Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
5 The Lord says this about the prophets who teach his people the wrong way of living:
“If these prophets are given food to eat,
they shout, ‘Peace!’
But if someone doesn’t give them what they ask for,
they call for a holy war against that person.
6 So it will become like night for them, without visions.
It will become dark for them, without any way to tell the future.
The sun is about to set for the prophets;
their day will become dark.
7 The seers will be ashamed;
the people who see the future will be embarrassed.
Yes, all of them will cover their mouths,
because there will be no answer from God.”
Micah Is an Honest Prophet of God
8 But I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and strength,
to tell the people of Jacob how they have turned against God,
and the people of Israel how they have sinned.
9 Leaders of Jacob and rulers of Israel,
listen to me,
you who hate fairness
and twist what is right.
10 You build Jerusalem by murdering people;
you build it with evil.
11 Its judges take money
to decide who wins in court.
Its priests only teach for pay,
and its prophets only look into the future when they get paid.
But they lean on the Lord and say,
“The Lord is here with us,
so nothing bad will happen to us.”
12 Because of you,
Jerusalem will be plowed like a field.
The city will become a pile of rocks,
and the hill on which the Temple stands will be covered with bushes.
A Prayer for Protection
43 God, defend me.
Argue my case against those who don’t follow you.
Save me from liars and those who do evil.
2 God, you are my strength.
Why have you rejected me?
Why am I sad
and troubled by my enemies?
3 Send me your light and truth
to guide me.
Let them lead me to your holy mountain,
to where you live.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God who is my joy and happiness.
I will praise you with a harp,
God, my God.
5 Why am I so sad?
Why am I so upset?
I should put my hope in God
and keep praising him,
my Savior and my God.
9 Brothers and sisters, I know you remember our hard work and difficulties. We worked night and day so we would not burden any of you while we preached God’s Good News to you.
10 When we were with you, we lived in a holy and honest way, without fault. You know this is true, and so does God. 11 You know that we treated each of you as a father treats his own children. 12 We encouraged you, we urged you, and we insisted that you live good lives for God, who calls you to his glorious kingdom.
13 Also, we always thank God because when you heard his message from us, you accepted it as the word of God, not the words of humans. And it really is God’s message which works in you who believe.
Jesus Accuses Some Leaders
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his followers, 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the law of Moses says. 3 So you should obey and follow whatever they tell you, but their lives are not good examples for you to follow. They tell you to do things, but they themselves don’t do them. 4 They make strict rules and try to force people to obey them, but they are unwilling to help those who struggle under the weight of their rules.
5 “They do good things so that other people will see them. They enlarge the little boxes[a] holding Scriptures that they wear, and they make their special prayer clothes very long. 6 Those Pharisees and teachers of the law love to have the most important seats at feasts and in the synagogues. 7 They love people to greet them with respect in the marketplaces, and they love to have people call them ‘Teacher.’
8 “But you must not be called ‘Teacher,’ because you have only one Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters together. 9 And don’t call any person on earth ‘Father,’ because you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 And you should not be called ‘Master,’ because you have only one Master, the Christ. 11 Whoever is your servant is the greatest among you. 12 Whoever makes himself great will be made humble. Whoever makes himself humble will be made great.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.