Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
33 Teach me, O Lord, how to live by your laws,
and I will obey them to the end.
34 Help me understand so that I can follow your teachings.
I will guard them with all my heart.
35 Lead me on the path of your commandments,
because I am happy with them.
36 Direct my heart toward your written instructions
rather than getting rich in underhanded ways.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things.
Give me a new life in your ways.
38 Keep your promise to me
so that I can fear you.
39 Take away insults, which I dread,
because your regulations are good.
40 I long for your guiding principles.
Give me a new life in your righteousness.
Judah Is Compared to a Boiling Pot
24 On the tenth day of the tenth month in the ninth year, the Lord spoke his word to me. He said, 2 “Son of man, write down today’s date. The king of Babylon has surrounded Jerusalem this very day. 3 Tell these rebellious people a story. Tell them, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says:
Put the pot on the fire; put it on.
Pour water in it.
4 Cut the meat into pieces,
all the best pieces, the thigh and shoulder.
Fill the pot with the meatiest bones
5 selected from the best sheep.
Pile wood under the pot.
Bring the mixture in the pot to a boil.
Cook the bones that are in it well.
6 “ ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says:
How horrible it will be for that city of murderers,
for that tarnished pot.
Its tarnish will not come off.
Empty the meat out of it piece by piece
without choosing any particular piece.
7 Blood is still in that city.
The blood was poured on a bare rock.
It wasn’t poured on the ground where dust would cover it.
8 In order to stir up my fury so that I would pay that city back,
I put the blood of its victims on a bare rock.
Now that blood can’t be covered.
9 “ ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says:
How horrible it will be for that city of murderers.
I, too, will pile the wood high.
10 Pile it high, and light the fire.
Cook the meat thoroughly, stir the mixture,
and let the bones burn.
11 Then set the empty pot on the coals
so that it gets hot and its copper glows.
Its impurities will melt away,
and its tarnish will burn off.
12 “ ‘I have worn myself out trying to clean this pot. Even the fire can’t take away its thick tarnish. 13 I tried to clean you of your filthy lust, but you wouldn’t clean yourself from your filth. You will never be clean until I unleash my fury on you. 14 I, the Lord, have spoken. It will happen, and I will do it. I will not ignore you, pity you, or change my plans. I will punish you because of the way you lived and because of everything you have done,’ ” declares the Almighty Lord.
Paul Was Not a Burden to the Corinthians
11 I have become a fool. You forced me to be one. You should have recommended me to others. Even if I’m nothing, I wasn’t inferior in any way to your super-apostles. 12 While I was among you I patiently did the signs, wonders, and miracles which prove that I’m an apostle. 13 How were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I didn’t bother you for help? Forgive me for this wrong!
14 I’m ready to visit you for a third time, and I won’t bother you for help. I don’t want your possessions. Instead, I want you. Children shouldn’t have to provide for their parents, but parents should provide for their children. 15 I will be very glad to spend whatever I have. I’ll even give myself for you. Do you love me less because I love you so much?
16 You agree, then, that I haven’t been a burden to you. Was I a clever person who trapped you by some trick? 17 Did I take advantage of you through any of the men I sent you? 18 I encouraged Titus to visit you, and I sent my friend with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Didn’t we have the same motives and do things the same way?
19 Have you been thinking all along that we’re trying to defend ourselves to you? We speak as Christ’s people in God’s sight. Everything we do, dear friends, is for your benefit.
Paul’s Concern about the Corinthians’ Way of Life
20 I’m afraid that I may come and find you different from what I want you to be, and that you may find me different from what you want me to be. I’m afraid that there may be rivalry, jealousy, hot tempers, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly conduct. 21 I’m afraid that when I come to you again, my God may humble me. I may have to grieve over many who formerly led sinful lives and have not changed the way they think and act about the perversion, sexual sins, and promiscuity in which they have been involved.
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