Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God’s Disappointing Vineyard
5 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved (A)regarding His vineyard:
My Well-beloved has a vineyard
[a]On a very fruitful hill.
2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also [b]made a winepress in it;
(B)So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
(C)Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in (D)it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
(E)I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;
And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will lay it (F)waste;
It shall not be pruned or [c]dug,
But there shall come up briers and (G)thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain on it.”
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
For righteousness, but behold, [d]a cry for help.
8 You have brought (A)a vine out of Egypt;
(B)You have cast out the [a]nations, and planted it.
9 You prepared room for it,
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with its shadow,
And the [b]mighty cedars with its (C)boughs.
11 She sent out her boughs to [c]the Sea,
And her branches to [d]the River.
12 Why have You (D)broken down her [e]hedges,
So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
13 The boar out of the woods uproots it,
And the wild beast of the field devours it.
14 Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts;
(E)Look down from heaven and see,
And visit this vine
15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong (F)for Yourself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
(G)They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
17 (H)Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we will not turn back from You;
Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
29 By faith (A)they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.
By Faith They Overcame
30 By faith (B)the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. 31 By faith (C)the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who [a]did not believe, when (D)she had received the spies with peace.
32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of (E)Gideon and (F)Barak and (G)Samson and (H)Jephthah, also of (I)David and (J)Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, (K)stopped the mouths of lions, 34 (L)quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 (M)Women received their dead raised to life again.
Others were (N)tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and (O)of chains and imprisonment. 37 (P)They were stoned, they were sawn in two, [b]were tempted, were slain with the sword. (Q)They wandered about (R)in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, (S)in dens and caves of the earth.
39 And all these, (T)having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be (U)made perfect apart from us.
The Race of Faith
12 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, (V)let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and (W)let us run (X)with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the [c]author and [d]finisher of our faith, (Y)who for the joy that was set before Him (Z)endured the cross, despising the shame, and (AA)has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Christ Brings Division(A)
49 (B)“I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But (C)I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is (D)accomplished! 51 (E)Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, (F)but rather division. 52 (G)For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. 53 (H)Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”
Discern the Time(I)
54 Then He also said to the multitudes, (J)“Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. 55 And when you see the (K)south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. 56 Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern (L)this time?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.