Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Tsadhe

⁵ “Wine can trick a person. In the same way a strong man’s pride can fool him, but he will not find peace. He is like death—he always wants more and more. And, like death, he will never be satisfied. He will continue to defeat other nations and to make those people his prisoners. ⁶ But soon enough, all those people will laugh at him and tell stories about his defeat. They will laugh and say, ‘It’s too bad that the man who took so many things will not get to keep them! He made himself rich by collecting debts.’

⁷ “Strong man, you have taken money from people. One day they will wake up and realize what is happening, and they will stand against you. Then they will take things from you, and you will be very afraid. ⁸ You have stolen things from many nations, so they will take much from you. You have killed many people and destroyed lands and cities. You have killed all the people there.

⁹ “Look at you people! You get rich by cheating people, and it hurts your own family! You build your houses high on the cliffs to protect yourself from danger. ¹⁰ You planned shameful things, and that will bring shame to your own family. You have done wrong, and it will cost you your life. ¹¹ The stones of the walls will cry out against you. Even the wooden rafters^[a] in your own house will prove that you are wrong.

³⁹ They said, “Our father is Abraham.”

Jesus said, “If you were really Abraham’s descendants, you would do what Abraham did. ⁴⁰ I am someone who has told you the truth I heard from God. But you are trying to kill me. Abraham did nothing like that. ⁴¹ So you are doing what your own father did.”

But they said, “We are not like children who never knew who their father was. God is our Father. He is the only Father we have.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were really your Father, you would love me. I came from God, and now I am here. I did not come by my own authority. God sent me. ⁴³ You don’t understand the things I say, because you cannot accept my teaching. ⁴⁴ Your father is the devil. You belong to him. You want to do what he wants. He was a murderer from the beginning. He was always against the truth. There is no truth in him. He is like the lies he tells. Yes, the devil is a liar. He is the father of lies.

⁴⁵ “I am telling you the truth, and that’s why you don’t believe me. ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove that I am guilty of sin? If I tell the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God accepts what he says. But you don’t accept what God says, because you don’t belong to God.”