Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A New Covenant

²⁷ “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will ^(A)sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of mankind and the seed of animals. ²⁸ And just as I have ^(B)watched over them to ^(C)uproot them, tear them down, ruin, destroy, and bring disaster on them, so I will watch over them to ^(D)build and to plant them,” declares the Lord.

³⁰ But ^(F)everyone will die for his own wrongdoing; each person who eats the sour grapes, his own teeth will become blunt.

³¹ “^(G)Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a ^(H)new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ³² not like the ^(I)covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I ^(J)took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My ^(K)covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. ³³ “For ^(L)this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “^(M)I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and ^(N)I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ³⁴ They will ^(O)not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all ^(P)know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will ^(Q)forgive their wrongdoing, and their ^(R)sin I will no longer remember.”

Mem

¹⁴ You, however, ^(A)continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that ^(B)from childhood you have known ^(C)the sacred writings which are able to ^(D)give you the wisdom that leads to ^(E)salvation through faith which is in ^(F)Christ Jesus. ^16 (G)All Scripture is ^[a]inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for ^[b]rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that ^(H)the man or woman of God may be ^[c]fully capable, ^(I)equipped for every good work.

Preach the Word

4 ^(J)I solemnly exhort you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to ^(K)judge the living and the dead, and by His ^(L)appearing and His kingdom: ² preach ^(M)the word; be ready ^[d]in season and out of season; ^(N)correct, rebuke, and ^[e]exhort, with ^[f]great ^(O)patience and instruction. ³ For ^(P)the time will come when they will not tolerate ^(Q)sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, ⁴ and they ^(R)will turn their ears away from the truth and ^(S)will turn aside to myths. ⁵ But as for you, ^(T)use self-restraint in all things, ^(U)endure hardship, do the work of an ^(V)evangelist, fulfill your ^(W)ministry.

Parables on Prayer

18 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ^(A)ought to pray and not ^(B)become discouraged, ² saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not ^(C)respect any person. ³ Now there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my ^[a]opponent.’ ⁴ For a while he was unwilling; but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor ^(D)respect any person, ⁵ yet ^(E)because this widow is bothering me, I will give her justice; otherwise ^[b]by continually coming she will ^(F)wear me out.’” ⁶ And ^(G)the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge *said; ⁷ now, will God not ^(H)bring about justice for His ^(I)elect who cry out to Him day ^[c]and night, and will He ^(J)delay long for them? ⁸ I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, ^(K)will He find ^[d]faith on the earth?”