Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A New Covenant

²⁷ “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will ^(A)sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast. ²⁸ As I have ^(B)watched over them to ^(C)pluck up, to break down, to overthrow, to destroy and to bring disaster, so I will watch over them to ^(D)build and to plant,” declares the Lord.

³⁰ But ^(F)everyone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be ^[b]set on edge.

³¹ “^(G)Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a ^(H)new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, ³² not like the ^(I)covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I ^(J)took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My ^(K)covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. ³³ “But ^(L)this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “^(M)I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and ^(N)I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ³⁴ They will ^(O)not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all ^(P)know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will ^(Q)forgive their iniquity, and their ^(R)sin I will remember no more.”

Mem.

¹⁴ You, however, ^(A)continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that ^(B)from childhood you have known ^(C)the sacred writings which are able to ^(D)give you the wisdom that leads to ^(E)salvation through faith which is in ^(F)Christ Jesus. ^16 (G)All Scripture is ^[a]inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for ^[b]training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that ^(H)the man of God may be adequate, ^(I)equipped for every good work.

“Preach the Word”

4 ^(J)I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to ^(K)judge the living and the dead, and by His ^(L)appearing and His kingdom: ² preach ^(M)the word; be ready in season and out of season; ^(N)reprove, rebuke, exhort, with ^[c]great ^(O)patience and instruction. ³ For ^(P)the time will come when they will not endure ^(Q)sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, ⁴ and ^(R)will turn away their ears from the truth and ^(S)will turn aside to myths. ⁵ But you, ^(T)be sober in all things, ^(U)endure hardship, do the work of an ^(V)evangelist, fulfill your ^(W)ministry.

Parables on Prayer

18 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ^(A)ought to pray and not to ^(B)lose heart, ² saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not ^(C)respect man. ³ There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘^[a]Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ ⁴ For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor ^(D)respect man, ⁵ yet ^(E)because this widow bothers me, I will ^[b]give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will ^[c](F)wear me out.’” ⁶ And ^(G)the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge *said; ⁷ now, will not God ^(H)bring about justice for His ^(I)elect who cry to Him day and night, ^[d]and will He ^(J)delay long over them? ⁸ I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, ^(K)will He find ^[e]faith on the earth?”