Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes,
and I will observe it to the end.(A)
34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.(B)
35 Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
36 Turn my heart to your decrees
and not to selfish gain.(C)
37 Turn my eyes from looking at vanities;
be gracious to me[a] according to your word.(D)
38 Confirm to your servant your promise,
which is for those who fear you.(E)
39 Turn away the disgrace that I dread,
for your ordinances are good.
40 See, I have longed for your precepts;
in your righteousness be gracious to me.[b](F)
The Boiling Pot
24 In the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me:(A) 2 Mortal, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day.(B) 3 And utter an allegory to the rebellious house and say to them: Thus says the Lord God:
Set on the pot; set it on;
pour in water also;(C)
4 put in it the pieces,
all the good pieces, the thigh and the shoulder;
fill it with choice cuts.
5 Take the choicest one of the flock;
pile the logs[a] under it;
boil its pieces;[b]
seethe[c] also its bones in it.
6 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
Woe to the bloody city,
the pot whose crud is in it,
whose crud has not gone out of it!
Empty it piece by piece,
making no choice at all.[d](D)
7 For the blood she shed is inside it;
she placed it on a bare rock;
she did not pour it out on the ground,
to cover it with earth.(E)
8 To rouse my wrath, to take vengeance,
I have placed the blood she shed
on a bare rock,
so that it may not be covered.
9 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
Woe to the bloody city!
I will even make the pile great.(F)
10 Heap up the logs; kindle the fire;
boil the meat well; boil down the broth;[e]
let the bones be burned.
11 Stand it empty upon the coals,
so that it may become hot, its copper glow,
its filth melt in it, its crud be consumed.
12 In vain I have wearied myself;[f]
its thick crud does not depart.
To the fire with its crud!
13 Yet when I cleansed you in your filthy lewdness,
you did not become clean from your filth;
you shall not again be cleansed
until I have satisfied my fury upon you.(G)
14 I the Lord have spoken; the time is coming; I will act. I will not refrain; I will not spare; I will not relent. According to your ways and your doings I will judge you, says the Lord God.(H)
Paul’s Concern for the Corinthian Church
11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it. Indeed you should have been the ones commending me, for I am not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.(A) 12 The signs of an apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, signs and wonders and mighty works.(B) 13 How have you been worse off than the other churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!(C)
14 Here I am, ready to come to you this third time, and I will not be a burden because I do not want what is yours but you, for children ought not to save up for their parents but parents for their children.(D) 15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?(E) 16 Be that as it may, I did not burden you. But, crafty person that I am, did I take you in by deceit? 17 Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? 18 I urged Titus to go and sent the brother with him. Titus did not take advantage of you, did he? Did we not conduct ourselves with the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same footsteps?(F)
19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves before you? We are speaking in Christ before God. Everything we do, beloved, is for the sake of building you up.(G) 20 For I fear that when I come I may find you not as I wish and that you may find me not as you wish; I fear that there may perhaps be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.(H) 21 I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you and that I may have to mourn over many who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and debauchery that they have practiced.(I)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.