Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Song of Praise and Thanks to God

66 Raise the voice of joy to God, all the earth! ² Sing out the honor of His name! Make His praise great! ³ Say to God, “How Your great works make those who hate You afraid! They will have to obey You because of Your great power. ⁴ All the earth will worship You and sing praises to You. They will sing praises to Your name.”

⁵ Come and see what God has done. There is much fear because of His great works toward the children of men. ⁶ He changed the sea into dry land. They passed through the river on foot. There we were full of joy in Him. ⁷ He rules forever by His power. His eyes keep watch over the nations. Do not let those who do not obey You honor themselves.

⁸ Give honor and thanks to God, O people, and let all hear how great He is! ⁹ He keeps us alive, and does not let our feet go out from under us. ¹⁰ For You have tested us, O God. You have made us pure like silver is made pure. ¹¹ You brought us into the net. And You laid a heavy load on our back. ¹² You made men travel over our heads. We went through fire and through water. But You brought us out into a place where we have much more than we need.

Judah Will Serve Nebuchadnezzar

27 In the beginning of the rule of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. ² The Lord said to me, “Make ropes and a cross-bar for carrying a load, and put them on your neck. ³ Then send word to the king of Edom, to the king of Moab, to the king of the sons of Ammon, to the king of Tyre, and to the king of Sidon. Send them with the men who bring news to Jerusalem to King Zedekiah of Judah. ⁴ Tell them to go to their leaders, saying, ‘This is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, and this is what you should say to your leaders: ⁵ “I have made the earth, and the men and the animals that are on it by My great power and by My long arm. And I will give it to the one who is right in My eyes. ⁶ Now I have given all these lands to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant. And I have given him the wild animals of the field to serve him. ⁷ All the nations will serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time for his land comes. Then many nations and great kings will make him their servant. ⁸ But if any nation will not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and will not put its neck under the load of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, hunger, and disease,” says the Lord, “until I have destroyed it by his hand. ⁹ So do not listen to your men who tell of their special dreams, your men who tell what is going to happen in the future, or your wonder workers who use their secret ways. They say to you, ‘You must not serve the king of Babylon.’ ¹⁰ But they are lying to you, and will cause you to be taken far from your land. I will drive you out, and you will die. ¹¹ But the nation that brings its neck under the cross-bar of the king of Babylon and serves him, I will let stay on its own land,” says the Lord. “And its people will take care of the fields and live there.”’”

¹² I spoke to King Zedekiah of Judah in the same way, saying, “Bring your necks under the cross-bar of the king of Babylon. Serve him and his people, and live! ¹³ Why will you and your people die by the sword, hunger, and disease, as the Lord has said would happen to that nation which will not serve the king of Babylon? ¹⁴ Do not listen to the men who tell of their dreams and say to you, ‘You will not serve the king of Babylon.’ For they are telling you a lie. ¹⁵ I have not sent them,” says the Lord. “They speak false words in My name, so that I may drive you out, and that you may die, both you and the men who tell these things to you.”

¹⁶ Then I said to the religious leaders and to all these people, “The Lord says: Do not listen to the men who speak in God’s name saying, ‘See, the objects of the Lord’s house will soon be returned from Babylon,’ for they are telling you a lie. ¹⁷ Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city be destroyed? ¹⁸ But if they are true men of God, and if the Word of the Lord is with them, let them now pray to the Lord of All. Let them ask that the objects which are left in the house of the Lord, in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem, may not go to Babylon. ¹⁹ For this is what the Lord of All says about the pillars, the brass pool, the stands, and the rest of the objects that are left in this city. ²⁰ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take these things from Jerusalem to Babylon when he took Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem. ²¹ So this is what the Lord of All, the God of Israel, says about the objects that are left in the house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, and in Jerusalem. He says, ²² ‘They will be carried to Babylon, and they will be there until the day I visit them,’ says the Lord. ‘Then I will bring them back to this place.’”

Be a Good Soldier

2 So you, my son, be strong in the loving-favor of Christ Jesus. ² What you have heard me say in front of many people, you must teach to faithful men. Then they will be able to teach others also. ³ Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴ No soldier fighting in a war can take time to make a living. He must please the one who made him a soldier. ⁵ Anyone who runs in a race must follow the rules to get the crown. ⁶ A hard-working farmer should receive first some of what he gathers from the field. ⁷ Think about these things and the Lord will help you understand them.