Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord Helps People in Need

Isaiah Condemns Social Injustice

⁸ You are in for trouble! You take over house after house and field after field, until there is no room left for anyone else in all the land. ⁹ But the Lord All-Powerful has made this promise to me:

Those large and beautiful homes will be left empty, with no one to take care of them. ¹⁰ Four hectares of grapevines will produce only 27 liters of juice, and 180 liters of seed will produce merely 18 liters of grain.

^11 (A) You are in for trouble! You get up early to start drinking, and you keep it up late into the night. ¹² At your drinking parties you have the music of stringed instruments, tambourines, and flutes. But you never even think about all the Lord has done, ¹³ and so his people know nothing about him. That's why many of you will be dragged off to foreign lands. Your leaders will starve to death, and everyone else will suffer from thirst.

¹⁴ The world of the dead has opened its mouth wide and is eagerly waiting for the leaders of Jerusalem and for its noisy crowds, especially for those who take pride in that city. ¹⁵ Its citizens have been put down, and its proud people have been brought to shame. ¹⁶ But the holy Lord God All-Powerful is praised, because he has shown who he is by bringing justice. ¹⁷ His people will be like sheep grazing in their own pasture, and they will take off what was left by others.^[a]

¹⁸ You are in for trouble! The lies you tell are like ropes by which you drag along sin and evil. ¹⁹ And you say, “Let the holy God of Israel hurry up and do what he has promised, so we can see it for ourselves.” ²⁰ You are headed for trouble! You say wrong is right, darkness is light, and bitter is sweet.

²¹ You think you are clever and smart. ²² And you are great at drinking and mixing drinks. But you are in for trouble. ²³ You accept bribes to let the guilty go free, and you cheat the innocent out of a fair trial.

A Widow's Offering

(Luke 21.1-4)

⁴¹ Jesus was sitting in the temple near the offering box and watching people put in their gifts. He noticed that many rich people were giving a lot of money. ⁴² Finally, a poor widow came up and put in two coins worth only a few pennies. ⁴³ Jesus told his disciples to gather around him. Then he said:

I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴⁴ Everyone else gave what they didn't need. But she is very poor and gave everything she had. Now she doesn't have a cent to live on.