Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

^49-50 Never forget your promises to me your servant, for they are my only hope. They give me strength in all my troubles; how they refresh and revive me! ⁵¹ Proud men hold me in contempt for obedience to God, but I stand unmoved. ⁵² From my earliest youth I have tried to obey you; your Word has been my comfort.

⁵³ I am very angry with those who spurn your commands. ⁵⁴ For these laws of yours have been my source of joy and singing through all these years of my earthly pilgrimage. ⁵⁵ I obey them even at night and keep my thoughts, O Lord, on you. ⁵⁶ What a blessing this has been to me—to constantly obey.

¹⁶ Then after I had given the papers to Baruch I prayed: ¹⁷ “O Lord God! You have made the heavens and earth by your great power; nothing is too hard for you! ¹⁸ You are loving and kind to thousands, yet children suffer for their fathers’ sins; you are the great and mighty God, the Lord Almighty. ¹⁹ You have all wisdom and do great and mighty miracles; for your eyes are open to all the ways of men, and you reward everyone according to his life and deeds. ²⁰ You have done incredible things in the land of Egypt—things still remembered to this day. And you have continued to do great miracles in Israel and all around the world. You have made your name very great, as it is today.

²¹ “You brought Israel out of Egypt with mighty miracles and great power and terror. ²² You gave Israel this land that you promised their fathers long ago—a wonderful land that ‘flows with milk and honey.’ ²³ Our fathers came and conquered it and lived in it, but they refused to obey you or to follow your laws; they have hardly done one thing you told them to. That is why you have sent all this terrible evil upon them. ²⁴ See how the siege mounds have been built against the city walls, and the Babylonians shall conquer the city by sword, famine, and disease. Everything has happened just as you said—as you determined it should! ²⁵ And yet you say to buy the field—paying good money for it before these witnesses—even though the city will belong to our enemies.”

²⁶ Then this message came to Jeremiah: ²⁷ I am the Lord, the God of all mankind; is there anything too hard for me? ²⁸ Yes, I will give this city to the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; he shall conquer it. ²⁹ And the Babylonians outside the walls shall come in and set fire to the city and burn down all these houses, where the roofs have been used to offer incense to Baal and to pour out libations to other gods, causing my fury to rise! ³⁰ For Israel and Judah have done nothing but wrong since their earliest days; they have infuriated me with all their evil deeds. ³¹ From the time this city was built until now, it has done nothing but anger me; so I am determined to be rid of it.

³² The sins of Israel and Judah—the sins of the people, of their kings, officers, priests, and prophets—stir me up. ³³ They have turned their backs upon me and refused to return; day after day, year after year, I taught them right from wrong, but they would not listen or obey. ³⁴ They have even defiled my own Temple by worshiping their abominable idols there. ³⁵ And they have built high altars to Baal in the valley of Hinnom. There they have burnt their children as sacrifices to Molech—something I never commanded and cannot imagine suggesting. What an incredible evil, causing Judah to sin so greatly!

¹⁴ “Write this letter to the leader of the church in Laodicea:

“This message is from the one who stands firm,^[a] the faithful and true Witness of all that is or was or evermore shall be, the primeval source of God’s creation:

¹⁵ “I know you well—you are neither hot nor cold; I wish you were one or the other! ¹⁶ But since you are merely lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth!

¹⁷ “You say, ‘I am rich, with everything I want; I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that spiritually you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

¹⁸ “My advice to you is to buy pure gold from me, gold purified by fire—only then will you truly be rich. And to purchase from me white garments, clean and pure, so you won’t be naked and ashamed; and to get medicine from me to heal your eyes and give you back your sight. ¹⁹ I continually discipline and punish everyone I love; so I must punish you unless you turn from your indifference and become enthusiastic about the things of God.

²⁰ “Look! I have been standing at the door, and I am constantly knocking. If anyone hears me calling him and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him and he with me. ²¹ I will let everyone who conquers sit beside me on my throne, just as I took my place with my Father on his throne when I had conquered. ²² Let those who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”