Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Prayer Against the Enemies
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
129 ·They have treated me badly all my life [L Many are my foes from my youth].
(Let Israel ·repeat this [L say].)
2 ·They have treated me badly all my life [L Many are my foes from my youth],
but they have not ·defeated [overcome; prevailed over] me.
3 ·Like farmers plowing, they plowed over my back [L The plowers plowed my back],
making ·long wounds [L their furrows long].
4 But the Lord does what is right;
he has ·set me free from those [L cut the cords of] wicked people.
5 Let those who hate ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple]
be ·turned back in shame [L humiliated and turn back].
6 Let them be like the grass on the roof
that dries up before it has grown.
7 There is not enough of it ·to [L for the harvester to] fill a hand
or ·to make into a bundle [those who bind sheaves] to fill one’s arms.
8 Let those who pass by them not say,
“May the Lord bless you.
We bless you by the ·power [L name] of the Lord.”
Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah
14 Then King Zedekiah sent someone to get Jeremiah the prophet and bring him to the third entrance to the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord. The king said to Jeremiah, “I am going to ask you something. Do not hide anything from me, but tell me everything honestly [37:16–21].”
15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, ·you will surely [L won’t you…?] kill me. And even if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”
16 But King Zedekiah ·made a secret promise [L swore in secret] to Jeremiah, “As surely as the Lord lives who has given us breath and life, I will not kill you. And I promise not to hand you over to these men [C the officers] who ·want to kill you [L seek your life].”
17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], the God of Israel, says: ‘If you ·surrender [L go out] to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be saved. This city [C Jerusalem] will not be burned ·down [L with fire], and you and your ·family [L house] will live. 18 But if you refuse to ·surrender [L go out] to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the ·Babylonian army [L Chaldeans], and they will burn it ·down [L with fire]. And you yourself will not escape from ·them [L their hand].’”
19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I’m afraid of some ·Jews [L Judeans] who have already ·gone over to the side of [L deserted/defected/L fallen to] the ·Babylonian army [L Chaldeans]. If they [C the Babylonians] hand me over to them, they will ·treat me badly [abuse me].”
20 But Jeremiah answered, “·The Babylonians will not hand you over to the Jews [L You will not be given up]. ·Obey [L Listen to the voice of] the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then things will go well for you, and your life will be saved. 21 But if you refuse to ·surrender [L go out] to the Babylonians, the Lord has shown me what will happen. 22 All the women left in the ·palace [L house] of the king of Judah will be brought out and taken to the important officers of the king of Babylon. Your women will ·make fun of you with this song [L say]:
‘Your good friends ·misled [deceived; seduced; enticed] you
and ·were stronger than [overpowered] you.
While your feet ·were stuck [sank down] in the mud,
they ·left [turned their back on] you.’
23 “All your wives and children will be brought out and given to the Babylonian army. You yourself will not even escape from them. You will be ·taken prisoner [captured] by the king of Babylon, and this city [C Jerusalem] will be burned ·down [L with fire].”
24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not tell anyone that I have been talking to you, or you will die. 25 If the officers find out I talked to you, they will come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to King Zedekiah and what he said to you. Don’t ·keep any secrets from us [conceal anything from us]. If you don’t tell us everything, we will kill you.’ 26 If they ask you, tell them, ‘I was ·begging [L making my pleas for help/supplications/falling before] the king not to ·send [return] me back to Jonathan’s house to die.’”
27 All the officers did come to question Jeremiah. So he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. Then the officers said no more to Jeremiah, because no one had heard what Jeremiah and the king had discussed.
28 So Jeremiah stayed under guard in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.
Judging Problems Among Christians
6 When you have ·something against [a legal dispute with; a grievance against] another Christian, how can you ·bring yourself [dare] to go before ·judges who are not right with God [or the pagan courts; L the unrighteous] instead of before ·God’s people [T the saints]? 2 ·Surely [L Don’t…?] you know that ·God’s people [T the saints] will judge the world. So if you are to judge the world, are you not able to judge ·small [trivial; the smallest of] cases as well? 3 ·You [L Don’t you…?] know that we will judge angels, so surely we can judge the ·ordinary things of [or matters pertaining to] this life. 4 If you have ·ordinary cases [cases/legal disputes of this life] that must be judged, ·are you going to appoint people as judges who mean nothing to the church? [will you appoint judges with no standing in/whose lifestyle is rejected by the church?; or go ahead and appoint the least members of the church to judge them! C in the latter interpretation, Paul speaks sarcastically.] 5 I say this to shame you. ·Surely there is someone [L Is there no one…?] among you wise enough to judge a ·complaint [dispute; conflict] between ·believers [L a brother]. 6 But now one ·believer [brother] goes to court against another ·believer [L brother]—and you do this in front of unbelievers!
7 The fact that you have lawsuits against each other shows that you are already defeated. Why not ·let yourselves be wronged [suffer the injustice]? Why not let yourselves be cheated? 8 But you yourselves ·do wrong [act unjustly] and cheat, and you do this to ·other believers [L brothers]!
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