Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Foolish Men

53 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are sinful and have done bad things. There is no one who does good. ² God has looked down from heaven at the children of men to see if there is anyone who understands and looks for God. ³ They have all turned back. They have all turned to sin. There is no one who does good, not even one. ⁴ Have those who do wrong no understanding? They eat up My people like they eat bread. They have not called upon God. ⁵ There they were, in much fear, where there was nothing to be afraid of. For God has spread out the bones of those who come against you. You put them to shame, because God has turned away from them. ⁶ O, that the saving of Israel would come out of Zion! Jacob will be full of joy and Israel will be glad when God returns His people to their land.

Elisha and the Jar of Oil

4 Now the wife of the son of one of the men who tell what will happen in the future cried out to Elisha, “Your servant, my husband, is dead. You know that your servant honored the Lord with fear. But the man to whom he owed money has come to take my two children to make them serve him.” ² Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your woman servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” ³ Then he said, “Go around and get jars from all your neighbors. Get empty jars, many of them. ⁴ Then go in and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour the oil into all these jars, and set aside each one that is full.” ⁵ So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They took the jars to her, and she poured. ⁶ When the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another jar.” And he said to her, “There is not one jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. ⁷ She came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go and sell the oil and pay what you owe. You and your sons can live on the rest.”

The Feeding of the Five Thousand ^(A)

¹⁰ The twelve followers came back. They told Jesus what they had done. Jesus took them to a desert near the town of Bethsaida. There they could be alone. ¹¹ When the people knew where Jesus was, they followed Him. Jesus was happy to see them and talked to them about the holy nation of God. He healed all who were sick.

¹² When the day was about over, the twelve followers came to Jesus. They said, “Send these many people away so they can go to the towns and country near here. There they can find a place to sleep and get food. We are here in a desert.” ¹³ But Jesus said to them, “Give them something to eat.” They said, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish. Are we to go and buy food for all these people?” ¹⁴ There were about five thousand men. Jesus said to His followers, “Have them sit down in groups of fifty people.” ¹⁵ They did as He told them. They made all of the people sit down. ¹⁶ As Jesus took the five loaves of bread and two fish, He looked up to heaven and gave thanks. He broke them in pieces and gave them to His followers to give to the people. ¹⁷ They all ate and were filled. They picked up twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and fish after the people finished eating.