Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

14 The fool hath said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; they have done abominable works; there is none that doeth good.

² The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand and seek God.

³ They have all turned aside; they are all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good; no, not one.

⁴ Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread and call not upon the Lord?

⁵ There were they in great fear, for God is in the generation of the righteous.

⁶ Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge.

⁷ Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When the Lord bringeth back His people from captivity, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad.

²⁰ Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north. Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?

²¹ What wilt thou say when He shall punish thee? For thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee. Shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?

²² And if thou say in thine heart, “Why come these things upon me?”—for the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, and thy heels made bare.

²³ Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

²⁴ “Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.

²⁵ This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from Me,” saith the Lord; “because thou hast forgotten Me, and trusted in falsehood.

²⁶ Therefore will I uncover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.

²⁷ I have seen thine adulteries and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! Wilt thou not be made clean? When shall it once be?”

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope,

² Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

³ As I besought thee when I went into Macedonia to abide still at Ephesus, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,

⁴ neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which promote questions rather than godly edifying in the faith, so do!

⁵ Now the aim of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, with a good conscience and with faith unfeigned,

⁶ from which some have swerved and have turned aside unto vain jangling,

⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm.

⁸ But we know that the law is good if a man use it lawfully,

⁹ knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

¹⁰ for whoremongers, for those who defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine

¹¹ according to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.