Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁹⁷ Oh, how love I Your law! It is my meditation all the day.^(A)

⁹⁸ You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies, for [Your words] are ever before me.

⁹⁹ I have better understanding and deeper insight than all my teachers, because Your testimonies are my meditation.^(B)

¹⁰⁰ I understand more than the aged, because I keep Your precepts [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them].

¹⁰¹ I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep Your word [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it].^(C)

¹⁰² I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, for You Yourself have taught me.

¹⁰³ How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!^(D)

¹⁰⁴ Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

¹⁶ Then said the princes and all the people to the priests and to the prophets: This man is not deserving of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.

¹⁷ Then certain of the elders of the land arose and said to all the assembly of the people,

¹⁸ Micah of Moresheth prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah and said to all the people of Judah, Thus says the Lord of hosts: Zion shall be ^[a]plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps [of ruins], and the mountain of the house [of the Lord—Mount Moriah, on which stands the temple, shall become covered not with buildings, but] like a densely wooded height.^(A)

¹⁹ Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put [Micah] to death? Did he not [reverently] fear the Lord and entreat the Lord? And did not the Lord relent and reverse the decision concerning the evil which He had pronounced against them? But [here] we are thinking of committing what will be a great evil against ourselves.

²⁰ And there was also a man who prophesied in the name of the Lord, Uriah son of Shemaiah of Kiriath-jearim, who prophesied against this city and against this land in words similar to those of Jeremiah.

²¹ And when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty men and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought to put [Uriah] to death; but when Uriah heard of it, he was afraid and fled and escaped to Egypt.

²² And Jehoiakim the king sent men into Egypt, namely, Elnathan son of Achbor and certain other men [who went] with him into Egypt.

²³ And they fetched Uriah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who slew him [God’s spokesman] with the sword and cast his dead body among the graves of the common people.

²⁴ But the hand of Ahikam son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah, that he might not be given into the hands of the people to put him [also] to death.

¹⁴ Remind [the people] of these facts and [solemnly] charge them in the presence of the Lord to avoid petty controversy over words, which does no good but upsets and undermines the faith of the hearers.

¹⁵ Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.

¹⁶ But avoid all empty (vain, useless, idle) talk, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness.

¹⁷ And their teaching [will devour; it] will eat its way like cancer or spread like gangrene. So it is with Hymenaeus and Philetus,

¹⁸ Who have missed the mark and swerved from the truth by arguing that the resurrection has already taken place. They are undermining the faith of some.

¹⁹ But the firm foundation of (laid by) God stands, sure and unshaken, bearing this seal (inscription): The Lord knows those who are His, and, Let everyone who names [himself by] the name of the Lord give up all iniquity and stand aloof from it.^(A)

²⁰ But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also [utensils] of wood and earthenware, and some for honorable and noble [use] and some for menial and ignoble [use].

²¹ So whoever cleanses himself [from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences] will [then himself] be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work.

²² Shun youthful lusts and flee from them, and aim at and pursue righteousness (all that is virtuous and good, right living, conformity to the will of God in thought, word, and deed); [and aim at and pursue] faith, love, [and] peace (harmony and concord with others) in fellowship with all [Christians], who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.

²³ But refuse (shut your mind against, have nothing to do with) trifling (ill-informed, unedifying, stupid) controversies over ignorant questionings, for you know that they foster strife and breed quarrels.

²⁴ And the servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome (fighting and contending). Instead, he must be kindly to everyone and mild-tempered [preserving the bond of peace]; he must be a skilled and suitable teacher, patient and forbearing and willing to suffer wrong.

²⁵ He must correct his opponents with courtesy and gentleness, in the hope that God may grant that they will repent and come to know the Truth [that they will perceive and recognize and become accurately acquainted with and acknowledge it],

²⁶ And that they may come to their senses [and] escape out of the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him, [henceforth] to do His [God’s] will.