Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

^8-9 The Lord says, “Your request has come at a favorable time. I will keep you from harm and give you as a token and pledge to Israel, proof that I will reestablish the land of Israel and reassign it to its own people again. Through you I am saying to the prisoners of darkness, ‘Come out! I am giving you your freedom!’ They will be my sheep, grazing in green pastures and on the grassy hills. ¹⁰ They shall neither hunger nor thirst; the searing sun and scorching desert winds will not reach them anymore. For the Lord in his mercy will lead them beside the cool waters. ¹¹ And I will make my mountains into level paths for them; the highways shall be raised above the valleys. ¹² See, my people shall return from far away, from north and west and south.”

¹³ Sing for joy, O heavens; shout, O earth. Break forth with song, O mountains, for the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion upon them in their sorrow.

¹⁴ Yet they say, “My Lord deserted us; he has forgotten us.”

¹⁵ “Never! Can a mother forget her little child and not have love for her own son? Yet even if that should be, I will not forget you. ¹⁶ See, I have tattooed your name upon my palm, and ever before me is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.

131 Lord, I am not proud and haughty. I don’t think myself better than others. I don’t pretend to “know it all.” ² I am quiet now before the Lord, just as a child who is weaned from the breast. Yes, my begging has been stilled.

³ O Israel, you too should quietly trust in the Lord—now, and always.

4 So Apollos and I should be looked upon as Christ’s servants who distribute God’s blessings by explaining God’s secrets. ² Now the most important thing about a servant is that he does just what his master tells him to. ³ What about me? Have I been a good servant? Well, I don’t worry over what you think about this or what anyone else thinks. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. ⁴ My conscience is clear, but even that isn’t final proof. It is the Lord himself who must examine me and decide.

⁵ So be careful not to jump to conclusions before the Lord returns as to whether someone is a good servant or not. When the Lord comes, he will turn on the light so that everyone can see exactly what each one of us is really like, deep down in our hearts. Then everyone will know why we have been doing the Lord’s work. At that time God will give to each one whatever praise is coming to him.

²⁴ “You cannot serve two masters: God and money. For you will hate one and love the other, or else the other way around.

²⁵ “So my counsel is: Don’t worry about things—food, drink, and clothes. For you already have life and a body—and they are far more important than what to eat and wear. ²⁶ Look at the birds! They don’t worry about what to eat—they don’t need to sow or reap or store up food—for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. ²⁷ Will all your worries add a single moment to your life?

²⁸ “And why worry about your clothes? Look at the field lilies! They don’t worry about theirs. ²⁹ Yet King Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as beautifully as they. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you, O men of little faith?

^31-32 “So don’t worry at all about having enough food and clothing. Why be like the heathen? For they take pride in all these things and are deeply concerned about them. But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, ³³ and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to.

³⁴ “So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.^[a]