Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
68 “(A)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished (B)redemption for His people,
69 And has raised up a (C)horn of salvation for us
In the house of David (D)His servant—
70 (E)As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets (F)from of old—
71 [a](G)Salvation (H)from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
72 (I)To show mercy toward our fathers,
(J)And to remember His holy covenant,
73 (K)The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
74 To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 (L)In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
76 “And you, child, will be called the (M)prophet of (N)the Most High;
For you will go on (O)before the Lord to (P)prepare His ways;
77 To give to His people the knowledge of salvation
[b]By (Q)the forgiveness of their sins,
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God,
With which (R)the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
79 (S)To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the (T)way of peace.”
Jeremiah’s Message for Zedekiah
21 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when (A)King Zedekiah sent to him (B)Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and (C)Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, saying, 2 “Please (D)inquire of the Lord on our behalf, for (E)Nebuchadnezzar king of (F)Babylon is warring against us; perhaps the Lord will deal with us (G)according to all His [a]wonderful acts, so that the enemy will withdraw from us.”
3 Then Jeremiah said to them, “You shall say to Zedekiah as follows: 4 ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Behold, I am about to (H)turn back the weapons of war which are in your hands, with which you are warring against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the wall; and I will (I)gather them into the center of this city. 5 I (J)Myself will war against you with an (K)outstretched hand and a mighty arm, even in (L)anger and wrath and great indignation. 6 I will also strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great (M)pestilence. 7 Then afterwards,” declares the Lord, “(N)I will give over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people, even those who survive in this city from the pestilence, the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their foes and into the hand of those who seek their lives; and he will strike them down with the edge of the sword. He (O)will not spare them nor have pity nor compassion.”’
8 “You shall also say to this people, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I (P)set before you the way of life and the way of death. 9 He who (Q)dwells in this city will die by the (R)sword and by famine and by pestilence; but he who goes out and falls away to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live, and he will have his own life as booty. 10 For I have (S)set My face against this city for [b]harm and not for good,” declares the Lord. “It will be (T)given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will (U)burn it with fire.”’
11 “Then say to the household of the (V)king of Judah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, 12 O (W)house of David, thus says the Lord:
“(X)Administer justice [c]every (Y)morning;
And deliver the person who has been robbed from the [d]power of his oppressor,
(Z)That My wrath may not go forth like fire
And (AA)burn with none to extinguish it,
Because of the evil of their deeds.
13 “Behold, (AB)I am against you, O (AC)valley dweller,
O [e]rocky plain,” declares the Lord,
“You men who say, ‘(AD)Who will come down against us?
Or who will enter into our habitations?’
14 “But I will punish you (AE)according to the [f]results of your deeds,” declares the Lord,
“And I will (AF)kindle a fire in its forest
That it may devour all its environs.”’”
23 Therefore it was necessary for the (A)copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but (B)the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ (C)did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of (D)the true one, but into (E)heaven itself, now (F)to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as (G)the high priest enters (H)the holy place (I)year by year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since (J)the foundation of the world; but now (K)once at (L)the consummation of the ages He has been (M)manifested to put away sin [a](N)by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And inasmuch as (O)it is [b]appointed for men to die once and after this (P)comes judgment, 28 so Christ also, having been (Q)offered once to (R)bear the sins of many, will appear (S)a second time for (T)salvation (U)without reference to sin, to those who (V)eagerly await Him.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.