Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Yahweh Raises Up Deborah and Barak

4 Then ^(A)the sons of Israel again did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh. Now Ehud had died. ² And Yahweh sold them into the hand of ^(B)Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in ^(C)Harosheth-hagoyim. ³ Then the sons of Israel cried to Yahweh; for he had 900 ^(D)iron chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years.

⁴ Now Deborah, a ^[a]prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. ⁵ And she used to ^[b]sit under the ^(E)palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment. ⁶ Then she sent and summoned ^(F)Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not Yahweh, the God of Israel, commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you 10,000 men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun? ⁷ And I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his ^[c]many troops to the river Kishon, and ^(G)I will give him into your hand.’”

To You I Lift Up My Eyes

A Song of Ascents.

The Day of the Lord

5 Now concerning the ^(A)times and the seasons, brothers, you ^(B)have no need of anything to be written to you. ² For you yourselves know full well that ^(C)the day of the Lord ^[a]will come ^(D)just like a thief in the night. ³ While they are saying, “^(E)Peace and safety!” then ^[b](F)destruction ^[c]will come upon them suddenly like ^(G)labor pains upon a woman who is pregnant, and they will never escape. ⁴ But you, brothers, are not in ^(H)darkness, that the day would overtake you ^[d](I)like a thief, ⁵ for you are all ^(J)sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of ^(K)darkness; ⁶ so then let us not ^(L)sleep as ^[e](M)others do, but let us be awake and ^[f](N)sober. ⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get ^(O)drunk at night. ⁸ But since ^(P)we are of the day, let us ^(Q)be ^[g]sober, having put on the ^(R)breastplate of ^(S)faith and love, and as a ^(T)helmet, the ^(U)hope of salvation. ⁹ For God has not appointed us for ^(V)wrath, but for ^(W)obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ^10 (X)who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. ¹¹ Therefore, ^[h]comfort one another and ^(Y)build up one another, just as you also are doing.

Parable of the Talents

¹⁴ “^(A)For it is just like a man ^(B)about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and handed over his possessions to them. ¹⁵ And to one he gave five ^[a](C)talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he ^(D)went on his journey. ¹⁶ Immediately the one who had received the five ^(E)talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. ¹⁷ In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸ But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid his ^[b]master’s money.

¹⁹ “Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *^(F)settled accounts with them. ²⁰ And the one who had received the five ^(G)talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed five talents over to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(H)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will ^(I)put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your ^[c]master.’

²² “Also the one who had received the two ^(J)talents came up and said, ‘Master, you handed two talents over to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and ^(K)faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

²⁴ “And the one also who had received the one ^(L)talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. ²⁵ And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’

²⁶ “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. ²⁷ Therefore, you ought to have put my money ^[d]in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. ²⁸ Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’

²⁹ “^(M)For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. ³⁰ And throw out the worthless slave into ^(N)the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.