Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
19 Lord, remember my ·suffering [affliction] and my ·misery [or wanderings; homelessness; 1:7],
·my sorrow and trouble [L it is wormwood and gall; 3:15].
20 Please remember me
and think about ·me [L my life].
21 But I have hope
when I ·think of this [L return to my mind/heart]:
22 The Lord’s ·love [loyalty] never ends;
his ·mercies [compassion] never stop.
23 They are new every morning;
Lord, your ·loyalty [faithfulness] is ·great [abundant; Ps. 33:4; 92:2; 143:1].
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is ·mine [L my lot/portion],
so I hope in him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who ·hope in [wait for] him,
to those who seek him.
26 It is good to wait ·quietly [silently]
for the Lord to ·save [be victorious].
The Fall of Jerusalem
52 Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he was king in Jerusalem for eleven years [C from 597–586 bc]. His mother’s name was Hamutal daughter of Jeremiah [C not the prophet], and she was from Libnah. 2 Zedekiah did ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes of the Lord], just as Jehoiakim [C his brother who ruled from 609–597 bc] had done. 3 All this happened in Jerusalem and Judah because the Lord was angry with them. Finally, he threw them out of his presence.
Zedekiah ·turned [rebelled] against the king of Babylon. 4 Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. They made a camp around the city and built ·devices [siege towers] all around the city walls to attack it. This happened on Zedekiah’s ninth year, tenth month, and tenth day as king [C January 15, 588]. 5 And the city was under ·attack [siege] until Zedekiah’s eleventh year as king [C 586 bc].
6 By the ninth day of the fourth month [C July 18], the ·hunger [famine] was ·terrible [severe] in the city; there was no food for the people to eat. 7 Then the city wall was ·broken through [breeched], and the whole army [C of Judah] ·ran away [fled] at night. They left the city through the gate between the two walls by the king’s garden. Even though the ·Babylonians [L Chaldeans] were surrounding the city, Zedekiah and his men headed toward the ·Jordan Valley [L Arabah].
8 But the ·Babylonian [L Chaldean] army chased King Zedekiah and caught him in the ·plains [L Arabah] of Jericho. All of his army was scattered from him. 9 So the Babylonians ·captured [seized] Zedekiah and took him to the king of Babylon at the town of Riblah in the land of Hamath. There he ·passed sentence on [judged] Zedekiah. 10 At Riblah the king of Babylon ·killed [slaughtered] Zedekiah’s sons ·as he watched [L before his eyes]. The king also ·killed [slaughtered] all the officers of Judah. 11 Then he ·put out Zedekiah’s eyes [blinded the eyes of Zedekiah], and put bronze chains on him, and took him to Babylon. And the king kept Zedekiah in prison there until the day he died.
To the Church in Smyrna
8 “Write this to the ·angel [or messenger; see 1:20] of the church in Smyrna [C a major city in western Asia Minor, identified with present-day Izmir, Turkey]:
“The One who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again [C the resurrected Jesus; 1:17–18], says ·this [L these things]: 9 I know your ·troubles [persecution; affliction] and that you are poor, but really you are rich! I know the ·bad things [slander; blasphemy] some people say about you. They say they are Jews, but they are not true Jews. They are a synagogue ·that belongs to [L of] Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will ·suffer [be persecuted/afflicted] for ten days [C perhaps a symbolic number meaning a significant and definite time]. But be faithful, even if you have to die, and I will give you the ·crown [C a wreath worn to indicate high status or as a reward] of life.
11 “Everyone who has ears should ·listen to [hear; obey] what the Spirit says to the churches. Those who ·win the victory [overcome; conquer] will not be hurt by the second death [C the spiritual death after physical death; 20:6, 14; 21:8].
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