Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Parable of the Vineyard
5 Let me sing now for my beloved
A song of my beloved about His vineyard.
My beloved had a (A)vineyard on [a]a fertile hill.
2 He dug it all around, cleared it of stones,
And planted it with [b]the (B)choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it,
And also carved out a [c]wine vat in it;
Then He (C)expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only [d]worthless ones.
3 “And now, you inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah,
(D)Judge between Me and My vineyard.
4 (E)What more was there to do for My vineyard [e]that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce [f]worthless ones?
5 So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will (F)remove its hedge and it will be consumed;
I will (G)break down its wall and it will become (H)trampled ground.
6 I will (I)lay it waste;
It will not be pruned nor hoed,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also command the clouds not to (J)rain on it.”
8 You removed a (A)vine from Egypt;
You (B)drove out the [a]nations and (C)planted it.
9 You (D)cleared the ground before it,
And it (E)took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shadow,
And [b]the cedars of God with its (F)branches.
11 It was sending out its branches (G)to the sea
And its shoots to the Euphrates River.
12 Why have You (H)broken down its [c]hedges,
So that all who pass that way pick its fruit?
13 A boar from the forest (I)eats it away,
And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.
14 God of armies, do (J)turn back;
(K)Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,
15 The [d](L)shoot which Your right hand has planted,
And of the [e]son whom You have [f]strengthened for Yourself.
16 It is (M)burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish from the (N)rebuke of Your face.
17 Let (O)Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You (P)made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we will not (Q)turn back from You;
(R)Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 Lord God of armies, (S)restore us;
Make Your face shine upon us, [g]and we will be saved.
29 By faith they (A)passed through the Red Sea as through dry land; and the Egyptians, when they attempted it, were [a]drowned.
30 By faith (B)the walls of Jericho fell down [b](C)after the Israelites had marched around them for seven days. 31 By faith the prostitute (D)Rahab did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies [c]in peace.
32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of (E)Gideon, (F)Barak, (G)Samson, (H)Jephthah, of (I)David and (J)Samuel and the prophets, 33 who by faith (K)conquered kingdoms, (L)performed acts of righteousness, (M)obtained promises, (N)shut the mouths of lions, 34 (O)quenched the power of fire, (P)escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, (Q)became mighty in war, (R)put foreign armies to flight. 35 (S)Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their [d]release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; 36 and others [e]experienced mocking and flogging, and further, (T)chains and imprisonment. 37 They were (U)stoned, they were sawn in two, [f]they were tempted, they were (V)put to death with the sword; they went about (W)in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, (X)tormented 38 (people of whom the world was not worthy), (Y)wandering in deserts, on mountains, and sheltering in caves and holes [g]in the ground.
39 And all these, having (Z)gained approval through their faith, (AA)did not receive [h]what was promised, 40 because God had [i]provided (AB)something better for us, so that (AC)apart from us they would not be made perfect.
Jesus, the Example
12 Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s (AD)rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s (AE)run with (AF)endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking only at Jesus, the [j](AG)originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him (AH)endured the cross, (AI)despising the shame, and has (AJ)sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Christ Divides People
49 “I [a]have come to cast fire upon the earth; and [b]how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a (A)baptism [c]to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! 51 (B)Do you think that I came to provide peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; 52 for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, (C)father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
54 And He was also saying to the crowds, “(D)Whenever you see a cloud rising [d]in the west, you immediately say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. 55 And whenever you feel a [e]south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a (E)hot day,’ and it turns out that way. 56 You hypocrites! (F)You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you do not know how to analyze this present time?
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