Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
2 God indeed is my salvation;
I am confident and unafraid.
For the Lord is my strength and my might,
and he has been my salvation.(A)
3 With joy you will draw water
from the fountains of salvation,(B)
4 And you will say on that day:
give thanks to the Lord, acclaim his name;
Among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.(C)
5 Sing praise to the Lord for he has done glorious things;
let this be known throughout all the earth.(D)
6 Shout with exultation, City of Zion,
for great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel!(E)
4 Hear this, you who trample upon the needy
and destroy the poor of the land:
5 “When will the new moon be over,” you ask,
“that we may sell our grain,
And the sabbath,
that we may open the grain-bins?
We will diminish the ephah,[a]
add to the shekel,
and fix our scales for cheating!(A)
6 We will buy the destitute for silver,
and the poor for a pair of sandals;(B)
even the worthless grain we will sell!”
7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Never will I forget a thing they have done!
8 Shall not the land tremble because of this,
and all who dwell in it mourn?
It will all rise up and toss like the Nile,
and subside like the river of Egypt.(C)
9 On that day—oracle of the Lord God—
I will make the sun set at midday
and in broad daylight cover the land with darkness.
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning
and all your songs into dirges.
I will cover the loins of all with sackcloth
and make every head bald.
I will make it like the time of mourning for an only child,
and its outcome like a day of bitter weeping.(D)
11 See, days are coming—oracle of the Lord God—
when I will send a famine upon the land:
Not a hunger for bread, or a thirst for water,
but for hearing the word of the Lord.
12 They shall stagger from sea to sea
and wander from north to east
In search of the word of the Lord,
but they shall not find it.(E)
Chapter 9
God’s Indescribable Gift.[a] 1 Now about the service to the holy ones, it is superfluous for me to write to you, 2 for I know your eagerness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia[b] has been ready since last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them.(A) 3 Nonetheless, I sent the brothers[c] so that our boast about you might not prove empty in this case, so that you might be ready, as I said, 4 for fear that if any Macedonians come with me and find you not ready we might be put to shame (to say nothing of you) in this conviction. 5 So I thought it necessary to encourage the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for your promised gift, so that in this way it might be ready as a bountiful gift and not as an exaction.
6 Consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.(B) 7 Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.(C) 8 [d]Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work. 9 As it is written:
“He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”(D)
10 The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.(E)
11 [e]You are being enriched in every way for all generosity, which through us produces thanksgiving to God, 12 for the administration of this public service is not only supplying the needs of the holy ones but is also overflowing in many acts of thanksgiving to God. 13 Through the evidence of this service, you are glorifying God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution to them and to all others,(F) 14 while in prayer on your behalf they long for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!(G)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.