Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 This is what the Lord says:
I will answer you in a time of favor,
and I will help you in the day of salvation.(A)
I will keep you, and I will appoint you
to be a covenant for the people,(B)
to restore the land,
to make them possess the desolate inheritances,
9 saying to the prisoners, “Come out,”(C)
and to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.”
They will feed along the pathways,
and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.(D)
10 They will not hunger or thirst,
the scorching heat or sun will not strike them;
for their compassionate one will guide them,
and lead them to springs.(E)
11 I will make all my mountains into a road,
and my highways will be raised up.(F)
12 See, these will come from far away,
from the north and from the west,[a](G)
and from the land of Sinim.[b][c]
13 Shout for joy, you heavens!(H)
Earth, rejoice!
Mountains break into joyful shouts!
For the Lord has comforted his people,(I)
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.(J)
Zion Remembered
14 Zion says, “The Lord has abandoned me;
the Lord has forgotten me!”
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or lack compassion for the child of her womb?
Even if these forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;(K)
your walls are continually before me.
Psalm 131
A Childlike Spirit
A song of ascents. Of David.
1 Lord, my heart is not proud;
my eyes are not haughty.(A)
I do not get involved with things
too great or too wondrous for me.(B)
2 Instead, I have calmed and quieted my soul
like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul is like a weaned child.(C)
3 Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
both now and forever.(D)
The Faithful Manager
4 A person should think of us in this way: as servants(A) of Christ and managers(B) of the mysteries of God.(C) 2 In this regard, it is required that managers be found faithful.(D) 3 It is of little(E) importance to me that I should be judged(F) by you or by any human court.[a] In fact, I don’t even judge myself. 4 For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified(G) by this. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 So don’t judge(H) anything prematurely, before the Lord comes,(I) who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts. And then praise will come to each one from God.(J)
24 “No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (A)
The Cure for Anxiety
25 “Therefore I tell you:(B) Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?(C) 26 Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?(D) 27 Can any of you add one moment to his life span[a] by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith?(E) 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God[b](F) and his righteousness,(G) and all these things will be provided for you.(H) 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble(I) of its own.
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