Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God’s Disappointing Vineyard
5 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved (A)regarding His vineyard:
My Well-beloved has a vineyard
[a]On a very fruitful hill.
2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also [b]made a winepress in it;
(B)So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
(C)Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in (D)it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
(E)I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;
And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will lay it (F)waste;
It shall not be pruned or [c]dug,
But there shall come up briers and (G)thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain on it.”
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
For righteousness, but behold, [d]a cry for help.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
8 You have brought (A)a vine out of Egypt;
(B)You have cast out the [a]nations, and planted it.
9 You prepared room for it,
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with its shadow,
And the [b]mighty cedars with its (C)boughs.
11 She sent out her boughs to [c]the Sea,
And her branches to [d]the River.
4 though (A)I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I (B)more so: 5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, (C)of the tribe of Benjamin, (D)a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, (E)a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, (F)persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
7 But (G)what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss (H)for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having (I)my own righteousness, which is from the law, but (J)that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the (K)power of His resurrection, and (L)the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may (M)attain[a] to the resurrection from the dead.
Pressing Toward the Goal
12 Not that I have already (N)attained,[b] or am already (O)perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have [c]apprehended; but one thing I do, (P)forgetting those things which are behind and (Q)reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 (R)I press toward the goal for the prize of (S)the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers(A)
33 “Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner (B)who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and (C)went into a far country. 34 Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. 35 (D)And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. 37 Then last of all he sent his (E)son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, (F)‘This is the heir. (G)Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 (H)So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”
41 (I)They said to Him, (J)“He will destroy those wicked men miserably, (K)and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will [a]render to him the fruits in their seasons.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
(L)‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 “Therefore I say to you, (M)the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. 44 And (N)whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, (O)it will grind him to powder.”
45 Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they [b]perceived that He was speaking of them. 46 But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they (P)feared the multitudes, because (Q)they took Him for a prophet.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.