Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
14 I will lay waste her vines and fig trees,
of which she said, “These are the fees
my lovers have given me”;
I will turn them into rank growth
and wild animals shall devour them.
15 I will punish her for the days of the Baals,[a]
for whom she burnt incense,
When she decked herself out with her rings and her jewelry,
and went after her lovers—
but me she forgot—oracle of the Lord.(A)
16 Therefore,[b] I will allure her now;
I will lead her into the wilderness(B)
and speak persuasively to her.
17 Then I will give her the vineyards she had,
and the valley of Achor[c] as a door of hope.(C)
There she will respond as in the days of her youth,
as on the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.
18 On that day—oracle of the Lord—
You shall call me “My husband,”
and you shall never again call me “My baal.”[d]
19 I will remove from her mouth the names of the Baals;
they shall no longer be mentioned by their name.
20 I will make a covenant for them on that day,(D)
with the wild animals,
With the birds of the air,
and with the things that crawl on the ground.
Bow and sword and warfare
I will destroy from the land,
and I will give them rest in safety.
Psalm 103[a]
Praise of Divine Goodness
1 Of David.
I
Bless the Lord, my soul;
all my being, bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, my soul;
and do not forget all his gifts,
3 Who pardons all your sins,
and heals all your ills,
4 Who redeems your life from the pit,(A)
and crowns you with mercy and compassion,
5 Who fills your days with good things,
so your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.[b]
II
6 The Lord does righteous deeds,
brings justice to all the oppressed.(B)
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
to the Israelites his deeds.
8 Merciful and gracious is the Lord,
slow to anger, abounding in mercy.(C)
9 He will not always accuse,
and nurses no lasting anger;
10 He has not dealt with us as our sins merit,
nor requited us as our wrongs deserve.
III
11 For as the heavens tower over the earth,
so his mercy towers over those who fear him.(D)
12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our sins from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.
22 Bless the Lord, all his creatures,
everywhere in his domain.
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Chapter 3
1 [a](A)Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You are our letter,[b] written on our hearts, known and read by all, 3 [c](B)shown to be a letter of Christ administered by us, written not in ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.
4 [d]Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather, our qualification comes from God,(C) 6 who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit;(D) for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.[e]
The Call of Levi. 13 [a](A)Once again he went out along the sea. All the crowd came to him and he taught them. 14 (B)As he passed by,[b] he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. 15 While he was at table in his house,[c] many tax collectors and sinners sat with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many who followed him. 16 [d]Some scribes who were Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors and said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 Jesus heard this and said to them [that], “Those who are well do not need a physician,[e] but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
The Question About Fasting.[f] 18 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.(C) People came to him and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast[g] while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse. 22 Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”
The Disciples and the Sabbath.[h]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.