Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

Psalm 142

A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of David; when he was in the cave. A Prayer.

¹ I cry to the Lord with my voice; with my voice to the Lord do I make supplication.

² I pour out my complaint before Him; I tell before Him my trouble.

³ When my spirit was overwhelmed and fainted [throwing all its weight] upon me, then You knew my path. In the way where I walk they have hidden a snare for me.

⁴ Look on the right hand [the point of attack] and see; for there is no man who knows me [to appear for me]. Refuge has failed me and I have no way to flee; no man cares for my life or my welfare.

⁵ I cried to You, O Lord; I said, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.

⁶ Attend to my loud cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I.

⁷ Bring my life out of prison, that I may confess, praise, and give thanks to Your name; the righteous will surround me and crown themselves because of me, for You will deal bountifully with me.

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, [though] the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls,

¹⁸ Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the [victorious] God of my salvation!^(A)

¹⁹ The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]!

For the Chief Musician; with my stringed instruments.

¹¹ Now as they were listening to these things, He proceeded to tell a parable, because He was approaching Jerusalem and because they thought that the kingdom of God was going to be brought to light and shown forth immediately.

¹² He therefore said, A certain nobleman went into a distant country to obtain for himself a kingdom and then to return.

¹³ Calling ten of his [own] bond servants, he gave them ten minas [each equal to about one hundred days’ wages or nearly twenty dollars] and said to them, ^[a]Buy and sell with these ^[b]while I go and then return.

¹⁴ But his citizens detested him and sent an embassy after him to say, We do not want this man to become ruler over us.

¹⁵ When he returned after having received the kingdom, he ordered these bond servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know how much each one had made by ^[c]buying and selling.

¹⁶ The first one came before him, and he said, Lord, your mina has made ten [additional] minas.

¹⁷ And he said to him, Well done, excellent bond servant! Because you have been faithful and trustworthy in a very little [thing], you shall have authority over ten cities.

¹⁸ The second one also came and said, Lord, your mina has made five more minas.

¹⁹ And he said also to him, And you will take charge over five cities.

²⁰ Then another came and said, Lord, here is your mina, which I have kept laid up in a ^[d]handkerchief.

²¹ For I was [constantly] afraid of you, because you are a stern (hard, severe) man; you pick up what you did not lay down, and you reap what you did not sow.

²² He said to the servant, I will judge and condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked slave! You knew [did you] that I was a stern (hard, severe) man, picking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow?

²³ Then why did you not put my money in a bank, so that on my return, I might have collected it with interest?

²⁴ And he said to the bystanders, Take the mina away from him and give it to him who has the ten minas.

²⁵ And they said to him, Lord, he has ten minas [already]!

²⁶ And [said Jesus,] I tell you that to everyone who gets and has will more be given, but from the man who does not get and does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

²⁷ [The indignant king ended by saying] But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them—bring them here and ^[e]slaughter them in my presence!