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.
1 This book is the account of what was said by Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests of the town of Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. 2 (A)The Lord spoke to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year that Josiah son of Amon was king of Judah, 3 (B)and he spoke to him again when Josiah's son Jehoiakim was king. After that, the Lord spoke to him many times, until the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah. In the fifth month of that year the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile.
Two Visions
11 The Lord asked me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
I answered, “A branch of an almond tree.”
12 “You are right,” the Lord said, “and I am watching[a] to see that my words come true.”
13 Then the Lord spoke to me again. “What else do you see?” he asked.
I answered, “I see a pot boiling in the north, and it is about to tip over this way.”
14 He said to me, “Destruction will boil over from the north on all who live in this land, 15 because I am calling all the nations in the north to come. Their kings will set up their thrones at the gates of Jerusalem and around its walls and also around the other cities of Judah. 16 I will punish my people because they have sinned; they have abandoned me, have offered sacrifices to other gods, and have made idols and worshiped them. 17 Get ready, Jeremiah; go and tell them everything I command you to say. Do not be afraid of them now, or I will make you even more afraid when you are with them. 18-19 Listen, Jeremiah! Everyone in this land—the kings of Judah, the officials, the priests, and the people—will be against you. But today I am giving you the strength to resist them; you will be like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. They will not defeat you, for I will be with you to protect you. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
The Question about the Sabbath(A)
6 (B)Jesus was walking through some wheat fields on a Sabbath. His disciples began to pick the heads of wheat, rub them in their hands, and eat the grain. 2 Some Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what our Law says you cannot do on the Sabbath?”
3 Jesus answered them, “Haven't you read what David did when he and his men were hungry? 4 (C)He went into the house of God, took the bread offered to God, ate it, and gave it also to his men. Yet it is against our Law for anyone except the priests to eat that bread.”
5 And Jesus concluded, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
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.