Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

129 A Song of the Ascents. Often they distressed me from my youth, Pray, let Israel say:

² Often they distressed me from my youth, Yet they have not prevailed over me.

³ Over my back have ploughers ploughed, They have made long their furrows.

⁴ Jehovah [is] righteous, He hath cut asunder cords of the wicked.

⁵ Confounded and turn backward do all hating Zion.

⁶ They are as grass of the roofs, That before it was drawn out withereth,

⁷ That hath not filled the hand of a reaper, And the bosom of a binder of sheaves.

⁸ And the passers by have not said, `The blessing of Jehovah [is] on you, We blessed you in the Name of Jehovah!'

¹⁴ And the king Zedekiah sendeth, and taketh Jeremiah the prophet unto him, unto the third entrance that [is] in the house of Jehovah, and the king saith unto Jeremiah, `I am asking thee a thing, do not hide from me anything.'

¹⁵ And Jeremiah saith unto Zedekiah, `When I declare to thee, dost thou not surely put me to death? and when I counsel thee, thou dost not hearken unto me.'

¹⁶ And the king Zedekiah sweareth unto Jeremiah in secret, saying, `Jehovah liveth, He who made for us this soul, I do not put thee to death, nor give thee unto the hand of these men who are seeking thy soul.'

¹⁷ And Jeremiah saith unto Zedekiah, `Thus said Jehovah, God of Hosts, God of Israel: If thou dost certainly go forth unto the heads of the king of Babylon, then hath thy soul lived, and this city is not burned with fire, yea, thou hast lived, thou and thy house.

¹⁸ And if thou dost not go forth unto the heads of the king of Babylon, then hath this city been given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they have burnt it with fire, and thou dost not escape from their hand.'

¹⁹ And the king Zedekiah saith unto Jeremiah, `I am fearing the Jews who have fallen unto the Chaldeans, lest they give me into their hand, and they have insulted me.'

²⁰ And Jeremiah saith, `They do not give thee up; hearken, I pray thee, to the voice of Jehovah, to that which I am speaking unto thee, and it is well for thee, and thy soul doth live.

²¹ `And if thou art refusing to go forth, this [is] the thing that Jehovah hath shewn me:

²² That, lo, all the women who have been left in the house of the king of Judah are brought forth unto the heads of the king of Babylon, and lo, they are saying: Persuaded thee, and prevailed against thee, Have thine allies, Sunk into mire have thy feet, They have been turned backward.

²³ `And all thy wives, and thy sons, are brought forth unto the Chaldeans, and thou dost not escape from their hand, for by the hand of the king of Babylon thou art caught, and this city is burnt with fire.'

²⁴ And Zedekiah saith unto Jeremiah, `Let no man know of these words, and thou dost not die;

²⁵ and when the heads hear that I have spoken with thee, and they have come in unto thee, and have said unto thee, Declare to us, we pray thee, what thou didst speak unto the king, do not hide [it] from us, and we do not put thee to death, and what the king spake unto thee,

²⁶ then thou hast said unto them, I am causing my supplication to fall before the king, not to cause me to return to the house of Jonathan, to die there.'

²⁷ And all the heads come in unto Jeremiah, and ask him, and he declareth to them according to all these words that the king commanded, and they keep silent from him, for the matter was not heard;

²⁸ and Jeremiah dwelleth in the court of the prison till the day that Jerusalem hath been captured, and he was [there] when Jerusalem was captured.

6 Dare any one of you, having a matter with the other, go to be judged before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?

² have ye not known that the saints shall judge the world? and if by you the world is judged, are ye unworthy of the smaller judgments?

³ have ye not known that we shall judge messengers? why not then the things of life?

⁴ of the things of life, indeed, then, if ye may have judgment, those despised in the assembly -- these cause ye to sit;

⁵ unto your shame I speak: so there is not among you one wise man, not even one, who shall be able to discern in the midst of his brethren!

⁶ but brother with brother doth go to be judged, and this before unbelievers!

⁷ Already, indeed, then, there is altogether a fault among you, that ye have judgments with one another; wherefore do ye not rather suffer injustice? wherefore be ye not rather defrauded?

⁸ but ye -- ye do injustice, and ye defraud, and these -- brethren!

⁹ have ye not known that the unrighteous the reign of God shall not inherit? be not led astray; neither whoremongers, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor sodomites,

¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, the reign of God shall inherit.

¹¹ And certain of you were these! but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were declared righteous, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.