Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Jeremiah Imprisoned

32 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh in the ^(A)tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. ² Now at that time the military force of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the ^(B)court of the guard, which was in the house of the king of Judah, ³ because Zedekiah king of Judah had ^(C)shut him up, saying, “Why do you ^(D)prophesy, saying, ‘^(E)Thus says Yahweh, “Behold, I am about to ^(F)give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it;

⁶ And Jeremiah said, “The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ⁷ ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you, saying, “Buy for yourself my field which is at ^(A)Anathoth, for you have the ^(B)legal judgment for redemption to buy it.”’ ⁸ Then Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the ^(C)court of the guard according to the word of Yahweh and said to me, ‘Buy my field, please, that is at ^(D)Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for you have the legal judgment for possession, and the redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the ^(E)word of Yahweh.

⁹ “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I ^(F)weighed out the silver for him, seventeen ^[a](G)shekels of silver. ¹⁰ And I ^[b](H)signed and ^(I)sealed the deed and ^(J)called in witnesses and weighed out the silver on the scales. ¹¹ Then I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the ^(K)commandment and statutes and the open copy, ¹² and I gave the deed of purchase to ^(L)Baruch the son of ^(M)Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. ¹³ And I commanded Baruch in their sight, saying, ¹⁴ ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Take these deeds—this deed of purchase—that is the sealed one as well as this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may ^[c]last a long time.” ¹⁵ For thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “^(N)Houses and fields and vineyards will again be bought in this land.”’

In the Shadow of the Almighty

^6 (A)But godliness actually is a means of ^(B)great gain, when accompanied by ^(C)contentment. ⁷ For ^(D)we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. ⁸ And if we ^(E)have food and covering, with these we shall be content. ^9 (F)But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and ^(G)a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For ^(H)the love of money is a root of all ^[a]sorts of evils, and some by aspiring to it have ^(I)wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

¹¹ But you, O ^(J)man of God, ^(K)flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, ^(L)faith, ^(M)love, ^[b]perseverance, gentleness. ^12 (N)Fight the good fight of ^(O)faith. ^(P)Take hold of the eternal life ^(Q)to which you were called, and you made the good ^(R)confession in the presence of ^(S)many witnesses. ^13 (T)I charge you in the presence of God, who ^[c]gives life to all things, and of ^(U)Christ Jesus, who testified the ^(V)good confession ^(W)before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the ^(X)appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which He will ^[d]bring about at ^(Y)the proper time—He who is ^(Z)the blessed and ^(AA)only Sovereign, ^(AB)the King of ^[e]kings and ^(AC)Lord of ^[f]lords, ^16 (AD)who alone has immortality and ^(AE)dwells in unapproachable light, ^(AF)whom no man has seen or can see. ^(AG)To Him be honor and eternal might! Amen.

¹⁷ Command those who are rich in ^(AH)this present age ^(AI)not to be haughty or to ^(AJ)set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, ^(AK)who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. ¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in ^(AL)good ^[g]works, ^(AM)to be generous and ready to share, ^19 (AN)storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may ^(AO)take hold of that which is life indeed.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. ²⁰ But a poor man named Lazarus ^(A)was laid at his gate, covered with sores, ²¹ and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. ²² Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to ^(B)Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And in ^(C)Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴ And he cried out and said, ‘^(D)Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in ^(E)this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that ^(F)during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things. But now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. ²⁶ And ^[a]besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you are not able, and none may cross over from there to us.’ ²⁷ And he said, ‘Then I am asking you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— ²⁸ for I have five brothers—in order that he may ^(G)warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ But Abraham *said, ‘They have ^(H)Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ But he said, ‘No, ^(I)father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ ³¹ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”