Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
ז ZAYIN
49 Remember the word to Your servant,
Upon which You have caused me to hope.
50 This is my (A)comfort in my affliction,
For Your word has given me life.
51 The proud have me in great derision,
Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.
52 I remembered Your judgments of old, O Lord,
And have comforted myself.
53 (B)Indignation has taken hold of me
Because of the wicked, who forsake Your law.
54 Your statutes have been my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.
55 (C)I remember Your name in the night, O Lord,
And I keep Your law.
56 This has become mine,
Because I kept Your precepts.
Jeremiah Prays for Understanding
16 “Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: 17 ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, (A)You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. (B)There is nothing too [a]hard for You. 18 You show (C)lovingkindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them—the Great, (D)the Mighty God, whose name is (E)the Lord of hosts. 19 You are (F)great in counsel and mighty in [b]work, for Your (G)eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, (H)to give everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. 20 You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, to this day, and in Israel and among other men; and You have made Yourself (I)a name, as it is this day. 21 You (J)have brought Your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with great terror; 22 You have given them this land, of which You swore to their fathers to give them—(K)“a land flowing with milk and honey.” 23 And they came in and took possession of it, but (L)they have not obeyed Your voice or walked in Your law. They have done nothing of all that You commanded them to do; therefore You have caused all this calamity to come upon them.
24 ‘Look, the siege mounds! They have come to the city to take it; and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who fight against it, because of (M)the sword and famine and pestilence. What You have spoken has happened; there You see it! 25 And You have said to me, O Lord God, “Buy the field for money, and take witnesses”!—yet the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ ”
God’s Assurance of the People’s Return
26 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the (N)God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? 28 Therefore thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. 29 And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and (O)set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses (P)on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger; 30 because the children of Israel and the children of Judah (Q)have done only evil before Me from their youth. For the children of Israel have provoked Me only to anger with the work of their hands,’ says the Lord. 31 ‘For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day; (R)so I will remove it from before My face 32 because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger—(S)they, their kings, their princes, their priests, (T)their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 And they have turned to Me the (U)back, and not the face; though I taught them, (V)rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. 34 But they (W)set their abominations in [c]the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 35 And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to (X)cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to (Y)Molech, (Z)which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.’
The Lukewarm Church
14 “And to the [a]angel of the church [b]of the Laodiceans write,
(A)‘These things says the Amen, (B)the Faithful and True Witness, (C)the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 (D)“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither [c]cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, (E)‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you (F)to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and (G)white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 (H)As many as I love, I rebuke and (I)chasten.[d] Therefore be [e]zealous and repent. 20 Behold, (J)I stand at the door and knock. (K)If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, (L)I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes (M)I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22 (N)“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ ”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.