Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Free Offer of Mercy
55 “[a]You there! Everyone who (A)thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have (B)no [b]money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy (C)wine and milk
(D)Without money and without cost.
2 Why do you [c]spend money for what is (E)not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and (F)eat what is good,
And (G)delight yourself in abundance.
3 (H)Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that [d]you may (I)live;
And I will make (J)an everlasting covenant with you,
According to the (K)faithful mercies [e]shown to David.
4 Behold, I have made (L)him a witness to the peoples,
A (M)leader and commander for the peoples.
5 Behold, you will call a (N)nation you do not know,
And a nation which does not know you will (O)run to you,
Because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel;
For He has (P)glorified you.”
6 (Q)Seek the Lord while He may be found;
(R)Call upon Him while He is near.
7 (S)Let the wicked abandon his way,
And the unrighteous person his (T)thoughts;
And let him (U)return to the Lord,
And He will have (V)compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will (W)abundantly pardon.
8 “For My thoughts are not (X)your thoughts,
Nor are (Y)your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “For (Z)as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
The Thirsting Soul Satisfied in God.
A Psalm of David, [a]when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
63 God, (A)You are my God; I shall be watching for You;
My soul (B)thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,
In a (C)dry and exhausted land where there is no water.
2 So have I (D)seen You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and glory.
3 Because Your [b](E)favor is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
4 So I will bless You (F)as long as I live;
I will (G)lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul is (H)satisfied as with fat and fatness,
And my mouth offers (I)praises with joyful lips.
Avoid Israel’s Mistakes
10 For (A)I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all (B)under the cloud and they all (C)passed through the sea; 2 and they all were (D)baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and they all (E)ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all (F)drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was [a]Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased; for their dead bodies were (G)spread out in the wilderness.
6 Now these things happened as (H)examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as (I)they indeed craved them. 7 Do not be (J)idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “(K)The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to (L)play.” 8 Nor are we to commit sexual immorality, as (M)some of them [b]did, and (N)twenty-three thousand fell in one day. 9 Nor are we to put the Lord to the test, as (O)some of them [c]did, and were killed by the snakes. 10 Nor (P)grumble, as some of them [d]did, and (Q)were killed by the (R)destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an (S)example, and (T)they were written for our instruction, upon whom (U)the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let the one who (V)thinks he stands watch out that he does not fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and (W)God is faithful, [e]so He will not allow you to be (X)tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
Call to Repent
13 Now on that very occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood (A)Pilate had [a]mixed with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus responded and said to them, “(B)Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans just because they have suffered this fate? 3 No, I tell you, but unless you [b]repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or do you think that those eighteen on whom the tower in (C)Siloam fell and killed them were worse [c](D)offenders than all the other people who live in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
6 And He began telling this parable: “A man had (E)a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. 7 And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Look! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree [d]without finding any. (F)Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ 8 But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, leave it alone for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.