Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Restoration and Responsibility

²⁷ “Look, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I’ll sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah using people and animals as seed.^{[a] 28} Just as I’ve watched over them to pull up, tear down, overthrow, destroy, and bring disaster, so I’ll watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord. ²⁹ “In those days people will no longer say, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, but the children’s teeth have been set on edge.’ ³⁰ Instead, each person will die for his own iniquity. Everyone who eats sour grapes will have his own^[b] teeth set on edge.”

The New Covenant

³¹ “Look, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I’ll make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ³² It won’t be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. They broke my covenant, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. ³³ “Rather, this is the covenant that I’ll make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord. “I’ll put my Law^[c] within them and will write it on their hearts. I’ll be their God and they will be my people. ³⁴ No longer will a person teach his neighbor or his relative: ‘Know the Lord.’ Instead, they’ll all know me, from the least to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord. “Indeed, I’ll forgive their iniquity, and I’ll remember their sin no more.”

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Loving God’s Word

¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and found to be true, because you know from whom you learned it. ¹⁵ From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to give you the wisdom you need for salvation through faith in the Messiah^[a] Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed^[b] and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good action.

Complete the Task Entrusted to You

4 In the presence of God and the Messiah^[c] Jesus, who is going to judge those who are living and those who are dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly appeal to you ² to proclaim the message. Be ready to do this^[d] whether or not the time is convenient. Refute, warn, and encourage with the utmost patience when you teach. ³ For the time will come when people will not tolerate healthy doctrine, but with itching ears will surround themselves with teachers who cater to their people’s own desires. ⁴ They will refuse to listen to the truth and will turn to myths. ⁵ But you must be clear-headed about everything. Endure suffering. Do the work of an evangelist. Devote yourself completely to your ministry.

The Parable about the Judge and the Widow

18 Jesus^[a] told his disciples^[b] a parable about their need to pray all the time and never give up. ² He said, “In a city there was a judge who didn’t fear God or respect people. ³ In that city there was also a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ For a while the judge^[c] refused. But later, he told himself, ‘I don’t fear God or respect people, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice. Otherwise, she will keep coming and wear me out.’”

⁶ Then the Lord added, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says. ⁷ Won’t God grant his chosen people justice when they cry out to him day and night? Is he slow to help them? ⁸ I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”