Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A song to sing as we climb.

Only God can keep me safe^[a]

God chooses Isaiah to be a prophet

6 In the year when King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord God. He was sitting high up, on a throne. The ends of his long coat filled the temple. ² Above him there were seraphs. Each one had six wings. Two wings covered the seraphs' faces. Two wings covered their feet. With the other two wings they were flying.

³ The seraphs called out to one another. They said, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty! The whole earth is full of his great glory.’

⁴ When the seraphs spoke, the foundation of the temple shook. And the temple became full of smoke.

⁵ Then I said, ‘It is bad for me! My life is at an end! I have lips that are unclean. I live among people with lips that are unclean. With my own eyes I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’

⁶ Then one of the seraphs flew towards me. In his hand was a piece of burning coal. He had used a tool to take it from the altar. ⁷ He touched my mouth with the piece of coal. He said to me, ‘Look! This has touched your lips. It has taken away your sin. You are no longer guilty.’

⁸ Then I heard the voice of the Lord God. He said, ‘Is there anyone that I can send with my message? Who will go on our behalf?’ I said, ‘I am here. Send me!’

Jesus asks some men to go with him

5 One day, Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret.^[a] A crowd was pushing to get near to him. They were listening to him. He was speaking God's message to them.

² Jesus saw two fishing boats at the edge of the lake. The fishermen had left the boats there and they were now washing their nets.^[b]

³ One of the boats belonged to Simon. Jesus climbed into it. He asked Simon to push it away from the shore. Jesus sat in the boat and he started to teach the people.^[c]

⁴ When Jesus had finished teaching, he said to Simon, ‘Now take the boat out into deep water. Then put the nets into the water to catch some fish.’

⁵ Simon replied, ‘Teacher, we worked all last night and we did not catch anything. But because you say it, I will put the nets into the water again.’ ⁶ So they went in their boats and they put the nets down into the water. When they did that, they caught many fish. There were so many fish that the nets began to break. ⁷ So they made signs to the fishermen in the other boat. They told the other fishermen to come and help. So the other men came in their boat. They filled both boats with the fish. There were so many fish that the boats began to go down under the water. ⁸ When Simon saw all the fish, he went down on his knees in front of Jesus. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘I am a bad man. So please go away from me.’^[d]

⁹ Simon and his friends were very surprised. They were all surprised because they had caught so many fish. ¹⁰ Zebedee's sons, James and John, were fishermen who worked with Simon. They were also surprised. Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid. You have been catching fish. From now on you will catch people!’^[e]

¹¹ After that, they went and they pulled their boats up on the shore. Then they left everything behind and they went with Jesus.