Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
The Vision of the Plumb Line
7 This is what he showed me: The Lord stood by a straight wall, with a plumb line in his hand. 8 The Lord said to me, “Amos, what do you see?”
I said, “A plumb line.”
Then the Lord said, “See, I will put a plumb line among my people Israel to show how crooked they are. I will not look the other way any longer.
9 “The places where Isaac’s descendants worship will be destroyed,
Israel’s holy places will be turned into ruins,
and I will attack King Jeroboam’s family with the sword.”
Amaziah Speaks Against Amos
10 Amaziah, a priest at Bethel, sent this message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is making evil plans against you with the people of Israel. He has been speaking so much that this land can’t hold all his words. 11 This is what Amos has said:
‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and the people of Israel will be taken as captives
out of their own country.’”
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Seer, go back right now to Judah. Do your prophesying and earn your living there, 13 but don’t prophesy anymore here at Bethel. This is the king’s holy place, and it is the nation’s temple.”
14 Then Amos answered Amaziah, “I do not make my living as a prophet, nor am I a member of a group of prophets. I make my living as a shepherd, and I take care of sycamore trees. 15 But the Lord took me away from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 So listen to the Lord’s word. You tell me,
‘Don’t prophesy against Israel,
and stop prophesying against the descendants of Isaac.’
17 “Because you have said this, the Lord says:
‘Your wife will become a prostitute in the city,
and your sons and daughters will be killed with swords.
Other people will measure your land and divide it among themselves,
and you will die in a foreign country.
The people of Israel will definitely be taken
from their own land as captives.’”
A Cry for Justice
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God is in charge of the great meeting;
he judges among the “gods.”
2 He says, “How long will you defend evil people?
How long will you show greater kindness to the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the weak and the orphans;
defend the rights of the poor and suffering.
4 Save the weak and helpless;
free them from the power of the wicked.
5 “You know nothing. You don’t understand.
You walk in the dark,
while the world is falling apart.
6 I said, ‘You are “gods.”
You are all sons of God Most High.’
7 But you will die like any other person;
you will fall like all the leaders.”
8 God, come and judge the earth,
because you own all the nations.
1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted. Also from Timothy, our brother.
2 To the holy and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ that live in Colossae:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father.[a]
3 In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 because we have heard about the faith you have in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all of God’s people. 5 You have this faith and love because of your hope, and what you hope for is kept safe for you in heaven. You learned about this hope when you heard the message about the truth, the Good News 6 that was told to you. Everywhere in the world that Good News is bringing blessings and is growing. This has happened with you, too, since you heard the Good News and understood the truth about the grace of God. 7 You learned about God’s grace from Epaphras, whom we love. He works together with us and is a faithful servant of Christ for us.[b] 8 He also told us about the love you have from the Holy Spirit.
9 Because of this, since the day we heard about you, we have continued praying for you, asking God that you will know fully what he wants. We pray that you will also have great wisdom and understanding in spiritual things 10 so that you will live the kind of life that honors and pleases the Lord in every way. You will produce fruit in every good work and grow in the knowledge of God. 11 God will strengthen you with his own great power so that you will not give up when troubles come, but you will be patient. 12 And you will joyfully give thanks to the Father who has made you[c] able to have a share in all that he has prepared for his people in the kingdom of light. 13 God has freed us from the power of darkness, and he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son. 14 The Son paid for our sins,[d] and in him we have forgiveness.
The Good Samaritan
25 Then an expert on the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to get life forever?”
26 Jesus said, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”
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 as you love yourself.”[b]
28 Jesus said to him, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will live.”
29 But the man, wanting to show the importance of his question, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus answered, “As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there, almost dead. 31 It happened that a priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. 32 Next, a Levite[c] came there, and after he went over and looked at the man, he walked by on the other side of the road. 33 Then a Samaritan[d] traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was. When he saw the man, he felt very sorry for him. 34 The Samaritan went to him, poured olive oil and wine[e] on his wounds, and bandaged them. Then he put the hurt man on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he cared for him. 35 The next day, the Samaritan brought out two coins,[f] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of this 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 a neighbor to the man who was attacked by the robbers?”
37 The expert on the law answered, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Then go and do what he did.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.