Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Nebuchadnezzar Destroys Jerusalem

52 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 11 years. His mother’s name was Hamutal. She was the daughter of Jeremiah. She was from Libnah. ² Zedekiah did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. He did just as Jehoiakim had done. ³ The enemies of Jerusalem and Judah attacked them because the Lord was angry. In the end he threw them out of his land.

Zedekiah refused to obey the king of Babylon.

⁴ Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon. He marched out against Jerusalem. All his armies went with him. It was in the ninth year of the rule of Zedekiah. It was on the tenth day of the tenth month. The armies set up camp outside the city. They set up ladders and built ramps and towers all around it. ⁵ It was surrounded until the 11th year of King Zedekiah’s rule.

⁶ By the ninth day of the fourth month, there wasn’t any food left in the city. So the people didn’t have anything to eat. ⁷ Then the Babylonians broke through the city wall. Judah’s whole army ran away. They left the city at night. They went out through the gate between the two walls that were near the king’s garden. They escaped even though the Babylonians surrounded the city. Judah’s army ran toward the Arabah Valley. ⁸ But the armies of Babylon chased King Zedekiah. They caught up with him in the plains near Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him. They had scattered in every direction. ⁹ The king was captured.

He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah. Riblah was in the land of Hamath. That’s where Nebuchadnezzar decided how Zedekiah would be punished. ¹⁰ At Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah. He forced him to watch it with his own eyes. Nebuchadnezzar also killed all the officials of Judah. ¹¹ Then he poked out Zedekiah’s eyes. He put him in bronze chains. And he took him to Babylon. There he put Zedekiah in prison until the day he died.

The Letter to the Church in Smyrna

⁸ “Here is what I command you to write to the church in Smyrna.

Here are the words of Jesus, who is the First and the Last. He is the one who died and came to life again. He says,

⁹ ‘I know that you suffer and are poor. But you are rich! Some people say they are Jews but are not. I know that their words are evil. Their worship comes from Satan. ¹⁰ Don’t be afraid of what you are going to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you. You will be treated badly for ten days. Be faithful, even if it means you must die. Then I will give you life as your crown of victory.

¹¹ ‘Whoever has ears should listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the churches. Here is what I will do for anyone who has victory over sin. I will not let that person be hurt at all by the second death.’