Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
ה (He)
33 Teach me, O Lord, the lifestyle prescribed by your statutes,[a]
so that I might observe it continually.[b]
34 Give me understanding so that I might observe your law,
and keep it with all my heart.[c]
35 Guide me[d] in the path of your commands,
for I delight to walk in it.[e]
36 Give me a desire for your rules,[f]
rather than for wealth gained unjustly.[g]
37 Turn my eyes away from what is worthless.[h]
Revive me with your word.[i]
38 Confirm to your servant your promise,[j]
which you made to the one who honors you.[k]
39 Take away the insults that I dread.[l]
Indeed,[m] your regulations are good.
40 Look, I long for your precepts.
Revive me with your deliverance.[n]
The Boiling Pot
24 The Lord’s message came to me in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month:[a] 2 “Son of man, write down the name of this day, this very day. The king of Babylon has laid siege[b] to Jerusalem this very day. 3 Recite a proverb to this rebellious house[c] and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘Set on the pot,[d] set it on,
pour water in it too;
4 add the pieces of meat to it,
every good piece,
the thigh and the shoulder;
fill it with choice bones.
5 Take the choice bone of the flock,
heap up wood under it;
boil rapidly,
and boil its bones in it.
6 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Woe to the city of bloodshed,
the pot whose rot[e] is in it,
whose rot has not been removed[f] from it!
Empty it piece by piece.
No lot has fallen on it.[g]
7 For her blood was in it;
she poured it on an exposed rock;
she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust.
8 To arouse anger, to take vengeance,
I have placed her blood on an exposed rock so that it cannot be covered up.
9 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
Woe to the city of bloodshed!
I will also make the pile high.
10 Pile up the wood, kindle the fire;
cook the meat well, mix in the spices,
let the bones be charred.
11 Set the empty pot on the coals,[h]
until it becomes hot and its copper glows,
until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot[i] is consumed.
12 It has tried my patience;[j]
yet its thick rot is not removed[k] from it.
Subject its rot to the fire![l]
13 You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct.[m]
I tried to cleanse you,[n] but you are not clean.
You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness[o]
until I have exhausted my anger on you.
14 “‘I the Lord have spoken; judgment[p] is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry![q] I will judge you[r] according to your conduct[s] and your deeds, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
The Signs of an Apostle
11 I have become a fool. You yourselves forced me to do it, for I should have been commended by you. For I lack nothing in comparison[a] to those “super-apostles,” even though I am nothing. 12 Indeed, the signs of an apostle were performed among you with great perseverance[b] by signs and wonders and powerful deeds.[c] 13 For how[d] were you treated worse than the other churches, except that I myself was not a burden to you? Forgive me this injustice! 14 Look, for the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you, because I do not want your possessions, but you. For children should not have[e] to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 Now I will most gladly spend and be spent for your lives![f] If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But be that as it may, I have not burdened you. Yet because I was a crafty person, I took you in by deceit! 17 I have not taken advantage of you through anyone I have sent to you, have I?[g] 18 I urged Titus to visit you[h] and I sent our[i] brother along with him. Titus did not take advantage of you, did he?[j] Did we not conduct ourselves in the same spirit? Did we not behave in the same way?[k] 19 Have you been thinking all this time[l] that we have been defending ourselves to you? We are speaking in Christ before God, and everything we do, dear friends, is to build you up.[m] 20 For I am afraid that somehow when I come I will not find you what I wish, and you will find me[n] not what you wish. I am afraid that[o] somehow there may be quarreling, jealousy, intense anger, selfish ambition,[p] slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder. 21 I am afraid that[q] when I come again, my God may humiliate me before you, and I will grieve for[r] many of those who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and licentiousness that they have practiced.
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