Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Naboth's Vineyard

21 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in ^(A)Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. ² And after this Ahab said to Naboth, ^(B)“Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” ³ But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid ^(C)that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.” ⁴ And Ahab ^(D)went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food.

⁵ But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?” ⁶ And he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” ⁷ And Jezebel his wife said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

^8 (E)So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to ^(F)the elders and the leaders who lived with Naboth in his city. ⁹ And she wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. ¹⁰ And set two ^(G)worthless men opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, ^(H)‘You have cursed^[a] God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”

¹¹ And the men of his city, ^(A)the elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, ^12 (B)they proclaimed a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. ¹³ And the two worthless men came in and sat opposite him. And the worthless men brought a charge against Naboth in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death with stones. ¹⁴ Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.”

¹⁵ As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” ¹⁶ And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

The Lord Condemns Ahab

^17 (A)Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸ “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in ^(B)Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. ¹⁹ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(C)“In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.”’”

²⁰ Ahab said to Elijah, ^(D)“Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because ^(E)you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. ²¹ Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and ^(F)will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel.

Lead Me in Your Righteousness

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.

Justified by Faith

¹⁵ We ourselves are Jews by birth and not ^(A)Gentile sinners; ¹⁶ yet we know that ^(B)a person is not justified^[a] by works of the law ^(C)but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, ^(D)because by works of the law no one will be justified.

¹⁷ But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found ^(E)to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸ For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. ¹⁹ For through the law I ^(F)died to the law, so that I might ^(G)live to God. ²⁰ I have been ^(H)crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives ^(I)in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, ^(J)who loved me and ^(K)gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not nullify the grace of God, for ^(L)if righteousness^[b] were through the law, ^(M)then Christ died for no purpose.

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

^36 (A)One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at table. ^37 (B)And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, ³⁸ and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and ^(C)wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. ³⁹ Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If ^(D)this man were ^(E)a prophet, he ^(F)would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰ And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

⁴¹ “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred ^(G)denarii, and the other fifty. ^42 (H)When they could not pay, he ^(I)cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” ⁴³ Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” ⁴⁴ Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; ^(J)you gave me no water for my feet, but ^(K)she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ^45 (L)You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to ^(M)kiss my feet. ^46 (N)You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷ Therefore I tell you, her sins, ^(O)which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” ⁴⁸ And he said to her, ^(P)“Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹ Then those who were at table with him began to say among^[a] themselves, ^(Q)“Who is this, who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰ And he said to the woman, ^(R)“Your faith has saved you; ^(S)go in peace.”

Women Accompanying Jesus

8 Soon afterward he went on ^(T)through cities and villages, proclaiming and ^(U)bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, ² and also ^(V)some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: ^(W)Mary, called Magdalene, ^(X)from whom seven demons had gone out, ³ and ^(Y)Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them^[b] out of their means.