Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
4 Hear the word of Adonai, house of Ya‘akov
and all families in the house of Isra’el;
5 here is what Adonai says:
“What did your ancestors find wrong with me
to make them go so far away from me,
to make them go after nothings
and become themselves nothings?
6 They didn’t ask, ‘Where is Adonai,
who brought us out of the land of Egypt,
who led us through the desert,
through a land of wastes and ravines,
through a land of drought and death-dark shadows,
through a land where no one travels
and where no one ever lived?’
7 I brought you into a fertile land
to enjoy its fruit and all its good things;
but when you entered, you defiled my land
and made my heritage loathsome.
8 The cohanim didn’t ask, ‘Where is Adonai?’
Those who deal with the Torah did not know me,
the people’s shepherds rebelled against me;
the prophets prophesied by Ba‘al
and went after things of no value.
9 “So again I state my case against you,” says Adonai,
“and state it against your grandchildren too.
10 Cross to the coasts of the Kitti’im and look;
send to Kedar and observe closely;
see if anything like this has happened before:
11 has a nation ever exchanged its gods
(and theirs are not gods at all!)?
Yet my people have exchanged their Glory
for something without value.
12 Be aghast at this, you heavens!
Shudder in absolute horror!” says Adonai.
13 “For my people have committed two evils:
they have abandoned me,
the fountain of living water,
and dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns,
that can hold no water!
81 (0) For the Leader. On the gittit. By Asaf:
10 (9) There is not to be with you any foreign god;
you are not to worship an alien god.
11 (10) I am Adonai your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth, and I will fill it.’
12 (11) “But my people did not listen to my voice;
Isra’el would have none of me.
13 (12) So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to live by their own plans.
14 (13) How I wish my people would listen to me,
that Isra’el would live by my ways!
15 (14) I would quickly subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
16 (15) Those who hate Adonai would cringe before him,
while [Isra’el’s] time would last forever.
13 Let brotherly friendship continue; 2 but don’t forget to be friendly to outsiders; for in so doing, some people, without knowing it, have entertained angels. 3 Remember those in prison and being mistreated, as if you were in prison with them and undergoing their torture yourselves.
4 Marriage is honorable in every respect; and, in particular, sex within marriage is pure. But God will indeed punish fornicators and adulterers.
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money; and be satisfied with what you have; for God himself has said, “I will never fail you or abandon you.”[a] 6 Therefore, we say with confidence,
“Adonai is my helper; I will not be afraid —
what can a human being do to me?”[b]
7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke God’s message to you. Reflect on the results of their way of life, and imitate their trust — 8 Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today and forever.
15 Through him, therefore, let us offer God a sacrifice of praise continually.[a] For this is the natural product of lips that acknowledge his name.
16 But don’t forget doing good and sharing with others, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
14 One Shabbat Yeshua went to eat in the home of one of the leading P’rushim, and they were watching him closely.
7 When Yeshua noticed how the guests were choosing for themselves the best seats at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, don’t sit down in the best seat; because if there is someone more important than you who has been invited, 9 the person who invited both of you might come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then you will be humiliated as you go to take the least important place. 10 Instead, when you are invited, go and sit in the least important place; so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Go on up to a better seat.’ Then you will be honored in front of everyone sitting with you. 11 Because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”
12 Yeshua also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives or rich neighbors; for they may well invite you in return, and that will be your repayment. 13 Instead, when you have a party, invite poor people, disfigured people, the crippled, the blind! 14 How blessed you will be that they have nothing with which to repay you! For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.