Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Tsadhe

The Lord's Eternal Covenant with David

^14 (A)“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^(B)I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ¹⁵ In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous ^(C)Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ¹⁶ In those days Judah will be saved, ^(D)and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ^(E)‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

¹⁷ “For thus says the Lord: ^(F)David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, ^18 (G)and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”

¹⁹ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ^20 (H)“Thus says the Lord: ^(I)If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, ^(J)so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, ^21 (K)then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. ²² As ^(L)the host of heaven cannot be numbered and ^(M)the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”

²³ The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁴ “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. ²⁵ Thus says the Lord: ^(N)If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, ²⁶ then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ^(O)For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of Christ Jesus ^(B)by the will of God, and ^(C)Timothy our brother,

To the church of God that is at Corinth, ^(D)with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

^2 (E)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God of All Comfort

^3 (F)Blessed be the ^(G)God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and ^(H)God of all comfort, ^4 (I)who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as we share abundantly in ^(J)Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.^{[a] 6 (K)}If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. ⁷ Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you ^(L)share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

⁸ For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,^[b] of ^(M)the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us ^(N)rely not on ourselves ^(O)but on God ^(P)who raises the dead. ^10 (Q)He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. ^(R)On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. ^11 (S)You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf ^(T)for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.