Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
5 Now will I sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved concerning His vineyard: my Well-beloved hath a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.
2 And He fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine; and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine press therein. And He looked for it to bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What could have been done more to My vineyard than I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to bring forth good grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
5 “And now, I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down.
6 And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.”
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, His pleasant plant. And He looked for judgment, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry.
80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Thy strength, and come and save us.
8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt; Thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
9 Thou preparedst room for it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
12 Why hast Thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they that pass by the way do pluck her?
13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
14 Return, we beseech Thee, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and behold and visit this vine,
15 and the vineyard which Thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that Thou madest strong for Thyself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of Thy countenance.
17 Let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand, upon the son of man whom Thou madest strong for Thyself.
18 So will we not go back from Thee; quicken us, and we will call upon Thy name.
19 Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts; cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved!
29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, but the Egyptians, in attempting to do so, were drowned.
30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed about for seven days.
31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with those who believed not, having received the spies with peace.
32 And what shall I say more? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak and of Samson and of Jephthah, of David also and Samuel and of the prophets,
33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword. Out of weakness they were made strong, waxed valiant in battle, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
35 Women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
36 And others endured the trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea moreover, of bonds and imprisonment.
37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented
38 (of whom the world was not worthy). They wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise,
40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
12 Therefore, seeing we also are compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
49 “I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I, if it be already kindled?
50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am straitened till it be accomplished!
51 Suppose ye that I have come to give peace on earth? I tell you, nay, but rather division.
52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided: three against two, and two against three.
53 The father shall be divided against the son and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter and the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
54 And He said also to the people, “When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, ‘There cometh a shower’; and so it is.
55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, ‘There will be heat’; and it cometh to pass.
56 Ye hypocrites! Ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
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