Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

⁴⁰ That is why Jehovah’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred them. ^41-42 That is why he let the heathen nations crush them. They were ruled by those who hated them and oppressed by their enemies.

⁴³ Again and again he delivered them from their slavery, but they continued to rebel against him and were finally destroyed by their sin. ⁴⁴ Yet, even so, he listened to their cries and heeded their distress; ⁴⁵ he remembered his promises to them and relented because of his great love, ⁴⁶ and caused even their enemies who captured them to pity them.

⁴⁷ O Lord God, save us! Regather us from the nations so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you.

⁴⁸ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Hallelujah!

¹⁷ Pack your bags, he says. Get ready now to leave; the siege will soon begin. ¹⁸ For suddenly I’ll fling you from this land and pour great troubles down; at last you shall feel my wrath.

¹⁹ Desperate is my wound. My grief is great. My sickness is incurable, but I must bear it. ²⁰ My home is gone; my children have been taken away, and I will never see them again. There is no one left to help me rebuild my home. ²¹ The shepherds of my people have lost their senses; they no longer follow God nor ask his will. Therefore they perish, and their flocks are scattered. ²² Listen! Hear the terrible sound of great armies coming from the north. The cities of Judah shall become dens of jackals.

²³ O Lord, I know it is not within the power of man to map his life and plan his course— ²⁴ so you correct me, Lord; but please be gentle. Don’t do it in your anger, for I would die. ²⁵ Pour out your fury on the nations who don’t obey the Lord, for they have destroyed Israel and made a wasteland of this entire country.

⁴⁵ Then, with the crowds listening, he turned to his disciples and said, ⁴⁶ “Beware of these experts in religion, for they love to parade in dignified robes and to be bowed to by the people as they walk along the street. And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and at religious festivals! ⁴⁷ But even while they are praying long prayers with great outward piety, they are planning schemes to cheat widows out of their property. Therefore God’s heaviest sentence awaits these men.”

21 As he stood in the Temple, he was watching the rich tossing their gifts into the collection box. ² Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small copper coins.

³ “Really,” he remarked, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them combined. ⁴ For they have given a little of what they didn’t need, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”