Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 142
A Cry of Distress
A Davidic Maskil. When he was in the cave.(A) A prayer.
1 I cry aloud to the Lord;(B)
I plead aloud to the Lord for mercy.(C)
2 I pour out my complaint before Him;
I reveal my trouble to Him.(D)
3 Although my spirit is weak within me,
You know my way.(E)
Along this path I travel
they have hidden a trap for me.(F)
4 Look to the right and see:[a]
no one stands up for me;
there is no refuge for me;
no one cares about me.(G)
5 I cry to You, Lord;
I say, “You are my shelter,
my portion in the land of the living.”(H)
6 Listen to my cry,
for I am very weak.(I)
Rescue me from those who pursue me,
for they are too strong for me.(J)
7 Free me from prison
so that I can praise Your name.
The righteous will gather around me
because You deal generously with me.(K)
Judgment of the Nations
15 For the Day of the Lord(A) is near,
against all the nations.(B)
As you have done,(C) so it will be done to you;
what you deserve will return on your own head.(D)
16 As you have drunk on My holy mountain,(E)
so all the nations will drink continually.(F)
They will drink and gulp down
and be as though they had never been.
17 But there will be a deliverance on Mount Zion,(G)
and it will be holy;(H)
the house of Jacob will dispossess(I)
those who dispossessed them.[a](J)
18 Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire,(K)
and the house of Joseph, a burning flame,
but the house of Esau will be stubble;
Jacob[b] will set them on fire and consume Edom.[c]
Therefore no survivor will remain(L)
of the house of Esau,
for the Lord has spoken.
Future Blessing for Israel
19 People from the Negev will possess(M)
the hill country of Esau;(N)
those from the Judean foothills will possess
the land of the Philistines.(O)
They[d] will possess
the territories of Ephraim and Samaria,(P)
while Benjamin will possess Gilead.
20 The exiles of the Israelites who are in Halah[e]
and who are among the Canaanites as far as Zarephath(Q)
as well as the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
will possess the cities of the Negev.(R)
21 Saviors[f] will ascend Mount Zion(S)
to rule over the hill country of Esau,
but the kingdom will be the Lord’s.(T)
Why Jesus Used Parables
10 Then the disciples(A) came up and asked Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”(B)
11 He answered them, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know,(C) but it has not been given to them. 12 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and he will have more than enough. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.(D) 13 For this reason I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see,(E) and hearing they do not listen or understand.(F) 14 Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them, which says:
You will listen and listen,
yet never understand;
and you will look and look,
yet never perceive.(G)
15 For this people’s heart has grown callous;
their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn back—
and I would cure them.(H)[a]
16 “But your eyes are blessed(I) because they do see, and your ears because they do hear!(J) 17 For I assure you: Many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see yet didn’t see them; to hear the things you hear yet didn’t hear them.(K)
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