Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 66[a]
Thanksgiving for God’s Deliverance
1 For the director.[b] A song. A psalm.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;[c]
2 sing to the glory of his name;[d]
offer to him glorious praise.
3 Say to God: “How awesome are your deeds!
Because of your great power,
your enemies grovel before you.
4 The whole earth bows down in worship before you,
singing praises to you,
singing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Come and behold[e] the works of God,
the awesome deeds he has done for people.
6 He changed the sea into dry land;
they crossed the river[f] on foot.
There we rejoiced in him,
7 for he rules forever by his power.
His eyes keep watch over the nations
so that the rebellious not exalt themselves. Selah
8 [g]Bless our God, all you peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard.
9 For he has preserved our lives[h]
and has kept our feet from stumbling.
10 For you, O God, have put us to the test;
you have purified us as silver is refined.
11 [i]You allowed us to be snared in the net
and placed heavy burdens on our backs.
12 You let our captors ride over our heads,[j]
and we went through fire and water,
but now you have afforded us relief.
Chapter 25[a]
Seventy Years of Captivity.[b] 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of King Jehoiakim of Judah, the son of Josiah, which was the first year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. 2 The prophet Jeremiah thus spoke as follows to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem:
3 For twenty-three years—from the thirteenth year of King Josiah of Judah, the son of Amon, until this very day—the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you unceasingly, but you have not listened. 4 And though the Lord continued to send all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you refused to listen or to pay any heed to their message when they warned, 5 “If you turn back, each of you, from your evil ways and your wicked deeds, says the Lord, you can remain in the land that I have given to you and to your fathers forever. 6 If you do not follow other gods to serve and worship them, and you do not provoke me with what your hands have made, then I will not harm you. 7 But you have not listened to me, says the Lord, and thus you have provoked me to anger with your handiwork to your own harm.”
8 Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I intend to summon all the tribes of the north, says the Lord, as well as my servant Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will totally destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn and everlasting disgrace. 10 No longer will there emerge from them the sounds of rejoicing and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This entire country will become a wasteland of desolation, and these nations will be enslaved to the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12 However, at the end of those seventy years, says the Lord, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, and I will turn it into a desolate wasteland. 13 [c]I will inflict upon that land all the scourges that I threatened against it, everything written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14 Mighty nations and powerful kings will reduce them to a life of slavery, and thus I will requite them as their deeds and their handiwork deserve.
15 Comfort Those in Suffering. As you are well aware, everyone in Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.[a] 16 May the Lord be merciful to the household of Onesiphorus,[b] because he has often been a comfort to me in my troubles, and he has never been ashamed of my chains. 17 When he arrived in Rome, he concentrated on searching for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord[c] on that Day. He also helped me in many ways at Ephesus, as you are well aware.
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