Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet saw.

² O Lord, how long shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear? Even cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save?

³ Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? For despoiling and violence are before me, and there are those that raise up strife and contention.

⁴ Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth. For the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

2 I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

² And the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it.

³ For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come; it will not tarry.

⁴ Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.

37 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

² For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

³ Trust in the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

⁴ Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

⁵ Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

⁶ And He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

⁷ Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

⁸ Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

² To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³ I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that I have thee in remembrance in my prayers night and day without ceasing.

⁴ I greatly desire to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy

⁵ when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice and,I am persuaded, is in thee also.

⁶ Therefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee through the putting on of my hands.

⁷ For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

⁸ Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner; but be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God,

⁹ who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but in accordance with His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

¹⁰ but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.

¹¹ For this I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles,

¹² for which cause I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that Day.

¹³ Hold fast to the form of sound words, which thou hast heard from me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴ That good thing which was committed unto thee, keep, by the Holy Ghost who dwelleth in us.

⁵ And the apostles said unto the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

⁶ And the Lord said, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, ‘Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea,’ and it should obey you.

⁷ But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by when he is come from the field, ‘Go and sit down to meat’?

⁸ But will you not rather say unto him, ‘Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself and serve me until I have eaten and drunk, and afterward thou shalt eat and drink’?

⁹ Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not!

¹⁰ So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done that which was our duty to do.’”