Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
6 You take no delight in sacrifices and offerings—
you have prepared my ears to listen—[a]
you require no burnt offerings or sacrifices for sin.
7 Then I said, “Here I am! I have come!
In the scroll of the book it is written about me.
8 I delight to do your will, my God.
Your Law is part of my inner being.”
9 In the great congregation I have proclaimed the righteous good news.
Behold, I did not seal my lips, Lord, as you know.
10 I have not ignored[b] your righteousness in my heart;
instead, I have proclaimed your faithfulness and deliverance.
I have not concealed your gracious love and truthfulness
from the great congregation.
11 Lord, do not withhold your mercy[c] from me,
for your gracious love and truthfulness will keep me safe continuously.
12 Innumerable evils have surrounded me;
my iniquities have overtaken me so that I cannot see.
They are more in number than the hair on my head,
and my courage[d] has forsaken me.
13 Be pleased, Lord, to deliver me;
Lord, hurry up and help me!
14 May those who seek to destroy my life be ashamed and confounded;
let them be driven backwards and humiliated,
particularly those who wish me evil.
15 Let shame be the reward for those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
16 Let all who seek you shout for joy and be glad in you.
May those who love your deliverance say,
“The Lord be magnified!” continuously.
17 But I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think about me.
You are my help and deliverer.
My God, do not tarry too long!
The Lord Calls Israel
12 “Listen to these things,[a] Jacob,
and Israel, whom I have called.
I am the One: I am the first,
I am even[b] the last.
13 Moreover, my hands laid[c] the earth’s foundation,
and my right hand spread out the heavens.
I call out to them,
and[d] they stand up together.
14 Let all of them come together and listen:[e]
Who is there among them that could declare[f] these things?
“The Lord loves me,[g]
and he will accomplish[h] my purpose[i] against Babylon;
his arm[j] will be against the Chaldeans.
15 I—Yes, I!—have spoken;
indeed, I’ve called and[k] I’ve brought him,
and he will make his path successful.[l]
16 Draw near to me, and[m] listen to this:
‘From the beginning I haven’t spoken in secret;
at[n] the time it happened, I was there.’
And now the Lord God, and his Spirit, has sent me.[o]
17 “This is what the Lord says,
your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you how to succeed,
who directs you[p] in the path by which[q] you should go.
18 Now[r] if only you had paid attention to my commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
and your success like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants would’ve been like the sand,
and your offspring[s] like its numberless grains.
Their name wouldn’t have been cut off
or annihilated out of my reach.
20 “Go out from Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans!
With happy shouts, announce
and[t] proclaim this[u] to the ends[v] of the earth:
Say, ‘The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob!’
21 They didn’t thirst when he led him[w] through the desolate places.
He made water gush[x] from a rock for them;
he split open the rock, and water gushed out.
A Question about Fasting(A)
14 Then John’s disciples came to Jesus[a] and asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often,[b] but your disciples don’t fast?”
15 Jesus asked them, “The wedding guests[c] can’t mourn as long as the groom is with them, can they? But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
The Unshrunk Cloth(B)
16 “No one patches an old garment with a piece of unshrunk cloth, because the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. 17 Nor do people[d] pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill out, and the skins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved.”
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