Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
2 “Look! God—yes God—is[a] my salvation;
I will trust, and not be afraid.
For the Lord[b] is my strength and my song,[c]
and he has become my salvation.”
3 You will draw water joyfully from the wells of salvation. And you will say at that time:[d]
4 “Give thanks to the Lord;
call on his name.
Make known his actions
among the nations.
Proclaim that his name is exalted.
5 “Sing praises to the Lord,[e]
because he has acted gloriously,
being made[f] known in all the world.
6 Shout aloud, and sing for joy,
you who live in Zion,
because great in your midst
is the Holy One of Israel.”
4 “Hear this, you who are swallowing up the needy,
who intend to make the poor of the land fail,
5 and who are saying,
‘When will the New Moon fade
so we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath conclude[a]
so we may market winnowed wheat?—
shortchanging the measure,[b]
raising the price,
falsifying the scales by treachery,
6 buying the poor for cash,[c]
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
selling chaff mixed in with the wheat.’
7 “The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
I will never forget anything they have done.
8 Surely the land will tremble because of this, won’t it?
And all who live in it will mourn, won’t they?
The entire land will swell up like a flooded[d] river.
It will be stirred up and then will sink
like the river of Egypt.
9 It will come about at that time,” declares the Lord God,
“I will cause the sun to set at noon
and the earth to darken in the daylight.
10 I will turn your festivals into mourning,
and all of your songs to dirges.
I will cause all of you to put on sackcloth
and to shave all of your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son,
and its conclusion will be like the end of[e] a bitter day.”
A Famine of the Word of God
11 “Look! The days are coming,”
declares the Lord God,
“when I will send a famine throughout the land—
not a famine of food or a thirst for water—
but rather a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People[f] will stagger from sea to sea,
from north to east.
They will run back and forth,
searching for a message from the Lord,
but they won’t find it.
Why Giving is Important
9 I do not need to write to you any further about the ministry to the saints. 2 For I know how willing you are, and I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying[a] that Achaia has been ready since last year, and your enthusiasm has stimulated most of them. 3 Now I have sent the brothers so that our boasting about you in this matter may not prove to be an idle boast, and so that you may stand ready, just as I said. 4 Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find out that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—in this undertaking. 5 Therefore, I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to visit you ahead of me, to make arrangements in advance for this gift you promised, and to have it ready as something given generously and not forced.
6 Remember[b] this: The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you must give what you have decided in your heart, not with regret or under compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. 8 Besides, God is able to make every blessing of yours overflow for you, so that in every situation you will always have all you need for any good work. 9 As it is written,
“He scatters everywhere and gives to the poor;
his righteousness lasts forever.”[c]
10 Now he who supplies seed to the farmer and bread to eat will also supply you with seed and multiply it and enlarge the harvest that results from your righteousness. 11 In every way you will grow richer and become even more generous, and this will cause others to give thanks to God because of us, 12 since this ministry you render is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, it is also overflowing with more and more prayers of thanksgiving to God. 13 Because your service in giving proves your love,[d] you will be glorifying God as you obey what your confession of the Messiah’s[e] gospel demands,[f] since you are generous in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And so in their prayers for you they will long for you because of God’s exceptional grace that was shown to you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.