Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
68 “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
for he has visited his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
from the house of his servant David,
70 just as he proclaimed through the mouth of his holy prophets from age to age:
71 salvation from our enemies and from the hands of all who hate us,
72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remain mindful of his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham,
and to grant us that, 74 delivered from the power of our enemies,
without fear we might worship him 75 in holiness and righteousness
in his presence all our days.
76 “And you, my child, will be called prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give his people knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God
by which the dawn from on high will break upon us
79 to shine on those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet along the path of peace.”
Prophecies in the Last Years of Jerusalem[a]
Chapter 21
God’s Response to Zedekiah’s Prayer. 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, and the priest Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, with this request, 2 “Please inquire of the Lord on our behalf, because Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will perform one of his wonderful works for us as he has done in the past and force him to withdraw.”
3 However, Jeremiah replied to them, “This is what you are to say to Zedekiah: 4 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I will turn against you the weapons of war with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls, and I will gather them together in the center of the city. 5 I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and mighty arm, in anger, fury, and great rage.
6 “I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They will die as the result of a terrible plague. 7 After that, says the Lord, I will deliver King Zedekiah of Judah and his servants and the people, all those in this city who have managed to survive pestilence, war, and famine, into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and into the hands of their enemies and those who are determined to slay them. He will put them to the sword and show them no pity or mercy or compassion.
8 “You are to say further to this people: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am offering you a choice between the way of life and the way of death. 9 Whoever remains in this city will die by the sword, by famine, or by pestilence, but those who leave and surrender to the Chaldeans who are now besieging you will survive and escape with their lives. 10 For I am determined that this city must endure disaster and not revel in prosperity, says the Lord. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will burn it to the ground.”
Prophecies concerning the Kings
11 To the royal houses of Judah, say:
Listen to the word of the Lord.
12 O house of David,
thus says the Lord:
Dispense justice each morning
and deliver the victim from his oppressor,
lest my wrath burst forth like fire
that burns and cannot be quenched
because of your evil deeds.
13 [b]Beware! I am against you,
O residents of the valley,
O rock of the plain, says the Lord,
you who say, “Who can possibly attack us and penetrate our places of refuge?”
14 I will punish you, says the Lord,
as your deeds deserve.
I will kindle a fire in your forests,
and it will devour everything around it.
23 Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves required still greater sacrifices.
24 Once and for All.[a] For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, so that he now appears in the presence of God on our behalf.
25 Nor was it his purpose to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own. 26 For then he would have had to suffer over and over again since the creation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once and for all at the end of the ages to abolish sin by sacrificing himself.
27 And just as human beings are destined to die but once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.
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