Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Lord's Mercy on Israel
14 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and (A)bring her into the wilderness,
and (B)speak tenderly to her.
15 And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor[a] a door of hope.
And there she shall answer (C)as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
16 “And (D)in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband’, and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For (E)I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And (F)I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And (G)I will abolish[b] the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in (H)safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me (I)for ever. (J)I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 (K)I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And (L)you shall know the Lord.
Bless the Lord, O My Soul
Of David.
103 (A)Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 (B)Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and (C)forget not all his benefits,
3 who (D)forgives all your iniquity,
who (E)heals all your diseases,
4 who (F)redeems your life from the pit,
who (G)crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who (H)satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like (I)the eagle's.
6 The Lord works (J)righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his (K)ways to Moses,
his (L)acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is (M)merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 (N)He will not always chide,
nor will he (O)keep his anger for ever.
10 He does not deal with us (P)according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For (Q)as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his (R)steadfast love towards (S)those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he (T)remove our transgressions from us.
13 As (U)a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion (V)to those who fear him.
Ministers of the New Covenant
3 (A)Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, (B)as some do, (C)letters of recommendation to you, or from you? 2 (D)You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our[a] hearts, to be known and read by all. 3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of (E)the living God, not on (F)tablets of stone but on (G)tablets of (H)human hearts.[b]
4 (I)Such is the confidence that we have through Christ towards God. 5 (J)Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but (K)our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us competent[c] to be (L)ministers of (M)a new covenant, not of (N)the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but (O)the Spirit gives life.
Jesus Calls Levi
13 He went out again beside the sea, and (A)all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 (B)And as he passed by, he saw (C)Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many (D)tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And (E)the scribes of[a] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, (F)“Why does he eat[b] with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. (G)I came not to call the righteous, (H)but sinners.”
A Question About Fasting
18 Now (I)John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, (J)“Why do John's disciples and (K)the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, (L)“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 (M)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and (N)then they will fast in that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine into old (O)wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”[c]
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.