Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
115 Not to us, Adonai, not to us,
but to your name give glory,
because of your grace and truth.
2 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
4 Their idols are mere silver and gold,
made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they can’t speak;
they have eyes, but they can’t see;
6 they have ears, but they can’t hear;
they have noses, but they can’t smell;
7 they have hands, but they can’t feel;
they have feet, but they can’t walk;
with their throats they can’t make a sound.
8 The people who make them will become like them,
along with everyone who trusts in them.
9 Isra’el, trust in Adonai!
He is their help and shield.
10 House of Aharon, trust in Adonai!
He is their help and shield.
11 You who fear Adonai, trust in Adonai!
He is their help and shield.
12 Adonai has kept us in mind,
and he will bless.
He will bless the house of Isra’el;
he will bless the house of Aharon;
13 he will bless those who fear Adonai,
great and small alike.
14 May Adonai increase your numbers,
both yours and those of your children.
15 May you be blessed by Adonai,
the maker of heaven and earth.
16 Heaven belongs to Adonai,
but the earth he has given to humankind.
17 The dead can’t praise Adonai,
not those who sink down into silence.
18 But we will bless Adonai
from now on and forever.
Halleluyah!
8 Adonai said to me, “Take a large tablet, and write on it in easily readable letters; ‘Maher shalal, hash baz [the spoil hurries, the prey speeds along].’” 2 I had it witnessed for me by reliable witnesses — Uriyah the cohen and Z’kharyahu the son of Y’verekhyahu. 3 Then I had sexual relations with my wife; she became pregnant and gave birth to a son; and Adonai said to me, “Name him Maher Shalal Hash Baz; 4 because before the child knows how to cry, ‘Abba!’ and ‘Eema!’, the riches of Dammesek and the spoil of Shomron will be carried off and given to the king of Ashur.” 5 Adonai went on speaking and said more to me:
6 “Since this people has rejected
the gently flowing waters from Shilo’ach
and takes joy in Retzin and the son of Remalyah;
7 now Adonai will bring upon them
the mighty floodwaters of the [Euphrates] River —
that is, the king of Ashur and his power.
It will rise above all its channels
and overflow all its banks.
8 It will sweep through Y’hudah,
flooding everything and passing on.
It will reach even up to the neck,
and its outspread wings
will fill the whole expanse of the land.”
God is with us! [a]
9 You may make an uproar, peoples;
but you will be shattered.
Listen, all of you from distant lands:
arm yourselves, but you will be shattered;
yes, arm yourselves,
but you will be shattered;
10 devise a plan, but it will come to nothing;
say anything you like, but it won’t happen;
because God is with us [b].
11 For this is what Adonai said to me, speaking with a strong hand, warning me not to live the way this people does:
12 “Don’t regard as alliance what this people calls alliance,
and don’t fear what they fear or be awestruck by it;
13 but Adonai-Tzva’ot — consecrate him!
Let him be the object of your fear and awe!
14 He is there to be a sanctuary.
But for both the houses of Isra’el
he will be a stone to stumble over,
a rock obstructing their way;
a trap and a snare
for the inhabitants of Yerushalayim.
15 Many of them will stumble and fall,
be broken and trapped and captured.
27 Later Yeshua went out and saw a tax-collector named Levi sitting in his tax-collection booth; and he said to him, “Follow me!” 28 He got up, left everything and followed him.
29 Levi gave a banquet at his house in Yeshua’s honor, and there was a large group of tax-collectors and others at the table with them. 30 The P’rushim and their Torah-teachers protested indignantly against his talmidim, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?” 31 It was Yeshua who answered them: “The ones who need a doctor aren’t the healthy but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the ‘righteous,’ but rather to call sinners to turn to God from their sins.”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.