Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 142[a]
Prayer in Time of Abandonment
1 A maskil[b] of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.
2 [c]I cry out to the Lord with my plea;
I entreat the Lord to grant me mercy.
3 Before him I pour out my complaint
and tell my troubles in his presence.
4 [d]No matter how faint my spirit is within me,
you are there to guide my steps.
Along the path on which I travel[e]
they have hidden a trap for me.
5 I look to my right,
but there is no friend who knows me.
There is no refuge available to me;
no one cares whether I live or perish.[f]
6 [g]I cry out to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”[h]
7 Listen to my plea for help,
for I am in desperate straits.
Rescue me from those who seek to persecute me,
for they are too strong for me.[i]
8 Set me free from my prison,[j]
so that I may praise your name.
Then the righteous will assemble around me
because of your great generosity to me.
15 For the day of the Lord is near
for all the nations.
As you have done,
so will it be done to you;
your deeds will recoil upon your own head.
Dominion Will Belong to the Lord
16 Just as you have drunk on my holy mountain,
so shall all the nations drink continually;
they shall drink and gulp it down
and be as though they had never been.
17 But on Mount Zion a remnant will be saved;
it will be holy,
and the house of Jacob will take possession
of those who dispossessed them.
18 Then the house of Jacob will be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame.
The house of Esau will be stubble;
it will be set afire and consumed,
and no one of the house of Esau will survive,
for the Lord has spoken.
19 My people from the Negeb[a]
will occupy the mount of Esau,
and people from the lowlands
will occupy the foothills
of the land of the Philistines.
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,
and Benjamin will possess Gilead.
20 The exiles of the Israelites
will possess Phoenicia as far as Zarephath,[b]
and the exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
will possess the towns of the Negeb.
21 Those who have been saved
will ascend Mount Zion
to rule over the mountains of Esau,
and dominion will belong to the Lord.
10 The Reason for Parables.[a] Then his disciples approached and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 He replied, “To you has been granted knowledge of the mysteries[b] of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 To the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. As for the one who does not have, even what little he has will be taken away. 13 The reason I speak to them in parables is that they see but do not perceive and they listen but do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:
‘You will indeed hear but not understand,
you will indeed look but never see.
15 For this people’s heart has become hardened;
they have stopped up their ears
and they have shut their eyes,
so that they might not see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and then turn to me,
and I would heal them.’
16 The Privilege of Discipleship.[c]“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
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