Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Vision of the Plumb Line
7 This is what the Lord showed me: He stood by a wall with a plumb line[a] in his hand. (The wall had been marked with a plumb line.) 8 The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
I said, “A plumb line.”
Then the Lord said to me, “See, I will put a plumb line among my people Israel. I will not let their ‘crooked ways’ pass inspection anymore. 9 Isaac’s high places will be destroyed. Israel’s holy places will be made into a pile of rocks. I will attack and kill Jeroboam’s[b] family with swords.”
Amaziah Tries to Stop Amos
10 Amaziah, a priest at Bethel,[c] sent this message to Jeroboam, the king of Israel: “Amos is making plans against you. He is trying to make the people of Israel fight against you. He has been speaking so much that this country cannot hold all his words. 11 Amos has said, ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword, and the people of Israel will be taken as prisoners out of their country.’”
12 Amaziah also said to Amos, “You seer, go down to Judah and eat there.[d] Do your prophesying there. 13 But don’t prophesy anymore here at Bethel. This is Jeroboam’s holy place. This is Israel’s temple.”
14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I am not a professional prophet, and I am not from a prophet’s family. I raise cattle and take care of sycamore trees. 15 I was a shepherd and the Lord took me from following the sheep. The Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 So listen to the Lord’s message. You tell me, ‘Don’t prophesy against Israel. Don’t speak against Isaac’s family.’ 17 But the Lord says, ‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city. Your sons and daughters will be killed with swords. Other people will take your land and divide it among themselves, and you will die in a foreign[e] country. The people of Israel will definitely be taken from this country as prisoners.’”
One of Asaph’s songs of praise.
82 God stands in the assembly of the gods.[a]
He stands as judge among the judges.
2 He says, “How long will you judge unfairly
and show special favors to the wicked?” Selah
3 “Defend the poor and orphans.
Protect the rights of the poor.
4 Help those who are poor and helpless.
Save them from those who are evil.
5 “They[b] don’t know what is happening.
They don’t understand!
They don’t know what they are doing.
Their world is falling down around them!”
6 I, God Most High, say,
“You are gods,[c] my own sons.
7 But you will die as all people must die.
Your life will end like that of any ruler.”
8 Get up, God! You be the judge!
You be the leader over all the nations!
1 Greetings from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted. Greetings also from Timothy, our brother in Christ.
2 To the holy and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who live in Colossae.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
3 In our prayers we always thank God for you. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 We thank him because we have heard about the faith you have in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all of God’s people. 5 Your faith and love continue because you know what is waiting for you in heaven—the hope you have had since you first heard the true message, the Good News 6 that was told to you. Throughout the world, this Good News is bringing blessings and is spreading. And that’s what has been happening among you since the first time you heard it and understood the truth about God’s grace. 7 You heard it from Epaphras, our dear friend and co-worker. He is a faithful servant of Christ for us.[a] 8 He also told us about the love you have from the Spirit.
9 Since the day we heard these things about you, we have continued praying for you. This is what we pray:
that God will make you completely sure of what he wants by giving you all the wisdom and spiritual understanding you need; 10 that this will help you live in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every way; that your life will produce good works of every kind and that you will grow in your knowledge of God[b]; 11 that God will strengthen you with his own great power, so that you will be patient and not give up when troubles come.
Then you will be happy 12 and give thanks to the Father. He has made you able to have what he has promised to give all his holy people, who live in the light. 13 God made us free from the power of darkness. And he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. 14 The Son paid the price to make us free. In him we have forgiveness of our sins.
A Story About the Good Samaritan
25 Then an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. He said, “Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”
26 Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you understand from it?”
27 The man answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’[a] Also, ‘Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.’[b]”
28 Jesus said, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will have eternal life.”
29 But the man wanted to show that the way he was living was right. So he said to Jesus, “But who is my neighbor?”
30 To answer this question, Jesus said, “A man was going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Some robbers surrounded him, tore off his clothes, and beat him. Then they left him lying there on the ground almost dead.
31 “It happened that a Jewish priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he did not stop to help him. He walked away. 32 Next, a Levite came near. He saw the hurt man, but he went around him. He would not stop to help him either. He just walked away.
33 “Then a Samaritan man traveled down that road. He came to the place where the hurt man was lying. He saw the man and felt very sorry for him. 34 The Samaritan went to him and poured olive oil and wine[c] on his wounds. Then he covered the man’s wounds with cloth. The Samaritan had a donkey. He put the hurt man on his donkey, and he took him to an inn. There he cared for him. 35 The next day, the Samaritan took out two silver coins and gave them to the man who worked at the inn. He said, ‘Take care of this hurt man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’”
36 Then Jesus said, “Which one of these three men do you think was really a neighbor to the man who was hurt by the robbers?”
37 The teacher of the law answered, “The one who helped him.”
Jesus said, “Then you go and do the same.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International