Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
God the Judge[a]
75 We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks to you!
We proclaim how great you are
and tell of[b] the wonderful things you have done.
2 “I have set a time for judgment,” says God,
“and I will judge with fairness.
3 Though every living creature tremble
and the earth itself be shaken,
I will keep its foundations firm.
4 I tell the wicked not to be arrogant;
5 I tell them to stop their boasting.”
6 Judgment does not come from the east or from the west,
from the north or from the south;[c]
7 it is God who is the judge,
condemning some and acquitting others.
8 The Lord holds a cup in his hand,
filled with the strong wine of his anger.
He pours it out, and all the wicked drink it;
they drink it down to the last drop.
9 But I will never stop speaking of the God of Jacob
or singing praises to him.
10 He will break the power of the wicked,
but the power of the righteous will be increased.
Elisha Helps a Poor Widow
4 The widow of a member of a group of prophets went to Elisha and said, “Sir, my husband has died! As you know, he was a God-fearing man, but now a man he owed money to has come to take away my two sons as slaves in payment for my husband's debt.”
2 “What shall I do for you?” he asked. “Tell me, what do you have at home?”
“Nothing at all, except a small jar of olive oil,” she answered.
3 “Go to your neighbors and borrow as many empty jars as you can,” Elisha told her. 4 “Then you and your sons go into the house, close the door, and start pouring oil into the jars. Set each one aside as soon as it is full.”
5 So the woman went into her house with her sons, closed the door, took the small jar of olive oil, and poured oil into the jars as her sons brought them to her. 6 When they had filled all the jars, she asked if there were any more. “That was the last one,” one of her sons answered. And the olive oil stopped flowing. 7 She went back to Elisha, the prophet, who said to her, “Sell the olive oil and pay all your debts, and there will be enough money left over for you and your sons to live on.”
Coming Persecutions(A)
16 (B)“Listen! I am sending you out just like sheep to a pack of wolves. You must be as cautious as snakes and as gentle as doves. 17 (C)Watch out, for there will be those who will arrest you and take you to court, and they will whip you in the synagogues. 18 For my sake you will be brought to trial before rulers and kings, to tell the Good News to them and to the Gentiles. 19 When they bring you to trial, do not worry about what you are going to say or how you will say it; when the time comes, you will be given what you will say. 20 For the words you will speak will not be yours; they will come from the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21 (D)“People will hand over their own brothers to be put to death, and fathers will do the same to their children; children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. 22 (E)Everyone will hate you because of me. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, run away to another one. I assure you that you will not finish your work in all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
24 (F)“No pupil is greater than his teacher; no slave is greater than his master. 25 (G)So a pupil should be satisfied to become like his teacher, and a slave like his master. If the head of the family is called Beelzebul, the members of the family will be called even worse names!
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.