Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Sorrow over Zion
18 [a]My (A)sorrow is beyond healing;
My (B)heart is faint within me!
19 Behold, the sound! The cry of the daughter of my people from a (C)distant land:
“Is Yahweh not in Zion? Is her King not within her?”
“Why have they (D)provoked Me to anger with their graven images, with foreign [b](E)idols?”
20 “Harvest is past, summer is ended,
And we are not saved.”
21 For the (F)brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken;
I (G)mourn, desolation has taken hold of me.
22 Is there no (H)balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
(I)Why then has not the [c]health of the daughter of my people gone up?
How Long, O Yahweh?
A Psalm of Asaph.
79 O God, the (A)nations have come into (B)Your inheritance;
They have defiled Your (C)holy temple;
They have (D)laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the (E)dead bodies of Your slaves for food to the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Your holy ones to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem;
And there was (F)no one to bury them.
4 We have become a (G)reproach to our neighbors,
A mockery and derision to those around us.
5 (H)How long, O Yahweh? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your (I)jealousy (J)burn like fire?
6 (K)Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which (L)do not know You,
And upon the kingdoms which (M)do not call upon Your name.
7 For they have (N)devoured Jacob
And (O)laid waste his [a]abode.
Exhortation to Prayer
2 First of all, then, I exhort that (A)petitions and prayers, requests and thanksgivings, be made for all men, 2 (B)for kings and all who are in [a]authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and [b]dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of (C)God our Savior, 4 (D)who desires all men to be (E)saved and to (F)come to the [c]full knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is (G)one God, and (H)one mediator also between God and men, the (I)man Christ Jesus, 6 who (J)gave Himself as a ransom for all, the (K)witness for [d](L)this proper time. 7 (M)For this I was appointed a [e]preacher and (N)an apostle ((O)I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of (P)the Gentiles in faith and truth.
The Parable of the Unrighteous Steward
16 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a steward, and this steward was [a]reported to him as (A)squandering his possessions. 2 And he called for him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ 3 And the steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my [b]master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the stewardship people will [c]take me into their homes.’ 5 And he summoned each one of his [d]master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘One hundred [e]baths of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘One hundred [f]kors of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his [g]master praised the unrighteous steward because he had acted shrewdly, for the sons of (B)this age are more shrewd in relation to their own [h]kind than the (C)sons of light. 9 And I say to you, (D)make friends for yourselves from the [i](E)wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, (F)they will [j]take you into the eternal dwellings.
10 “(G)He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much, and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous [k](H)wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12 And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 (I)No [l]servant can [m]serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot [n]serve God and [o](J)wealth.”
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