Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Jeremiah Mourns for His People
18 Incurable sorrow has overwhelmed me,
my heart is sick within me.
19 Listen! My people[a] cry
from a distant land:
“Is the Lord no longer in Zion?
Is her king no longer there?”
The Lord Speaks
“Why did they provoke me to anger with their images,
with their worthless foreign gods?”
The People Speak
20 The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we haven’t been delivered.
The Prophet Mourns
21 Because my people[b] are crushed, I’m crushed.
I mourn, and dismay overwhelms me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
So why is there no healing for my people?[c]
The Lord’s Sorrow for His People
A Psalm of Asaph
A Prayer for Jerusalem
79 God, nations have invaded your land[a]
to desecrate your holy Temple,
to destroy Jerusalem,
2 to give the corpses of your servants
as food for the birds of the skies
and the flesh of your godly ones
to the beasts of the earth;
3 to make their blood flow like water around Jerusalem,
with no one being buried.
4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
a mockery and a derision to those around us.
5 How long, Lord, will you be angry? Forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath upon the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
and over the kingdoms
that do not call on your name.
7 For they consumed Jacob,
making his dwelling place desolate.
Prayer and Submission to Authority
2 First of all, then, I urge you to offer to God[a] petitions, prayers, intercessions, and expressions of thanks for all people, 2 for kings, and for everyone who has authority, so that we might lead a quiet and peaceful life with all godliness and dignity.[b] 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to know the truth fully. 5 There is one God. There is also one mediator between God and human beings—a human, the Messiah[c] Jesus. 6 He gave himself as a ransom for everyone, the testimony at the proper time. 7 For this reason I was appointed to be an announcer, an apostle, and a faithful and true teacher of the gentiles. (I am telling you the truth.[d] I am not lying.)
The Parable about a Dishonest Manager
16 Now Jesus[a] was saying to the disciples, “A rich man had a servant manager who was accused of wasting his assets. 2 So he called for him and asked him, ‘What’s this I hear about you? You can’t be my manager any longer. Now give me a report about your management!’
3 “Then the servant manager told himself, ‘What should I do? My master is taking my position away from me. I’m not strong enough to plow, and I’m ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I’ll do so that people[b] will welcome me into their homes when I’m dismissed from my job.’
5 “So he called for each of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 The man replied, ‘A hundred jars of olive oil.’ The manager[c] told him, ‘Get your bill. Sit down quickly and write “50.”’ 7 Then he asked another debtor,[d] ‘How much do you owe?’ The man replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ The manager[e] told him, ‘Get your bill and write “80.”’ 8 The master praised the dishonest servant manager for being so clever, because worldly people[f] are more clever than enlightened people[g] in dealing with their own.[h]
9 “I’m telling you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they will welcome you into eternal homes.[i] 10 Whoever is faithful with very little is also faithful with a lot, and whoever is dishonest with very little is also dishonest with a lot. 11 So if you haven’t been faithful with unrighteous wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? 12 And if you haven’t been faithful with what belongs to foreigners, who will give you what is your own?
13 “No servant can serve two masters, because either he will hate one and love the other, or be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth!”
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