Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Weeping for Jerusalem
18 My joy is overcome by grief,
my heart is faint within me.
19 Listen, the sound of the cry of the daughter of my people
—a voice from a distant land—
“Is Adonai no longer in Zion?
Is her King no longer in her?”
“Why have they provoked Me with their graven images,
with foreign idols?”
20 “Harvest is past,
summer is over,
yet we are not saved.”
21 “Because of the brokenness of the daughter of my people,
I am brokenhearted.
I mourn—desolation grips me.
22 Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Then why has no healing gone up
for the daughter of my people?
23 If only my head were water
and my eyes a fountain of tears,
then I would weep day and night
for the slain of the daughter of my people!
9 If only I had a travelers’ lodging place
in the wilderness,
then I might leave my people
and get away from them!
For they are all adulterers,
a bunch of traitors.
A Lament Over Jerusalem
Psalm 79
1 A Psalm of Asaph.
God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance,
defiled Your holy Temple,
and reduced Jerusalem to ruins.
2 They gave the carcasses of Your servants as food to the birds of the skies,
the flesh of Your kedoshim to the beasts of the earth.
3 They poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
a scorn and derision to those around us.
5 How long, Adonai, will You be angry?
Forever?
Will Your jealousy keep blazing like fire?
6 Pour out Your wrath
on the nations that do not acknowledge You,
on the kingdoms that do not call on Your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and laid waste his country.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of our fathers.
May Your mercies come quickly to meet us,
for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, God of our salvation—
for the sake of the glory of Your Name.
Deliver us, and atone for our sins—
for Your name’s sake.
Godliness in Prayer and Worship
2 Therefore, first of all I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made on behalf of all people— 2 for kings and all who are in authority[a]—so we may live a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and respectfulness. 3 This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior. 4 He desires all men to be saved and come into the knowledge of the truth. [b] 5 For there is one God[c] and there is one Mediator between God and men[d]—a human, Messiah Yeshua, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all[e]—the testimony at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a herald and an emissary (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faithfulness and truth.
A Lesson for the Disciples
16 Now Yeshua was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a household manager, and this manager was accused of squandering his belongings. 2 So he called the manager and said to him, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “Then the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I’ll do, so that when I’m put out of management others will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So he called in each one of his master’s debtors, and he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “He said, ‘One hundred units of olive oil.’
“The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘Now how much do you owe?’
“He said, ‘A hundred units of wheat.’
“The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and write eighty.’
8 “Now the master praised the crooked manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the sons of this age are smarter when dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9 I say to you, make friends for yourselves from the wealth of the world, so when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal shelters.
10 “One who is faithful in the smallest matters is also faithful in much, and the one unjust in the smallest matters will likewise be unjust in much. 11 So then, if you cannot be trusted with unjust wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? 12 Now if you have not been trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you anything of your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick by one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and money.”[a]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.