Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Unbelieving Fool
For the director of music. Of David.
14 Fools say to themselves,
“There is no God.”
Fools are evil and do terrible things;
there is no one who does anything good.
2 The Lord looked down from heaven on all people
to see if anyone understood,
if anyone was looking to God for help.
3 But all have turned away.
Together, everyone has become evil.
There is no one who does anything good,
not even one.
4 Don’t the wicked understand?
They destroy my people as if they were eating bread.
They do not ask the Lord for help.
5 But the wicked are filled with terror,
because God is with those who do what is right.
6 The wicked upset the plans of the poor,
but the Lord will protect them.
7 I pray that victory will come to Israel from Mount Zion!
May the Lord bring them back.
Then the people of Jacob will rejoice,
and the people of Israel will be glad.
13 Then Joab and the army with him went to attack the Arameans, and the Arameans ran away. 14 When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans were running away, they also ran away from Abishai and went back to their city. So Joab returned from the battle with the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.
15 When the Arameans saw that Israel had defeated them, they came together into one big army. 16 Hadadezer sent messengers to bring the Arameans from east of the Euphrates River, and they went to Helam. Their leader was Shobach, the commander of Hadadezer’s army.
17 When David heard about this, he gathered all the Israelites together. They crossed over the Jordan River and went to Helam. There the Arameans prepared for battle and attacked him. 18 But the Arameans ran away from the Israelites. David killed seven hundred Aramean chariot drivers and forty thousand Aramean horsemen. He also killed Shobach, the commander of the Aramean army.
19 When the kings who served Hadadezer saw that the Israelites had defeated them, they made peace with the Israelites and served them. And the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites again.
31 Meanwhile, his followers were begging him, “Teacher, eat something.”
32 But Jesus answered, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 So the followers asked themselves, “Did somebody already bring him food?”
34 Jesus said, “My food is to do what the One who sent me wants me to do and to finish his work. 35 You have a saying, ‘Four more months till harvest.’ But I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields ready for harvest now. 36 Already, the one who harvests is being paid and is gathering crops for eternal life. So the one who plants and the one who harvests celebrate at the same time. 37 Here the saying is true, ‘One person plants, and another harvests.’ 38 I sent you to harvest a crop that you did not work on. Others did the work, and you get to finish up their work.”[a]
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.