Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
18 There is no cure for my grief,
and my heart is faint within me.
19 Listen to the cry of distress
from my people in a distant land.
“Is the Lord no longer in Zion?
Is her king no longer in their midst?”
(Why do they provoke me with their idols
and with their foreign gods?)
20 “The time of harvest is past,
the summer is at an end,
and we are not saved.”
21 The suffering of my people causes me to suffer too.
I mourn, overcome with terror.
22 Is there no more balm in Gilead?[a]
Can no physician be found there?
Why has there not been any progress
to restore the health of my people?
Chapter 9
A Faithless People
1 Oh, if only my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears
so that I might weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people.
Psalm 79[a]
Prayer for Restoration
1 A psalm of Asaph.[b]
[c]O God, the nations have invaded your heritage;
they have profaned your holy temple
and turned Jerusalem into a heap of ruins.
2 They have given the corpses of your servants
as food to the birds of the air,
the flesh of your saints
to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and no one is left to bury them.[d]
4 We have become the scorn of our neighbors,
mocked and derided by those around us.[e]
5 [f]How long, O Lord?[g] Will you be angry forever?
How long will your rage continue to blaze like a fire?
6 [h]Pour out your wrath on the nations
that refuse to acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
that fail to call on your name.[i]
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and ravaged his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of our ancestors;
let your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate straits.[j]
9 [k]Help us, O God, our Savior,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and wipe away our sins
for your name’s sake.[l]
Qualities of Public Worship and Church Leaders[a]
Chapter 2
Prayer for Those in Authority.[b] 1 I urge then, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, 2 for kings and for all those who hold positions of authority, so that we may be able to lead a tranquil and quiet life with all possible devotion and dignity. 3 To do so is right and acceptable to God our Savior, 4 who desires everyone to be saved and to come to full knowledge of the truth.
5 [c]For there is one God,
and there is one mediator between God and man,
Christ Jesus, himself a man,
6 who gave himself as a ransom for all.
This was the testimony he offered at the appointed time. 7 And I was made a herald and an apostle of it (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Chapter 16
Riches and Poverty[a]
The Parable of the Crafty Steward.[b] 1 Jesus also said to his disciples: “There was a rich man who had a steward, and he was informed that this steward was squandering his property. 2 Therefore, he summoned him and said, ‘What are these reports that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’
3 “Then the steward said to himself, ‘What am I going to do, now that my master is dismissing me from being steward? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am too ashamed to beg. 4 What I must do is to make sure that people will welcome me into their homes once I am removed from being steward.’
5 “Then he summoned his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 When he was told, ‘One hundred jars of olive oil,’ he said to the man, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and change the number to fifty.’ 7 Then he asked another, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ When he was told, ‘One hundred measures of wheat,’ he said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ 8 The master commended the crafty steward because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.[c]
Application of the Parable.[d] 9 “And I tell you: use your worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that, when it has been exhausted, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted in small matters can also be trusted in great ones, but whoever is dishonest in small matters will also be dishonest in great ones. 11 Therefore, if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not shown yourself to be trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you anything of your own?
13 “No servant can serve two masters. For you will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
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