Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
A maskil [a] by David when he was in the cave; a prayer.
142 Loudly, I cry to the Lord.
Loudly, I plead with the Lord for mercy.
2 I pour out my complaints in his presence
and tell him my troubles.
3 When I begin to lose hope,
you ⌞already⌟ know what I am experiencing.
⌞My enemies⌟ have hidden a trap for me on the path where I walk.
4 Look to my right and see that no one notices me.
Escape is impossible for me.
No one cares about me.
5 I call out to you, O Lord.
I say, “You are my refuge,
my own inheritance in this world of the living.”
6 Pay attention to my cry for help
because I am very weak.
Rescue me from those who pursue me
because they are too strong for me.
7 Release my soul from prison
so that I may give thanks to your name.
Righteous people will surround me
because you are good to me.
The Day of the Lord
15 “The day of the Lord is near for all nations.
Edom, you will be treated as you have treated others.
You will get back what you have given.
16 As you, Israel, drank on my holy mountain,
so all nations will drink in turn.
They will drink and guzzle down everything in it.
They will be like those who have never existed.
17 “But refugees will live on Mount Zion.
It will be holy.
The descendants of Jacob will get back their possessions.
18 The descendants of Jacob will be like a fire.
The descendants of Joseph will be like a flame.
But the descendants of Esau will be like straw.
They will be burned and destroyed.
There will be no one left among the descendants of Esau.”
The Lord has spoken.
19 “People from the Negev will take possession of Esau’s mountain.
People from the foothills will take possession of Philistia.
They will take possession of the lands of Ephraim and Samaria,
and ⌞the descendants of⌟ Benjamin will take possession of Gilead.
20 Exiles from Israel will take possession of Canaan.
They will possess land as far as Zarephath.
Exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
will take possession of the cities in the Negev.
21 Those who are victorious will come from Mount Zion
to rule Esau’s mountain.
The kingdom will belong to the Lord.”
10 The disciples asked him, “Why do you use stories as illustrations when you speak to people?”
11 Jesus answered, “Knowledge about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you. But it has not been given to the crowd. 12 Those who understand ⌞these mysteries⌟ will be given ⌞more knowledge⌟, and they will excel ⌞in understanding them⌟. However, some people don’t understand ⌞these mysteries⌟. Even what they understand will be taken away from them. 13 This is why I speak to them this way. They see, but they’re blind. They hear, but they don’t listen. They don’t even try to understand. 14 So they make Isaiah’s prophecy come true:
‘You will hear clearly but never understand.
You will see clearly but never comprehend.
15 These people have become close-minded
and hard of hearing.
They have shut their eyes
so that their eyes never see.
Their ears never hear.
Their minds never understand.
And they never return to me for healing!’
16 “Blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear. 17 I can guarantee this truth: Many prophets and many of God’s people longed to see what you see but didn’t see it, to hear what you hear but didn’t hear it.
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