Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Hosea’s Marriage and Children
2 When the Lord first spoke to Hosea, He said this to him:
Go and marry a promiscuous wife(A)
and have children of promiscuity,
for the land is committing blatant acts of promiscuity
by abandoning the Lord.
3 So he went and married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.(B) 4 Then the Lord said to him:
Name him Jezreel,(C) for in a little while
I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel(D)
on the house of Jehu(E)
and put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.
5 On that day I will break the bow of Israel(F)
in the Valley of Jezreel.[a](G)
6 She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, and the Lord said to him:
Name her No Compassion,[b]
for I will no longer have compassion
on the house of Israel.
I will certainly take them away.
7 But I will have compassion on the house of Judah,(H)
and I will deliver them by the Lord their God.(I)
I will not deliver them by bow, sword, or war,
or by horses and cavalry.(J)
8 After Gomer had weaned No Compassion, she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 Then the Lord said:
Name him Not My People,[c]
for you are not My people,
and I will not be your God.[d](K)
10 [e]Yet the number of the Israelites
will be like the sand of the sea,(L)
which cannot be measured or counted.
And in the place where they were told:
You are not My people,
they will be called: Sons of the living God.(M)
Psalm 85
Restoration of Favor
For the choir director. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 Lord, You showed favor to Your land;(A)
You restored Jacob’s prosperity.[a](B)
2 You took away Your people’s guilt;
You covered all their sin.(C)
3 You withdrew all Your fury;
You turned from Your burning anger.(D)
4 Return to us, God of our salvation,
and abandon Your displeasure with us.(E)
5 Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger for all generations?(F)
6 Will You not revive us again
so that Your people may rejoice in You?(G)
7 Show us Your faithful love, Lord,
and give us Your salvation.(H)
8 I will listen to what God will say;
surely the Lord will declare peace
to His people, His godly ones,
and not let them go back to foolish ways.(I)
9 His salvation is very near those who fear Him,
so that glory may dwell in our land.(J)
10 Faithful love and truth will join together;
righteousness and peace will embrace.(K)
11 Truth will spring up from the earth,
and righteousness will look down from heaven.(L)
12 Also, the Lord will provide what is good,
and our land will yield its crops.(M)
13 Righteousness will go before Him
to prepare the way for His steps.(N)
6 Therefore, as you have received(A) Christ Jesus the Lord,(B) walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him(C) and established in the faith, just as you were taught,(D) overflowing with gratitude.
8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition,(E) based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ.(F) 9 For the entire fullness(G) of God’s nature[a] dwells bodily[b] in Christ, 10 and you have been filled by Him, who is the head(H) over every ruler and authority. 11 You were also circumcised in Him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh,(I) in the circumcision of the Messiah.[c](J) 12 Having been buried with Him(K) in baptism, you were also raised with Him(L) through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.(M) 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive with Him and forgave us all our trespasses. 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.(N) 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him.[d](O)
16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge(A) you in regard to food and drink(B) or in the matter of a festival or a new moon(C) or a Sabbath day.[a] 17 These are a shadow(D) of what was to come;(E) the substance is[b] the Messiah.(F) 18 Let no one disqualify you,[c](G) insisting on ascetic practices(H) and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm and inflated(I) without cause by his unspiritual[d] mind. 19 He doesn’t hold on to the head, from whom the whole body,(J) nourished and held together by its ligaments and tendons, develops with growth from God.
The Model Prayer
11 He was praying(A) in a certain place, and when He finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”(B)
2 He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say:(C)
Father,[a](D)
Your name(E) be honored as holy.(F)
Your kingdom come.[b](G)
3 Give us each day our daily bread.[c](H)
4 And forgive us our sins,(I)
for we ourselves also forgive everyone
in debt to us.[d](J)
And do not bring us into temptation.”[e](K)
Keep Asking, Searching, Knocking
5 He also said to them: “Suppose one of you[f] has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’[g] 7 Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s persistence,[h] he will get up and give him as much as he needs.(L)
9 “So(M) I say to you, keep asking,[i](N) and it will be given to you. Keep searching,[j](O) and you will find. Keep knocking,[k](P) and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son[l] asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil,(Q) know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father(R) give[m] the Holy Spirit(S) to those who ask Him?”
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