Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

God Gives What Is Good

Wishing to Be Near God

A psalm of David when he was in the desert of Judah.

Warnings from Israel’s Past

10 Brothers and sisters, I want you to know what happened to our ancestors who followed Moses. They were all under the cloud and all went through the sea. ² They were all baptized as followers of Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³ They all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink. They drank from that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵ But God was not pleased with most of them, so they died in the desert.

⁶ And these things happened as examples for us, to stop us from wanting evil things as those people did. ⁷ Do not worship idols, as some of them did. Just as it is written in the Scriptures: “They sat down to eat and drink, and then they got up and sinned sexually.”^{[a] 8} We must not take part in sexual sins, as some of them did. In one day twenty-three thousand of them died because of their sins. ⁹ We must not test Christ as some of them did; they were killed by snakes. ¹⁰ Do not complain as some of them did; they were killed by the angel that destroys.

¹¹ The things that happened to those people are examples. They were written down to teach us, because we live in a time when all these things of the past have reached their goal. ¹² If you think you are strong, you should be careful not to fall. ¹³ The only temptation that has come to you is that which everyone has. But you can trust God, who will not permit you to be tempted more than you can stand. But when you are tempted, he will also give you a way to escape so that you will be able to stand it.

Change Your Hearts

13 At that time some people were there who told Jesus that Pilate^[a] had killed some people from Galilee while they were worshiping. He mixed their blood with the blood of the animals they were sacrificing to God. ² Jesus answered, “Do you think this happened to them because they were more sinful than all others from Galilee? ³ No, I tell you. But unless you change your hearts and lives, you will be destroyed as they were! ⁴ What about those eighteen people who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were more sinful than all the others who live in Jerusalem? ⁵ No, I tell you. But unless you change your hearts and lives, you will all be destroyed too!”

The Useless Tree

⁶ Jesus told this story: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came looking for some fruit on the tree, but he found none. ⁷ So the man said to his gardener, ‘I have been looking for fruit on this tree for three years, but I never find any. Cut it down. Why should it waste the ground?’ ⁸ But the servant answered, ‘Master, let the tree have one more year to produce fruit. Let me dig up the dirt around it and put on some fertilizer. ⁹ If the tree produces fruit next year, good. But if not, you can cut it down.’”