Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

כ Kaph

⁸ “And you, son of man, listen to what I tell you: Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you.”^{(A) 9} So I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me,^(B) and there was a written scroll in it.^{(C) 10} When he unrolled it before me, it was written on the front and back; words of lamentation, mourning, and woe were written on it.

3 He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find here. Eat this scroll,^(D) then go and speak to the house of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and he fed me the scroll. ³ “Son of man,” he said to me, “feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate it,^(E) and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.^(F)

⁴ Then he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them. ⁵ For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or a difficult language but to the house of Israel— ⁶ not to the many peoples of unintelligible speech or a difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. No doubt, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you.^{(G) 7} But the house of Israel will not want to listen to you because they do not want to listen to me.^(H) For the whole house of Israel is hardheaded and hardhearted. ⁸ Look, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.^{(I) 9} I have made your forehead like a diamond, harder than flint. Don’t be afraid of them or discouraged by the look on their faces, though they are a rebellious house.”

¹⁰ Next he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully to all my words that I speak to you and take them to heart. ¹¹ Go to your people, the exiles, and speak to them. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says,’ whether they listen or refuse to listen.”^(J)

Paul’s Sufferings for Christ

¹⁶ I repeat: Let no one consider me a fool. But if you do, at least accept me as a fool so that I can also boast a little. ¹⁷ What I am saying in this matter^[a] of boasting, I don’t speak as the Lord would, but as it were, foolishly. ¹⁸ Since many boast according to the flesh, I will also boast. ¹⁹ For you, being so wise, gladly put up with fools!^{(A) 20} In fact, you put up with it if someone enslaves you, if someone exploits^(B) you, if someone takes advantage of you, if someone is arrogant toward you, if someone slaps^(C) you in the face. ²¹ I say this to our shame: We have been too weak for that!

But in whatever anyone dares to boast—I am talking foolishly—I also dare: ²² Are they Hebrews?^(D) So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the descendants of Abraham?^(E) So am I. ²³ Are they servants of Christ? I’m talking like a madman—I’m a better one: with far more labors, many more imprisonments, far worse beatings, many times near death.

²⁴ Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews.^{(F) 25} Three times I was beaten with rods.^(G) Once I received a stoning.^(H) Three times I was shipwrecked.^(I) I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. ²⁶ On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers,^(J) dangers from my own people,^(K) dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; ²⁷ toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing.^{(L) 28} Not to mention^[b] other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble,^(M) and I do not burn with indignation?

³⁰ If boasting is necessary, I will boast about my weaknesses. ³¹ The God and Father^(N) of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows I am not lying. ³² In Damascus,^(O) a ruler^[c] under King Aretas guarded the city of Damascus in order to arrest me. ³³ So I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands.^(P)