Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Vision of the Plumb Line
7 This is what he showed me: The Lord stood by a ·straight wall [L wall built with a plumb line], with a plumb line in his hand. 8 The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
I said, “A plumb line.”
Then the Lord said, “·See [T Behold], I will put a plumb line among my people Israel [C to show how crooked they are]. I will not ·look the other way [spare them; L pass by them] any longer.
9 “·The places where Isaac’s descendants worship [L The high places of Isaac; C places of pagan worship] will be destroyed,
Israel’s ·holy places [sanctuaries] will be turned into ruins,
and I will ·attack [L rise up against] King Jeroboam’s ·family [house] with the sword.”
Amaziah Speaks Against Amos
10 Amaziah, a priest at Bethel [4:4], sent this message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is ·making evil plans [conspiring] against you ·with the people of Israel [or in the very heart of Israel; L in the midst of the house of Israel]. ·He has been speaking so much that this land can’t hold all [L This land cannot bear/endure] his words. 11 This is what Amos has said:
‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and the people of Israel will be taken ·as captives [into exile]
out of their own country.’”
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Seer [C another name for a prophet], go back right now to the land of Judah. Do your prophesying and ·earn your living [L eat bread] there, 13 but don’t prophesy anymore here at Bethel. This is the king’s ·holy place [sanctuary], and it is the ·nation’s temple [or royal palace; L house of the kingdom].”
14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, “·I do not make my living as a prophet, nor am I a member of a group of prophets [L I was not a prophet nor a prophet’s son/disciple]. I ·make my living as [L was] a shepherd, and ·I take care [a tender] of ·sycamore [or sycamore-fig] trees. 15 But the Lord took me away from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 So listen to the Lord’s word. You tell me,
‘Don’t prophesy against Israel,
and stop ·prophesying [preaching; spouting off; L dripping] against the ·descendants [house] of Isaac.’
17 “Because you have said this, the Lord says:
‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and daughters will ·be killed with swords [L fall by the sword].
Your land will be divided ·among themselves [L with a measuring line],
and you will die in a ·foreign [L unclean; defiled] country.
The people of Israel will definitely be taken
from their own land ·as captives [into exile].’”
A Cry for Justice
A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
82 God ·is in charge of the great meeting [L takes his place/presides in the great assembly/or the assembly of the gods/divine council; C the angels (powers and authorities; Eph. 6:12) are here called “gods”];
he judges among the “gods” [John 10:35–36].
2 He says, “How long will you ·defend evil people [or judge unfairly]?
How long will you show ·greater kindness [favor; preference] to the wicked? ·
3 ·Defend [Judge] the ·weak [or poor] and the orphans;
·defend the rights of [vindicate] the poor and ·suffering [needy].
4 ·Save [Rescue] the ·weak [or poor] and helpless;
·free [protect] them from the ·power [L hand] of the wicked.
5 “You know nothing. You don’t understand.
You walk in the dark,
while the ·world is falling apart [L foundations of the earth are tottering].
6 I said, ‘You are “gods.”
You are all sons of God Most High.’
7 But you will die like any other person;
you will fall like all the ·leaders [princes; C God will punish these evil angels].”
8 God, ·come [rise up] and judge the earth,
because you ·own [inherit] all the nations.
1 From Paul, an ·apostle [messenger] of Christ Jesus. ·I am an apostle because that is what God wanted [L …by the will of God]. Also from Timothy [Acts 16:1–5; 1 Cor. 16:10–11; Phil. 2:19–24; 1 and 2 Timothy], our brother.
2 To the ·holy [T saints] and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ that live in Colossae [a city located in the Lycus Valley in the Roman province of Phrygia, present-day central Turkey]:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.[a]
3 In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 ·because we have [or ever since we; L having] heard about the faith you have in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all ·of God’s people [T the saints]. 5 You have this faith and love because of your hope, and what you hope for is ·kept safe [stored up; reserved] for you in heaven. You learned about this hope when you heard the ·message about the truth [or true message; L word of truth], the ·Good News [Gospel] 6 that ·was told [L has come] to you. [L …just as] Everywhere in the world that ·Good News [Gospel] is ·bringing blessings [L bearing fruit] and is growing. This has happened with you, too, ·since [L from the day] you heard and ·understood the truth about [or truly understood] the grace of God. 7 You learned about ·God’s grace [L it] from Epaphras, our ·dear [beloved; much loved] fellow ·servant [slave; bondservant], who is a faithful ·servant [minister] of Christ ·for us[b] [on our behalf]. [C Epaphras apparently established the church at Colossae during Paul’s three-year ministry in Ephesus; Acts 19:10.] 8 He also told us about the love you have ·from [or in] the Holy Spirit.
9 Because of this, since the day we heard about you, we have ·continued [not ceased] praying for you, asking God ·that you will know fully what he wants [L to fill you with the knowledge of his will], ·and that you will have great [L in all] ·spiritual wisdom and understanding [or wisdom and understanding from the Spirit] 10 so that you will live the kind of life that ·honors [is worthy of] and pleases the Lord in every way. You will produce fruit in every good work and grow in the knowledge of God. 11 ·God will strengthen you [L …being strengthened] with ·his own great power [L all power according to his glorious might] so that you will not give up when troubles come, but you will ·be patient. 12 And you will joyfully give thanks [or …have patience with joy, 12 giving thanks] to the Father who has made you[c] able to have a share in ·all that he has prepared for his people in the kingdom of light [L the inheritance of the saints/holy ones in the light]. 13 ·God [L …who] has ·freed [rescued; delivered] us from the ·power [authority; dominion] of darkness, and he brought us into the kingdom of his ·dear [dearly loved; beloved] Son, 14 ·who purchased our freedom[d] [L in whom we have redemption] ·and forgave our sins [or which is the forgiveness of sins].
The Good Samaritan(A)
25 Then an expert on the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to ·get life forever [L inherit eternal life]?”
26 Jesus said, “What is written in the law? ·What do you read there [or How do you interpret it]?”
27 The man answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind [Deut. 6:5].” Also, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].”
28 Jesus said to him, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will live.”
29 But the man, wanting to ·show the importance of his question [or justify his question; or justify himself/his own actions], said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus answered, “As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho [C a dangerous 17-mile trek through desolate territory], some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there, almost dead. 31 ·It happened that [or By chance] a priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he ·walked [passed] by on the other side. 32 ·Next [L Likewise; So too], a Levite [C Levites were members of the tribe of Levi who helped the priests in the temple; 1 Chr. 23:24–32] came there, and ·after he went over and looked at the man [L seeing him], he ·walked [passed] by on the other side of the road. 33 Then a Samaritan [C a people disliked by the Jews because they were only part Jewish and worshiped differently] traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was. When he saw the man, he felt ·very sorry [compassion] for him. 34 The Samaritan went to him, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds [C to soothe and clean them], and bandaged them. Then he put the hurt man on his own ·donkey [L animal] and took him to an inn where he cared for him. 35 The next day, the Samaritan brought out two ·coins [L denarii; C each equivalent to a day’s wage], gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of this man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’”
36 Then Jesus said, “Which one of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by the robbers?”
37 The expert on the law answered, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Then go and do ·what he did [the same; likewise].”
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