Lamentations 1:1-12
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Deserted City
1 How lonely sits the city
that once was full of people!
How like a widow she has become,
she that was great among the nations!
She that was a princess among the provinces
has become subject to forced labor.(A)
2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
with tears on her cheeks;
among all her lovers,
she has no one to comfort her;
all her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
they have become her enemies.(B)
3 Judah has gone into exile with suffering
and hard servitude;
she lives now among the nations;
she finds no resting place;
her pursuers have all overtaken her
in the midst of her distress.(C)
4 The roads to Zion mourn,
for no one comes to the festivals;
all her gates are desolate;
her priests groan;
her young girls grieve,[a]
and her lot is bitter.(D)
5 Her foes have become the masters;
her enemies prosper
because the Lord has made her suffer
for the multitude of her transgressions;
her children have gone away,
captives before the foe.(E)
6 From daughter Zion has departed
all her majesty.
Her princes have become like stags
that find no pasture;
they fled without strength
before the pursuer.(F)
7 Jerusalem remembers[b] all the precious things
that were hers in days of old.
When her people fell into the hand of the enemy
and there was no one to help her,
the enemy looked on;
they mocked over her downfall.(G)
8 Jerusalem sinned grievously,
so she has become a filthy thing;
all who honored her despise her,
for they have seen her nakedness;
she herself groans
and turns her face away.(H)
9 Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she took no thought of her future;
her downfall was appalling,
with none to comfort her.
Look, O Lord, at my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed!(I)
10 Enemies have stretched out their hands
over all her precious things;
she has even seen the nations
invade her sanctuary,
those whom you forbade
to enter your congregation.(J)
11 All her people groan
as they search for bread;
they trade their treasures for food
to revive their lives.
Look, O Lord, and see
how worthless I have become.(K)
12 Is it nothing to you,[c] all you who pass by?
Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me,
which the Lord inflicted
on the day of his fierce anger.(L)
1 Corinthians 15:41-50
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
41 There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars; indeed, star differs from star in glory.
42 So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.(A) 44 It is sown a physical body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.(B) 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the physical and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, made of dust; the second man is[a] from heaven.(C) 48 As one of dust, so are those who are of the dust, and as one of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we will[b] also bear the image of the one of heaven.(D)
50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.(E)
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Matthew 11:25-30
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus Thanks His Father
25 At that time Jesus said, “I thank[a] you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants;(A) 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.[b] 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.(B)
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.(C) 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.(D) 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Read full chapterNew Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.