Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

(A song for worship.)

The Lord Rewards His Faithful People

It Is Better To Have a Friend

⁹ You are better having a friend than to be all alone, because then you will get more enjoyment out of what you earn. ¹⁰ If you fall, your friend can help you up. But if you fall without having a friend nearby, you are really in trouble. ¹¹ If you sleep alone, you won't have anyone to keep you warm on a cold night. ¹² Someone might be able to beat up one of you, but not both of you. As the saying goes, “A rope made from three strands of cord is hard to break.”

¹³ You may be poor and young, but if you are wise, you are better off than a foolish old king who won't listen to advice. ¹⁴ Even if you were not born into the royal family and have been a prisoner and poor, you can still be king. ¹⁵ I once saw everyone in the world follow a young leader who came to power after the king was gone. ¹⁶ His followers could not even be counted. But years from now, no one will praise him—this makes no more sense than chasing the wind.^[a]

Warning to the Rich

5 You rich people should cry and weep! Terrible things are going to happen to you. ^2 (A) Your treasures have already rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. ^3 (B) Your money has rusted, and the rust will be evidence against you, as it burns your body like fire. Yet you keep on storing up wealth in these last days. ^4 (C) You refused to pay the people who worked in your fields, and now their unpaid wages are shouting out against you. The Lord All-Powerful has surely heard the cries of the workers who harvested your crops.

⁵ While here on earth, you have thought only of filling your own stomachs and having a good time. But now you are like fat cattle on their way to be butchered. ^6 (D) You have condemned and murdered innocent people, who couldn't even fight back.