Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Potter and the Clay
18 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to (A)the potter's house, and there I will let you hear[a] my words.” 3 So I went down to (B)the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was (C)spoiled in the potter's hand, and (D)he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, (E)can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. (F)Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will (G)pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, (H)turns from its evil, (I)I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will (J)build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. (K)Return, every one from his evil way, and (L)amend your ways and your deeds.’
Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
139 O Lord, you have (A)searched me and known me!
2 You (B)know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you (C)discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, (D)you know it altogether.
5 You (E)hem me in, behind and before,
and (F)lay your hand upon me.
6 (G)Such knowledge is (H)too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
13 For you (A)formed my inward parts;
you (B)knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a]
(C)Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 (D)My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in (E)the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your (F)book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
Greeting
1 Paul, (A)a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and (B)Timothy our brother,
To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and (C)Archippus our (D)fellow soldier, and (E)the church in your house:
3 (F)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philemon's Love and Faith
4 (G)I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I (H)hear of your love and (I)of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6 and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full (J)knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.[a] 7 For I have derived much joy and (K)comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints (L)have been refreshed through you.
Paul's Plea for Onesimus
8 Accordingly, (M)though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do (N)what is required, 9 yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now (O)a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10 I appeal to you for (P)my child, (Q)Onesimus,[b] (R)whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11 (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13 I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me (S)on your behalf (T)during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be (U)by compulsion but of your own accord. 15 For this perhaps is why (V)he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 (W)no longer as a bondservant[c] but more than a bondservant, as (X)a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, (Y)both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17 So if you consider me (Z)your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18 If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 (AA)I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. (AB)Refresh my heart in Christ.
21 (AC)Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.
The Cost of Discipleship
25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 (A)“If anyone comes to me and (B)does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, (C)yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 (D)Whoever does not (E)bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not (F)first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not (G)sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 (H)So therefore, any one of you who (I)does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.