Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 39[a]
For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.
39 I decided,[b] “I will watch what I say
and make sure I do not sin with my tongue.[c]
I will put a muzzle over my mouth
while in the presence of an evil person.”[d]
2 I was stone silent;[e]
I held back the urge to speak.[f]
My frustration grew;[g]
3 my anxiety intensified.[h]
As I thought about it, I became impatient.[i]
Finally I spoke these words:[j]
4 “O Lord, help me understand my mortality
and the brevity of life.[k]
Let me realize how quickly my life will pass.[l]
5 Look, you make my days short-lived,[m]
and my life span is nothing from your perspective.[n]
Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor.[o] (Selah)
6 Surely people go through life as mere ghosts.[p]
Surely they accumulate worthless wealth
without knowing who will eventually haul it away.”[q]
7 But now, O Lord, upon what am I relying?
You are my only hope![r]
8 Deliver me from all my sins of rebellion.
Do not make me the object of fools’ insults.
9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth
because of what you have done.[s]
10 Please stop wounding me.[t]
You have almost beaten me to death.[u]
11 You severely discipline people for their sins;[v]
like a moth you slowly devour their strength.[w]
Surely all people are a mere vapor. (Selah)
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord.
Listen to my cry for help.
Do not ignore my sobbing.[x]
For I am a resident foreigner with you,
a temporary settler,[y] just as all my ancestors were.
13 Turn your angry gaze away from me, so I can be happy
before I pass away.[z]
The People Have Violated Their Covenant with God
11 The Lord said to Jeremiah:[a] 2 “Hear[b] the terms of the covenant[c] I made with Israel[d] and pass them on[e] to the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem.[f] 3 Tell them that the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Anyone who does not keep the terms of the covenant will be under a curse.[g] 4 Those are the terms that I charged your ancestors[h] to keep[i] when I brought them out of Egypt, that place that was like an iron-smelting furnace.[j] I said at that time,[k] “Obey me and carry out the terms of the covenant[l] exactly as I commanded you. If you do,[m] you will be my people and I will be your God.[n] 5 Then I will keep the promise I swore on oath to your ancestors to give them a land flowing with milk and honey.”[o] That is the very land that you still live in today.’”[p] And I responded, “Amen. Let it be so,[q] Lord.”
6 The Lord said to me, “Announce all the following words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of my covenant with you[r] and carry them out! 7 For I solemnly warned your ancestors to obey me.[s] I warned them again and again,[t] ever since I delivered them out of Egypt until this very day. 8 But they did not listen to me or pay any attention to me! Each one of them followed the stubborn inclinations of his own wicked heart. So I brought on them all the punishments threatened in the covenant because they did not carry out its terms as I commanded them to do.’”[u]
9 The Lord said to me, “The people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem have plotted rebellion against me.[v] 10 They have gone back to the evil ways[w] of their ancestors of old who refused to obey what I told them. They, too, have paid allegiance to[x] other gods and worshiped them. Both the nation of Israel and the nation of Judah[y] have violated the covenant I made with their ancestors. 11 So I, the Lord, say this:[z] ‘I will soon bring disaster on them that they will not be able to escape! When they cry out to me for help, I will not listen to them. 12 Then those living in the towns of Judah and in Jerusalem will[aa] go and cry out for help to the gods to whom they have been sacrificing. However, those gods will by no means be able[ab] to save them when disaster strikes them. 13 This is in spite of the fact that[ac] the people of Judah have as many gods as they have towns[ad] and the citizens of Jerusalem have set up as many altars to sacrifice to that disgusting god, Baal, as they have streets in the city!’[ae] 14 But as for you, Jeremiah,[af] do not pray for these people. Do not raise a cry of prayer for them.[ag] For I will not listen to them when they call out to me for help when disaster strikes them.”[ah]
15 The Lord says to the people of Judah,[ai]
“What right do you have to be in my temple, my beloved people?[aj]
Many of you have done wicked things.[ak]
Can your acts of treachery be so easily canceled by sacred offerings[al]
that you take joy in doing evil even while you make them?[am]
16 I, the Lord, once called[an] you a thriving olive tree,
one that produced beautiful fruit.
But I will set you[ao] on fire,
fire that will blaze with a mighty roar.[ap]
Then all your branches will be good for nothing.[aq]
17 For though I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,[ar] planted you in the land,[as]
I now decree that disaster will come on you[at]
because the nations of Israel and Judah have done evil
and have made me angry by offering sacrifices to the god Baal.”[au]
The Condemnation of the Moralist
2 [a] Therefore[b] you are without excuse,[c] whoever you are,[d] when you judge someone else.[e] For on whatever grounds[f] you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth[g] against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think,[h] whoever you are, when you judge[i] those who practice such things and yet do them yourself,[j] that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know[k] that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness[l] and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed![m] 6 He[n] will reward[o] each one according to his works:[p] 7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 8 but[q] wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition[r] and do not obey the truth but follow[s] unrighteousness. 9 There will be[t] affliction and distress on everyone[u] who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek,[v] 10 but[w] glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.
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