Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

LAMED

¹¹ Micaiah, son of Gemariah and grandson of Shaphan, heard the Lord's message as Baruch read it aloud. ¹² Then Micaiah went to the secretary's room in the king's palace. All the king's officers were meeting there. They included: the king's secretary Elishama, Shemaiah's son Delaiah, Akbor's son Elnathan, Shaphan's son Gemariah, and Hananiah's son Zedekiah. All the officers were sitting there. ¹³ Micaiah told them everything that he had heard when Baruch read the scroll aloud to the people. ¹⁴ The officers sent somebody to go and speak to Baruch. They sent Jehudi, son of Nethaniah, and the grandson of Cushi's son, Shelemiah. They told him to say to Baruch, ‘Bring here to us the scroll with the words that you read aloud to the people.’

So Neriah's son Baruch went to them. He took the scroll with him in his hand. ¹⁵ The officers said to him, ‘Please sit down and read it to us.’ So Baruch read it to them. ¹⁶ They listened to the words that Baruch had written on the scroll. They looked at each other in fear. They said to Baruch, ‘We must certainly report this to the king. We must tell him about everything that you have read to us.’ ¹⁷ They also asked Baruch, ‘Please tell us how you wrote all these words. Did Jeremiah himself tell you what to write?’

¹⁸ Baruch said, ‘Yes, he told me what I should write. Then I used ink to write the words on this scroll.’^[a]

¹⁹ The officers said to Baruch, ‘You and Jeremiah must go and hide yourselves. Do not tell anyone where you are.’

²⁰ The officers put the scroll into the room of Elishama, the king's secretary, to keep it safe. Then they went to see the king. He was in the palace yard. They reported to him everything that they had heard. ²¹ Then the king sent Jehudi to fetch the scroll. Jehudi brought the scroll from Elishama's room in the temple. Then he read the message that was written on the scroll. He read it aloud to the king and to all the officers who were standing around him. ²² It was autumn, so the king was sitting in the rooms that he used when it was cold. A fire was burning beside him. ²³ Jehudi read a small section of the words that were written on the scroll. As soon as he finished each section, the king cut off that part of the scroll with a knife. He threw each piece of the scroll on the fire. The king continued to do that until fire had burned up the whole scroll. ²⁴ As the king and his officers heard Jehudi read each section of the scroll, it did not make them afraid. None of them tore their clothes because they were upset. ²⁵ Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah asked the king very strongly not to burn the scroll. But the king refused to listen to them. ²⁶ Instead, the king told Prince Jerahmeel to go and find the secretary Baruch and the prophet Jeremiah. Jerahmeel went with Azriel's son Seraiah and Abdeel's son Shelemiah to take hold of them. But the Lord had hidden Baruch and Jeremiah.

² Be friends with us. We have done nothing wrong to any of you. We have not hurt anyone. We have not cheated anyone. ³ I am not saying this to make you feel ashamed. As I have told you before, you are our special friends. We will continue to love you, whether we live together or we die together.

⁴ I know you and I trust you. I am proud of you. You have helped me to be strong. So, even when we have many troubles, I am still very happy.

⁵ When we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies did not rest at all.^[a] We had many kinds of trouble. All round us, people quarrelled with us. Inside us, we were afraid. ⁶ But when people feel upset, God helps them to be strong. And God made us happy when Titus arrived. ⁷ God comforted us not only because Titus came to us. He comforted us also by what Titus told us about you. He said that you had helped him to be strong. He told us that you want to see me. He told us that you are very sad about what happened. He told us also that you are ready to help me. Because of what Titus told us about you, I was very happy.

⁸ But even if I made you sad by my letter, I am not sorry about that. At one time, I was sorry that I had written it. I saw that my letter had made you sad. But you were sad only for a short time. ⁹ So now I am happy, but not because my letter made you sad. No, I am happy because it made you turn away from wrong things. You became sad as God wanted you to be sad. So, when the letter made you sad, we did not really hurt you. ¹⁰ People need to become sad in the way that God wants. When they are sad like that, it causes them to turn away from wrong things. Then God saves them from their sins. They will never be sorry about that! But when people become sad in the way that the world wants, it does not help them. They do not turn to God and they die in their spirits.

¹¹ You became sad in the way that God wanted. And see what good results that has brought! It has made you work hard to do good things. You want to show people that you do what is right. You are angry against sin. You want to obey God. You want to make things right again. You want to please God. You want to punish anyone who does wrong things. In all these ways, you have shown that you are right. You have done everything that was necessary in this matter.

¹² So why did I write that letter to you? It was not because of the person who did the wrong thing. Nor was it to help the person that he hurt. No. I wrote the letter to show you something about yourselves. I wanted God to show you that you do really love us and you respect us.