Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Jeremiah buys a field

32 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah when King Zedekiah had ruled Judah for ten years. At that time, King Nebuchadnezzar had ruled in Babylon for 18 years. ² Nebuchadnezzar's army had made their camp all around Jerusalem. Jeremiah was a prisoner in the city. Guards kept him in a yard of the palace of the king of Judah.^[a]

³ King Zedekiah had put Jeremiah in prison there. He did not like the messages from God that Jeremiah was speaking. He said to Jeremiah, ‘You should stop saying these things! Do not continue to say, “The Lord will put this city under the power of the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon will take the city for himself.

⁶ While Jeremiah was in prison, the Lord said to him, ⁷ ‘Hanamel, the son of your uncle Shallum, will come to visit you. He will say to you, “I want you to buy my field in Anathoth. The law says that I should offer it to you first, because you are my relative.” ’

⁸ This happened as the Lord had said it would happen. My cousin Hanamel came to visit me in the prison. He said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin's tribe. I offer it to you first, as my relative. So you can buy it for yourself.’

When this happened, I realized I had really heard the Lord's message. ⁹ So I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed 17 shekels of silver to pay him for it. ¹⁰ I wrote my name on a piece of paper to show that I had bought the land. Some men watched as I did this, to agree to the sale. I closed the paper with a seal.^[a] Then I gave Hanamel the silver that I had weighed. ¹¹ I took the paper with the seal, and also a copy of it that had no seal. The agreement about the sale of land was written on those pieces of paper. ¹² I gave both pieces of paper to Baruch, the son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah. Hanamel watched me as I did this, as well as the men who had written their names on the paper. The people of Judah who were there in the guards' yard also watched me.

¹³ While all those people listened, I said to Baruch, ¹⁴ ‘The Lord Almighty, Israel's God says, “Take these two pieces of paper that have the agreement about the sale of land. Take the piece that has a seal on it and the piece without a seal. Put them both in a clay jar to keep them safe for a long time.” ¹⁵ The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says, “A time will come when people in this land again buy houses, fields and vineyards.” ’

God is a safe place^[a]

⁶ What makes our life really rich? We should serve God in a way that pleases him and be happy with the things that we have.^{[a] 7} When we were born, we brought nothing with us into this world. When we die, we cannot take anything with us out of the world. ⁸ So, if we have enough food and clothes, we should be happy with that.

⁹ But some people want to have lots of money. This causes them to do wrong things. They cannot get free from their bad ways, like an animal in a trap. They want many things for themselves. Their foolish thoughts hurt them and finally destroy their lives. ¹⁰ When people like to have lots of money, it causes all kinds of bad things to happen. Some people have stopped believing the message about Christ because they want to get more money. As a result, they have caused themselves to become sad with many troubles.

Continue to serve God

¹¹ But you, Timothy, are a servant of God. So keep away from all bad things like that. Instead, always try to do what is right. Serve God in a way that pleases him. Choose to trust God and to love other people. Continue to be strong when you have trouble. Be kind to people. ¹² Continue to believe God's true message. Be like someone who fights well to keep it safe. God has chosen you to live with him for ever. You stood in front of many people and said clearly that you believed in Jesus Christ. So live in a way that shows that you belong to him.

¹³ Christ Jesus himself spoke God's true message clearly when he stood in front of Pontius Pilate.^[b] I now say this to you, in front of God who causes all things to be alive, and in front of Jesus. ¹⁴ You must obey the commands that you have received. Obey them completely without any mistake until our Lord Jesus Christ returns. ¹⁵ God will cause Christ to appear at the proper time. God is great, and he alone rules with all authority. He is the greatest King and the most powerful Lord. ¹⁶ God alone lives for ever. He lives in very bright light that nobody can come near. Nobody has ever seen God. Nobody is able to see him. So we praise him! He will rule for ever with great authority! Amen! This is true.

Rich people must be careful how they live

¹⁷ Warn those people who are rich with many things that belong to this world. Tell them not to think that they are more important than other people. They must not think that their money will keep them safe. They could easily lose all of it. Instead, they should trust God. He gives us many things, so that we can enjoy all of them. ¹⁸ Tell those rich people to do many good things to help other people. They should be very kind to other people and share their things with them. ¹⁹ In that way they will store valuable things for themselves in heaven. These things will be a strong help for them in the future. As a result, they will have true life with God.

Jesus tells a story about a rich man and a poor man

¹⁹ Jesus then said, ‘At one time, there was a rich man who wore very expensive clothes. This rich man ate big meals every day. ²⁰ There was also a poor man called Lazarus. He had sores all over his body. He lay outside the gate of the rich man. ²¹ He was very hungry. He wanted to eat the bits of food that the rich man threw away. Even the dogs came and they tasted the sores on his body. ²² Then Lazarus died and God's angels carried him away. They put him at the side of Abraham in heaven. The rich man then also died and his family buried him in the ground. ²³ He went to Hades, the place for dead people. He was in a lot of pain there. He saw Abraham far away in heaven. He also saw Lazarus at Abraham's side. ²⁴ So he shouted out, “Father Abraham, please be kind to me. Please send Lazarus here to help me. I am in great pain because I am in a fire that burns me. Let him put his finger into some water. Then he can use the water to make my mouth cool.”

²⁵ Abraham replied, “My child, remember the time when you were alive on earth. Remember what happened then. You had many good things, and Lazarus had many bad things. Now I am taking care of Lazarus, and you are in pain. ²⁶ But that is not everything. Between you and us, there is a big hole. It is wide and long and deep. There is a reason why that hole is there. Nobody can cross from here to where you are. And nobody can cross from where you are to come here.”

²⁷ The rich man said, “If that is true, father Abraham, please send Lazarus to my family. ²⁸ I have five brothers that are still alive. He can tell them not to do the same things as I did. Then they will not also come here when they die. They will not be in great pain, as I am.”

²⁹ Abraham replied, “They have the books that Moses and God's prophets wrote. Your family should read them and do what they say.”^[a]

³⁰ The rich man said, “That is not enough, father Abraham. But if someone goes to them from among the dead people, they will listen. Then they will turn away from the wrong things that they do.”

³¹ But Abraham said to him, “They do not listen to what Moses and God's prophets have said. So they will not believe God's message even if someone comes back from among the dead people.” ’^[b]