Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Prayer for Help

King Zedekiah of Judah^(A)

^18 (B)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah from the city of Libnah. ¹⁹ King Zedekiah sinned against the Lord, just as King Jehoiakim had done. ^20 (C)The Lord became so angry with the people of Jerusalem and Judah that he banished them from his sight.

The Fall of Jerusalem^(D)

25 ^(E)Zedekiah rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, and so Nebuchadnezzar came with all his army and attacked Jerusalem on the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign. They set up camp outside the city, built siege walls around it, ² and kept it under siege until Zedekiah's eleventh year. ³ On the ninth day of the fourth month^[a] of that same year, when the famine was so bad that the people had nothing left to eat, ^4 (F)the city walls were broken through. Although the Babylonians were surrounding the city, all the soldiers escaped during the night. They left by way of the royal garden, went through the gateway connecting the two walls, and fled in the direction of the Jordan Valley. ⁵ But the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah, captured him in the plains near Jericho, and all his soldiers deserted him. ⁶ Zedekiah was taken to King Nebuchadnezzar, who was in the city of Riblah, and there Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him. ^7 (G)While Zedekiah was looking on, his sons were put to death; then Nebuchadnezzar had Zedekiah's eyes put out, placed him in chains, and took him to Babylon.

The Destruction of the Temple^(H)

⁸ On the seventh day of the fifth month of the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia, Nebuzaradan, adviser to the king and commander of his army, entered Jerusalem. ^9 (I)He burned down the Temple, the palace, and the houses of all the important people in Jerusalem, ¹⁰ and his soldiers tore down the city walls. ¹¹ Then Nebuzaradan took away to Babylonia the people who were left in the city, the remaining skilled workers,^[b] and those who had deserted to the Babylonians. ¹² But he left in Judah some of the poorest people, who owned no property, and put them to work in the vineyards and fields.

^13 (J)The Babylonians broke in pieces the bronze columns and the carts that were in the Temple, together with the large bronze tank, and they took all the bronze to Babylon. ^14 (K)They also took away the shovels and the ash containers used in cleaning the altar, the tools used in tending the lamps, the bowls used for catching the blood from the sacrifices, the bowls used for burning incense, and all the other bronze articles used in the Temple service. ¹⁵ They took away everything that was made of gold or silver, including the small bowls and the pans used for carrying live coals. ¹⁶ The bronze objects that King Solomon had made for the Temple—the two columns, the carts, and the large tank—were too heavy to weigh. ¹⁷ The two columns were identical: each one was 27 feet high, with a bronze capital on top, 4½ feet high. All around each capital was a bronze grillwork decorated with pomegranates made of bronze.

The People of Judah Are Taken to Babylonia^(L)

¹⁸ In addition, Nebuzaradan, the commanding officer, took away as prisoners Seraiah the High Priest, Zephaniah the priest next in rank, and the three other important Temple officials. ¹⁹ From the city he took the officer who had been in command of the troops, five of the king's personal advisers who were still in the city, the commander's assistant, who was in charge of military records, and sixty other important men. ²⁰ Nebuzaradan took them to the king of Babylonia, who was in the city of Riblah ²¹ in the territory of Hamath. There the king had them beaten and put to death.

So the people of Judah were carried away from their land into exile.

²⁰ But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised. ²¹ For just as death came by means of a man, in the same way the rising from death comes by means of a man. ²² For just as all people die because of their union with Adam, in the same way all will be raised to life because of their union with Christ. ²³ But each one will be raised in proper order: Christ, first of all; then, at the time of his coming, those who belong to him. ²⁴ Then the end will come; Christ will overcome all spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers, and will hand over the Kingdom to God the Father. ^25 (A)For Christ must rule until God defeats all enemies and puts them under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be defeated will be death. ^27 (B)For the scripture says, “God put all things under his feet.” It is clear, of course, that the words “all things” do not include God himself, who puts all things under Christ. ²⁸ But when all things have been placed under Christ's rule, then he himself, the Son, will place himself under God, who placed all things under him; and God will rule completely over all.

^29 (C)Now, what about those people who are baptized for the dead? What do they hope to accomplish? If it is true, as some claim, that the dead are not raised to life, why are those people being baptized for the dead? ³⁰ And as for us—why would we run the risk of danger every hour? ³¹ My friends, I face death every day! The pride I have in you, in our life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord, makes me declare this. ^32 (D)If I have, as it were, fought “wild beasts” here in Ephesus simply from human motives, what have I gained? But if the dead are not raised to life, then, as the saying goes, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”

³³ Do not be fooled. “Bad companions ruin good character.” ³⁴ Come back to your right senses and stop your sinful ways. I declare to your shame that some of you do not know God.