Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Deborah and Barak

4 After the death of Ehud, the Israelites again started disobeying the Lord. ² So the Lord let the Canaanite King Jabin of Hazor conquer Israel. Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, lived in Harosheth-Ha-Goiim. ³ Jabin's army had 900 iron chariots, and for 20 years he made life miserable for the Israelites, until finally they begged the Lord for help.

⁴ Deborah the wife of Lappidoth was a prophet and a leader^[a] of Israel during those days. ⁵ She would sit under Deborah's Palm Tree between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where Israelites would come and ask her to settle their legal cases.

⁶ One day, Barak the son of Abinoam was in Kedesh in Naphtali, and Deborah sent word for him to come and talk with her. When he arrived, she said:

I have a message for you from the Lord God of Israel! You are to get together an army of 10,000 men from the Naphtali and Zebulun tribes and lead them to Mount Tabor. ⁷ The Lord will trick Sisera into coming out to fight you at the Kishon River. Sisera will be leading King Jabin's army as usual, and they will have their chariots, but the Lord has promised to help you defeat them.

(A song for worship.)

A Prayer for Mercy

5 I don't need to write you about the time or date when all this will happen. ^2 (A) You surely know that the Lord's return^[a] will be as a thief coming at night. ³ People will think they are safe and secure. But destruction will suddenly strike them like the pains of a woman about to give birth. And they won't escape.

⁴ My dear friends, you don't live in darkness, and so that day won't surprise you like a thief. ⁵ You belong to the light and live in the day. We don't live in the night or belong to the dark. ⁶ Others may sleep, but we should stay awake and be alert. ⁷ People sleep during the night, and some even get drunk. ^8 (B) But we belong to the day. So we must stay sober and let our faith and love be like a suit of armor. Our firm hope that we will be saved is our helmet.

⁹ God doesn't intend to punish us, but wants us to be saved by our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁰ Christ died for us, so we could live with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. ¹¹ This is why you must encourage and help each other, just as you are already doing.

A Story about Three Servants

(Luke 19.11-27)

^14 (A) The kingdom is also like what happened when a man went away and put his three servants in charge of all he owned. ¹⁵ The man knew what each servant could do. So he handed 5,000 coins to the first servant, 2,000 to the second, and 1,000 to the third. Then he left the country.

¹⁶ As soon as the man had gone, the servant with the 5,000 coins used them to earn 5,000 more. ¹⁷ The servant who had 2,000 coins did the same with his money and earned 2,000 more. ¹⁸ But the servant with 1,000 coins dug a hole and hid his master's money in the ground.

¹⁹ Some time later the master of those servants returned. He called them in and asked what they had done with his money. ²⁰ The servant who had been given 5,000 coins brought them in with the 5,000 that he had earned. He said, “Sir, you gave me 5,000 coins, and I have earned 5,000 more.”

²¹ “Wonderful!” his master replied. “You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!”

²² Next, the servant who had been given 2,000 coins came in and said, “Sir, you gave me 2,000 coins, and I have earned 2,000 more.”

²³ “Wonderful!” his master replied. “You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!”

²⁴ The servant who had been given 1,000 coins then came in and said, “Sir, I know that you are hard to work for. You harvest what you don't plant and gather crops where you haven't scattered seed. ²⁵ I was frightened and went out and hid your money in the ground. Here is every single coin!”

²⁶ The master of the servant told him, “You are lazy and good-for-nothing! You know I harvest what I don't plant and gather crops where I haven't scattered seed. ²⁷ You could have at least put my money in the bank, so I could have earned interest on it.”

²⁸ Then the master said, “Now your money will be taken away and given to the servant with 10,000 coins! ^29 (B) Everyone who has something will be given more, and they will have more than enough. But everything will be taken from those who don't have anything. ^30 (C) You are a worthless servant, and you will be thrown out into the dark where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain.”