Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Confession of a Sufferer[a]
39 I said, “I will be careful about what I do
and will not let my tongue make me sin;
I will not say anything
while evil people are near.”
2 I kept quiet, not saying a word,
not even about anything good!
But my suffering only grew worse,
3 and I was overcome with anxiety.
The more I thought, the more troubled I became;
I could not keep from asking:
4 “Lord, how long will I live?
When will I die?
Tell me how soon my life will end.”
5 How short you have made my life!
In your sight my lifetime seems nothing.
Indeed every living being is no more than a puff of wind,
6 no more than a shadow.
All we do is for nothing;
we gather wealth, but don't know who will get it.
7 What, then, can I hope for, Lord?
I put my hope in you.
8 Save me from all my sins,
and don't let fools make fun of me.
9 I will keep quiet, I will not say a word,
for you are the one who made me suffer like this.
10 Don't punish me any more!
I am about to die from your blows.
11 You punish our sins by your rebukes,
and like a moth you destroy what we love.
Indeed we are no more than a puff of wind!
12 Hear my prayer, Lord,
and listen to my cry;
come to my aid when I weep.
Like all my ancestors
I am only your guest for a little while.
13 Leave me alone so that I may have some happiness
before I go away and am no more.
The Parable of the Eagles and the Vine
17 The Lord spoke to me. 2 “Mortal man,” he said, “tell the Israelites a parable 3 to let them know what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them: There was a giant eagle with beautiful feathers and huge wings, spread wide. He flew to the Lebanon Mountains and broke off the top of a cedar tree, 4 which he carried to a land of commerce and placed in a city of merchants. 5 Then he took a young plant from the land of Israel and planted it in a fertile field,[a] where there was always water to make it grow. 6 The plant sprouted and became a low, wide-spreading grapevine. The branches grew upward toward the eagle, and the roots grew deep. The vine was covered with branches and leaves.
7 “There was another giant eagle with huge wings and thick plumage. And now the vine sent its roots toward him and turned its leaves toward him, in the hope that he would give it more water than there was in the garden where it was growing.[b] 8 But the vine had already been planted in a fertile, well-watered field so that it could grow leaves and bear grapes and be a magnificent vine.
9 “So I, the Sovereign Lord, ask: Will this vine live and grow? Won't the first eagle pull it up by its roots, pull off the grapes, and break off the branches and let them wither? It will not take much strength or a mighty nation to pull it up. 10 Yes, it is planted, but will it live and grow? Won't it wither when the east wind strikes it? Won't it wither there where it is growing?”
12 The Gentiles do not have the Law of Moses; they sin and are lost apart from the Law. The Jews have the Law; they sin and are judged by the Law. 13 For it is not by hearing the Law that people are put right with God, but by doing what the Law commands. 14 The Gentiles do not have the Law; but whenever they do by instinct what the Law commands, they are their own law, even though they do not have the Law. 15 Their conduct shows that what the Law commands is written in their hearts. Their consciences also show that this is true, since their thoughts sometimes accuse them and sometimes defend them. 16 And so, according to the Good News I preach, this is how it will be on that Day when God through Jesus Christ will judge the secret thoughts of all.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.