Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Praise God for What He Has Done
For the director of music. A song. A psalm.
66 Everything on earth, shout with joy to God!
2 Sing about his glory!
Make his praise glorious!
3 Say to God, “Your works are amazing!
Because your power is great,
your enemies fall before you.
4 All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you.
They sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Come and see what God has done,
the amazing things he has done for people.
6 He turned the sea into dry land.
The people crossed the river on foot.
So let us rejoice because of what he did.
7 He rules forever with his power.
He keeps his eye on the nations,
so people should not turn against him. Selah
8 You people, praise our God;
loudly sing his praise.
9 He protects our lives
and does not let us be defeated.
10 God, you have tested us;
you have purified us like silver.
11 You let us be trapped
and put a heavy load on us.
12 You let our enemies walk on our heads.
We went through fire and flood,
but you brought us to a place with good things.
A Summary of Jeremiah’s Preaching
25 This is the message that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah. It came in the fourth year that Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah and the first year Nebuchadnezzar was king of Babylon. 2 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and Jerusalem:
3 The Lord has spoken his word to me again and again for these past twenty-three years. I have been a prophet since the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah. I have spoken messages from the Lord to you from that time until today, but you have not listened.
4 The Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you over and over again, but you have not listened or paid any attention to them. 5 Those prophets have said, “Stop your evil ways. Stop doing what is wrong so you can stay in the land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors to live in forever. 6 Don’t follow other gods to serve them or to worship them. Don’t make me, the Lord, angry by worshiping idols that are the work of your own hands, or I will punish you.”
7 “But you people of Judah did not listen to me,” says the Lord. “You made me angry by worshiping idols that were the work of your own hands, so I punished you.”
8 So this is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Since you have not listened to my messages, 9 I will send for all the peoples of the north,” says the Lord, “along with my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. I will bring them all against Judah, those who live there, and all the nations around you, too. I will completely destroy all those countries and leave them in ruins forever. People will be shocked when they see how badly I have destroyed those countries. 10 I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and happiness, the sounds of brides and bridegrooms, and the sound of people grinding meal. And I will take away the light of the lamp. 11 That whole area will be an empty desert, and these nations will be slaves of the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12 “But when the seventy years have passed, I will punish the king of Babylon and his entire nation for their evil,” says the Lord. “I will make that land a desert forever. 13 I will make happen all the terrible things I said about Babylonia—everything Jeremiah prophesied about all those foreign nations, the warnings written in this book. 14 Even the Babylonians will have to serve many nations and many great kings. I will give them the punishment they deserve for all their own hands have done.”
13 Follow the pattern of true teachings that you heard from me in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Protect the truth that you were given; protect it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
15 You know that everyone in Asia has left me, even Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord show mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, who has often helped me and was not ashamed that I was in prison. 17 When he came to Rome, he looked eagerly for me until he found me. 18 May the Lord allow him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. You know how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.