Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Deborah and Barak

4 After Ehud died, the people of Israel sinned in the eyes of the Lord again. ² So the Lord let them be taken by Jabin king of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor. The head of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. ³ The people of Israel cried to the Lord, for Jabin had 900 iron war-wagons. He made it very hard for the people of Israel for twenty years.

⁴ Now Lappidoth’s wife Deborah, a woman who spoke for God, was judging Israel at that time. ⁵ She would sit under the tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim. And the people of Israel came to her to find out what was right or wrong. ⁶ She sent for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedeshnaphtali, and said to him, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Go to Mount Tabor. Take with you 10,000 men from the sons of Naphtali and Zebulun. ⁷ I will have Sisera, the head of Jabin’s army, meet you at the river Kishon. He will have his war-wagons and his many soldiers with him. But I will give him into your hand.’”

A Prayer for the Lord’s Help

123 I lift up my eyes to You, O You Whose throne is in the heavens. ² See, the eyes of servants look to the hand of their owner. The eyes of a woman servant look to the hand of her owner. So our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He shows us loving-kindness.

³ Show loving-kindness to us, O Lord. Show loving-kindness to us. For we have had our fill of hate. ⁴ The proud have laughed at us too long. We have had more than enough of their hate.

Watch for the Lord to Come Again

5 You do not need anyone to write to tell you when and at what kind of times these things will happen. ² You know for sure that the day the Lord comes back to earth will be as a robber coming in the night. ³ When they say, “Everything is fine and safe,” then all at once they will be destroyed. It will be like pain that comes on a woman when a child is born. They will not be able to get away from it. ⁴ But you are not in darkness, Christian brothers. That day will not surprise you as a robber would. ⁵ For you are children of the light and of the day. We are not of darkness or of night. ⁶ Keep awake! Do not sleep like others. Watch and keep your minds awake to what is happening. ⁷ People sleep at night. Those who get drunk do it at night. ⁸ Because we are men of the day, let us keep our minds awake. Let us cover our chests with faith and love. Let us cover our heads with the hope of being saved. ⁹ God planned to save us from the punishment of sin through our Lord Jesus Christ. He did not plan for us to suffer from His anger. ¹⁰ He died for us so that, dead or alive, we will be with Him. ¹¹ So comfort each other and make each other strong as you are already doing.

The Picture-Story of the Three Servants and the Money

¹⁴ “For the holy nation of heaven is like a man who was going to a country far away. He called together the servants he owned and gave them his money to use. ¹⁵ He gave to one servant five pieces of money worth much. He gave to another servant two pieces of money worth much. He gave to another servant one piece of money worth much. He gave to each one as he was able to use it. Then he went on his trip. ¹⁶ The servant who had the five pieces of money went out to the stores and traded until he made five more pieces. ¹⁷ The servant who had two pieces of money did the same thing. He made two more pieces. ¹⁸ The servant who had received the one piece of money went and hid the money in a hole in the ground. He hid his owner’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time the owner of those servants came back. He wanted to know what had been done with his money. ²⁰ The one who had received the five pieces of money worth much came and handed him five pieces more. He said, ‘Sir, you gave me five pieces of money. See! I used it and made five more pieces.’ ²¹ His owner said to him, ‘You have done well. You are a good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will put many things in your care. Come and share my joy.’ ²² The one who received two pieces of money worth much came also. He said, ‘Sir, you gave me two pieces of money. See! I used it and made two more pieces.’ ²³ His owner said to him, ‘You have done well. You are a good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will put many things in your care. Come and share my joy.’ ²⁴ The one who had received one piece of money worth much came. He said, ‘Sir, I know that you are a hard man. You gather grain where you have not planted. You take up where you have not spread out. ²⁵ I was afraid and I hid your money in the ground. See! Here is your money.’ ²⁶ His owner said to him, ‘You bad and lazy servant. You knew that I gather grain where I have not planted. You knew that I take up where I have not spread out. ²⁷ You should have taken my money to the bank. When I came back, I could have had my own money and what the bank paid for using it. ²⁸ Take the one piece of money from him. Give it to the one who has ten pieces of money.’ ²⁹ For the man who has will have more given to him. He will have more than enough. The man who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ Throw the bad servant out into the darkness. There will be loud crying and grinding of teeth.