Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Lamedh.

¹¹ When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, had heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, ¹² he went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber; and behold, all the princes were sitting there: Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the [other] princes. ¹³ Then Micaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read from the scroll to all the people. ¹⁴ Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read to the people and come [to us].” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and went to them. ¹⁵ And they said to him, “Sit down now and read it to us.” So Baruch read it to them. ¹⁶ Now when they had heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear and said to Baruch, “We must surely report all these words to the king.” ¹⁷ And they asked Baruch, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words? At his (Jeremiah’s) dictation?” ¹⁸ Then Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” ¹⁹ Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and do not let anyone know where you are.”

The Scroll Is Burned

²⁰ Then they went into the court to the king, but they [first] put the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe; then they reported all the words to the king. ²¹ So the king sent Jehudi to get the scroll, and he took it out of the chamber of Elishama the scribe. And Jehudi read it to the king and all the princes who stood beside the king. ²² Now it was the ninth month, and the king was sitting in the winter house, with a fire burning there in the brazier before him. ²³ And after Jehudi had read three or four columns [of the scroll], King Jehoiakim would cut off that portion with a scribe’s knife and throw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until the [entire] scroll was consumed by the fire. ²⁴ Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they tear their clothes. ²⁵ Even though Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah pleaded with the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. ²⁶ And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

² Make room for us in your hearts; we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one. ³ I do not say this to condemn you, for I have said before that you are [nested] in our hearts [and you will remain there] to die together and to live together [with us]. ⁴ Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride and boasting on your behalf. I am filled [to the brim] with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in spite of all our trouble.

⁵ For even when we arrived in Macedonia our bodies had no rest, but we were oppressed at every turn—conflicts and disputes without, fears and dread within. ⁶ But God, who comforts and encourages the depressed and the disquieted, comforted us by the arrival of Titus. ⁷ And not only by his arrival, but also by [his account of] the encouragement which he received in regard to you. He told us about your longing [for us], your mourning [over sin], and how eagerly you took my part and supported me, so that I rejoiced even more. ⁸ For even though I did grieve you with my ^[a]letter, I do not regret it [now]; though I did regret it —for I see that the letter hurt you, though only for a little while— ⁹ yet I am glad now, not because you were hurt and made sorry, but because your sorrow led to repentance [and you turned back to God]; for you felt a grief such as God meant you to feel, so that you might not suffer loss in anything on our account. ¹⁰ For [godly] sorrow that is in accord with the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but worldly sorrow [the hopeless sorrow of those who do not believe] produces death. ¹¹ For [you can look back and] see what an earnestness and authentic concern this godly sorrow has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves [against charges that you tolerate sin], what indignation [at sin], what fear [of offending God], what longing [for righteousness and justice], what passion [to do what is right], what readiness to punish [those who sin and those who tolerate sin]! At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in the matter. ¹² So even though I wrote to you [as I did], it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but in order to make evident to you before God how earnestly you do care for us [and your willingness to accept our authority].