Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 50[a]
The Worship Acceptable to God
1 A psalm of Asaph.[b]
[c]The Lord, the God of gods,[d]
has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God is coming, and he will not be silent;
he is preceded by a devouring fire,
and a raging tempest surrounds him.[e]
4 He summons the heavens above
and the earth to judge his people:
5 “Gather before me my faithful servants
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”[f]
6 The heavens proclaim his saving justice,
for God himself is the judge.[g] Selah
Chapter 14
The Lord Condemns Jeroboam.[a]1 It was at that time that Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, fell ill. 2 Jeroboam said to his wife, “Get up and disguise yourself so that they cannot tell that you are Jeroboam’s wife, and then go to Shiloh. Ahijah, the prophet, is there, the one who told me that I would be king over this people. 3 Take ten loaves of bread with you along with some cakes and a jar of honey and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the child.”
4 Jeroboam’s wife did this. She got up and went to Shiloh and entered the house of Ahijah. Ahijah could no longer see, for his eyes had grown dim because of his age. 5 But the Lord said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to ask something from you concerning her son who is sick. This is what you are to say to her.”
When she arrived, she pretended she was someone else. 6 When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came through the door, he said, “Enter, O wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be someone else? I have been sent to you with heavy tidings. 7 Go tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I have exalted you from among the people, and I have made you the leader over my people Israel. 8 I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you. Yet, you have not been like my servant David who observed my commandments and who followed me with all of his heart, doing what is right in my sight. 9 You have done more evil than those who preceded you. You have gone after and made other gods, molten images, enraging me and casting me behind your back. 10 Behold, I will bring evil down upon the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam everyone who pees against the wall, every bondsman and everyone who is free in Israel. I will wipe out the remnant of the house of Jeroboam as one burns up dung until it is completely consumed. 11 Those who belong to Jeroboam and who die in the city will be eaten by the dogs; those who die in the fields will be eaten by the birds of the air. The Lord has spoken.’
12 “As for you, get up and go home. The moment that your feet enter the city, your child will die. 13 All of Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one who comes from Jeroboam who will be placed in a grave because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the Lord, the God of Israel, has found anything good.
14 “The Lord will raise up a king over Israel for himself who on that day will cut off the house of Jeroboam. What? Even now! 15 The Lord will strike down Israel, just as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from out of this good land that he gave to their fathers. He will scatter them beyond the river because they have made their wooden images, provoking the Lord to anger. 16 He will give up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam, for he sinned and he caused Israel to sin.”
17 Jeroboam’s wife then got up and left and came to Tirzah. When she arrived at the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 They buried him, and all of Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken through Ahijah the prophet, his servant.
12 Called To Preach the Gospel. I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord who has given me strength, because he judged me trustworthy and appointed me to his service, 13 even though in the past I was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. However, I have been treated with mercy because I had acted out of ignorance and unbelief. 14 As a result, the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and the love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 This saying can be trusted and merits complete acceptance:[a] Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of these. 16 But for that very reason I was treated mercifully, so that in me Jesus Christ might exhibit his inexhaustible patience, making me an example for those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God,[b] be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
18 Never Falsify the Gospel. To you, Timothy, my child, I am giving these instructions in accordance with those prophecies once made about you,[c] so that by following them you may fight the good fight 19 with faith and a good conscience. Some people have spurned their conscience and destroyed their faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus[d] and Alexander whom I have handed over to Satan so that they may learn not to blaspheme.
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