Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Jeremiah Buys a Field

32 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the tenth year of Zedekiah the king of Judah, that was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. ² Now at that time the army of the king of Babylon was laying siege to Jerusalem and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, ³ where Zedekiah, the king of Judah, had confined him, saying,^[a] “Why are you prophesying, saying,^[b] ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Look, I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it,

⁶ And Jeremiah said, “The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^{[a] 7} ‘Look, Hanamel, the son of Shallum, your uncle, is going to come to you, saying,^[b] “Buy for yourself my field that is at Anathoth, for you have^[c] the right of redemption to buy it.”’^{[d] 8} Then Hanamel, the son of my uncle, came to me, to the courtyard of the guard according to^[e] the word of Yahweh, and he said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is at Anathoth, that is in the land of Benjamin, for to you is the claim of possession, and to you the redemption; buy it^[f] for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of Yahweh.

⁹ And I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle, that was at Anathoth. And I weighed out to him the money, seventeen silver shekels. ¹⁰ And I signed on the letter^[g] and sealed it,^[h] and I called witnesses as witness, and I weighed out the money on a set of scales. ¹¹ Then I took the deed^[i] of the purchase, the sealed copy containing the commandments^[j] and the rules, together with the one that was open. ¹² And I gave the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of^[k] Hanamel, the son of my uncle, and in the presence of^[l] the witnesses who signed the deed of the purchase, in the presence of^[m] the Judeans^[n] who were sitting in the courtyard of the guard. ¹³ And I commanded Baruch in their presence,^[o] saying,^{[p] 14} ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds,^[q] this deed of the purchase, the sealed one, and this opened deed, and you must put them in an earthenware jar^[r] so that they may be kept preserved many days.” ¹⁵ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: “Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’

God’s Protection in Times of Crisis

⁶ But godliness with contentment is a great means of gain. ⁷ For we have brought nothing into the world, so that neither can we bring anything out. ⁸ But if we^[a] have food and clothing, with these things we will be content. ⁹ But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge those people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all evil, by which some, because they^[b] desire it, have gone astray from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.

Renewed Charge to Timothy

¹¹ But you, O man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patient endurance, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ I command you, in the sight of God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you observe the commandment without fault, irreproachable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which he will make known in his own time, the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of those who reign as kings and Lord of those who rule as lords, ¹⁶ the one who alone possesses immortality, who lives in unapproachable light, whom no human being has seen nor is able to see, to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.

Instructions to the Rich

¹⁷ Command those who are rich in this present age not to be proud and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in God, who provides us all things richly for enjoyment, ¹⁸ to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous, sharing freely, ¹⁹ storing up for themselves a good foundation for the future, in order that they may take hold of what is truly life.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ “Now a certain man was rich, and dressed in purple cloth and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day. ²⁰ And a certain poor man named^[a] Lazarus, covered with sores, lay at his gate, ²¹ and was longing to be filled with what fell from the table of the rich man. But even the dogs came and^[b] licked his sores. ²² Now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side.^[c] And the rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And in Hades he lifted up his eyes as he^[d] was in torment and^[e] saw Abraham from a distance, and Lazarus at his side.^{[f] 24} And he called out and^[g] said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he could dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am suffering pain in this flame!’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you received your good things during your life, and Lazarus likewise bad things. But now he is comforted here, but you are suffering pain. ²⁶ And in addition to all these things, a great chasm has been established between us and you, so that those who want to cross over from here to you are not able to do so,^[h] nor can they cross over from there to us.’ ²⁷ So he said, ‘Then I ask you, father, that you send him to my father’s house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers, so that he could warn them, in order that they also should not come to this place of torment!’ ²⁹ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they must listen to them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent!’ ³¹ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone rises from the dead.’”