Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Jeremiah Reacts
18 My joy is gone, grief is upon me,[a]
and my heart is sick.
19 I hear the cry of my dear people from a distant land:
“Is the Lord not in Zion?
Is her King not there?”
The Lord Responds
Why have they provoked my anger with their carved images,
with their worthless foreign idols?
The People
20 The harvest is past,
summer has ended,
and we have not been saved.
Jeremiah’s Grief
21 Because my people are crushed, I have been crushed.
I am in mourning, and horror seizes me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?[b]
Is there no physician there?
Why has the health of my people not been restored?
9 I wish my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears.
Then I would weep day and night
for the fallen of my people.[c]
Psalm 79
They Have Reduced Jerusalem to Rubble
Heading
A psalm by Asaph.
The Destruction and the Disgrace
1 God, the nations have invaded your possession.
They have profaned your holy temple.
They have reduced Jerusalem to a heap of ruins.
2 They have left the corpses of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky.
They have given the flesh of your favored ones to the wild animals.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all over Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury them.
4 We are subjected to contempt by our neighbors,
to mockery and ridicule by those around us.
The Prayer for Justice
5 How long, O Lord? Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your jealous anger burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms that do not call on your name,
7 because they have devoured Jacob,
and they have destroyed his pastureland.[a]
8 Do not charge the guilt of our fathers against us.
Hurry, let your compassion come to meet us,
for we are very weak.
9 God, who saves us, help us for the glory of your name.
Deliver us and make atonement for our sins for your name’s sake.
Instructions About Worship
2 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, in order that we might live a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this testimony, I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I speak the truth;[a] I am not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
The Shrewd Manager
16 Jesus also said to his disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager who was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 The rich man called him in and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be manager.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master is taking away the management position from me? I am not strong enough to dig. I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from my position as manager, people will receive me into their houses.’
5 “He called each one of his master’s debtors to him. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘Six hundred gallons[a] of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write three hundred.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘Six hundred bushels[b] of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and write four hundred and eighty.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children[c] of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation[d] than the children of the light are. 9 I tell you, make friends for yourselves with unrighteous mammon,[e] so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings. 10 The person who is faithful with very little is also faithful with much. And the person who is unrighteous with very little is also unrighteous with much. 11 So if you have not been faithful with unrighteous mammon, who will entrust you with what is really valuable? 12 If you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you something to be your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters. Indeed, either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.