Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Book 5
(Psalms 107-150)
107 Praise the Lord, because he is good!
His faithful love will last forever!
2 Everyone the Lord has saved should repeat that word of thanks.
Praise him, all who have been rescued from the enemy.
3 He gathered his people together from many different countries.
He brought them from east and west, north and south.[a]
4 Some of them wandered in the dry desert.
They were looking for a place to live,
but they could not find a city.
5 They were hungry and thirsty
and growing weak.
6 Then they called to the Lord for help,
and he saved them from their troubles.
7 He led them straight to the city where they would live.
8 Thank the Lord for his faithful love
and for the amazing things he does for people.
9 He satisfies those who are thirsty.
He fills those who are hungry with good things.
43 Whoever is wise will remember these things
and begin to understand the Lord’s faithful love.
Israel’s Riches Led to Its Worship of Idols
10 Israel is like a vine
that grows plenty of fruit.
But as Israel got more and more things,
he built more and more altars to honor false gods.
His land became better and better,
so he put up better and better stones to honor false gods.
2 The people of Israel tried to trick God,
but now they must accept their guilt.
He will break down their altars
and destroy their memorial stones.
The Evil Decisions of the Israelites
3 Now the Israelites say, “We have no king. We don’t honor the Lord. And his king cannot do anything to us.”
4 They make promises, but they are only telling lies. They don’t keep their promises. They make agreements with other countries. God does not like those agreements. The judges are like poisonous weeds growing in a plowed field.
5 The people from Samaria worship the calves at Beth Aven.[a] They will cry. The priests will cry, because their beautiful idol is gone. It was carried away. 6 It was carried away as a gift to the great king of Assyria. He will keep Ephraim’s shameful idol. Israel will be ashamed of its idol.[b] 7 Samaria’s false god[c] will be destroyed. It will be like a piece of wood floating away on the water’s surface.
8 Israel sinned and built many high places. The high places of Aven[d] will be destroyed. Thorns and weeds will grow on their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
Israel Will Pay for Sin
9 “Israel, you have sinned since the time of Gibeah. (And the people have continued to sin there.) Those evil people at Gibeah will be trapped by war. 10 I will come to punish them. Armies will come together against them and punish the Israelites for both of their sins.[e]
11 “Ephraim is like a trained young cow that loves to walk on grain on the threshing floor. I will put a good yoke on her neck. I will put the ropes on Ephraim. Then Judah will begin plowing. Jacob will break the ground himself.”
12 If you plant goodness, you will harvest faithful love. Plow your ground, and you will harvest with the Lord. He will come, and he will make goodness fall on you like rain.
13 But you planted evil, and you harvested trouble. You ate the fruit of your lies, because you had trusted in your power and your soldiers. 14 So your armies will hear the noise of battle, and all your fortresses will be destroyed. It will be like the time Shalman[f] destroyed Beth Arbel. At that time of war, mothers were killed with their children. 15 And this will happen to you at Bethel, because you did so many evil things. When that day begins, the king of Israel will be fully destroyed.
A Rich Man Refuses to Follow Jesus(A)
17 Jesus started to leave, but a man ran to him and bowed down on his knees before him. The man asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get the life that never ends?”
18 Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. 19 And you know his commands: ‘You must not murder anyone, you must not commit adultery, you must not steal, you must not lie, you must not cheat, you must respect your father and mother ….’[a]”
20 The man said, “Teacher, I have obeyed all these commands since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at the man in a way that showed how much he cared for him. He said, “There is still one thing you need to do. Go and sell everything you have. Give the money to those who are poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me.”
22 The man was upset when Jesus told him to give away his money. He didn’t want to do this, because he was very rich. So he went away sad.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International