Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
13 But as for me, Lord,
my prayer to You is for a time of favor.
In Your abundant, faithful love, God,
answer me with Your sure salvation.(A)
14 Rescue me from the miry mud; don’t let me sink.
Let me be rescued from those who hate me
and from the deep waters.(B)
15 Don’t let the floodwaters sweep over me
or the deep swallow me up;
don’t let the Pit close its mouth over me.(C)
16 Answer me, Lord,
for Your faithful love is good;
in keeping with Your great compassion,
turn to me.(D)
30 I will praise God’s name with song
and exalt Him with thanksgiving.(A)
31 That will please Yahweh more than an ox,
more than a bull with horns and hooves.(B)
32 The humble will see it and rejoice.
You who seek God, take heart!(C)
33 For the Lord listens to the needy
and does not despise
His own who are prisoners.(D)
The Tower of Babylon
11 At one time the whole earth had the same language and vocabulary.[a] 2 As people[b] migrated from the east,[c] they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.(A) 3 They said to each other, “Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.” They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.(B) 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky.(C) Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 Then the Lord came down(D) to look over the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let Us go down there and confuse[d] their language[e] so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”[f] 8 So from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth,(E) and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babylon,[g](F) for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Entering the Kingdom
13 “Enter through the narrow gate.(A) For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction,(B) and there are many who go through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.
15 “Beware of false prophets(C) who come to you in sheep’s(D) clothing(E) but inwardly are ravaging wolves.(F) 16 You’ll recognize them by their fruit.(G) Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles?(H) 17 In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.(I) 20 So you’ll recognize them by their fruit.(J)
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