Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord still loves his people

¹⁴ But listen! One day, I will speak kind words to her. I will lead her into the wilderness. I will tell her that I love her.^{[a] 15} There, I will give her the vineyards that she had before. I will change Trouble Valley into a place where there is hope.^[b] She will be happy with me there, as she was when she was young. That was the time when she came out of Egypt.^[c]

¹⁶ The Lord says this: When that happens, you will call me, ‘My husband’. You will never again call me, ‘Baal, my master’. ¹⁷ I will never again let you speak the names of the idols of Baal.

¹⁸ At that time, I will make a promise that nothing will hurt my people. I will make an agreement with the wild animals, with the birds in the fields and with the animals that move along the ground. I will remove from their land all the weapons that soldiers use to fight wars. I will destroy their swords and their bows and arrows. I will allow my people to live safely in peace.

This is a song that David wrote.

The love of God^[a]

God's Holy Spirit gives us new life

3 We do not need any more to show that our work is good. Some people need to have letters from other people to say that they do good work. We do not need to show you letters like that. Nor do we need you to write a letter like that for us. ² You yourselves show that we have done good work. You are like a letter that is written on our lives. Everybody can read that letter and they can understand it. ³ It is clear that you are a like a letter that Christ himself has written. We are the people who brought God's message to you. Now people see what God has done in your lives. That is like a letter that they read. But it is not a letter written on paper with ink. It is the Spirit of the living God who wrote it. He did not write it on pieces of stone. Instead, he wrote it deep inside you.^[a]

⁴ We know that these things are true. Because of what Christ has done, we trust God to help us. ⁵ We know that we cannot do this work by ourselves. We never think that. But God makes us able to do it. ⁶ God has made us his servants. So we are able to tell people the message of his new agreement. This new agreement is not about rules. Rules tell people what they must do and they bring death. But God's new agreement comes from his Spirit. And the Spirit brings new life to us, not death.^[b]

Jesus asks Levi to be his disciple

¹³ Jesus went to the shore of Lake Galilee again. A large crowd came to him, and he taught them. ¹⁴ While Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Levi. Levi was the son of Alphaeus. His job was to take taxes from people.^[a] He was sitting in his office. Jesus said to him, ‘Come with me and be my disciple.’ Levi stood up and he went with Jesus.

¹⁵ Then Jesus went to eat a meal at Levi's house. Many people followed Jesus and they ate there with him and with his disciples. Many of these were bad people and also men who took taxes. ¹⁶ Some teachers of God's Law who were Pharisees saw what was happening.^[b] They said to Jesus' disciples, ‘He is eating with bad people and men who take taxes. That is not right.’

¹⁷ Jesus heard what these people were saying. He said to them, ‘People who are well do not need a doctor. It is people who are ill that need a doctor. Some people think that they always obey God. I did not come to help people like that. Some people know that they have done wrong things. I am asking those people to come to me for help.’

¹⁸ At this time, the disciples of John the Baptist and the disciples of the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came to Jesus and they asked him this question: ‘The disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees often fast for a time. So why do your disciples never do that?’^[c]

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, ‘When a man marries, his friends cannot refuse to eat. They cannot fast while he is with them. ²⁰ But there will be a time when people will take the man away from his friends. At that time his friends will fast.’^[d]

²¹ Then Jesus said, ‘Nobody uses a piece of new cloth to mend an old coat. If he does, the new cloth will cause the old cloth to tear again. It will make a bigger hole than before. ²² And nobody pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does that, the new wine will tear the old wineskins. He will lose the wine and the wineskins will spoil. Instead, you must put new wine into new wineskins.’^[e]