Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

² Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid: for ^[a]Jehovah, even Jehovah, is my strength and song; and he is become my salvation. ³ Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. ⁴ And in that day shall ye say, Give thanks unto Jehovah, ^[b]call upon his name, declare his doings among the peoples, make mention that his name is exalted. ⁵ Sing unto Jehovah; for he hath done ^[c]excellent things: ^[d]let this be known in all the earth. ⁶ Cry aloud and shout, thou ^[e]inhabitant of Zion; for great in the midst of thee is the Holy One of Israel.

⁴ Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail, ⁵ saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may ^[a]set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit; ⁶ that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat? ⁷ Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. ⁸ Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? yea, it shall rise up wholly like the River; and it shall be troubled and sink again, like the River of Egypt. ⁹ And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. ¹⁰ And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.

¹¹ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah. ¹² And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it.

9 For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you: ² for I know your readiness, of which I glory on your behalf to them of Macedonia, that Achaia hath been prepared for a year past; and ^[a]your zeal hath stirred up ^[b]very many of them. ³ But I have sent the brethren, that our glorying on your behalf may not be made void in this respect; that, even as I said, ye may be prepared: ⁴ lest by any means, if there come with me any of Macedonia and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be put to shame in this confidence. ⁵ I thought it necessary therefore to entreat the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your aforepromised ^[c]bounty, that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty, and not of ^[d]extortion.

⁶ But this I say, He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth ^[e]bountifully shall reap also ^[f]bountifully. ⁷ Let each man do according as he hath purposed in his heart: not ^[g]grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to make all grace abound unto you; that ye, having always all sufficiency in everything, may abound unto every good work: ⁹ as it is written,

¹⁰ And he that supplieth seed to the sower and bread for food, shall supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness: ¹¹ ye being enriched in everything unto all ^[i]liberality, which worketh through us thanksgiving to God. ¹² For the ministration of this service not only filleth up the measure of the wants of the saints, but aboundeth also through many thanksgivings unto God; ¹³ seeing that through the proving of you by this ministration they glorify God for the obedience of your confession unto the ^[j]gospel of Christ, and for the ^[k]liberality of your contribution unto them and unto all; ¹⁴ while they themselves also, with supplication on your behalf, long after you by reason of the exceeding grace of God in you. ¹⁵ Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.