Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
2 “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for (A)the Lord God[a] is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”
3 (B)With joy you[b] will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 (C)And you will say in that day:
(D)“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
(E)make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim (F)that his name is exalted.
5 (G)“Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known[c] in all the earth.
6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great (H)in your[d] midst is (I)the Holy One of Israel.”
4 Hear this, (A)you who trample on the needy
and bring the poor of the land to an end,
5 saying, “When will (B)the new moon be over,
that we may sell grain?
And (C)the Sabbath,
that we may offer wheat for sale,
that we may make (D)the ephah small and the shekel[a] great
and deal deceitfully with false balances,
6 that we may buy the poor for (E)silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and sell the chaff of the wheat?”
7 The Lord has sworn by (F)the pride of Jacob:
“Surely (G)I will never forget any of their deeds.
8 (H)Shall not the land tremble on this account,
and everyone mourn who dwells in it,
(I)and all of it rise like the Nile,
and be tossed about (J)and sink again, like the Nile of Egypt?”
9 “And on that day,” declares the Lord God,
(K)“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 (L)I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into lamentation;
(M)I will bring sackcloth on every waist
(N)and baldness on every head;
(O)I will make it like the mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day.
11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God,
“when (P)I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
(Q)but of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 (R)They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord,
(S)but they shall not find it.
The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem
9 Now (A)it is superfluous for me to write to you about (B)the ministry for the saints, 2 for I know your readiness, (C)of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready (D)since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But (E)I am sending[a] the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, (F)as I said you would be. 4 Otherwise, if some Macedonians (G)come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the (H)gift[b] you have promised, so that it may be ready (I)as a willing gift, (J)not as an exaction.[c]
The Cheerful Giver
6 The point is this: (K)whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully[d] will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, (L)not reluctantly or under compulsion, for (M)God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And (N)God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency[e] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written,
(O)“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures for ever.”
10 He who supplies (P)seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and (Q)increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 (R)You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which (S)through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying (T)the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, (U)they[f] will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your (V)confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 (W)Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.