Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Prayer of an Elderly Person
71 Lord, I have come to you for protection;
never let me be defeated!
2 Because you are righteous, help me and rescue me.
Listen to me and save me!
3 Be my secure shelter
and a strong fortress[a] to protect me;
you are my refuge and defense.
4 My God, rescue me from wicked people,
from the power of cruel and evil people.
5 Sovereign Lord, I put my hope in you;
I have trusted in you since I was young.
6 I have relied on you all my life;
you have protected[b] me since the day I was born.
I will always praise you.
King Zedekiah of Judah(A)
11 (B)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. 12 He sinned against the Lord and did not listen humbly to the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke the word of the Lord.
The Fall of Jerusalem(C)
13 (D)Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had forced him to swear in God's name that he would be loyal. He stubbornly refused to repent and return to the Lord, the God of Israel. 14 In addition, the leaders of Judah, the priests, and the people followed the sinful example of the nations around them in worshiping idols, and so they defiled the Temple, which the Lord himself had made holy. 15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, had continued to send prophets to warn his people, because he wanted to spare them and the Temple. 16 But they made fun of God's messengers, ignoring his words and laughing at his prophets, until at last the Lord's anger against his people was so great that there was no escape.
17 (E)So the Lord brought the king of Babylonia to attack them. The king killed the young men of Judah even in the Temple. He had no mercy on anyone, young or old, man or woman, sick or healthy. God handed them all over to him. 18 The king of Babylonia looted the Temple, the Temple treasury, and the wealth of the king and his officials, and took everything back to Babylon. 19 (F)He burned down the Temple and the city, with all its palaces and its wealth, and broke down the city wall. 20 He took all the survivors to Babylonia, where they served him and his descendants as slaves until the rise of the Persian Empire. 21 (G)And so what the Lord had foretold through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “The land will lie desolate for seventy years, to make up for the Sabbath rest[a] that has not been observed.”
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come with me!” (44 Philip was from Bethsaida, the town where Andrew and Peter lived.) 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the book of the Law and whom the prophets also wrote about. He is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”
46 “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” answered Philip.
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, he said about him, “Here is a real Israelite; there is nothing false in him!”
48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered, “I saw you when you were under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 “Teacher,” answered Nathanael, “you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus said, “Do you believe just because I told you I saw you when you were under the fig tree? You will see much greater things than this!” 51 (A)And he said to them, “I am telling you the truth: you will see heaven open and God's angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.