Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Song of degrees.

¹ ¶ Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:

² Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me.

³ The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.

⁴ The LORD is righteous; he has cut asunder the cords of the wicked.

⁵ ¶ All those that hate Zion shall all be confounded and turned back.

⁶ They shall be as the grass upon the housetops, which withers before it grows up,

⁷ with which the reaper does not fill his hand nor he that binds sheaves his bosom.

⁸ Neither did those who go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you; we bless you in the name of the LORD.

¹⁴ ¶ Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a word; hide nothing from me.

¹⁵ Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken unto me.

¹⁶ So Zedekiah the king swore secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD lives, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.

¹⁷ Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus hath the LORD, the God of the hosts, the God of Israel said: If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:

¹⁸ but if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.

¹⁹ And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.

²⁰ But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Hear now the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.

²¹ But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD hath showed me:

²² and, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, Thy friends have deceived thee and have prevailed against thee; thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back.

²³ So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans; and thou shalt not escape out of their hand but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon; and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.

²⁴ Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die.

²⁵ But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee:

²⁶ then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.

²⁷ Then all the princes came unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all those words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

²⁸ So Jeremiah abode in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken; and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

6 ¶ Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go unto judgment before the unjust, and not before the saints?

² Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

³ Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more the things that pertain to this life?

⁴ If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set as judges the most humble who are in the congregation. {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones}

⁵ I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brothers?

⁶ But brother goes to judgment against brother, and that before the unbelievers.

⁷ Now therefore there is certainly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather suffer the wrong? why do ye not rather be defrauded?

⁸ But ye do wrong and defraud and do this to your brothers.

⁹ ¶ Know ye not that the unjust shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not err: neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals

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

¹¹ And such were some of you, but now ye are washed, but now ye are sanctified, but now ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and in the Spirit of our God.