Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Good Wife
10 It is hard to find an excellent wife.
She is worth more than rubies.
11 Her husband trusts her completely.
With her, he has everything he needs.
12 She does him good and not harm
for as long as she lives.
13 She looks for wool and linen.
She likes to work with her hands.
14 She is like a trader’s ship.
She goes far to get food.
15 She gets up while it is still dark.
She prepares food for her family.
She also feeds her servant girls.
16 She looks at a field and buys it.
With money she has earned, she plants a vineyard.
17 She does her work with energy.
Her arms are strong.
18 She makes sure that what she makes is good.
She works by her lamp late into the night.
19 She makes thread with her hands
and weaves her own cloth.
20 She welcomes the poor.
She helps the needy.
21 She does not worry about her family when it snows.
They all have fine clothes to keep them warm.
22 She makes coverings for her bed.
Her clothes are made of linen and other expensive material.
23 Her husband is recognized at the city meetings.
He makes decisions as one of the leaders of the land.
24 She makes linen clothes and sells them.
She provides belts to the merchants.
25 She is strong and is respected by the people.
She looks forward to the future with joy.
26 She speaks wise words.
And she teaches others to be kind.
27 She watches over her family.
And she is always busy.
28 Her children bless her.
Her husband also praises her.
29 He says, “There are many excellent wives,
but you are better than all of them.”
30 Charm can fool you, and beauty can trick you.
But a woman who respects the Lord should be praised.
31 Give her the reward she has earned.
She should be openly praised for what she has done.
Book 1
Psalms 1—41
Two Ways to Live
1 Happy is the person who doesn’t listen to the wicked.
He doesn’t go where sinners go.
He doesn’t do what bad people do.
2 He loves the Lord’s teachings.
He thinks about those teachings day and night.
3 He is strong, like a tree planted by a river.
It produces fruit in season.
Its leaves don’t die.
Everything he does will succeed.
4 But wicked people are not like that.
They are like useless chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 So the wicked will not escape God’s punishment.
Sinners will not worship God with good people.
6 This is because the Lord protects good people.
But the wicked will be destroyed.
True Wisdom
13 Is there anyone among you who is truly wise and understanding? Then he should show his wisdom by living right. He should do good things without being proud. A wise person does not brag. 14 But if you are selfish and have bitter jealousy in your hearts, you have no reason to brag. Your bragging is a lie that hides the truth. 15 That kind of “wisdom” does not come from God. That “wisdom” comes from the world. It is not spiritual. It is from the devil. 16 Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there will be confusion and every kind of evil. 17 But the wisdom that comes from God is like this: First, it is pure. Then it is also peaceful, gentle, and easy to please. This wisdom is always ready to help those who are troubled and to do good for others. This wisdom is always fair and honest. 18 When people work for peace in a peaceful way, they receive the good result of their right living.
Give Yourselves to God
4 Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that make war inside you. 2 You want things, but you do not have them. So you are ready to kill and are jealous of other people. But you still cannot get what you want. So you argue and fight. You do not get what you want because you do not ask God. 3 Or when you ask, you do not receive because the reason you ask is wrong. You want things only so that you can use them for your own pleasures.
7 So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil, and the devil will run away from you. 8 Come near to God, and God will come near to you. You are sinners. So clean sin out of your lives. You are trying to follow God and the world at the same time. Make your thinking pure.
Jesus Talks About His Death
30 Then Jesus and his followers left that place and went through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was 31 because he wanted to teach his followers alone. He said to them, “The Son of Man will be given to men who will kill him. After three days, he will rise from death.” 32 But the followers did not understand what Jesus meant. And they were afraid to ask.
Who Is the Greatest?
33 Jesus and his followers went to Capernaum and went into a house there. Then Jesus said to them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But the followers did not answer, because their argument on the road was about which one of them was the greatest.
35 Jesus sat down and called the 12 apostles to him. He said, “If anyone wants to be the most important, then he must be last of all and servant of all.”
36 Then Jesus took a small child and had him stand among them. He took the child in his arms and said, 37 “If anyone accepts children like these in my name, then he is also accepting me. And if he accepts me, then he is also accepting the One who sent me.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.