Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁸ Thus saith Jehovah, In an acceptable time have I answered thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to ^[a]raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages; ⁹ saying to them that are bound, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and on all bare heights shall be their pasture. ¹⁰ They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the ^[b]heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water will he guide them. ¹¹ And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. ¹² Lo, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. ¹³ Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for Jehovah hath comforted his people, and will have compassion upon his afflicted.

¹⁴ But Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me. ¹⁵ Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee. ¹⁶ Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

Childlike trust in Jehovah.

A Song of Ascents; of David.

4 Let a man so account of us, as of ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. ² Here, moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. ³ But with me it is a very small thing that I should be ^[a]judged of you, or of man’s ^[b]judgment: yea, I ^[c]judge not mine own self. ⁴ For I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that ^[d]judgeth me is the Lord. ⁵ Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from God.

²⁴ No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. ²⁵ Therefore I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? ²⁶ Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto ^[a]the measure of his life? ²⁸ And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: ²⁹ yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? ³¹ Be not therefore anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? ³² For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. ³³ But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. ³⁴ Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.