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 Yahweh.(K)
Psalm 103
The Forgiving God
Davidic.
1 My soul, praise Yahweh,
and all that is within me, praise His holy name.(A)
2 My soul, praise the Lord,
and do not forget all His benefits.(B)
3 He forgives all your sin;(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 goodness;(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 rich 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 offenses.(N)
22 Praise the Lord, all His works
in all the places where He rules.(A)
My soul, praise Yahweh!
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, recognized and read by everyone.(A) 3 It is clear that you are Christ’s letter,(B) produced[a] by us, not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God(C)—not on stone tablets(D) but on tablets that are hearts of flesh.(E)
Paul’s Competence
4 We have this kind of confidence toward God through Christ. 5 It is not that we are competent in[b] ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence 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 produces life.
The Call of Matthew
13 Then(A) Jesus went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd was coming to Him, and He taught(B) them. 14 Then, moving on, He saw Levi(C) the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office,(D) and He said to him, “Follow Me!”(E) So he got up and followed(F) Him.
Dining with Sinners
15 While He was reclining at the table in Levi’s house, many tax collectors(G) and sinners(H) were also guests[a](I) with Jesus and His disciples, because there were many who were following Him. 16 When the scribes(J) of the Pharisees[b](K) saw that He was eating(L) with sinners(M) and tax collectors,(N) they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat[c] with tax collectors and sinners?”
17 When Jesus heard this, He told them, “Those who are well don’t need(O) a doctor,(P) but the sick(Q) do need one. I didn’t come to call the righteous,(R) but sinners.”(S)
A Question about Fasting
18 Now(T) John’s(U) disciples(V) and the Pharisees[d](W) were fasting.(X) 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[e] cannot fast while the groom(Y) is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the time[f] will come(Z) when the groom is taken away from them,(AA) and then they will fast(AB) in 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,(AC) and a worse tear is made. 22 And no one puts new wine(AD) into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst(AE) the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins.[g] But new wine is for fresh wineskins.”
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