Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God Is Good to His People

127 Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders work for nothing. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the men who watch over it stay awake for nothing. ² You rise up early, and go to bed late, and work hard for your food, all for nothing. For the Lord gives to His loved ones even while they sleep.

³ See, children are a gift from the Lord. The children born to us are our special reward. ⁴ The children of a young man are like arrows in the hand of a soldier. ⁵ Happy is the man who has many of them. They will not be put to shame when they speak in the gate with those who hate them.

¹⁸ Now these are the children of Perez. Perez was the father of Hezron. ¹⁹ Hezron was the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab. ²⁰ Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon. ²¹ Salmon was the father of Boaz. Boaz was the father of Obed. ²² Obed was the father of Jesse. And Jesse was the father of David.

The Fig Tree with No Fruit

¹² They came from Bethany the next morning. Jesus was hungry. ¹³ Along the road He saw a fig tree with leaves on it. He went over to see if it had any fruit. He saw nothing but leaves. It was not the right time for figs. ¹⁴ Jesus said to the tree, “Let no one ever again eat fruit from you.” His followers heard Him say it.

The Fig Tree Dries Up ^(A)

²⁰ In the morning they passed by the fig tree. They saw it was dried up from the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered what had happened the day before and said to Jesus, “Teacher, see! The fig tree which You spoke to has dried up!” ²² Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. ²³ For sure, I tell you, a person may say to this mountain, ‘Move from here into the sea.’ And if he does not doubt, but believes that what he says will be done, it will happen. ²⁴ Because of this, I say to you, whatever you ask for when you pray, have faith that you will receive it. Then you will get it.