Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 God says, “My people, listen to me;
Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 I do not scold you for your sacrifices.
You always bring me your burnt offerings.
9 But I do not need bulls from your stalls
or goats from your pens,
10 because every animal of the forest is already mine.
The cattle on a thousand hills are mine.
11 I know every bird on the mountains,
and every living thing in the fields is mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
because the earth and everything in it are mine.
13 I don’t eat the meat of bulls
or drink the blood of goats.
14 Give an offering to show thanks to God.
Give God Most High what you have promised.
15 Call to me in times of trouble.
I will save you, and you will honor me.”
7 Jerusalem is suffering and homeless.
She remembers all the good things
from the past.
But her people were defeated by the enemy,
and there was no one to help her.
When her enemies saw her,
they laughed to see her ruined.
8 Jerusalem sinned terribly,
so she has become unclean.
Those who honored her now hate her,
because they have seen her nakedness.
She groans
and turns away.
9 She made herself dirty by her sins
and did not think about what would happen to her.
Her defeat was surprising,
and no one could comfort her.
She says, “Lord, see how I suffer,
because the enemy has won.”
10 The enemy reached out and took
all her precious things.
She even saw foreigners
enter her Temple.
The Lord had commanded foreigners
never to enter the meeting place of his people.
11 All of Jerusalem’s people groan,
looking for bread.
They are trading their precious things for food
so they can stay alive.
The city says, “Look, Lord, and see.
I am hated.”
17 Those false teachers are like springs without water and clouds blown by a storm. A place in the blackest darkness has been kept for them. 18 They brag with words that mean nothing. By their evil desires they lead people into the trap of sin—people who are just beginning to escape from others who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are not free. They are slaves of things that will be destroyed. For people are slaves of anything that controls them. 20 They were made free from the evil in the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But if they return to evil things and those things control them, then it is worse for them than it was before. 21 Yes, it would be better for them to have never known the right way than to know it and to turn away from the holy teaching that was given to them. 22 What they did is like this true saying: “A dog goes back to what it has thrown up,”[a] and, “After a pig is washed, it goes back and rolls in the mud.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.