Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God Puts Down the Proud and Lifts Up Those Who Are Right with Himself

75 We give thanks to You, O God. We give thanks that Your name is near. Men tell about the great things You have done. ² You say, “When the right time has come, I will be right and fair in deciding who is guilty or not. ³ When the earth and all its people shake, it is I Who will hold it together. ⁴ I said to the proud, ‘Do not speak with pride.’ And I said to the sinful, ‘Do not lift up the horn. ⁵ Do not lift your horn up high. Do not speak in your pride.’”

⁶ For honor does not come from the east or the west or from the desert. ⁷ But God is the One Who decides. He puts down one and brings respect to another. ⁸ For there is a cup in the Lord’s hand. It is full of strong wine that is well mixed. He pours out from it, and all the sinful people of the earth must drink all of it.

⁹ But as for me, I will tell of it forever. I will sing praises to the God of Jacob. ¹⁰ He will cut off all the horns of the sinful. But the horns of those who are right with God will be lifted up.

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.”

¹⁶ “I am sending you out like sheep with wolves all around you. Be wise like snakes and gentle like doves. ¹⁷ But look out for men. They will take you up to their courts and they will hurt you in their places of worship. ¹⁸ They will take you in front of the leaders of the people and of the kings because of Me. You will tell them and the people who do not know God about Me. ¹⁹ When you are put into their hands, do not worry what you will say or how you will say it. The words will be given you when the time comes. ²⁰ It will not be you who will speak the words. The Spirit of your Father will speak through you.

²¹ “A brother will hand over a brother to be put to death. A father will hand over his child to be put to death. Children will hand over their parents to be put to death. ²² You will be hated by all people because of Me. But he who stays true to the end will be saved. ²³ When they make it hard for you in one town, go to another. For sure, I tell you, before you have gone through the Jewish cities, the Son of Man will come.

²⁴ “A follower is not greater than his teacher. A servant who is owned by someone is not greater than his owner. ²⁵ A follower should be happy to be as his teacher, and a servant who is owned by someone should be happy to be as his owner. If they have called the head of the house Satan, how much more will they speak against those of the house.