Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Fourth Vision: A Basket of Summer Fruit
8 The Lord God showed me this: a basket of summer fruit. 2 He asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” (A)
I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.”[a](B)
The Lord said to me, “The end has come for my people Israel;(C) I will no longer spare them.(D) 3 In that day the temple[b] songs(E) will become wailing”(F)—this is the Lord God’s declaration. “Many dead bodies, thrown everywhere!(G) Silence!” (H)
4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy(I)
and do away with the poor of the land,(J)
5 asking, “When will the New Moon be over
so we may sell grain,(K)
and the Sabbath,
so we may market wheat?(L)
We can reduce the measure
while increasing the price[c]
and cheat with dishonest scales.(M)
6 We can buy the poor with silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals(N)
and even sell the chaff!”
7 The Lord has sworn(O) by the Pride of Jacob:[d](P)
I will never forget all their deeds.(Q)
8 Because of this, won’t the land quake(R)
and all who dwell in it mourn?(S)
All of it will rise like the Nile;(T)
it will surge and then subside
like the Nile in Egypt.(U)
9 And in that day—
this is the declaration of the Lord God—
I will make the sun go down at noon;(V)
I will darken the land in the daytime.(W)
10 I will turn your feasts into mourning(X)
and all your songs into lamentation;(Y)
I will cause everyone[e] to wear sackcloth(Z)
and every head to be shaved.(AA)
I will make that grief
like mourning for an only son(AB)
and its outcome like a bitter day.
11 Look, the days are coming—
this is the declaration of the Lord God—
when I will send a famine through the land:
not a famine of bread or a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord.(AC)
12 People will stagger from sea to sea
and roam from north to east
seeking the word of the Lord,(AD)
but they will not find it.
Psalm 52
God Judges the Proud
For the choir director. A Maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite went and reported to Saul, telling him, “David went to Ahimelech’s house.”(A)
1 Why boast about evil, you hero!(B)
God’s faithful love is constant.(C)
2 Like a sharpened razor,
your tongue devises destruction,
working treachery.(D)
3 You love evil instead of good,
lying instead of speaking truthfully.(E)Selah
4 You love any words that destroy,
you treacherous tongue!(F)
5 This is why God will bring you down forever.
He will take you, ripping you out of your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living.(G)Selah
6 The righteous will see and fear,
and they will derisively say about that hero,[a](H)
7 “Here is the man
who would not make God his refuge,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches,
taking refuge in his destructive behavior.”(I)
The Centrality of Christ
15 He is the image of the invisible God,(A)
the firstborn over all creation.(B)
16 For everything was created by him,(C)
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through him and for him.(D)
17 He is before all things,(E)
and by him all things(F) hold together.
18 He is also the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning,(G)
the firstborn from the dead,(H)
so that he might come to have
first place in everything.
19 For God was pleased to have
all his fullness(I) dwell in him,(J)
20 and through him to reconcile
everything to himself,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace(K)
through his blood,(L) shed on the cross.[a](M)
21 Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds as expressed in your evil actions. 22 But now he has reconciled you by his physical body through his death,(N) to present you holy, faultless,(O) and blameless before him(P)— 23 if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith(Q) and are not shifted away from the hope(R) of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation(S) under heaven,(T) and I, Paul,(U) have become a servant of it.
Paul’s Ministry
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings(V) for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body,(W) that is, the church. 25 I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ(X) in you, the hope(Y) of glory. 28 We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
Martha and Mary
38 While they were traveling, he entered a village, and a woman named Martha(A) welcomed him into her home.[a] 39 She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s[b] feet(B) and was listening to what he said.[c] 40 But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t you care(C) that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”[d](D)
41 The Lord[e] answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things,(E) 42 but one thing is necessary.[f](F) Mary has made the right choice,[g] and it will not be taken away from her.”
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