Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
68 “Let us thank the Lord God of Israel. He has bought His people and made them free. 69 He has raised up from the family of David One Who saves people from the punishment of their sins. 70 His holy early preachers told us this long ago. 71 God told us that we should be saved from those who hate us and from all those who work against us. 72 He would show loving-kindness to our early fathers. He would remember His holy promise. 73 God promised this to our early father Abraham. 74 He promised that we would be saved from those who hate us and that we might worship Him without being afraid. 75 We can be holy and right with God all the days of our life.
76 “And you, my son, will be the one who speaks for the Most High. For you will go before the Lord to make the way ready for Him. 77 You will tell His people how to be saved from the punishment of sin by being forgiven of their sins. 78 Because the heart of our God is full of loving-kindness for us, a light from heaven will shine on us. 79 It will give light to those who live in darkness and are under the shadow of death. It will lead our feet in the way of peace.”
Jeremiah’s Words to the Kings of Judah
22 The Lord says, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak this word there. 2 Say, ‘Hear the Word of the Lord, O king of Judah, who sits on David’s throne, you and your servants and your people who come through these gates. 3 The Lord says, “Do what is right and fair and good, and take the one who has been robbed away from the power of the one who has made it hard for him. Do not hurt or do wrong to the stranger, the one whose parents have died, or the woman whose husband has died. And do not kill those who are not guilty in this place. 4 For if you will obey this word, then kings will come through the gates of this house and sit on the throne of David. They will be in war-wagons and on horses, together with their servants and their people. 5 But if you will not obey these words, I promise by Myself,” says the Lord, “that this house will be destroyed.”’” 6 For the Lord says about the house of the king of Judah: “You are like Gilead to Me, or like the top of Lebanon. Yet I will be sure to make you like a desert, like cities without people. 7 I will send destroyers against you, each with his things for fighting. And they will cut down your best cedar trees and throw them on the fire. 8 Many nations will pass by this city, and they will say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?’ 9 And they will answer, ‘Because they did not keep the agreement of the Lord their God. They worshiped other gods and served them.’”
Words about Shallum
10 Do not cry for the one who is dead or have sorrow for him. But cry all the time for the one who goes away, for he will never return or see the land of his birth again. 11 For the Lord says about Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who ruled in the place of Josiah his father, and who left this place: “He will never return. 12 He will die in the place where they took him, and he will not see this land again.”
Words about Jehoiakim
13 “It is bad for him who builds his house by wrong-doing, and his upper rooms by not being fair, who has his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not pay him, 14 who says, ‘I will build myself a big house with large upper rooms. I will cut out its windows, cover it with cedar and color it bright red.’ 15 Do you become a king by trying to build better houses of cedar? Did not your father eat and drink? He did what was right and fair and good, so all went well with him. 16 He spoke strong words in the cause of the poor and those in need, and so all went well. Is not that what it means to know Me?” says the Lord. 17 “But your eyes and heart are set only on what you can get by wrong-doing, and on killing those who are not guilty, and on making it hard for people and on hurting others.”
3 Let us thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was through His loving-kindness that we were born again to a new life and have a hope that never dies. This hope is ours because Jesus was raised from the dead. 4 We will receive the great things that we have been promised. They are being kept safe in heaven for us. They are pure and will not pass away. They will never be lost. 5 You are being kept by the power of God because you put your trust in Him and you will be saved from the punishment of sin at the end of the world.
6 With this hope you can be happy even if you need to have sorrow and all kinds of tests for awhile. 7 These tests have come to prove your faith and to show that it is good. Gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire. Your faith is worth much more than gold and it must be tested also. Then your faith will bring thanks and shining-greatness and honor to Jesus Christ when He comes again. 8 You have never seen Him but you love Him. You cannot see Him now but you are putting your trust in Him. And you have joy so great that words cannot tell about it. 9 You will get what your faith is looking for, which is to be saved from the punishment of sin.
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