Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A Davidic Song, when he was in the cave.[a] A prayer.
A Call to God for Help
142 My voice cries out to the Lord;
my voice pleads for mercy to the Lord.
2 I pour out my complaint to him,
telling him all of my troubles.
3 Though my spirit grows faint within me,
you are aware of my path.
Wherever I go,
they have hidden a trap for me.
4 I look to my right[b] and observe—
no one is concerned about me.
There is nowhere I can go for refuge,
and no one cares for me.
5 So I cry to you, Lord,
declaring, “You are my refuge,
my only[c] possession while I am on this earth.”[d]
6 Pay attention to my cry,
for I have been brought very low.
Deliver me from my tormentors,
for they are far too strong for me.
7 Break me out of this prison,
so I can give thanks to your name.
The righteous will surround me,
for you will deal generously with me.
The Lord’s Judgment and Israel’s Final Victory
15 “Indeed, the Day of the Lord approaches all nations.
As you have done it will be done to you—
your deeds will return to haunt you![a]
16 Just as you have drunk from the cup of my wrath[b] upon my holy mountain,
so will all nations drink from the cup of my wrath[c] perpetually.
They will drink, they will gulp it down,
and they will be as if they had never existed!
17 “But there will be a delivered remnant on Mount Zion.
There will be holiness,
and the house of Jacob will take back their possessions.
18 “The house of Jacob will be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame,
but the house of Esau will be kindling.
Then Jacob and Joseph[d] will burn and consume Esau,[e]
and no survivor will remain from the house of Esau.”
Indeed, the Lord has spoken it.
19 “Those in the Negev[f] will possess Esau’s Mountain,
and those in the Shephelah[g] the Philistines.
They will possess the fields of Ephraim
and the fields of Samaria,
while Benjamin will possess the territory of[h] Gilead.
20 The exiles, the Israeli host,
will possess the territory of the[i] Canaanites all the way to Zarephath.
The exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad[j]
will possess the cities of the Negev.[k]
21 Deliverers will assemble on Mount Zion to judge Esau’s Mountain,
and to the Lord will the kingdom belong!”
The Purpose of the Parables(A)
10 Then the disciples came and asked Jesus,[a] “Why do you speak to people[b] in parables?”
11 He answered them, “You have been given knowledge about the secrets of the kingdom from[c] heaven, but it hasn’t been given to them, 12 because to anyone who has something, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who doesn’t have anything, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 That’s why I speak to them in parables, because
‘they look but don’t see,
and they listen but don’t hear or understand.’
14 “With them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says:
‘You will listen and listen but never understand.
You will look and look but never comprehend,
15 for this people’s heart has become dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing.[d]
They have shut their eyes
so that they might not see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart and turn,
and I would heal them.’[e]
16 “How blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear! 17 I tell all of you[f] with certainty, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but did not see them, and to hear the things you hear but did not hear them.”
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