Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Lord’s Vineyard
5 I will sing[a] for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:
“The one I love had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
2 He plowed its land[b] and cleared it of stones.
Then he planted it with the choicest vines,
built a watchtower in the middle of it,
and dug a wine vat in it;
He expected[c] it to produce good[d] grapes,
but it produced only wild ones.”[e]
3 “So now, you inhabitants[f] of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge, won’t you please,
between me and my vineyard.
4 What more could I do in[g] my vineyard,
that I haven’t already done?
When I expected it to produce good[h] grapes,
why did it yield[i] wild ones?[j]
5 “Now, let me tell you, won’t you please,
what I’m going to do to my vineyard.
“I’m going to take away its protective hedge,
and it will be devoured;[k]
I’ll break down its wall,
and it will be trampled.
6 I’ll make it a wasteland,
and it won’t be pruned or cultivated.
Instead, briers and thorns will grow up.
I’ll also issue commands to the clouds,
that they drop no rain upon it.”
For the Director of Music: According to “The Lilies”. A testimony of Asaph. A psalm.
A Prayer for Jerusalem
80 Shepherd of Israel, listen!
The one who leads Joseph like a flock,
the one enthroned on the cherubim,
display your glory.[a]
2 Reveal[b] your power before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
then come to our rescue.
8 You uprooted a vine from Egypt,
and drove out nations to transplant it.
9 You cleared the ground[a] so that its roots grew
and filled the land.
10 Mountains were covered by its shadows,
and the mighty cedars by its branches.
11 Its branches spread out to the Mediterranean[b] Sea
and its shoots to the Euphrates[c] River.
12 Why did you break down its walls
so that those who pass by pluck its fruits?[d]
13 Wild boars of the forest gnaw at it,
and creatures of the field feed on it.
14 God of the Heavenly Armies, return!
Look down from heaven and see.
Show care[e] toward this vine.
15 The root[f] that your right hand planted,
the shoot[g] that you tended for yourself,
16 was burned with fire, cut off,
and destroyed on account of your rebuke.
17 May you support the man at your right hand;
the son of man whom you have raised for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Restore us, so we can call upon your name.
19 God of hosts, restore to us the light of your favor.[h]
Then we’ll be delivered.
29 By faith they went through the Red Sea as if it were dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do this, they were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
31 By faith Rahab the prostitute did not die with those who were disobedient, because she had welcomed the spies with a greeting of[a] peace.
32 And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. 33 Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, received promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 put out raging fires, escaped death by[b] the sword, found strength in weakness, became powerful in battle, and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received their dead raised back to life. Other people were brutally tortured, but refused to be ransomed, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Still others endured taunts and floggings, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned to death, sawed in half, and killed with swords. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins. They were needy, oppressed, and mistreated. 38 The world wasn’t worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and from caves to holes in the ground.
39 All these people won approval for their faith but they did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us, so that they would not be perfected without us.
We Must Look Off to Jesus
12 Therefore, having so vast a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and throwing off everything that hinders us and especially the sin that so easily entangles[c] us, let us keep running with endurance the race set before us, 2 fixing our attention on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view of[d] the joy set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Not Peace, but Division(A)
49 “I’ve come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already ablaze! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and what stress I am under until it’s completed! 51 Do you think that I came to bring peace on earth? Not at all, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on, five people in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Interpreting the Time(B)
54 Then Jesus[a] told the crowds, “When you see a cloud coming in from the west, you immediately say, ‘There’s going to be a storm,’ and that’s what happens. 55 When you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and so it is. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, yet you don’t know how to interpret the present time?”
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