Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Kaph

⁸ “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. ^(A)Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and ^(B)eat what I give you.” ⁹ And when I looked, behold, ^(C)a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, ^(D)a scroll of a book was in it. ¹⁰ And he spread it before me. And it had writing ^(E)on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

3 And he said to me, ^(F)“Son of man, eat whatever you find here. ^(G)Eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” ^(H)Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth ^(I)as sweet as honey.

⁴ And he said to me, ^(J)“Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. ⁵ For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel— ⁶ not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language, whose words you cannot understand. ^(K)Surely, if I sent you to such, they would listen to you. ^7 (L)But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel ^(M)have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. ^8 (N)Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. ⁹ Like ^(O)emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. ^(P)Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.” ¹⁰ Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, ^(Q)all my words that I shall speak to you receive ^(R)in your heart, and hear with your ears. ¹¹ And go to the exiles, ^(S)to your people, and speak to them and say to them, ^(T)‘Thus says the Lord God,’ ^(U)whether they hear or refuse to hear.”

Paul's Sufferings as an Apostle

¹⁶ I repeat, ^(A)let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. ¹⁷ What I am saying ^(B)with this boastful confidence, ^(C)I say not as the Lord would^[a] but as a fool. ¹⁸ Since ^(D)many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. ¹⁹ For you gladly bear with fools, ^(E)being wise yourselves! ²⁰ For you bear it if someone ^(F)makes slaves of you, or ^(G)devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or ^(H)strikes you in the face. ²¹ To my shame, I must say, ^(I)we were too weak for that!

But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. ²² Are they Hebrews? ^(J)So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. ²³ Are they ^(K)servants of Christ? ^(L)I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, ^(M)far more imprisonments, ^(N)with countless beatings, and ^(O)often near death. ²⁴ Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the ^(P)forty lashes less one. ²⁵ Three times I was ^(Q)beaten with rods. ^(R)Once I was stoned. Three times I ^(S)was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; ²⁶ on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, ^(T)danger from my own people, ^(U)danger from Gentiles, ^(V)danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; ^27 (W)in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, ^(X)in hunger and thirst, often without food,^[b] in cold and exposure. ²⁸ And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for ^(Y)all the churches. ^29 (Z)Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

^30 (AA)If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. ^31 (AB)The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, ^(AC)he who is blessed forever, ^(AD)knows that I am not lying. ³² At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas ^(AE)was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, ^33 (AF)but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.