Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹⁵ I do not know why I do the things I do. I do not do what I want to do. But I do the things I hate.

¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.

¹⁷ So now it is no longer I who do it, but my wrong ways in me.

¹⁸ I know that no good thing lives in me. I mean, no good thing lives in my body. I want to do what is good, but I cannot do it.

¹⁹ I do not do the good thing I want to do, but I do the wrong thing that I do not want to do.

²⁰ If I do the thing I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but the wrong thing in me that does it.

²¹ So there is a law I find that it is at work in me. When I want to do what is right, I can only do what is wrong.

²² In my own mind I am glad to obey the law of God.

²³ But I see that in my body there is another law fighting against the law in my mind. And that makes me like a prisoner to the law of wrong things in my body.

²⁴ I am a very sad man. Who will save me from this body that will make me die?

²⁵ Thank God for Jesus Christ our Lord who will do it! So this is the way it is. In my mind I am a slave to do the law of God, but in my body I am a slave to do the law of wrong things.

¹⁶ `What shall I say that the people of today are like? They are like children who sit in the market. They call to the other children.

¹⁷ They say, "We played music for you, but you did not dance. We cried, but you did not cry."

¹⁸ John came. He does not eat or drink much. People say, "He has a bad spirit in him!"

¹⁹ The Son of Man came. He eats and drinks. People say, "This man eats and drinks too much! He is a friend with tax collectors and bad people!" But a man is proved to be wise by what he has done.'

²⁵ Then Jesus said, `Father, you are Lord of heaven and earth. I thank you because you have hidden these things from people who are wise and know many things. But you have shown them to people who are like children.

²⁶ Yes, Father, that was the way you wanted it.'

²⁷ He said, `My Father has given everything to me. No one knows who the Son is but the Father. No one knows who the Father is but the Son and those to whom the Son wants to show him.

²⁸ All you who work hard! All you who carry heavy loads! Come to me! I will give you rest.

²⁹ Do what I tell you. Learn what I teach you. I am gentle. I am not proud. Then your hearts will rest.

³⁰ What I tell you to do is easy. What I give you to carry is not heavy.'