Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
2 Look! God is my Savior.
I am confident and unafraid,
because the Lord is my strength and my song.
He is my Savior.”
3 With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation.
4 At that time you will say,
“Praise the Lord.
Call on his name.
Make his deeds known among the nations.
Make them remember that his name is highly honored.
5 Make music to praise the Lord.
He has done wonderful things.
Let this be known throughout the earth.
6 Shout loudly, and sing with joy, people of Zion!
The Holy One of Israel is great. He is among you.”
4 Listen to this, those who trample on the needy
and ruin those who are oppressed in the world.
5 You say to yourselves,
“When will the New Moon Festival be over
so that we can sell more grain?
When will the day of rest—a holy day, be over
so that we can sell more wheat?
We can shrink the size of the bushel baskets,
increase the cost,
and cheat with dishonest scales.
6 We can buy the poor with money
and the needy for a pair of sandals.
We can sell the husks mixed in with the wheat.”
7 The Lord has sworn an oath by Jacob’s pride:
“I will never forget anything that they have done.”
8 The land will tremble because of this.
Everyone who lives in it will mourn.
The entire land will rise like the Nile,
be tossed about, and then sink like Egypt’s river.
9 On that day, declares the Almighty Lord,
I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your festivals into funerals
and all your songs into funeral songs.
I will put sackcloth around everyone’s waist
and shave everyone’s head.
I will make that day seem like a funeral for an only child,
and its end will be bitter.
11 The days are going to come, declares the Almighty Lord,
when I will send a famine throughout the land.
It won’t be an ordinary famine or drought.
Instead, there will be a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
12 People will wander from sea to sea
and roam from the north to the east,
searching for the Lord’s word.
But they won’t find it.
The Reason to Give to the Christians in Jerusalem
9 I don’t need to write anything further to you about helping the Christians ⌞in Jerusalem⌟. 2 I know how willing you are to help, and I brag about you to the believers in the province of Macedonia. I tell them, “The people of Greece have been ready ⌞to send their collection⌟ since last year,” and your enthusiasm has moved most of them ⌞to act⌟. 3 I’ve sent my coworkers so that when we brag that you’re ready, we can back it up. 4 Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me, they might find out that you’re not ready after all. This would embarrass us for feeling so confident as much as it would embarrass you. 5 So I thought that I should encourage our coworkers to visit you before I do and make arrangements for this gift that you had already promised to give. Then it will be the blessing it was intended to be, and it won’t be something you’re forced to do.
6 Remember this: The farmer who plants a few seeds will have a very small harvest. But the farmer who plants because he has received God’s blessings will receive a harvest of God’s blessings in return. 7 Each of you should give whatever you have decided. You shouldn’t be sorry that you gave or feel forced to give, since God loves a cheerful giver. 8 Besides, God will give you his constantly overflowing kindness.[a] Then, when you always have everything you need, you can do more and more good things. 9 Scripture says,
“The person with God’s approval gives freely to the poor.
The things he does with God’s approval continue forever.”
10 God gives seed to the farmer and food to those who need to eat. God will also give you seed and multiply it. In your lives he will increase the things you do that have his approval. 11 God will make you rich enough so that you can always be generous. Your generosity will produce thanksgiving to God because of us. 12 What you do to serve others not only provides for the needs of God’s people, but also produces more and more prayers of thanksgiving to God. 13 You will honor God through this genuine act of service because of your commitment to spread the Good News of Christ and because of your generosity in sharing with them and everyone else. 14 With deep affection they will pray for you because of the extreme kindness that God has shown you. 15 I thank God for his gift that words cannot describe.
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