Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Israel’s Adultery Forgiven
14 Therefore, I am going to persuade her,
lead her to the wilderness,(A)
and speak tenderly to her.[a]
15 There I will give her vineyards back to her(B)
and make the Valley of Achor[b](C)
into a gateway of hope.
There she will respond as she did
in the days of her youth,(D)
as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.
16 In that day—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you will call me “my husband”(E)
and no longer call me “my Baal.”[c]
17 For I will remove the names of the Baals
from her mouth;
they will no longer be remembered by their names.
18 On that day I will make a covenant for them
with the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and the creatures that crawl on the ground.(F)
I will shatter bow, sword,
and weapons of war in the land[d](G)
and will enable the people to rest securely.(H)
19 I will take you to be my wife forever.(I)
I will take you to be my wife in righteousness,
justice, love, and compassion.(J)
20 I will take you to be my wife in faithfulness,
and you will know the Lord.(K)
Psalm 103
The Forgiving God
Of David.
1 My soul, bless the Lord,
and all that is within me, bless his holy name.(A)
2 My soul, bless the Lord,
and do not forget all his benefits.(B)
3 He forgives all your iniquity;(C)
he heals all your diseases.(D)
4 He redeems your life from the Pit;(E)
he crowns you with faithful love and compassion.(F)
5 He satisfies you[a] with good things;(G)
your youth is renewed like the eagle.(H)
6 The Lord executes acts of righteousness
and justice for all the oppressed.(I)
7 He revealed his ways to Moses,(J)
his deeds to the people of Israel.(K)
8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in faithful love.(L)
9 He will not always accuse us
or be angry forever.(M)
10 He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve
or repaid us according to our iniquities.(N)
22 Bless the Lord, all his works
in all the places where he rules.(A)
My soul, bless the Lord!
Living Letters
3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.(A) 3 You show that you are Christ’s letter,(B) delivered[a] by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God(C)—not on tablets of stone(D) but on tablets of human hearts.[b](E)
Paul’s Competence
4 Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. 5 It is not that we are competent in[c] ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.(F) 6 He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant,(G) not of the letter,(H) but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The Call of Levi
13 Jesus(A) went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching(B) them. 14 Then, passing by, he saw Levi(C) the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office,(D) and he said to him, “Follow me,”(E) and he got up and followed(F) him.
15 While he was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors(G) and sinners(H) were eating[a] with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who were following him. 16 When the scribes(I) who were Pharisees[b](J) saw that he was eating(K) with sinners(L) and tax collectors,(M) they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat[c] with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “It is not those who are well who need(N) a doctor,(O) but those who are sick.(P) I didn’t come to call the righteous,(Q) but sinners.”(R)
A Question about Fasting
18 Now(S) John’s(T) disciples(U) and the Pharisees[d](V) were fasting.(W) People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?”
19 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom(X) is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the time[e] will come(Y) when the groom will be taken away from them,(Z) and then they will fast(AA) on that day. 21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth,(AB) and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine(AC) into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst(AD) the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins. No, new wine is put into fresh wineskins.”
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