Neither will the priests, who are Levites, fail to have a man to stand before me to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to offer sacrifices continually.
19 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
20 This is what the Lord says. If you could break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that there would no longer be day or night at their appointed times, 21 only then could my covenant with my servant David be broken, so that he would not have a son to reign on his throne. Only then could my covenant with the priests who are Levites, my ministers, be broken. 22 Just as the stars of the sky cannot be counted and the sand of the seashore cannot be measured, in the same way I will multiply the offspring[b] of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.
23 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.
24 Have you not considered what these people are saying—that the Lord rejected the two families that he chose? They despise my people in this way, and they do not consider them a nation. 25 The Lord says: If I have not established my covenant with day and night, or the ordinances of heaven and earth, 26 only then will I reject the offspring of Jacob and of my servant David, and only then will I fail to choose one of his sons to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So I will restore them from captivity, and I will have mercy on them.
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God that is in Corinth, together with all the saints who are everywhere in Achaia:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God Comforts and Rescues Us
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our trouble, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the same comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows. 6 If we are troubled, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the ability to endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. 7 Our hope for you is sure, since we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so you also share in our comfort.
8 Brothers,[a] we do not want you to be unaware of the trouble that happened to us in the province of Asia. We were burdened so greatly, so far beyond our ability to bear it, that we even gave up hope of living. 9 Yes, we even felt the sentence of death within ourselves. This happened so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead. 10 He rescued us from such a terrible death, and he will continue to rescue us. We have set our hope on him that he will also rescue us again, 11 as you join in helping us with your prayers for us. Then many people will thank God for the gracious gift given to us through many prayers.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.