Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

² The Lord said to him, “Go, and marry a woman who will be unfaithful to you. She will give you children whose fathers are other men. Do this because people in this country have acted like an unfaithful wife toward the Lord.” ³ So Hosea married Gomer daughter of Diblaim. Gomer became pregnant and gave birth to Hosea’s son.

⁴ The Lord said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel. This is because soon I will punish the family of Jehu for the people they killed at Jezreel. Then I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. ⁵ And I will also break the power of Israel’s army in the Valley of Jezreel.”

⁶ Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. The Lord said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-Ruhamah.^[a] This is because I will not pity Israel anymore. I will no longer forgive them. ⁷ But I will show pity to the people of Judah. I will save them. I will not use bows or swords, horses or horsemen, or weapons of war to save them. I, the Lord their God, will save them.”

⁸ After Gomer had finished nursing Lo-Ruhamah, she became pregnant again. And she gave birth to another son. ⁹ The Lord said, “Name him Lo-Ammi^[b] because you are not my people. And I am not your God.

God’s Promise to Israel

¹⁰ “But the people of Israel will become like the grains of sand of the sea. You cannot measure or count them. Now it is said to Israel, ‘You are not my people.’ But later they will be called ‘children of the living God.’

A Prayer for the Nation

For the director of music. A song of the sons of Korah.

Continue to Live in Christ

⁶ As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so continue to live in him. ⁷ Keep your roots deep in him and have your lives built on him. Be strong in the faith, just as you were taught. And always be thankful.

⁸ Be sure that no one leads you away with false ideas and words that mean nothing. Those ideas come from men. They are the worthless ideas of this world. They are not from Christ. ⁹ All of God lives fully in Christ (even when Christ was on earth). ¹⁰ And in him you have a full and true life. He is ruler over all rulers and powers.

¹¹ In Christ you had a different kind of circumcision. That circumcision was not done by hands. I mean, you were made free from the power of your sinful self. That is the kind of circumcision Christ does. ¹² When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ and you were raised up with Christ because of your faith in God’s power. That power was shown when he raised Christ from death. ¹³ You were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self. But God made you alive with Christ. And God forgave all our sins. ¹⁴ We owed a debt because we broke God’s laws. That debt listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us that debt. He took away that debt and nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ God defeated the spiritual rulers and powers. With the cross God won the victory and defeated them. He showed the world that they were powerless.

Don’t Follow People’s Rules

¹⁶ So do not let anyone make rules for you about eating and drinking or about a religious feast, a New Moon Festival, or a Sabbath day. ¹⁷ In the past, these things were like a shadow of what was to come. But the new things that were coming are found in Christ. ¹⁸ Some enjoy acting as if they were humble and love to worship angels. They are always talking about the visions they have seen. Do not let them tell you that you are wrong. They are full of foolish pride because of their human way of thinking. ¹⁹ They do not keep themselves under the control of Christ, the head. The whole body depends on Christ. Because of him all the parts of the body care for each other and help each other. This strengthens the body and holds it together. And so the body grows in the way God wants.

Jesus Teaches About Prayer

11 One time Jesus was praying in a place. When he finished, one of his followers said to him, “John taught his followers how to pray. Lord, please teach us how to pray, too.”

² Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say:

Continue to Ask

^5-6 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you went to your friend’s house at midnight and said to him, ‘A friend of mine has come into town to visit me. But I have nothing for him to eat. Please loan me three loaves of bread.’ ⁷ Your friend inside the house answers, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked. My children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you the bread now.’ ⁸ I tell you, maybe friendship is not enough to make him get up to give you the bread. But he will surely get up to give you what you need if you continue to ask. ⁹ So I tell you, continue to ask, and God will give to you. Continue to search, and you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will open for you. ¹⁰ Yes, if a person continues asking, he will receive. If he continues searching, he will find. And if he continues knocking, the door will open for him. ¹¹ What would you fathers do if your son asks you for^[b] a fish? Would any of you give him a snake? ¹² Or, if your son asks for an egg, would you give him a scorpion? ¹³ Even though you are bad, you know how to give good things to your children. So surely your heavenly Father knows how to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”