Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Prayer for Rescue from the Treacherous.
A Song of [a]Ascents.
11 For this is what the Lord says regarding [a](A)Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who became king in the place of his father Josiah, who went out from this place: “He will never return there; 12 but in the place where they took him into exile, there he will (B)die and he will not see this land again.
Messages about the Kings
13 “Woe to him who builds his house (C)without righteousness,
And his upstairs rooms without justice,
Who uses his neighbor’s services without pay
And (D)does not give him his wages,
14 Who says, ‘I will (E)build myself a large house
With spacious upstairs rooms,
And cut out its windows,
[b]Paneling it with (F)cedar and painting it [c]bright red.’
15 Do you become a king because you are competing in cedar?
Did your father not eat and drink
And (G)do justice and righteousness?
Then it was (H)well for him.
16 He pled the cause of the (I)afflicted and the poor,
Then it was well.
(J)Is that not what it means to know Me?”
Declares the Lord.
17 “But your eyes and your heart
Are intent only upon your own (K)dishonest gain,
And on (L)shedding innocent blood,
And on practicing oppression and extortion.”
Woes upon the Pharisees
37 Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee *asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in and reclined at the table. 38 When the Pharisee saw this, he was surprised that Jesus had not first [a](A)ceremonially washed before the [b]meal. 39 But (B)the Lord said to him, “Now (C)you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish; but your inside is full of greed and wickedness. 40 (D)You foolish ones, did He who made the outside not make the inside also? 41 But (E)give that which is within as a charitable gift, and [c]then all things are (F)clean for you.
42 “(G)But woe to you Pharisees! For you (H)pay tithes of mint, rue, and every kind of garden herb, and yet you [d]ignore justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you (I)love the seat of honor in the synagogues and personal greetings in the marketplaces. 44 (J)Woe to you! For you are like [e]unseen tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”
45 One of the [f](K)lawyers *said to Him in reply, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us too.” 46 But He said, “Woe to you (L)lawyers as well! For (M)you load people with burdens that are hard to bear, [g]while you yourselves will not even [h]touch the burdens with one of your fingers. 47 (N)Woe to you! For you build the [i]tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. 48 So you are witnesses and you approve of the deeds of your fathers; because it was they who killed them, and you build their [j]tombs. 49 For this reason also, (O)the wisdom of God said, ‘(P)I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and some they will [k]persecute, 50 so that the blood of all the prophets, shed (Q)since the foundation of the world, may be charged [l]against this generation, 51 from (R)the blood of Abel to (S)the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the house of God; yes, I tell you, it shall be charged [m]against this generation.’ 52 Woe to you [n](T)lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; (U)you yourselves did not enter, and you hindered those who were entering.”
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