Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

^(A)A Prayer for Protection from Enemies^[a]

The Fall of Samaria

⁵ Then Shalmaneser invaded Israel and besieged Samaria. In the third year of the siege, ⁶ which was the ninth year of the reign of Hoshea, the Assyrian emperor^[a] captured Samaria, took the Israelites to Assyria as prisoners, and settled some of them in the city of Halah, some near the Habor River in the district of Gozan and some in the cities of Media.

⁷ Samaria fell because the Israelites sinned against the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the king of Egypt and had led them out of Egypt. They worshiped other gods, ⁸ followed the customs of the people whom the Lord had driven out as his people advanced, and adopted customs introduced by the kings of Israel.^{[b] 9} The Israelites did^[c] things that the Lord their God disapproved of. They built pagan places of worship in all their towns, from the smallest village to the largest city. ^10 (A)On all the hills and under every shady tree they put up stone pillars and images of the goddess Asherah, ¹¹ and they burned incense on all the pagan altars, following the practice of the people whom the Lord had driven out of the land. They aroused the Lord's anger with all their wicked deeds ¹² and disobeyed the Lord's command not to worship idols.

¹³ The Lord had sent his messengers and prophets to warn Israel and Judah: “Abandon your evil ways and obey my commands, which are contained in the Law I gave to your ancestors and which I handed on to you through my servants the prophets.” ¹⁴ But they would not obey; they were stubborn like their ancestors, who had not trusted in the Lord their God. ¹⁵ They refused to obey his instructions, they did not keep the covenant he had made with their ancestors, and they disregarded his warnings. They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves, and they followed the customs of the surrounding nations, disobeying the Lord's command not to imitate them. ^16 (B)They broke all the laws of the Lord their God and made two metal bull-calves to worship; they also made an image of the goddess Asherah, worshiped the stars, and served the god Baal. ^17 (C)They sacrificed their sons and daughters as burnt offerings to pagan gods; they consulted mediums and fortunetellers, and they devoted themselves completely to doing what is wrong in the Lord's sight, and so aroused his anger. ¹⁸ The Lord was angry with the Israelites and banished them from his sight, leaving only the kingdom of Judah.

Jesus Predicts Their Punishment^(A)

²⁹ “How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You make fine tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of those who lived good lives; ³⁰ and you claim that if you had lived during the time of your ancestors, you would not have done what they did and killed the prophets. ³¹ So you actually admit that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets! ³² Go on, then, and finish up what your ancestors started! ^33 (B)You snakes and children of snakes! How do you expect to escape from being condemned to hell? ³⁴ And so I tell you that I will send you prophets and wise men and teachers; you will kill some of them, crucify others, and whip others in the synagogues and chase them from town to town. ^35 (C)As a result, the punishment for the murder of all innocent people will fall on you, from the murder of innocent Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. ³⁶ I tell you indeed: the punishment for all these murders will fall on the people of this day!

Jesus' Love for Jerusalem^(D)

³⁷ “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone the messengers God has sent you! How many times I wanted to put my arms around all your people, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not let me! ^38 (E)And so your Temple will be abandoned and empty. ^39 (F)From now on, I tell you, you will never see me again until you say, ‘God bless him who comes in the name of the Lord.’”