Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
19 (A)Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
(B)the wormwood and (C)the gall!
20 My soul continually remembers it
(D)and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind,
and (E)therefore I have hope:
The Fall of Jerusalem Recounted
52 (A)Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, (B)according to all that Jehoiakim had done. 3 For because of the anger of the Lord it came to the point in Jerusalem and Judah that he cast them out from his presence.
And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. 4 (C)And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it. 5 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled and went out from the city by night by the way of a gate between the two walls, by the king's garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. 8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 9 Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, and he passed sentence on him. 10 The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also slaughtered all the officials of Judah at (D)Riblah. 11 (E)He put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in chains, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in prison (F)till the day of his death.
To the Church in Smyrna
8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of (A)the first and the last, (B)who died and came to life.
9 “‘I know your tribulation and (C)your poverty ((D)but you are rich) and the slander[a] of (E)those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, (F)that you may be tested, and for (G)ten days (H)you will have tribulation. (I)Be faithful (J)unto death, and I will give you (K)the crown of life. 11 (L)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (M)The one who conquers will not be hurt by (N)the second death.’
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.