Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
68 Zacharias: May the Lord God of Israel be blessed indeed!
For God’s intervention has begun,
and He has moved to rescue us, the people of God.
69 And the Lord has raised up a powerful sign of liberation for us
from among the descendants of God’s servant, King David.
70 As was prophesied through the mouths of His holy prophets in ancient times:
71 God will liberate us from our enemies
and from the hand of our oppressors![a]
72-74 God will show mercy promised to our ancestors,
upholding the abiding covenant He made with them,
Remembering the original vow He swore to Abraham,
from whom we are all descended.
God will rescue us from the grasp of our enemies
so that we may serve Him without fear all our days
75 In holiness and justice, in the presence of the Lord.
76 And you, my son, will be called the prophet of the Most High.
For you will be the one to prepare the way for the Lord[b]
77 So that the Lord’s people will receive knowledge of their freedom
through the forgiveness of their sins.
78 All this will flow from the kind and compassionate mercy of our God.
A new day is dawning:
the Sunrise from the heavens will break through in our darkness,
79 And those who huddle in night,
those who sit in the shadow of death,
Will be able to rise and walk in the light,[c]
guided in the pathway of peace.
22 Eternal One (to Jeremiah): Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and say to him, 2 “Hear the word of the Eternal. Listen, O king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne. Listen, you advisors of the king. Listen, you people who walk through these city gates. 3 This is what the Eternal has to say: ‘Do what is just and right. Rescue those poor ones being robbed by the extortionists. Protect the outsiders, orphans, and widows in your land from any oppression, for they have no one. Stop the violence and the shedding of innocent blood in this place. 4 If you do what I say, there will always be a king on the throne in Jerusalem. The descendants of David will ride through these gates leading a great processional of chariots and horses, of advisors and subjects. 5 But if you refuse My words of warning, I swear by My name and all that I am that this palace of yours will be laid to waste.’”
6 This is what the Eternal says concerning the king of Judah and his household.
Eternal One: You are as precious to Me as the lush forests of Gilead;
you are like the cedars on the summit of Lebanon.
But I swear I will make you into a wilderness—stripped of trees—
with cities that lie empty and lifeless.
7 I will unleash destroyers against you—
ruthless men with fearful weapons.
They will cut down your best trees
and throw them on the fire.
8 When other nations pass by the ruins of Jerusalem, they will ask each other, “Why did the Eternal destroy this great city?” 9 The answer they will hear is the one you already know: “Because these people violated the covenant they had made with the Eternal their God by worshiping and serving other gods.”
10 Do not cry for the one who is dead; do not mourn for him.
Cry instead for the living one going into exile
For he will not come back again,
he will never see his home again.
11 This is a word of the Eternal for Shallum (son of Josiah), who succeeded his father as king of Judah and went from this place into exile:
Eternal One: He will never return, 12 and he will die in that land of captivity, never to see this place again.
13 Woe to the one[a] who builds his palace on the proceeds of unrighteousness,
who adds upper rooms on the gains of injustice,
Who forces his own people to labor for nothing,
who refuses to pay them for all their hard work.
14 He thinks to himself, “I will build a huge palace
with a large second story and many windows.
I will panel the walls with the best cedar
and paint it red to impress everyone.”
15 Do you become king because you have more cedar than another?
Your father, so different from you, had plenty to eat, plenty to drink.
Didn’t he live his life as a righteous and fair man?
And look how well he did.
16 He stood up for the poor and needy;
then things went well for him and the people.
Isn’t this what it means to know Me?
17 But you are so different: your eyes are focused and your heart is set
on one goal: deceitful personal gain.
You make the innocent pay with their blood;
you violently oppress them and take what is not yours.
3 Blessed is God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One! Because He has raised Jesus the Anointed from death, through His great mercy we have been reborn into a living hope— 4 reborn for an eternal inheritance, held in reserve in heaven, that will never fade or fail. 5 Through faith, God’s power is standing watch, protecting you for a salvation that you will see completely at the end of things. 6 You should greatly rejoice in what is waiting for you, even if now for a little while you have to suffer various trials. 7 Suffering tests your faith which is more valuable than gold (remember that gold, although it is perishable, is tested by fire) so that if it is found genuine, you can receive praise, honor, and glory when Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, is revealed at last.
Early Christians stand apart from the culture and suffer social stigmas and physical persecution at times. Peter challenges them to remain faithful to Jesus who also suffered for not conforming.
8 Although you haven’t seen Jesus, you still love Him. Although you don’t yet see Him, you do believe in Him and celebrate with a joy that is glorious and beyond words. 9 You are receiving the salvation of your souls as the result of your faith.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.