Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
49 Don't forget your promise
to me, your servant.
I depend on it.
50 When I am hurting,
I find comfort in your promise
that leads to life.
51 Conceited people sneer at me,
but I obey your Law.
52 I find true comfort, Lord,
because your laws have stood
the test of time.
53 I get furious when evil people
turn against your Law.
54 No matter where I am,
your teachings
fill me with songs.
55 Even in the night
I think about you, Lord,
and I obey your Law.
56 You have blessed me
because I have always followed
your teachings.
Jeremiah Questions the Lord
16 Then I prayed:
17 Lord God, you stretched out your mighty arm and made the sky and the earth. You can do anything. 18 You show kindness for a thousand generations,[a] but you also punish people for the sins of their parents. You are the Lord All-Powerful. 19 With great wisdom you make plans, and with your great power you do all the mighty things you planned. Nothing we do is hidden from your eyes, and you reward or punish us as we deserve.
20 You are famous because you worked miracles in Egypt, and you are still working them in Israel and in the rest of the world as well. 21 You terrified the Egyptians with your miracles, and you reached out your mighty arm and rescued your people Israel from Egypt. 22 Then you gave Israel this land rich with milk and honey, just as you had promised our ancestors.
23 But when our ancestors took over the land, they did not obey you. And now you have punished Israel with disaster. 24 Jerusalem is under attack, and we suffer from hunger and disease. The Babylonians have already built dirt ramps up to the walls of our city, and you can see that Jerusalem will be captured just as you said.
25 So why did you tell me to get some witnesses and buy a field with my silver, when Jerusalem is about to be captured by the Babylonians?
The Lord Explains about the Field
26 The Lord explained:
27 Jeremiah, I am the Lord God. I rule the world, and I can do anything!
28 (A) It is true that I am going to let King Nebuchadnezzar[b] of Babylonia capture Jerusalem. 29 The Babylonian army is already attacking, and they will capture the city and set it on fire. The people of Jerusalem have made me angry by going up to the flat roofs of their houses and burning incense to Baal and offering wine sacrifices to other gods. Now these houses will be burned to the ground!
30-33 The kings and the officials, the priests and the prophets, and everyone else in Israel and Judah have turned from me and made me angry by worshiping idols. Again and again I have tried to teach my people to obey me, but they refuse to be corrected.
I am going to get rid of Jerusalem, because its people have done nothing but evil. 34 (B) They have set up repulsive idols in my temple, and now it isn't a fit place to worship me. 35 (C) And they led Judah into sin by building places to worship Baal in Hinnom Valley, where they also sacrificed their sons and daughters to the god Molech. I have never even imagined they would commit such disgusting sins.
The Letter to Laodicea
14 (A) This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Laodicea:
I am the one called Amen![a] I am the faithful and true witness and the source[b] of God's creation. Listen to what I say.
15 I know everything you have done, and you are not cold or hot. I wish you were either one or the other. 16 But since you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 You claim to be rich and successful and to have everything you need. But you don't know how bad off you really are. You are pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
18 Buy your gold from me. It has been refined in a fire, and it will make you rich. Buy white clothes from me. Wear them and you can cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy medicine for your eyes, so you will be able to see.
19 (B) I correct and punish everyone I love. So make up your minds to turn away from your sins. 20 Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together. 21 Everyone who wins the victory will sit with me on my throne, just as I won the victory and sat with my Father on his throne.
22 If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
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