Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
I Am for Shalom
Psalm 120
1 A Song of Ascents.
In my trouble I cried out to Adonai,
and He answered me.
2 Adonai, deliver my soul from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.
3 What can be given to you,
and what more can be done to you, O deceitful tongue?—
4 sharp arrows of the mighty,
with burning coals of a broom tree!
5 Woe to me, for I sojourn in Meshech,
for I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul has too long dwelt
with those who hate shalom.
7 I am for shalom and thus I speak,
but they are for war!
18 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king, and he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 19 But he did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 20 For through the anger of Adonai it came to a point in Jerusalem and Judah that He finally banished them from His presence.
Then Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
Destruction of Jerusalem
25 Now it came to pass in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his entire army advanced against Jerusalem, set up camp by it, and built a siege wall all around it. 2 So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine became so severe in the city that there was no bread for the common people.
4 Then the city was broken into, and all the warriors fled by night by the way of the gate between the double walls near the king’s garden—though the Chaldeans were all around the city—and they went by the way to the Arabah. 5 But the Chaldean army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. 6 So they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, then put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him in bronze chains and took him to Babylon.
8 Now on the seventh day of the fifth month—which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon—Nebuzaradan, the captain of the imperial guard, officer of the Babylonian king, came to Jerusalem. 9 He burned down the House of Adonai, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem—every notable building he burned with fire. 10 Then the whole Chaldean army that was with the captain of the guard demolished the walls of Jerusalem on every side. 11 Then the remnant of the people who were left in the city—the deserters who had defected to the Babylonian king and the rest of the populace—Nebuzaradan captain of the guard exiled them. 12 But the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and field hands.
13 Now the Chaldeans broke into pieces the bronze pillars that were in the House of Adonai, the stands and the bronze sea that were in the House of Adonai, and carried their bronze away to Babylon. 14 They also took away the pots, the shovels, the snuffers, the pans and all the bronze vessels that were used in Temple service. 15 The captain of the guard took away the fire pans and the basins—whatever was gold or silver. 16 The two pillars, the one sea, and the stands which Solomon had made for the House of Adonai—the bronze of all these vessels was beyond weight. 17 The height of each pillar was eighteen cubits, with a bronze capital on top. The height of the capital was three cubits, with a netting of copper pomegranates encircling the capital. The same was true of the second pillar with its netting.
18 Then the captain of the guard took away Seraiah the chief kohen, Zephaniah the deputy kohen, and the three doorkeepers. 19 From the city he took an official who had been overseeing the soldiers and five of the royal advisers who were found in the city, and the scribe of the army captain who mustered the people of the land, and 60 men of the common people that were found in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. 21 The king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was exiled from its land.
20 But now Messiah has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also has come through a Man. [a] 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Messiah will all be made alive.
23 But each in its own order: Messiah the firstfruits; then, at His coming, those who belong to Messiah; 24 then the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all rule and all authority and power. [b] 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. [c] 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For God has “put all things in subjection underneath His feet.”[d] But when the psalmist says that “all” has been put in subjection, it is clear that this does not include God Himself, who put all things under Messiah. 28 Now when all things become subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also become subject to the One who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all.
29 Otherwise, what will they do who are immersed for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, then why are they immersed for them? 30 And why are we in danger every hour? 31 I die every day—yes, as surely as the boast in you, brothers and sisters, which I have in Messiah Yeshua our Lord. 32 If, for human reasons, I fought with “wild animals” at Ephesus, what good is that to me? If the dead are not raised, “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” [e] 33 Do not be deceived!
“Bad company corrupts good morals.”
34 Come to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning! For some have no knowledge of God—I say this to your shame.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.