Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “(A)Go, take for yourself a wife [a]inclined to infidelity, and children of infidelity; for (B)the land commits flagrant infidelity, [b]abandoning the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and (C)bore him a son. 4 And the Lord said to him, “Name him (D)Jezreel; for in just a little while (E)I will [c]punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and (F)I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 On that day I will (G)break the bow of Israel in the (H)Valley of Jezreel.”
6 Then she conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. And [d]the Lord said to him, “Name her [e]Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer (I)take pity on the house of Israel, that I would ever forgive them. 7 But I will take (J)pity on the house of Judah and (K)save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by (L)bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.”
8 When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and gave birth to a son. 9 And [f]the Lord said, “Name him [g]Lo-ammi, because you are not My people, and I am not [h]your God.”
Prayer for God’s Mercy upon the Nation.
For the music director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
85 Lord, You showed (A)favor to Your land;
You (B)restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You (C)forgave the guilt of Your people;
You (D)covered all their sin. Selah
3 You (E)withdrew all Your fury;
You (F)turned away from Your burning anger.
4 (G)Restore us, God of our salvation,
And (H)cause Your indignation toward us to cease.
5 Will (I)You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to [a]all generations?
6 Will You not [b](J)revive us again,
So that Your people may (K)rejoice in You?
7 Show us Your mercy, Lord,
And (L)grant us Your salvation.
8 [c]I will hear what God the Lord will say;
For He will (M)speak peace to His people, to His godly ones;
And may they not (N)turn back to [d]foolishness.
9 Certainly (O)His salvation is near to those who [e]fear Him,
That (P)glory may dwell in our land.
10 (Q)Graciousness and [f]truth have met together;
(R)Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 [g]Truth (S)sprouts from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.
12 Indeed, (T)the Lord will give what is good,
And our (U)land will yield its produce.
13 (V)Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way.
6 Therefore, as you have received (A)Christ Jesus the Lord, so [a](B)walk in Him, 7 having been firmly (C)rooted and now being (D)built up in Him and (E)established [b]in [c]your faith, just as you (F)were instructed, and overflowing [d]with gratitude.
8 (G)See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through (H)philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the (I)elementary principles of the world, [e]rather than in accordance with Christ. 9 For in Him all the (J)fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been (K)made [f]complete, and (L)He is the head [g]over every (M)ruler and authority; 11 and in Him (N)you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of (O)the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been (P)buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also (Q)raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who (R)raised Him from the dead. 13 And [h]when you were (S)dead [i]in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He (T)made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings, 14 having canceled (U)the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and (V)He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had [j](W)disarmed the (X)rulers and authorities, He (Y)made a public display of them, having (Z)triumphed over them through [k]Him.
16 Therefore, no one is to [a](A)act as your judge in regard to (B)food and (C)drink, or in respect to a (D)festival or a (E)new moon, or a (F)Sabbath [b]day— 17 things which are only a (G)shadow of what is to come; but the [c]substance [d]belongs to Christ. 18 Take care that no one keeps [e](H)defrauding you of your prize by (I)delighting in humility and the worship of the angels, [f]taking his stand on visions he has seen, [g](J)inflated without cause by his (K)fleshly mind, 19 and not holding firmly to (L)the head, from whom (M)the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and [h]ligaments, grows with a growth [i]which is from God.
Instruction about Prayer
11 It happened that while [a]Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” 2 And He said to them, “(A)When you pray, say:
‘[b]Father, [c]hallowed be Your name.
[d]Your kingdom come.
3 Give us (B)each day our [e]daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who (C)is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation.’”
5 And He said to them, “[f]Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 because a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to serve him’; 7 and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children [g]and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet (D)because of his [h]shamelessness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “So I say to you, [i](E)ask, and it will be given to you; [j]seek, and you will find; [k]knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. 11 Now [l]which one of you fathers will his son ask for a [m]fish, and instead of a fish, he will give him a snake? 12 Or he will even ask for an egg, and his father will give him a scorpion? 13 So (F)if you, despite being [n]evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will [o]your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
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