Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord's king rules[a]
2 Why are nations making plans to turn against the Lord?
All their plans will fail!
2 Kings and rulers decide to work together,
to fight against the Lord
and the king that he has chosen.
3 They say, ‘We will not accept their authority over us!
We will get free from their power!’[b]
4 The Lord who sits on his throne in heaven laughs at them.
He says that their plans are useless.
5 Then he becomes very angry and he frightens them.
He warns them with strong words and he says,
6 ‘I have put my king on his throne in Zion.[c]
I have put him on my holy mountain.’
7 I will tell you what the Lord has promised to me, his king.
He said to me, ‘You are my son.
Yes, today I have become your father![d]
8 Ask me and see what I will do!
I will give you all the nations on the earth.
They will all belong to you.
9 You will break them with an iron sceptre,
as if they are clay pots.’
10 So, you kings, think carefully!
You who rule the nations of the world, learn this lesson:
11 Respect the Lord and serve him.
Enjoy his rule with fear!
12 Bend down low in front of his son!
If not, the Lord will be angry.
He will quickly become very angry.
You will suddenly die!
But as for those who serve the Lord as their king,
he blesses them and he takes care of them all.
12 But they will say, “Do not try to stop us! We will do whatever we want to do. We will continue to do wicked things.” ’
13 So the Lord says this:
‘Go and ask the people of other nations!
Have they ever heard about anything as terrible as this?
My people, Israel, should have been pure.
But they have done a disgusting thing!
14 There is always snow on Lebanon's mountains.
Cold streams of water always pour down from those high rocks.
15 Those things never change,
but my people have forgotten me.
They offer sacrifices to useless idols.
Because of that, they live in a wrong way.
They have left the good paths that their ancestors knew.
Instead, they walk along narrow paths
that nobody takes care of.
16 So I will cause their land to become a terrible place.
People will always see how disgusting my people are.
Everybody who goes near there
will be very surprised.
They will shake their heads and they will insult my people.
17 I will send enemies to attack them.
They will chase my people away,
like an east wind that blows away dust.
I will turn away from them
when that day of great trouble arrives.
I will refuse to help them.’
The people turn against Jeremiah[a]
18 Then some people said, ‘We must find a way to stop Jeremiah. We do not need him. The priests will still be here to teach us. Wise men will still be here to give us advice. The prophets will still be here to give us God's messages. We should speak bad things against Jeremiah. Then we will not have to listen to him any more.’
19 ‘Please listen to me, Lord!
Hear what my enemies are saying against me.
20 I have done good things for them,
but they are paying me back with evil things.
They have already dug a grave for me!
Remember that I stood in front of you
and I asked you to forgive them.
I asked you not to be angry with them.
21 So now I ask you to punish them!
Yes, may famine kill their children.
May they die in war.
May wives no longer have husbands or children.
May disease kill the old men.
May the young men die in battle.
22 Send people to attack them suddenly
and rob them in their homes.
Then they will shout aloud in great fear.
They have dug a hole for me to fall into.
They have prepared traps to catch me.
23 But Lord, you know how they want to kill me.
They are guilty, so do not forgive them.
Do not forget to punish them for their sins.
Put them under your power!
Punish them while you are still angry!’
14 I hope to come to visit you soon. But anyway, I want to write these things to you now. 15 Then, even if I cannot come to you soon, you will know how people in God's family should live. That family is the church of God, who lives for ever. God's family, the church, teaches God's true message and keeps it safe.
16 Yes, the message that God has shown us about Jesus Christ is very great. We all agree to this:
God showed him to us as a man.
God's Spirit showed that he always did what was right.
Angels saw him.
People taught his message in many countries of the world.
People in the world believed in him.
God took him up to be with himself in heaven.[a]
False teachers
4 God's Spirit tells us clearly that, in later times, some people will stop believing the message about Jesus Christ. Instead, they will listen to bad spirits who want people to believe wrong things. They will listen to the message that comes from demons. 2 The people who teach those false things are hypocrites. They no longer understand that what they teach is wrong. 3 They say that it is wrong for anyone to marry. They tell people not to eat certain kinds of food. But God made those foods for people to eat! We should understand God's true message and trust him. Then we will receive the food that he has given us and we will thank him for it. 4 Everything that God has made is good. So we should not refuse anything that he has made. Instead, we should receive it and thank God for it. 5 God has said that it is good. We should pray that he will bless it. Because of that, it becomes good and clean for us to eat.[b]
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