Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹⁸ When people who are turning away from God hear about the cross, they say, `That is foolish!' But for us who are being saved, the cross is the power God uses to save us.

¹⁹ God says in the holy writings, `I will fool the wise people. I will bring to nothing the understanding of the clever people.'

²⁰ Where are your wise people, the men who know books, the men who like to talk about the things of this world? God has shown that the clever things of this world are nothing.

²¹ God is wise. But the people of the world were not wise enough to know God. So he chose to save people who believe the good news that we tell them, even though the good news may seem to be foolish.

²² The Jews say, `We must see a sign.' Those who are not Jews say, `We want something we can understand.'

²³ But we tell people about Christ who died on a cross. The leaders of the Jews do not like this, and those who are not Jews laugh at it.

²⁴ But some have been called by God. They are chosen, both Jews and other people. Christ is God's power to save them. This shows how wise he is.

²⁵ When God seems foolish, he is more wise than men. When God seems weak, he is stronger than men.

²⁶ My brothers, remember what you were when God chose you. Not many of you were wise by the way people look at it. Not many of you had power. Not many of you came from a family with a big name.

²⁷ But God chose things that look foolish to the people of the world. He has used those foolish things to put the wise people to shame. God chose the weak things to put to shame the strong people.

²⁸ And God chose the small things, things that people despise. Yes, he chose even the things which seem to be nothing. He did this to destroy the big things.

²⁹ He did this so that people would not be proud before God.

³⁰ You are God's children through Christ Jesus. Christ came from God and made us wise. He put us right with God. He made us holy. He set us free from our wrong ways.

³¹ Just as the holy writings say, `No one should be proud of anything but of the Lord.'

5 When Jesus saw the many people, he went up on a hill. He sat down and his disciples came to him.

² He began to teach the people.

³ He said, `God makes happy those who know that they need him. The kingdom of heaven is for them.

⁴ `God makes happy those who are sad. They will have comfort.

⁵ `God makes happy those who quietly trust him and do not try to get their own way. The world will belong to them.

⁶ `God makes happy those who are hungry and thirsty for what is right and good. They will be filled.

⁷ `God makes happy those who are kind. He will be kind to them.

⁸ `God makes happy those who have clean hearts. They will see God.

⁹ `God makes happy those who make peace between people. They will be called God's sons.

¹⁰ `God makes happy those who have trouble for doing what is right. The kingdom of heaven is for them.

¹¹ `God makes you happy when people say wrong things about you, when they trouble you, and when they say all kinds of lies about you. God makes you happy when it is for my sake.

¹² Be happy and glad because God will be good to you in heaven. In the same way people troubled the prophets before your time.'