Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
To the Director: A special Davidic psalm[a] to the tune of[b] “Do Not Destroy”.
A Prayer for Justice
58 How is it that by remaining silent you can speak righteously?
How can you judge people fairly?
2 As a matter of fact, in your heart you plan iniquities!
In the land your hands are violent!
3 The wicked go astray from the womb;
they go astray, telling lies even from birth.
4 Their venom is like a poisonous snake;
even like a deaf serpent that shuts its ears,
5 refusing to hear the voice of the snake charmer,
the cunning enchanter.
6 God, shatter their teeth in their mouths;
Lord, break the fangs of the young lions!
7 May they flow away like rain water that runs off,
may they become like someone who shoots broken arrows.
8 May they be like a snail that dries up as it crawls;
like a woman’s stillborn baby, who never saw the sun.
9 Before your clay pots are placed on a fire of burning[c] thorns—
whether green or ablaze—
wrath will sweep them away like a storm.
10 The righteous person will rejoice when he sees your[d] vengeance;
when he washes his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 A person will say,
“Certainly, the righteous are rewarded;
certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”
15 I’ll give you shepherds[a] after my own heart, and they’ll shepherd you with knowledge and good sense.”
16 “And in those days when you increase in numbers and multiply in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord,’ and it won’t come to mind, and they won’t remember it or miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 At that time people will call Jerusalem, “The Throne of the Lord,” and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem. They’ll no longer stubbornly follow their own evil desires.[b] 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and together they’ll come to the land that I gave your ancestors as an inheritance.”
God’s Desire for His People
19 “I said,
‘How I wanted to treat you like children,
and give you a pleasant land,
the most beautiful inheritance of the nations.’
I said, ‘You will call me, my father,
and won’t turn back from following me.’
20 Instead, like an unfaithful wife leaves her husband,
so you have been unfaithful to me, house of Israel,”
declares the Lord.
Israel Cries for Help
21 “A voice is heard on the barren heights,
the weeping and pleading of the children of Israel
because they have perverted their way.
They have forgotten the Lord their God.”
God Calls for Repentance
22 “Turn back, unfaithful people,[c]
and I’ll heal your unfaithfulness.”
Israel Replies
“Look, we’re coming to you
because you are the Lord our God.
23 Truly the hills are a deception,[d]
and the mountains[e] are confusion.
Truly, in the Lord our God is Israel’s salvation.”
24 Since our youth the false gods have consumed
the products of our ancestors’ hard work,
their sheep and their cattle,
their sons and their daughters.
25 “Let us lie down in our shame,
and let our humiliation cover us,
because both we and our ancestors have sinned
against the Lord our God from our youth
until this present time.
We haven’t obeyed the Lord our God.”
The Parable about a Banquet(A)
15 Now one of those eating with him heard this and told him, “How blessed is the person who will eat[a] in the kingdom of God!”
16 Jesus[b] told him, “A man gave a large banquet and invited many people. 17 When it was time for the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come! Everything is now ready.’ 18 Every single one of them began asking to be excused. The first told him, ‘I bought a field, and I need to go out and inspect it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I bought five pairs of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 Still another said, ‘I recently got married, so I can’t come.’
21 “So the servant went back and reported all this to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and told his servant, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring back the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 The servant said, ‘Sir, what you ordered has been done, and there is still room.’ 23 Then the master told the servant, ‘Go out into the streets and the lanes and make the people come in, so that my house may be full. 24 Because I tell all of you, none of those men who were invited will taste anything at my banquet.’”
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