Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
8 Thus says the Lord:
“In an (A)acceptable[a] time I have heard You,
And in the day of salvation I have helped You;
I will [b]preserve You (B)and give You
As a covenant to the people,
To restore the earth,
To cause them to inherit the desolate [c]heritages;
9 That You may say (C)to the prisoners, ‘Go forth,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
“They shall feed along the roads,
And their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
10 They shall neither (D)hunger nor thirst,
(E)Neither heat nor sun shall strike them;
For He who has mercy on them (F)will lead them,
Even by the springs of water He will guide them.
11 (G)I will make each of My mountains a road,
And My highways shall be elevated.
12 Surely (H)these shall come from afar;
Look! Those from the north and the west,
And these from the land of Sinim.”
13 (I)Sing, O heavens!
Be joyful, O earth!
And break out in singing, O mountains!
For the Lord has comforted His people,
And will have mercy on His afflicted.
God Will Remember Zion
14 (J)But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
And my Lord has forgotten me.”
Simple Trust in the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
131 Lord, my heart is not [a]haughty,
Nor my eyes [b]lofty.
(A)Neither do I [c]concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too [d]profound for me.
2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
(B)Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 (C)O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
Stewards of the Mysteries of God
4 Let a man so consider us, as (A)servants of Christ (B)and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human [a]court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. 5 (C)Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to (D)light the hidden things of darkness and (E)reveal the [b]counsels of the hearts. (F)Then each one’s praise will come from God.
You Cannot Serve God and Riches
24 (A)“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. (B)You cannot serve God and [a]mammon.
Do Not Worry(C)
25 “Therefore I say to you, (D)do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 (E)Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one [b]cubit to his [c]stature?
28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not [d]arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But (F)seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.