Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
More Visions and Messages of Judgment
8 The Sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw[a] a basket of summer fruit.[b] 2 He said, “What do you see, Amos?” I replied, “A basket of summer fruit.” Then the Lord said to me, “The end[c] has come for my people Israel! I will no longer overlook their sins.[d]
3 The women singing in the temple[e] will wail in that day.”
The Sovereign Lord is speaking.
“There will be many corpses littered everywhere![f] Be quiet!”
4 Listen to this, you who trample[g] the needy
and do away with[h] the destitute in the land.
5 You say,
“When will the new moon festival[i] be over,[j] so we can sell grain?
When will the Sabbath end,[k] so we can open up the grain bins?[l]
We’re eager[m] to sell less for a higher price,[n]
and to cheat the buyer with rigged scales![o]
6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor,[p]
a pair of sandals[q] for the needy.
We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!”[r]
7 The Lord confirms this oath[s] by the arrogance of Jacob:[t]
“I swear[u] I will never forget all you have done![v]
8 Because of this the earth[w] will quake,[x]
and all who live in it will mourn.
The whole earth[y] will rise like the Nile River,[z]
it will surge upward[aa] and then grow calm,[ab] like the Nile in Egypt.[ac]
9 In that day,” says the Sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon
and make the earth dark in the middle of the day.[ad]
10 I will turn your festivals into funerals[ae]
and all your songs into funeral dirges.
I will make everyone wear funeral clothes[af]
and cause every head to be shaved bald.[ag]
I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son;[ah]
when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day.[ai]
11 Be certain of this,[aj] the time is[ak] coming,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“when I will send a famine through the land—
not a shortage of food or water
but an end to divine revelation.[al]
12 People[am] will stagger from sea to sea,[an]
and from the north around to the east.
They will wander about looking for a message from the Lord,
but they will not find any.[ao]
Psalm 52[a]
For the music director, a well-written song[b] by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.”[c]
52 Why do you boast about your evil plans,[d] O powerful man?
God’s loyal love protects me all day long.[e]
2 Your tongue carries out your destructive plans;[f]
it is as effective as a sharp razor, O deceiver.[g]
3 You love evil more than good,
lies more than speaking the truth.[h] (Selah)
4 You love to use all the words that destroy,[i]
and the tongue that deceives.
5 Yet[j] God will make you a permanent heap of ruins.[k]
He will scoop you up[l] and remove you from your home;[m]
he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
6 When the godly see this, they will be filled with awe,
and will mock the evildoer, saying:[n]
7 “Look, here is the man who would not make[o] God his protector.
He trusted in his great wealth
and was confident about his plans to destroy others.”[p]
8 But I[q] am like a flourishing[r] olive tree in the house of God;
I continually[s] trust in God’s loyal love.
9 I will continually[t] thank you when[u] you execute judgment;[v]
I will rely on[w] you,[x] for your loyal followers know you are good.[y]
The Supremacy of Christ
15 [a] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn[b] over all creation,[c]
16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions,[d] whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him.
17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together[e] in him.
18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn[f] from the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things.[g]
19 For God[h] was pleased to have all his[i] fullness dwell[j] in the Son[k]
20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross—through him,[l] whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Paul’s Goal in Ministry
21 And you were at one time strangers and enemies in your[m] minds[n] as expressed through[o] your evil deeds, 22 but now he has reconciled you[p] by his physical body through death to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before him— 23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm,[q] without shifting[r] from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body—for the sake of his body, the church—what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. 25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship[s] from God—given to me for you—in order to complete[t] the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. 27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious[u] riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim him by instructing[v] and teaching[w] all people[x] with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature[y] in Christ.
Jesus and Martha
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus[a] entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest.[b] 39 She[c] had a sister named Mary, who sat[d] at the Lord’s feet[e] and listened to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted[f] with all the preparations she had to make,[g] so[h] she came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care[i] that my sister has left me to do all the work[j] alone? Tell[k] her to help me.” 41 But the Lord[l] answered her,[m] “Martha, Martha,[n] you are worried and troubled[o] about many things, 42 but one thing[p] is needed. Mary has chosen the best[q] part; it will not be taken away from her.”
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