Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
ה HE
33 (A)Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes,
And I shall keep it to the end.
34 (B)Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;
Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
For I delight in it.
36 [a]Incline my heart to Your testimonies,
And not to (C)covetousness.
37 (D)Turn[b] away my eyes from (E)looking at worthless things,
And revive me in [c]Your way.
38 (F)Establish Your word to Your servant,
Who is devoted to fearing You.
39 Turn away my reproach which I dread,
For Your judgments are good.
40 Behold, I long for Your precepts;
Revive me in Your righteousness.
Symbol of the Cooking Pot(A)
24 Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, write down the name of the day, this very day—the king of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem (B)this very day. 3 (C)And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
(D)“Put on a pot, set it on,
And also pour water into it.
4 Gather pieces of meat in it,
Every good piece,
The thigh and the shoulder.
Fill it with choice [a]cuts;
5 Take the choice of the flock.
Also pile fuel bones under it,
Make it boil well,
And let the cuts simmer in it.”
6 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God:
“Woe to (E)the bloody city,
To the pot whose scum is in it,
And whose scum is not gone from it!
Bring it out piece by piece,
On which no (F)lot has fallen.
7 For her blood is in her midst;
She set it on top of a rock;
(G)She did not pour it on the ground,
To cover it with dust.
8 That it may raise up fury and take vengeance,
(H)I have set her blood on top of a rock,
That it may not be covered.”
9 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God:
(I)“Woe to the bloody city!
I too will make the pyre great.
10 Heap on the wood,
Kindle the fire;
Cook the meat well,
Mix in the spices,
And let the [b]cuts be burned up.
11 “Then set the pot empty on the coals,
That it may become hot and its bronze may burn,
That (J)its filthiness may be melted in it,
That its scum may be consumed.
12 She has [c]grown weary with [d]lies,
And her great scum has not gone from her.
Let her scum be in the fire!
13 In your (K)filthiness is lewdness.
Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed,
You will (L)not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore,
(M)Till I have caused My fury to rest upon you.
14 (N)I, the Lord, have spoken it;
(O)It shall come to pass, and I will do it;
I will not hold back,
(P)Nor will I spare,
Nor will I relent;
According to your ways
And according to your deeds
[e]They will judge you,”
Says the Lord God.’ ”
Signs of an Apostle
11 I have become (A)a fool [a]in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for (B)in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though (C)I am nothing. 12 (D)Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and (E)wonders and mighty (F)deeds. 13 For what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong!
Love for the Church
14 (G)Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for (H)I do not seek yours, but you. (I)For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent (J)for your souls; though (K)the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.
16 But be that as it may, (L)I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning! 17 Did I take advantage of you by any of those whom I sent to you? 18 I urged Titus, and sent our (M)brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?
19 (N)Again, [b]do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? (O)We speak before God in Christ. (P)But we do all things, beloved, for your edification. 20 For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that (Q)I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; 21 lest, when I come again, my God (R)will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many (S)who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, (T)fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.