Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

² Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation.”

³ Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation;

⁴ and in that day shall ye say: “Praise the Lord! Call upon His name! Declare His doings among the people; make mention that His name is exalted.

⁵ Sing unto the Lord, for He hath done excellent things; this is known in all the earth.

⁶ Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion! For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.”

6 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, who are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!

² Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great; then go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are they better than these kingdoms? Or their border greater than your border?

³ Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near,

⁴ that lie upon beds of ivory and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock and the calves out of the midst of the stall;

⁵ that chant to the sound of the viol, and invent for themselves instruments of music, like David;

⁶ that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments— but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

⁷ Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed.

⁸ The Lord God hath sworn by Himself; saith the Lord the God of hosts: “I abhor the pretensions of Jacob, and hate his palaces; therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein.”

8 Moreover, brethren, we want you to know of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia:

² how in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.

³ For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing to give of themselves,

⁴ praying us with earnest entreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of ministering to the saints.

⁵ And this they did, not as we had hoped, but first they gave themselves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God,

⁶ insomuch that we urged Titus that, as he had begun, so he would finish in you the same grace also.

⁷ Therefore as ye abound in everything — in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us — see that ye abound in this grace also.

⁸ I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forthcoming of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.

⁹ For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.

¹⁰ And herein I give my advice, for this is expedient for you, who began earlier not only to do, but also to be in the forefront a year ago.

¹¹ Now therefore perform the doing of it, that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.

¹² For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what a man hath, and not according to what he hath not.

¹³ For I do not mean that other men should be eased and ye burdened,

¹⁴ but that there be an equality: that now at this time your abundance may supply their want, that their abundance may also supply your want, that there may be equality.

¹⁵ As it is written: “He that had gathered much had nothing left over, and he that had gathered little had no lack.”