Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob
and all the families of the house of Israel.
5 Thus says the Lord:
What iniquity have your fathers found in Me,
that they have gone far from Me,
and have walked after vanity
and have become vain?
6 They did not say, “Where is the Lord
who brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
who led us through the wilderness,
through a land of deserts and of pits,
through a land of drought and of the shadow of death,
through a land that no man passed through and where no man lived?”
7 And I brought you into a plentiful country
to eat its fruit and its goodness.
But when you entered, you defiled My land
and made My heritage an abomination.
8 The priests did not say,
“Where is the Lord?”
And those who handle the law did not know Me;
the shepherds also transgressed against Me,
and the prophets prophesied by Baal
and walked after things that do not profit.
9 Therefore I will yet contend with you,
says the Lord,
and with your sons’ sons I will contend.
10 For pass over the coastlands of Cyprus and see,
and send to Kedar and consider diligently,
and see if there is such a thing.
11 Has a nation changed their gods,
though they are not gods?
But My people have changed their glory
for that which does not profit.
12 Be astonished at this, O heavens,
and be horribly afraid, be very desolate,
says the Lord.
13 For My people have committed two evils.
They have forsaken Me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out for themselves cisterns,
broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Psalm 81
For the Music Director. According to The Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Sing aloud unto God our strength;
make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But My people would not listen to My voice;
Israel would not submit to Me.
12 So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts,
to walk in their own counsels.
13 “Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
and Israel would follow in My ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
and turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 Let those who hate the Lord cower before Him
and their fate might last forever.
16 But I would feed them with the finest of wheat,
and with honey out of the rock I would satisfy you.”
Service That Pleases God
13 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unknowingly. 3 Remember those who are in chains, as if imprisoned with them, and those who are ill treated, since you are also in the body.
4 Marriage is to be honored among everyone, and the bed undefiled. But God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. 5 Let your lives be without love of money, and be content with the things you have. For He has said:
“I will never leave you,
nor forsake you.”[a]
6 So we may boldly say:
“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?”[b]
7 Remember those who rule over you, who have proclaimed to you the word of God. Follow their faith, considering the results it has produced in their lives. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.
15 Through Him, then, let us continually offer to God the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. 16 But do not forget to do good and to share. For with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
The Healing of the Man With Edema
14 On the Sabbath they watched Him as He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees to eat bread.
A Lesson to Guests and a Host
7 When He marked how they chose the seats of honor, He told a parable to those who were invited, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by any man to a wedding banquet, do not sit down in a seat of honor, lest a more honorable man than you be invited by him; 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give this man the seat,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest seat. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest seat, so that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have respect in the presence of those who sit at dinner with you. 11 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
12 Then He said also to the one who invited Him, “When you prepare a dinner or a supper, do not call your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. 13 But when you prepare a banquet, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, for they cannot repay you. You shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.