Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
10 When God saw their deeds, that they (A)turned from their wicked way, then (B)God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would [a]bring upon them. And He did not do it.
Jonah’s Displeasure Rebuked
4 But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became (C)angry. 2 He (D)prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was not this [b]what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore [c]in order to forestall this I (E)fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a (F)gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please (G)take my [d]life from me, for death is (H)better to me than life.” 4 The Lord said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?”
5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of [e]it. There he made a shelter for himself and (I)sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So the Lord God appointed a [f]plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was [g]extremely happy about the [h]plant. 7 But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day and it attacked the plant and it (J)withered. 8 When the sun came up God appointed a scorching (K)east wind, and the (L)sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “(M)Death is better to me than life.”
9 Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” 10 Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which [i]came up overnight and perished [j]overnight. 11 Should I not (N)have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not (O)know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many (P)animals?”
The Lord Extolled for His Goodness.
A Psalm of Praise, of David.
145 I will (A)extol You, (B)my God, O King,
And I will (C)bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
And I will (D)praise Your name forever and ever.
3 (E)Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His (F)greatness is unsearchable.
4 One (G)generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 On the (H)glorious [a]splendor of Your majesty
And (I)on Your wonderful works, I will meditate.
6 Men shall speak of the [b]power of Your (J)awesome acts,
And I will (K)tell of Your greatness.
7 They shall [c]eagerly utter the memory of Your (L)abundant goodness
And will (M)shout joyfully of Your righteousness.
8 The Lord is (N)gracious and merciful;
Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.
To Live Is Christ
21 For to me, (A)to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 [a]But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean (B)fruitful labor for me; and I do not know [b]which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the (C)desire to depart and (D)be with Christ, for that is very much better; 24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 (E)Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy [c]in the faith, 26 so that your (F)proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.
27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner (G)worthy of the (H)gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are (I)standing firm in (J)one spirit, with one [d]mind (K)striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a (L)sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. 29 For to you (M)it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to (N)suffer for His sake, 30 experiencing the same (O)conflict which (P)you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.
Laborers in the Vineyard
20 “For (A)the kingdom of heaven is like [a]a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his (B)vineyard. 2 When he had agreed with the laborers for a [b]denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the [c]third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place; 4 and to those he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ And so they went. 5 Again he went out about the [d]sixth and the ninth hour, and did [e]the same thing. 6 And about the [f]eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he *said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ 7 They *said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He *said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’
8 “When (C)evening came, the [g]owner of the vineyard *said to his (D)foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.’ 9 When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a [h]denarius. 10 When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; [i]but each of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the (E)scorching heat of the day.’ 13 But he answered and said to one of them, ‘(F)Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your (G)eye [j]envious because I am [k]generous?’ 16 So (H)the last shall be first, and the first last.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.