Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹⁹ Remember my trouble and my traveling from place to place, the wormwood and bitter feelings. ²⁰ I remember it always, and my soul bows down within me. ²¹ But this I remember, and so I have hope. ²² It is because of the Lord’s loving-kindness that we are not destroyed for His loving-pity never ends. ²³ It is new every morning. He is so very faithful. ²⁴ “The Lord is my share.” says my soul, “so I have hope in Him.” ²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the one who looks for Him. ²⁶ It is good that one should be quiet and wait for the saving power of the Lord.

The House of God Destroyed

¹² On the tenth day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Nebuzaradan came to Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan was the captain of the prison soldiers and served the king of Babylon. ¹³ And he burned the house of the Lord, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He burned down every great house. ¹⁴ The whole Babylonian army that was with the captain of the prison soldiers broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. ¹⁵ Then Nebuzaradan, captain of the prison soldiers, carried away to Babylon some of the poorest of the people, the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had joined the king of Babylon, and the rest of the able workmen. ¹⁶ But Nebuzaradan left some of the poorest people of the land to take care of the vines and fields.

¹⁷ The Babylonians broke in pieces the brass pillars which belonged to the house of the Lord, and the stands and the brass pool which were in the Lord’s house. And they carried all the brass to Babylon. ¹⁸ They also took away the pots, the tools, the objects for putting out the lamps, the washing pots, the dishes for special perfume, and all the brass objects used in the work of the Lord’s house. ¹⁹ The captain of the prison soldiers also took away the deep dishes, the fire holders, the washing pots, the other pots, the lamp-stands, the dishes for special perfume, and the dishes for drink gifts, that were made of fine gold and fine silver. ²⁰ He took the two pillars, the brass pool, the twelve brass bulls that were under the pool, and the stands, which King Solomon had made for the house of the Lord. The brass of all these objects was too heavy to weigh. ²¹ Each pillar was five times taller than a man, as long around as six long steps, as wide as four fingers, and empty inside. ²² Its top part was brass and as tall as a man can raise his hand, with a network and pomegranates all around the top part, all made of brass. The second pillar with its pomegranates was the same. ²³ There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides. There were one hundred pomegranates on the network all around.

The People Taken to Babylon

²⁴ Then the captain of the prison soldiers took Seraiah, the head religious leader, and Zephaniah, the second religious leader, and the three door keepers of the Lord’s house. ²⁵ He also took from the city one captain who had been over the men of war, and seven of the king’s wise men who were found in the city. He took the writer who worked for the captain of the army, who called together the people of the land. And he took sixty men of the land who were found in the city. ²⁶ Nebuzaradan the captain of the prison soldiers took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah, ²⁷ and the king of Babylon killed them. He put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah was led out of its land in chains.

²⁸ These are the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away to Babylon: In the seventh year he took 3,023 Jews. ²⁹ In the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar he took 832 people from Jerusalem. ³⁰ In the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzaradan the captain of the prison soldiers took away 745 Jews. There were 4,600 people taken away in all.

Words to the Church in Pergamum

¹² “Write this to the angel of the church in the city of Pergamum: ‘The One Who has the sharp sword that cuts both ways, says this: ¹³ I know where you live. It is the place where Satan sits. I know that you are true to Me. You did not give up and turn away from your faith in Me, even when Antipas was killed. He was faithful in speaking for Me. He was killed in front of you where Satan is. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against you. You have some people who follow the teaching of Balaam. He taught Balak to set a trap for the Jews. He taught them to eat food that had been given as a gift in worship to false gods and to do sex sins. ¹⁵ You also have some who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans in the same way. ¹⁶ Be sorry for your sins and turn from them. If you do not, I will come to you right away. I will fight against them with the sword of My mouth. ¹⁷ You have ears! Then listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the hidden bread from heaven to everyone who has power and wins. I will give each of them a white stone also. A new name will be written on it. No one will know the name except the one who receives it!’

Words to the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸ “Write this to the angel of the church in the city of Thyatira: ‘The Son of God Who has eyes like fire and Whose feet are like shining brass, says this: ¹⁹ I know what you are doing. I know of your love and faith. I know how you have worked and how you have waited long and have not given up. I know that you are working harder now than you did at first. ²⁰ But I have this against you: You are allowing Jezebel who calls herself a preacher to teach my servants. She is leading them in the wrong way and they are doing sex sins. And they are eating food that has been given as a gift in worship to false gods. ²¹ I gave her time to be sorry for her sins and turn from them. She does not want to turn from her sex sins. ²² See! I will throw her on a bed. Those who do sex sins with her will suffer much trouble and pain. I will let them suffer unless they are sorry for the sins they have done with her and turn from them. ²³ And I will kill her children. All the churches will know that I am the One Who looks deep into the hearts and minds. I will give you whatever is coming to you because of your work. ²⁴ But the rest of you there in the city of Thyatira have not followed this false teaching. You have not learned what they call the secrets of Satan. So I will put no other load on you. ²⁵ But hold on to what you have until I come. ²⁶ To the one who has power and wins and does what I want him to do, I will give the right and the power over the nations. ²⁷ He will be leader over them using a piece of iron. And they will be broken in pieces like pots of clay. My Father has given Me this right and power. ²⁸ And I will give him the Morning Star. ²⁹ You have ears! Then listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!’