Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Jerusalem Is Captured

(2 Kings 24.18—25.30; 2 Chronicles 36.11-21)

52 Zedekiah was 21 years old when he was appointed king of Judah,^[a] and he ruled from Jerusalem for eleven years.^[b] His mother Hamutal was the daughter of Jeremiah from the town of Libnah.^{[c] 2} Zedekiah disobeyed the Lord, just as Jehoiakim had done, ³ and it was Zedekiah who finally rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.^[d]

The people of Judah and Jerusalem had made the Lord so angry that he finally turned his back on them. That's why horrible things were happening there.

^4 (A) In Zedekiah's ninth year as king, on the tenth day of the tenth month,^[e] King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia led his entire army to attack Jerusalem. The troops set up camp outside the city and built ramps up to the city walls.

^5-6 After a year and a half,^[f] all the food in Jerusalem was gone. Then on the ninth day of the fourth month,^{[g] 7 (B)} the Babylonian troops broke through the city wall. That same night, Zedekiah and his soldiers tried to escape through the gate near the royal garden, even though they knew the enemy had the city surrounded. They headed toward the Jordan River valley, ⁸ but the Babylonian troops caught up with them near Jericho. The Babylonians arrested Zedekiah, but his soldiers scattered in every direction. ⁹ Zedekiah was taken to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where Nebuchadnezzar put him on trial and found him guilty. ¹⁰ Zedekiah's sons and the officials of Judah were killed while he watched, ^11 (C) then his eyes were poked out. He was put in chains, then dragged off to Babylon and kept in prison until he died.

The Letter to Smyrna

^8 (A) This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Smyrna:

I am the first and the last. I died, but now I am alive! Listen to what I say.

⁹ I know how much you suffer and how poor you are, but you are rich. I also know the cruel things being said about you by people who claim to be God's people. But they are not really God's people. They are a group that belongs to Satan.

¹⁰ Don't worry about what you will suffer. The devil will throw some of you into jail, and you will be tested and made to suffer for ten days. But if you are faithful until you die, I will reward you with a glorious life.^[a]

^11 (B) If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Whoever wins the victory will not be hurt by the second death.^[b]