Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 129[a]
Prayer in Time of Persecution
1 [b]A song of ascents.
They have greatly oppressed me from my youth—[c]
let Israel say—
2 they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but never have my enemies prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back,[d]
making deep furrows.
4 However, the Lord is righteous,
freeing me from the bonds of the wicked.
5 [e]May all those who hate Zion
be thrown back in shame and confusion.[f]
6 [g]May they be like grass on the rooftops
that withers before it can be plucked,
7 so that it can never fill the hands of the reapers
or the arms of the binders of sheaves.
8 May those who pass by never cry out,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
14 King Zedekiah summoned the prophet Jeremiah and received him at the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. “I have something to ask you,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not conceal anything from me.” 15 Jeremiah replied to Zedekiah, “If I speak in a straightforward manner, you will have me put to death, won’t you? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16 But King Zedekiah then swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah, “As the Lord lives who gave us the breath of life, I will not put you to death, nor will I hand you over to those who seek your life.”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If you surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared, and this city will not be burned to the ground, and you and your family will live. 18 However, if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, this city will fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, who will destroy it with fire, and you yourself will not be able to escape their clutches.”
19 King Zedekiah then said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans. It very well might be that I will be handed over to them and they will be ruthless in their treatment of me.” 20 Jeremiah replied, “You will not be handed over to them. If you obey the Lord by doing everything I tell you, all will go well with you, and your life will be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has shown me. 22 He has given me a vision of all the women left in the palace of the king of Judah being led off to the officials of the king of Babylon and saying,
‘They have misled you and triumphed over you,
your trusted friends.
Now that your feet are stuck in the mud,
they have deserted you.’
23 “All your wives and your children will be led off to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape their clutches. Rather, you will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned to the ground.”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know of this conversation, or you will die. 25 If the officials learn that I have spoken with you, and they say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what he said to you; do not hold anything back from us or we will put you to death,’ 26 give them this answer, ‘I was simply pleading with the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’ ”
27 All the officials did come to Jeremiah to interrogate him, and he replied to them in the very same words that the king had commanded. Therefore, they ceased to question him, for no one had heard their conversation. 28 And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was captured.
Chapter 6
Avoid Lawsuits against Each Other.[a] 1 If any of you has a dispute with another, how can you seek judgment before those who are unrighteous[b] instead of before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, how can you consider yourselves as incompetent to deal with smaller cases? 3 Do you not realize that we are to judge angels?[c] Why then should we not deal with matters of this life?
4 Therefore, if you have such matters to resolve, how can you seek judgment from those who have no standing in the Church? 5 I write this to make you ashamed. Is it really possible that there is no one among you who is wise enough to mediate a dispute between brethren? 6 Why should a brother go to court against another brother, seeking a decision from unbelievers?
7 In truth, the very fact that you engage in lawsuits with one another is a misfortune for you. Why not prefer to be wronged? Why not prefer to be defrauded? 8 Instead, you yourself are guilty of wronging and defrauding your own brethren.
9 Are you not aware that wrongdoers will never inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites,[d] 10 thieves, extortioners, drunkards, slanderers, swindlers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Some of you were once such as these. However, now you have been washed clean, you have been sanctified, you have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
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