Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

²⁷ Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed (offspring) of man and of beast.

²⁸ And it will be that as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down, and to overthrow, destroy, and afflict [with evil], so will I watch over them to build and to plant [with good], says the Lord.

²⁹ In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.^(A)

³⁰ But everyone shall die for his own iniquity [only]; every man who eats sour grapes—his [own] teeth shall be set on edge.

³¹ Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,^(B)

³² Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was their Husband, says the Lord.

³³ But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says the Lord, I will put My law within them, and on their hearts will I write it; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.

³⁴ And they will no more teach each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they will all know Me [recognize, understand, and be acquainted with Me], from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will [seriously] remember their sin no more.^(C)

⁹⁷ Oh, how love I Your law! It is my meditation all the day.^(A)

⁹⁸ You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies, for [Your words] are ever before me.

⁹⁹ I have better understanding and deeper insight than all my teachers, because Your testimonies are my meditation.^(B)

¹⁰⁰ I understand more than the aged, because I keep Your precepts [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them].

¹⁰¹ I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep Your word [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying it].^(C)

¹⁰² I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, for You Yourself have taught me.

¹⁰³ How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!^(D)

¹⁰⁴ Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

¹⁴ But as for you, continue to hold to the things that you have learned and of which you are convinced, knowing from whom you learned [them],

¹⁵ And how from your childhood you have had a knowledge of and been acquainted with the sacred Writings, which are able to instruct you and give you the understanding for salvation which comes through faith in Christ Jesus [through the ^[a]leaning of the entire human personality on God in Christ Jesus in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].

¹⁶ Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action),

¹⁷ So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

4 I charge [you] in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, Who is to judge the living and the dead, and by (in the light of) His coming and His kingdom:

² Herald and preach the Word! Keep your sense of urgency [stand by, be at hand and ready], whether the opportunity seems to be favorable or unfavorable. [Whether it is convenient or inconvenient, whether it is welcome or unwelcome, you as preacher of the Word are to show people in what way their lives are wrong.] And convince them, rebuking and correcting, warning and urging and encouraging them, being unflagging and inexhaustible in patience and teaching.

³ For the time is coming when [people] will not tolerate (endure) sound and wholesome instruction, but, having ears itching [for something pleasing and gratifying], they will gather to themselves one teacher after another to a considerable number, chosen to satisfy their own liking and to foster the errors they hold,

⁴ And will turn aside from hearing the truth and wander off into myths and man-made fictions.

⁵ As for you, be calm and cool and steady, accept and suffer unflinchingly every hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fully perform all the duties of your ministry.

18 Also [Jesus] told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not to ^[a]turn coward (faint, lose heart, and give up).

² He said, In a certain city there was a judge who neither reverenced and feared God nor respected or considered man.

³ And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, Protect and defend and give me justice against my adversary.

⁴ And for a time he would not; but later he said to himself, Though I have neither reverence or fear for God nor respect or consideration for man,

⁵ Yet because this widow continues to bother me, I will defend and protect and avenge her, lest she give me ^[b]intolerable annoyance and wear me out by her continual coming or ^[c]at the last she come and rail on me or ^[d]assault me or ^[e]strangle me.

⁶ Then the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says!

⁷ And will not [our just] God defend and protect and avenge His elect (His chosen ones), who cry to Him day and night? Will He ^[f]defer them and ^[g]delay help on their behalf?

⁸ I tell you, He will defend and protect and avenge them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [^[h]persistence in] faith on the earth?