Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer for Help
1 Why are you far away, Lord?
Why do you hide yourself
when I am in trouble?
2 Proud and brutal people
hunt down the poor.
But let them get caught
by their own evil plans!
3 The wicked brag about
their deepest desires.
Those greedy people hate
and curse you, Lord.
4 The wicked are too proud
to turn to you
or even think about you.
5 They are always successful,
though they can't understand
your teachings,
and they keep sneering
at their enemies.
6 In their hearts they say,
“Nothing can hurt us!
We'll always be happy
and free from trouble.”
7 (A) They curse and tell lies,
and all they talk about
is how to be cruel
or how to do wrong.
8 They hide outside villages,
waiting to strike and murder
some innocent victim.
9 They are hungry lions
hiding in the bushes,
hoping to catch
some helpless passerby.
They trap the poor in nets
and drag them away.
10 They crouch down and wait
to grab a victim.
11 They say, “God can't see!
He's got on a blindfold.”
12 Do something, Lord God,
and use your powerful arm
to help those in need.
13 The wicked don't respect you.
In their hearts they say,
“God won't punish us!”
14 But you see the trouble
and the distress,
and you will do something.
The poor can count on you,
and so can orphans.
15 Now break the power
of all merciless people.
Punish them for doing wrong
and make them stop.
16 Our Lord, you will always rule,
but every godless nation
will vanish from the earth.
17 You listen to the longings
of those who suffer.
You offer them hope,
and you pay attention
to their cries for help.
18 You defend orphans
and everyone else in need,
so that no one on earth
can terrify others again.
Jeremiah Speaks in the Temple
(Jeremiah 26.1-6)
7 1-3 The Lord told me to stand by the gate of the temple[a] and tell the people who were going in that the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, had said:
Pay attention, people of Judah! Change your ways and start living right, then I will let you keep on living in your own country.[b] 4 Don't fool yourselves! My temple is here in Jerusalem, but that doesn't mean I will protect you. 5 I will keep you safe only if you change your ways and are fair and honest with each other. 6 Stop taking advantage of foreigners, orphans, and widows. Don't kill innocent people. And stop worshiping other gods. 7 Then I will let you enjoy a long life in this land I gave your ancestors.
8 But just look at what is happening! You put your trust in worthless lies. 9 You steal and murder; you lie in court and are unfaithful in marriage. You worship idols and offer incense to Baal, when these gods have never done anything for you. 10 And then you come into my temple and worship me! Do you think I will protect you so that you can go on sinning? 11 (A) You are thieves, and you have made my temple your hideout. But I've seen everything you have done.
12 (B) Go to Shiloh, where my sacred tent once stood. Take a look at what I did there. My people Israel sinned, and so I destroyed Shiloh!
13 While you have been sinning, I have been trying to talk to you, but you refuse to listen. 14 Don't think this temple will protect you. Long ago I told your ancestors to build it and worship me here, but now I have decided to tear it down, just as I destroyed Shiloh. 15 And as for you, people of Judah, I'm going to send you away from my land, just as I sent away the people of Ephraim and the other northern tribes.
A Rest for God's People
7 (A) It is just as the Holy Spirit says,
“If you hear God's voice today,
8 don't be stubborn!
Don't rebel like those people
who were tested
in the desert.
* 9 [a] For forty years your ancestors
tested God and saw
the things he did.
10 “Then God got tired of them
and said,
‘You people never
show good sense,
and you don't understand
what I want you to do.’
11 God became angry
and told the people,
‘You will never enter
my place of rest!’ ”
12 My friends, watch out! Don't let evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn from the living God. 13 You must encourage one another each day. And you must keep on while there is still a time that can be called “today.” If you don't, then sin may fool some of you and make you stubborn. 14 We were sure about Christ when we first became his people. So let's hold tightly to our faith until the end. 15 (B) The Scriptures say,
“If you hear his voice today,
don't be stubborn
like those who rebelled.”
16 (C) Who were those people that heard God's voice and rebelled? Weren't they the same ones that came out of Egypt with Moses? 17 Who were the people that made God angry for 40 years? Weren't they the ones that sinned and died in the desert? 18 And who did God say would never enter his place of rest? Weren't they the ones that disobeyed him? 19 We see that those people did not enter the place of rest because they did not have faith.
4 The promise to enter the place of rest is still good, and we must take care that none of you miss out. 2 We have heard the message, just as they did. But they failed to believe what they heard, and the message did not do them any good. 3 (D) Only people who have faith will enter the place of rest. It is just as the Scriptures say,
“God became angry
and told the people,
‘You will never enter
my place of rest!’ ”
God said this, even though everything has been ready from the time of creation. 4 (E) In fact, somewhere the Scriptures say that by the seventh day, God had finished his work, and so he rested. 5 (F) We also read that he later said, “You people will never enter my place of rest!” 6 This means that the promise to enter is still good, because those who first heard about it disobeyed and did not enter. 7 (G) Much later God told David to make the promise again, just as I have already said,
“If you hear his voice today,
don't be stubborn!”
8 (H) If Joshua had really given the people rest, there would not be any need for God to talk about another day of rest. 9 But God has promised us a Sabbath when we will rest, even though it has not yet come. 10 (I) On that day God's people will rest from their work, just as God rested from his work.
11 We should do our best to enter the place of rest, so none of us will disobey and miss going there, as they did.
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