Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 129[a]
A song of ascents.[b]
129 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,”
let Israel say.
2 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,
but they have not defeated me.
3 The plowers plowed my back;
they made their furrows long.
4 The Lord is just;
he cut the ropes of the wicked.”[c]
5 May all who hate Zion
be humiliated and turned back.
6 May they be like the grass on the rooftops,
which withers before one can even pull it up,[d]
7 which cannot fill the reaper’s hand,
or the lap of the one who gathers the grain.
8 Those who pass by will not say,[e]
“May you experience the Lord’s blessing!
We pronounce a blessing on you in the name of the Lord.”
Jeremiah Responds to Zedekiah’s Request for Secret Advice
14 Some time later[a] Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah brought to him at the third entrance[b] of the Lord’s temple. The king said to Jeremiah, “I would like to ask you a question. Do not hide anything from me when you answer.”[c] 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I answer you, you will certainly kill me.[d] If I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16 So King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah and sealed it with an oath. He promised,[e] “As surely as the Lord lives who has given us life and breath,[f] I promise you this: I will not kill you or hand you over to those men who want to kill you.”[g]
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,[h] says, ‘You must surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon. If you do, your life will be spared[i] and this city will not be burned down. Indeed, you and your whole family will be spared. 18 But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians[j] and they will burn it down. You yourself will not escape from them.’”[k] 19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Babylonians.[l] The Babylonians might hand me over to them and they will torture me.”[m] 20 Then Jeremiah answered, “You will not be handed over to them. Please obey the Lord by doing what I have been telling you.[n] Then all will go well with you and your life will be spared.[o] 21 But if you refuse to surrender, the Lord has shown me a vision of what will happen. Here is what I saw: 22 All the women who are left in the royal palace of Judah will be led out to the officers of the king of Babylon. They will taunt you saying:[p]
“‘Your trusted friends misled you;
they have gotten the best of you.
Now that your feet are stuck in the mud,
they have turned their backs on you.’[q]
23 “All your wives and your children will be turned over to the Babylonians.[r] You yourself will not escape from them but will be captured by the[s] king of Babylon. This city will be burned down.”[t]
24 Then Zedekiah told Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about the conversation we have had.[u] If you do, you will die.[v] 25 The officials may hear that I have talked with you. They may come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you.[w] Do not hide anything from us. If you do, we will kill you.’[x] 26 If they do this, tell[y] them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to die in the dungeon of Jonathan’s house.’”[z] 27 All the officials did indeed come and question Jeremiah.[aa] He told them exactly what the king had instructed him to say.[ab] They stopped questioning him any further because no one had actually heard their conversation.[ac] 28 So Jeremiah remained confined[ad] in the courtyard of the guardhouse until the day Jerusalem was captured.
The Fall of Jerusalem and Its Aftermath
The following events occurred when Jerusalem was captured.[ae]
Lawsuits
6 When any of you has a legal dispute with another, does he dare go to court before the unrighteous rather than before the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to settle trivial suits? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? Why not ordinary matters! 4 So if you have ordinary lawsuits, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church?[a] 5 I say this to your shame! Is there no one among you wise enough to settle disputes between fellow Christians?[b] 6 Instead, does a Christian sue a Christian,[c] and do this before unbelievers? 7 The fact that you have lawsuits among yourselves demonstrates that you have already been defeated. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 But you yourselves wrong and cheat, and you do this to your brothers and sisters![d]
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners,[e] practicing homosexuals,[f] 10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive,[g] and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Some of you once lived this way.[h] But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ[i] and by the Spirit of our God.
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