Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Zedekiah, King of Judah

¹¹ Zedekiah was 21 years old when he became king of Judah. He was king in Jerusalem for eleven years. ¹² Zedekiah did what the Lord his God considered evil. Jeremiah the prophet told him messages from the Lord. But Zedekiah did not humble himself and obey what Jeremiah said.

Jerusalem Is Destroyed

¹³ Zedekiah turned against King Nebuchadnezzar. In the past Nebuchadnezzar forced Zedekiah to make a promise to be faithful to him. Zedekiah used God’s name and promised to be faithful to Nebuchadnezzar. But Zedekiah was stubborn and would not change his life. He refused to obey the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁴ Also, all the leaders of the priests and the leaders of the people of Judah sinned worse and became more unfaithful to the Lord. They followed the evil example of the other nations. They ruined the Temple that the Lord had made holy in Jerusalem. ¹⁵ The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent prophets again and again to warn his people. He did this because he felt sorry for them and for his Temple. He didn’t want to destroy them or his Temple. ¹⁶ But they made fun of God’s prophets and refused to listen to them. They hated God’s messages. Finally, the Lord could not hold his anger any longer. He became angry with his people and there was nothing that could be done to stop it. ¹⁷ So God brought the king of Babylon to attack the people of Judah and Jerusalem.^[a] The king of Babylon killed the young men even when they were in the Temple. He didn’t have mercy on the people of Judah and Jerusalem. The king of Babylon killed young and old people. He killed men and women. He killed sick and healthy people. God permitted Nebuchadnezzar to punish the people of Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁸ Nebuchadnezzar carried all the things in God’s Temple away to Babylon. He took all the valuable things from the Lord’s Temple, from the king, and from the king’s officials. ¹⁹ Nebuchadnezzar and his army burned the Temple. They broke down Jerusalem’s wall and burned all the houses that belonged to the king and his officials. They took or destroyed every valuable thing in Jerusalem. ²⁰ Nebuchadnezzar took the people who were still alive back to Babylon and forced them to be slaves. They stayed in Babylon as slaves until the Persian kingdom defeated the kingdom of Babylon. ²¹ The land of Judah became an empty desert and stayed that way for 70 years. All this time the land rested to make up for the Sabbath rests^[b] that the people had not kept. This is just what the Lord said would happen in the warning he gave through the prophet Jeremiah.^[c]

⁴³ The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He met Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Philip was from the town of Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the man that Moses wrote about in the law. The prophets wrote about him too. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph. He is from Nazareth.”

⁴⁶ But Nathanael said to Philip, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

Philip answered, “Come and see.”

⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said, “This man coming is a true Israelite, one you can trust.^[a]”

⁴⁸ Nathanael asked, “How do you know me?”

Jesus answered, “I saw you when you were under the fig tree, before Philip told you about me.”

⁴⁹ Then Nathanael said, “Teacher, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.”

⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Do you believe this just because I said I saw you under the fig tree? You will see much greater things than that!” ⁵¹ Then he said, “Believe me when I say that you will all see heaven open. You will see ‘angels of God going up and coming down’^[b] on the Son of Man.”