Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

My Refuge and My Fortress

^23 (A)“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? ^24 (B)Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. ^(C)Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. ²⁵ I have heard what the prophets have said ^(D)who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ^(E)‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ ²⁶ How long shall there be lies in the heart of ^(F)the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, ²⁷ who think to make my people forget my name ^(G)by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their ^(H)fathers forgot my name for Baal? ^28 (I)Let the prophet who has a dream ^(J)tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. ^(K)What has straw in common with wheat? declares the Lord. ^29 (L)Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and ^(M)like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? ^30 (N)Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. ³¹ Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the Lord.’ ³² Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and ^(O)lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when ^(P)I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.

By Grace Through Faith

2 ^(A)And you were ^(B)dead in the trespasses and sins ^2 (C)in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following ^(D)the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in ^(E)the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in ^(F)the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body^[a] and the mind, and ^(G)were by nature ^(H)children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.^{[b] 4} But^[c] God, being ^(I)rich in mercy, ^(J)because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even ^(K)when we were dead in our trespasses, ^(L)made us alive together with Christ—^(M)by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and ^(N)seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable ^(O)riches of his grace in ^(P)kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For ^(Q)by grace you have been saved ^(R)through faith. And this is ^(S)not your own doing; ^(T)it is the gift of God, ^9 (U)not a result of works, ^(V)so that no one may boast. ¹⁰ For ^(W)we are his workmanship, ^(X)created in Christ Jesus ^(Y)for good works, ^(Z)which God prepared beforehand, ^(AA)that we should walk in them.