Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The prophet speaks
1 The city that was full of people is lonely now.
The city is like the wife of a dead husband.
Once she was great.
She was like a queen among the other places in the country.
Now she is a slave.[a]
2 She weeps in the night
and there are tears on her face.
Not one of her lovers comforts her.
All her friends have left her.
They have gone against her and they are now her enemies.[b]
3 The enemies have taken Judah's people away as slaves.
The slaves have only trouble and difficult work.
They now live among strangers.
They have no rest, and they live far away from home.
They cannot go away from those who do cruel things to them.
4 Zion's streets are sad places now.[c]
Nobody comes to worship God there any longer.
There is nothing to hear at the city gates.[d]
The priests are sad.
Strangers are cruel to the young women.
The people in Zion are very sad.
5 The people's enemies rule them now.
Those who hate them have plenty.
The Lord has caused trouble for the people
because they did so many wrong things.[e]
The enemies took the children away to work as slaves.
6 Zion is not beautiful any longer.
Her leaders are like animals without food.
They are too weak to run from their enemies.
19 Lord, please remember all my troubles, because I am sad.
Remember that I am very lonely.
My troubles are like poison for me.
20 I think about all those things,
and I feel small and alone.
21 But then I choose to remember God,
and this is my hope:[a]
22 The Lord's faithful love never comes to an end.
He never stops being kind to us.[b]
23 Every day, we can trust him to be kind again.
We know that he will do what he has promised to do.
24 ‘He is my Lord,’ I say to myself.
‘He is the reason why I can hope for good things.’
25 The Lord does good things for people who wait for him.
He is kind to everyone who looks for him.
26 It is good when people continue to hope.
It is good when they quietly wait for the Lord,
because he will save them.
A sad song[a]
137 When we sat down beside the rivers in Babylon,
we were very upset.
We thought about Zion city that we had left behind,
and we wept.[b]
2 We hung up our harps there
on the branches of the willow trees.
3 Our enemies asked us to sing songs for them there.
They laughed at us as their prisoners.
They asked for a song to make them happy.
They shouted, ‘Sing us a song about Zion!’
4 But we are in a foreign land,
so we cannot sing a song to the Lord.
5 Jerusalem, I never want to forget you.
I would rather lose my right hand!
6 I would rather my tongue could no longer move![c]
Yes, I will always remember you, Jerusalem.
You are the most important thing that I think about,
more than anything else that makes me happy.
7 Lord, remember to punish the people of Edom.[d]
They were happy when Babylon's army won against Jerusalem.
On that day the Edomites said,
‘Knock down the city so that nothing still stands!’
8 People of Babylon, an army will soon destroy you!
They will punish you in the same way that you punished us.
May God bless whoever does that to you!
9 Just like you did to us,
they will hit your babies against a rock.
May God bless whoever does that to you!
Paul thanks God for Timothy
1 This letter is from me, Paul. God chose me to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. God sent me to tell people about the true life that he has promised us. We receive this life when we belong to Christ Jesus.
2 I am writing to you, Timothy. You are like my own child, and I love you very much.
I pray that God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord will continue to help you and be kind to you. I pray that they will give you peace in your mind.
3 Like my ancestors, I serve God in a good way, that I know is right. When I pray to God, at night and during the day, I always remember to pray for you. And I thank God for you. 4 I remember how you wept when I said ‘goodbye’ to you. I want to see you again very much, so that I may be completely happy. 5 I remember how you really believe in Christ. Your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice, already believed in Christ before you did. Now I am sure that you yourself also really trust him. 6 For that reason, I want you to remember the gift that God gave you when I put my hands on you.[a] Use that gift more and more to serve God well. 7 Be strong, because God has given us his Spirit. And his Spirit does not cause us to be afraid. Instead, his Spirit causes us to be powerful to serve God. He helps us to love God and other people. And he helps us to control ourselves properly.
Paul tells Timothy to be a brave teacher for Christ
8 So do not be ashamed of the message about our Lord that we tell people. And do not be ashamed of me because I am in a prison. I am a prisoner because I serve Christ. You must understand that you will have trouble because you tell people the good news about Jesus Christ. So be ready to have the same kind of trouble as I have. Let God make you strong when you have trouble. 9 God is the one who has saved us. He has chosen us to serve him with good, clean lives. He did not save us because of any good things that we have done. He chose to do it because he is very kind. He decided to do that before time began, because of what Christ Jesus would do for us. 10 Now Christ Jesus has come to save us, and we have seen how kind God is. Christ has destroyed death's power over us. We have heard the good news that he brought to us. So now we understand about life with God for ever.
11 That is the same good news that God has chosen me to tell to people. He has sent me as his apostle to teach his message to people. 12 That is why I have these troubles. But I am not ashamed to be in prison. I have believed in Christ and I know him well. I know that I can trust him to keep his message safe. God has given me the authority to speak that message to people at this time.[b] Christ has the power to keep it safe until that great day when he comes back.[c]
13 You have heard me tell you about God's true message. Let those words be an example to you, so that you also teach what is true. Do this because you belong to Christ Jesus. Continue to trust him and to love his people. 14 God has given you his good message to keep safe. God's Holy Spirit, who lives in us, will help you to keep it safe.
5 The apostles said to the Lord Jesus, ‘Help us to believe more and more in God.’
6 The Lord replied, ‘You may believe in God only a very little bit, like a very small seed. Even if you only believe that little bit, you could say to this tree, “Pull yourself out of the ground and plant yourself in the sea.” Then the tree would obey you.
7 Think about this. You may have a servant that is ploughing your land. Or you may have a servant that is taking care of your sheep. When he comes in from his work in the evening, you would not say to him, “Sit down and eat.” 8 No, you would not say that. You would say to your servant, “Prepare my meal for me. Dress yourself properly and bring the food to me. I will eat and drink first. You can eat when I have finished.” 9 Servants should do what their masters tell them to do. When they do that, their masters do not need to thank them. 10 It is the same with you. The Master tells you what you should do. So when you have done all of it, you should say, “We are not special servants. We have only done what we should do.” ’
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