Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

An Invitation to Life

Steps to Reconciliation

A Davidic Psalm, while he was in the Judean wilderness.

Joyful Trust in God

Warnings about Idolatry

10 Now I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the fact that all of our ancestors who left Egypt^[a] were under the cloud. They all went through the sea, ² and they all were immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³ They all ate the same spiritual food ⁴ and drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that went with them. That rock was the Messiah.^{[b] 5} But God wasn’t pleased with most of those people,^[c] and so they were struck down in the wilderness.

⁶ Now their experiences serve as examples for us so that we won’t set our hearts on evil as they did. ⁷ Let’s stop being idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to play.”^{[d] 8} Let’s stop sinning sexually, as some of them were doing, and on a single day 23,000 fell dead. ⁹ Let’s stop putting the Lord^[e] to the test, as some of them were doing, and were destroyed by snakes. ¹⁰ You must stop complaining, as some of them were doing, and were annihilated by the destroyer. ¹¹ These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down as a warning for us in whom the culmination of the ages has been attained. ¹² Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing securely should watch out so he doesn’t fall. ¹³ No temptation has overtaken you that is unusual for human beings. But God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. Instead, along with the temptation he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to endure it.

Repent or Die

13 At that time, some people who were there told Jesus^[a] about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.^{[b] 2} He asked them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all the other Galileans because they suffered like this? ³ Absolutely not, I tell you! But if you don’t repent, then you, too, will all die. ⁴ What about those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were worse offenders than all the other people living in Jerusalem? ⁵ Absolutely not, I tell you! But if you don’t repent, then you, too, will all die.”

The Parable about an Unfruitful Fig Tree

⁶ Then Jesus^[c] told them this parable: “A man had a fig tree that had been planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it but didn’t find any. ⁷ So he told the gardener, ‘Look here! For three years I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this tree but I haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it waste the soil?’ ⁸ But the gardener^[d] replied, ‘Sir, leave it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ Maybe next year it will bear fruit. If not, then cut it down.’”