Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁴ Arrogance pours from their mouths;
    all these troublemakers brag of their exploits.
⁵ They have broken Your people to pieces, O Eternal One,
    and brought ruin to Your future generations.
⁶ They slay a widow, kill a newcomer,
    and murder an orphan.
⁷ Then they say, “The Eternal can’t see what we’re up to;
    the God of Jacob’s people pays no attention to us.”

⁸ Think, brainless people;
    stupid people, when will you get it?
⁹ Does the God who set the ear in its place not hear?
    Does the God who made the eye not see?
¹⁰ Does the God who teaches the nations
    and guides humanity to knowledge,
    not exercise just correction?
¹¹ The Eternal knows the highest thoughts of the wise,
    and they are worthless.^[a]

¹² How fortunate are those You discipline, O Eternal One,
    those You train by Your divine law;
¹³ You relieve them in times of distress,
    until a grave is dug for evildoers.
¹⁴ The Eternal will not abandon His people;
    He will not turn away from those He redeemed
¹⁵ Because justice is coming for those who do what is right
    and all the good-hearted will pursue it.

¹⁶ Who will back me up when evildoers come against me?
    Who is willing to take my side against the wicked?
¹⁷ If the Eternal had not come to my rescue,
    my soul would have descended to the land where death silences every voice.
¹⁸ When I said, “My foot is slipping!”
    Your unfailing love, O Eternal One, held me up.
¹⁹ When anxiety overtakes me and worries are many,
    Your comfort lightens my soul.
²⁰ Can wicked tyrants be Your allies?
    Will You align with rulers who create havoc with unjust decrees?
²¹ They have joined forces against the life of the just-living, the right-seeking,
    and have sentenced the innocent to death.
²² But the Eternal has been my citadel;
    my God, a sure safe haven.
²³ He will fold their wickedness back upon them,
    and because they are malicious, He will silence them.
    The Eternal, our True God, will scatter them.

5 Eternal One: Roam the streets of Jerusalem, and tell Me what you see, Jeremiah.
        See if you can find anything good happening anywhere.
    Look in the marketplaces and open spaces of the city.
        If you can find just one honest person who lives according to My ways,
    I’ll spare the city of this horror.
²     I hear them making oaths in My name. “As the Eternal lives,” they say.
        But they know the oaths are not true.

³ Jeremiah: O Eternal One, aren’t You looking for truth and integrity?
        You struck them, but they did not flinch.
    You destroyed them, but they did not yield to Your correction.
        They wouldn’t change their ways.
    They have set their stony faces against You—
        defiant and determined, refusing to repent.

⁴ And I thought to myself, “How could they know any better?
    They are poor and senseless people, unfamiliar with the ways of the Eternal,
Unaware of what their God requires.
⁵ So I will go to their leaders and share what I see.
    They will do the right thing because they know the Eternal’s ways.
Surely, they will do what their God requires.”
    But to a person, I was wrong; leaders were no different;
They, too, had broken the yoke, burst the bonds,
    and pulled away from God’s guidance and correction.
⁶ Therefore, from the forest, a lion will strike.
    From the desert, a wolf will pounce and destroy.
And from the shadows, a leopard now stalks their villages,
    waiting to tear apart any who dare wander outside.
Such is the fate of all who fall away,
    for their rebellion is great; their sins are many.

⁷ Eternal One (to His people): How can I forgive what you’ve done?
        You have passed on your legacy of rebellion to your children who also rejected Me.
    They have made unholy oaths in the names of so-called gods.
        Why? I have fed them till they were full, and still they wanted more.
    So they betrayed Me with their adultery,
        trooping off to worship idols, filling up the houses of prostitutes.
⁸     They have everything they need, and still they want more.
        Like lusty stallions, they call for each other’s mate.
⁹     Should I not punish them for these atrocities?
        Against this nation, should I not avenge Myself?

¹⁰     (to His people’s enemies) Walk through the rows in her vineyards, and destroy them.
        But do not destroy them completely.
    Lop off the branches,
        for they do not belong to Me, the Eternal.
¹¹     Both the house of Israel and the house of Judah have betrayed Me.

¹²     They spew lies about the Eternal that mock My sovereign power.
        They have said, “Nothing will happen! God will not hurt us!
    All this talk of war and famine is just talk.
¹³     As for the prophets, they are full of hot air;
        the word of God is not in them;
    Let their words of doom fall on them.”

Eternal One (to Jeremiah): Because this is the way they^[a] speak,
        I am going to turn My words in your mouth into a fire,
    A fire that will consume these people; they are nothing but kindling for My fury.

¹⁵     (to His people) O house of Israel, I am stirring up a distant nation to march against you.
        They are an enduring people from ancient times.
    The language they speak is unknown to you;
        you will not understand them.
¹⁶     Their quiver is like a gaping grave, full of death.
        They are all mighty warriors.
¹⁷     They will devour your harvest and your food.
        They will devour your sons and daughters.
    They will devour your livestock, flocks, and herds.
        They will devour your vineyards and orchards.
    They will wield their swords
        and cut down the fortified cities you think are so safe.