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 a vassal.

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.

³   Judah has gone into exile with suffering
          and hard servitude;
     she lives now among the nations,
          and finds no resting place;
     her pursuers have all overtaken her
          in the midst of her distress.

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,
          and her lot is bitter.

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.

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.

⁷   Jerusalem remembers,
          in the days of her affliction and wandering,
     all the precious things
          that were hers in days of old.
     When her people fell into the hand of the foe,
          and there was no one to help her,
     the foe looked on mocking
          over her downfall.

⁸   Jerusalem sinned grievously,
          so she has become a mockery;
     all who honored her despise her,
          for they have seen her nakedness;
     she herself groans,
          and turns her face away.

⁹   Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
          she took no thought of her future;
     her downfall was appalling,
          with none to comfort her.
     “O Lord, look at my affliction,
          for the enemy has triumphed!”

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.

¹¹  All her people groan
          as they search for bread;
     they trade their treasures for food
          to revive their strength.
     Look, O Lord, and see
          how worthless I have become.

¹²  Is it nothing to you, 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.

^40:7When all the leaders of the forces in the open country and their troops heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, women, and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been taken into exile to Babylon, ⁸they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah — Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, Jezaniah son of the Maacathite, they and their troops. ⁹Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan swore to them and their troops, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall go well with you. ¹⁰As for me, I am staying at Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us; but as for you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and store them in your vessels, and live in the towns that you have taken over.” ¹¹Likewise, when all the Judeans who were in Moab and among the Ammonites and in Edom and in other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan as governor over them, ¹²then all the Judeans returned from all the places to which they had been scattered and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah; and they gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance.

¹³Now Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah ¹⁴and said to him, “Are you at all aware that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them. ¹⁵Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah at Mizpah, “Please let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one else will know. Why should he take your life, so that all the Judeans who are gathered around you would be scattered, and the remnant of Judah would perish?” ¹⁶But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do such a thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”

^40:1In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. As they ate bread together there at Mizpah, ^2IIshmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan with the sword and killed him, because the king of Babylon had appointed him governor in the land. ³Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there.

⁴¹There 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. ⁴²So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. ⁴⁴It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven.

⁵⁰What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

²⁵At that time Jesus said, “I thank 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; ²⁶yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. ²⁷All 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.

²⁸“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”