Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Destruction of Israel

6 How terrible it will be for you that have such an easy life in Zion and for you that feel safe in Samaria—you great leaders of this great nation Israel, you to whom the people go for help!

⁴ How terrible it will be for you that stretch out on your luxurious couches, feasting on veal and lamb! ⁵ You like to compose songs, as David did, and play them on harps. ⁶ You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest perfumes, but you do not mourn over the ruin of Israel. ⁷ So you will be the first to go into exile. Your feasts and banquets will come to an end.

In Praise of God the Savior

⁶ Well, religion does make us very rich, if we are satisfied with what we have. ⁷ What did we bring into the world? Nothing! What can we take out of the world? Nothing! ⁸ So then, if we have food and clothes, that should be enough for us. ⁹ But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and are caught in the trap of many foolish and harmful desires, which pull them down to ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith and have broken their hearts with many sorrows.

Personal Instructions

¹¹ But you, man of God, avoid all these things. Strive for righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. ¹² Run your best in the race of faith, and win eternal life for yourself; for it was to this life that God called you when you firmly professed your faith before many witnesses. ^13 (A)Before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who firmly professed his faith before Pontius Pilate, I command you ¹⁴ to obey your orders and keep them faithfully until the Day when our Lord Jesus Christ will appear. ¹⁵ His appearing will be brought about at the right time by God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. ¹⁶ He alone is immortal; he lives in the light that no one can approach. No one has ever seen him; no one can ever see him. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen.

¹⁷ Command those who are rich in the things of this life not to be proud, but to place their hope, not in such an uncertain thing as riches, but in God, who generously gives us everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share with others. ¹⁹ In this way they will store up for themselves a treasure which will be a solid foundation for the future. And then they will be able to win the life which is true life.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ “There was once a rich man who dressed in the most expensive clothes and lived in great luxury every day. ²⁰ There was also a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who used to be brought to the rich man's door, ²¹ hoping to eat the bits of food that fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs would come and lick his sores. ²² The poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven. The rich man died and was buried, ^23 (A)and in Hades,^[a] where he was in great pain, he looked up and saw Abraham, far away, with Lazarus at his side. ²⁴ So he called out, ‘Father Abraham! Take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and cool off my tongue, because I am in great pain in this fire!’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Remember, my son, that in your lifetime you were given all the good things, while Lazarus got all the bad things. But now he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain. ²⁶ Besides all that, there is a deep pit lying between us, so that those who want to cross over from here to you cannot do so, nor can anyone cross over to us from where you are.’ ²⁷ The rich man said, ‘Then I beg you, father Abraham, send Lazarus to my father's house, ²⁸ where I have five brothers. Let him go and warn them so that they, at least, will not come to this place of pain.’ ²⁹ Abraham said, ‘Your brothers have Moses and the prophets to warn them; your brothers should listen to what they say.’ ³⁰ The rich man answered, ‘That is not enough, father Abraham! But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins.’ ³¹ But Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.’”