Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Plumb Line on a Wall
7 This is what He has revealed to me: Behold, my Lord was standing by a vertical wall, and in His hand was a plumb line. 8 Then Adonai said to me: “What do you see, Amos?”
I said: “A plumb line.”
Then my Lord said:
“Behold, I am setting a plumb line among My people Israel—
I will no longer pass over them.
9 So the high places of Isaac will become desolate,
the sanctuaries of Israel will be laid waste,
and I will rise up against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.”
10 Then Amaziah, the priest of Beth-el, sent word to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying: “Amos has been conspiring against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot endure all his words. 11 For this is what Amos has said: ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and Israel will surely go captive from his land.’”
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos: “Seer, go away! Flee back to the land of Judah. Eat bread there, and prophesy there. 13 But at Bethel you are not to prophesy any more—for it is a royal sanctuary and a house of the kingdom.”
14 So Amos responded and said to Amaziah: “I am no prophet, nor am I a son of a prophet. Rather, I am a shepherd tending fig trees. 15 But Adonai took me from following the flock and Adonai said to me: ‘Go, prophesy to My people Israel.’ 16 So now, hear the word of Adonai: You are saying, ‘Do not prophesy against Israel and do not preach against the house of Isaac.’ 17 Therefore, this is what Adonai says:
‘Your wife shall become a prostitute in the city,
your sons and your daughters will fall by the sword,
and your land divided up by a measuring line.
Now, as for you—you will die in an unclean land,
and Israel will surely be led away captive out of its land.’”
A Rebuke for Unjust Judges
Psalm 82
1 A psalm of Asaph.
God takes His stand in the assembly of God.
He judges among the ‘gods’:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the poor and fatherless.
Be just to the afflicted and destitute.
4 Rescue the weak and needy.
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They know nothing;
they understand nothing—
they walk about in darkness.
All of earth’s foundations are shaken.
6 I said: ‘You are ‘gods’,
and you are all sons of Elyon,[a]
7 yet you will die like men,
and will fall like any of the princes.’”
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth!
For You possess all the nations.
Greetings
1 Paul, an emissary of Messiah Yeshua by God’s will, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the kedoshim, the faithful brothers and sisters in Messiah, who are at Colossae:
Grace and shalom to you from God our Father![a]
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, whenever we pray for you. 4 For we heard of your trust in Messiah Yeshua and the love you have for all the kedoshim 5 because of the hope stored up for you in heaven. You heard before about this hope in the true message of the Good News 6 that has come to you. In all the world this Good News is bearing fruit and growing,[b] just as it has in you since you first heard it and came to truly know God’s grace. 7 You learned it from Epaphras—our dearly loved fellow slave, who is a faithful servant of Messiah on our behalf. 8 He also made clear to us your love in the Ruach.
9 For this reason also, ever since we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We keep asking God that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding— 10 to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. 11 We pray that you may be strengthened with all the power that comes from His glorious might, for you to have all kinds of patience and steadfastness. With joy 12 we give thanks to the Father, who qualified you to share in the inheritance of the kedoshim in the light. 13 He rescued us from the domain of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom He loves. 14 In Him we have redemption—the release of sins.
Who Is My Neighbor?
25 Now a certain Torah lawyer stood up to entrap Yeshua, saying, “Teacher, what should I do to gain eternal life?”
26 Then Yeshua said to him, “What has been written in the Torah? How do you read it?”
27 And he replied, “You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”[a]
28 Yeshua said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.”
29 But wanting to vindicate himself, he said to Yeshua, “Then who is my neighbor?”
30 Yeshua replied, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He was attacked by robbers, who stripped him and beat him. Then they left, abandoning him as half dead. 31 And by chance, a kohen was going down that road; but when he saw the man, he passed by on the opposite side. 32 Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the opposite side. 33 But a Samaritan who was traveling came upon him; and when he noticed the man, he felt compassion. 34 He went up to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine. Then setting him on his own animal, he brought him to a lodge for travelers and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[b] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him. And whatever else you spend, upon my return I will repay you myself.’ 36 Which of these three seems to you a neighbor to the one attacked by robbers?”
37 And he said, “The one who showed mercy to him.”
Then Yeshua said to him, “Go, and you do the same.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.