February 3, 2008
First Reading:
Exodus 34:1-7, 27-35
The LORD said to Moses, "Cut two tables of stone like
the first; and I will write upon the tables the words
that were on the first tables, which you broke. Be ready
in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount
Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of
the mountain. No man shall come up with you, and let no
man be seen throughout all the mountain; let no flocks
or herds feed before that mountain." So Moses cut two
tables of stone like the first; and he rose early in the
morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had
commanded him, and took in his hand two tables of stone.
And the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him
there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD
passed before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD,
a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping
steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear
the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon
the children and the children's children, to the third
and the fourth generation." And the LORD said to Moses,
"Write these words; in accordance with these words I
have made a covenant with you and with Israel."
And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty
nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he
wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten
commandments. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai,
with the two tables of the testimony in his hand as he
came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the
skin of his face shone because he had been talking with
God. And when Aaron and all the people of Israel saw
Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were
afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and
Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned
to him, and Moses talked with them. And afterward all
the people of Israel came near, and he gave them in
commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in
Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with
them, he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went
in before the LORD to speak with him, he took the veil
off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told
the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people
of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses'
face shone; and Moses would put the veil upon his face
again, until he went in to speak with him.
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Second Reading:
Isaiah 58:1-12
"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a
trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to
the house of Jacob their sins.Yet they seek me daily,
and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation
that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance
of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they
delight to draw near to God. `Why have we fasted and
thou seest it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and
thou takest no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of
your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all
your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to
fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours
this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.
Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to
humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you
call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? "Is
not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of
wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the
oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to
share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless
poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover
him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then
shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your
healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness
shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your
rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will
answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. “If
you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the
pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you
pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire
of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the
darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD
will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with
good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall
be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose
waters fail not. And your ancient ruins shall be
rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many
generations; you shall be called the repairer of the
breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
______________________
Epistle:
Ephesians 4:17-5:4, 15-21
Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must
no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of
their minds; they are darkened in their understanding,
alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance
that is in them, due to their hardness of heart; they
have become callous and have given themselves up to
licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of
uncleanness. You did not so learn Christ!--assuming that
you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the
truth is in Jesus. Put off your old nature which belongs
to your former manner of life and is corrupt through
deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your
minds, and put on the new nature, created after the
likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Therefore, putting away falsehood, let every one speak
the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of
another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go
down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the
devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him
labor, doing honest work with his hands, so that he may
be able to give to those in need. Let no evil talk come
out of your mouths, but only such as is good for
edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace
to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of
God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and
slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be
kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And
walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for
us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But
fornication and all impurity or covetousness must not
even be named among you, as is fitting among saints. Let
there be no filthiness, nor silly talk, nor levity,
which are not fitting; but instead let there be
thanksgiving. Be sure of this, that no fornicator or
impure man, or one who is covetous (that is, an
idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ
and of God. Look carefully then how you walk, not as
unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time,
because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish,
but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not
get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be
filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody
to the Lord with all your heart, always and for
everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ to God the Father. Be subject to one another out
of reverence for Christ.
________________________
Gospel: Matthew
3:16-4:11
And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from
the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and
alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying,
"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and
forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. And the
tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of
God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."
But he answered, "It is written, `Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the
mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy
city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and
said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself
down; for it is written, `He will give his angels charge
of you,' and `On their hands they will bear you up, lest
you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to
him, "Again it is written, `You shall not tempt the Lord
your God.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high
mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world
and the glory of them; and he said to him, "All these I
will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."
Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! for it is
written, `You shall worship the Lord your God and him
only shall you serve.'" Then the devil left him, and
behold, angels came and ministered to him.
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February 10, 2008
First Reading: Genesis 5:19-31
Jared lived after the birth of Enoch eight hundred
years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the
days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and
he died. When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he
became the father of Methu'selah. Enoch walked with God
after the birth of Methu'selah three hundred years, and
had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch
were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked
with God; and he was not, for God took him. When
Methu'selah had lived a hundred and eighty-seven years,
he became the father of Lamech. Methu'selah lived after
the birth of Lamech seven hundred and eighty-two years,
and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of
Methu'selah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and
he died. When Lamech had lived a hundred and eighty-two
years, he became the father of a son, and called his
name Noah, saying, "Out of the ground which the LORD has
cursed this one shall bring us relief from our work and
from the toil of our hands." Lamech lived after the
birth of Noah five hundred and ninety-five years, and
had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of
Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and
he died.
___________________
Second Reading:
Joshua 4:15-24
And the LORD said to Joshua, "Command the priests who
bear the ark of the testimony to come up out of the
Jordan." Joshua therefore commanded the priests, "Come
up out of the Jordan." And when the priests bearing the
ark of the covenant of the LORD came up from the midst
of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were
lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan
returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as
before. The people came up out of the Jordan on the
tenth day of the first month, and they encamped in
Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve
stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up
in Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, "When
your children ask their fathers in time to come, `What
do these stones mean?' then you shall let your children
know, `Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.'
For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan
for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did
to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed
over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that
the hand of the LORD is mighty; that you may fear the
LORD your God for ever."
___________________
Epistle:
Romans 6:1-23
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that
grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to
sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who
have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into
his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism
into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness
of life. For if we have been united with him in a death
like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a
resurrection like his. We know that our old self was
crucified with him so that the sinful body might be
destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
For he who has died is freed from sin. But if we have
died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live
with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the
dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion
over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for
all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also
must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in
Christ Jesus.
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to
make you obey their passions. Do not yield your members
to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield
yourselves to God as men who have been brought from
death to life, and your members to God as instruments of
righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you,
since you are not under law but under grace. What then?
Are we to sin because we are not under law but under
grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you yield
yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves
of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to
death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of
sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard
of teaching to which you were committed, and, having
been set free from sin, have become slaves of
righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of
your natural limitations. For just as you once yielded
your members to impurity and to greater and greater
iniquity, so now yield your members to righteousness for
sanctification. When you were slaves of sin, you were
free in regard to righteousness. But then what return
did you get from the things of which you are now
ashamed? The end of those things is death. But now that
you have been set free from sin and have become slaves
of God, the return you get is sanctification and its
end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but
the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
________________
Gospel: Matthew
7:15-27
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's
clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know
them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns,
or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good
fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree
cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good
fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them
by their fruits. "Not every one who says to me, `Lord,
Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day
many will say to me, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many
mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to
them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.'
"Every one then who hears these words of mine and does
them will be like a wise man who built his house upon
the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and
the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not
fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every
one who hears these words of mine and does not do them
will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the
sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the
winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and
great was the fall of it."
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February 17,
2008
First Reading:
Deuteronomy 24:9-22
Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the
way as you came forth out of Egypt. "When you make
your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go
into his house to fetch his pledge. You shall stand
outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall
bring the pledge out to you. And if he is a poor
man, you shall not sleep in his pledge; when the sun
goes down, you shall restore to him the pledge that
he may sleep in his cloak and bless you; and it
shall be righteousness to you before the LORD your
God. "You shall not oppress a hired servant who is
poor and needy, whether he is one of your brethren
or one of the sojourners who are in your land within
your towns; you shall give him his hire on the day
he earns it, before the sun goes down (for he is
poor, and sets his heart upon it); lest he cry
against you to the LORD, and it be sin in you.
"The fathers shall not be put to death for the
children, nor shall the children be put to death for
the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his
own sin. “You shall not pervert the justice due to
the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a
widow's garment in pledge; but you shall remember
that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God
redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to
do this. "When you reap your harvest in your field,
and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall
not go back to get it; it shall be for the
sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow; that the
LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your
hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not
go over the boughs again; it shall be for the
sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you
gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not
glean it afterward; it shall be for the sojourner,
the fatherless, and the widow. You shall remember
that you were a slave in the land of Egypt;
therefore I command you to do this.____________________
Second Reading:
Joshua
5:13-6:5
When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, a man stood before him with
his drawn sword in his hand; and Joshua went to him
and said to him, "Are you for us, or for our
adversaries?" And he said, "No; but as commander of
the army of the LORD I have now come." And Joshua
fell on his face to the earth, and worshiped, and
said to him, "What does my lord bid his servant?"And
the commander of the LORD's army said to Joshua,
"Put off your shoes from your feet; for the place
where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so. Now
Jericho was shut up from within and from without
because of the people of Israel; none went out, and
none came in. And the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I
have given into your hand Jericho, with its king and
mighty men of valor. You shall march around the
city, all the men of war going around the city once.
Thus shall you do for six days. And seven priests
shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the
ark; and on the seventh day you shall march around
the city seven times, the priests blowing the
trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the
ram's horn, as soon as you hear the sound of the
trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a
great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down
flat, and the people shall go up every man straight
before him."_________________
Epistle:
Romans 7:14-25
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold
under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do
not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now
if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is
good. So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin
which dwells within me. For I know that nothing good
dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what
is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I
want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I
do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but
sin which dwells within me. So I find it to be a law
that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but
I see in my members another law at war with the law of
my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which
dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will
deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God
through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself
serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I
serve the law of sin.
_________________
Gospel:
Matthew 20:17-28
And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the
twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them,
"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of
man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes,
and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to
the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified,
and he will be raised on the third day." Then the mother
of the sons of Zeb'edee came up to him, with her sons,
and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And
he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him,
"Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at
your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom."
But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are
asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to
drink?" They said to him, "We are able." He said to
them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right
hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for
those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." And
when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two
brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, "You
know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and their great men exercise authority over them. It
shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great
among you must be your servant, and whoever would be
first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of
man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his
life as a ransom for many."
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February 24, 2008
First Reading: Genesis
11:1-32
For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the
LORD has chosen you to be a people for his own
possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face
of the earth. "You shall not eat any abominable thing.
These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep,
the goat, the hart, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild
goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain-sheep.
Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven
in two, and chews the cud, among the animals, you may
eat. Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof
cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and
the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not
part the hoof, are unclean for you. And the swine,
because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is
unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and
their carcasses you shall not touch. "Of all that are in
the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and
scales you may eat. And whatever does not have fins and
scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
"You may eat all clean birds. But these are the
ones which you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture,
the osprey, the buzzard, the kite, after their kinds;
every raven after its kind; the ostrich, the nighthawk,
the sea gull, the hawk, after their kinds; the little
owl and the great owl, the water hen and the pelican,
the carrion vulture and the cormorant, the stork, the
heron, after their kinds; the hoopoe and the bat. And
all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not
be eaten. All clean winged things you may eat. "You
shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give
it to the alien who is within your towns, that he may
eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a
people holy to the LORD your God. "You shall not boil a
kid in its mother's milk.
"You shall tithe all the yield of your seed, which
comes forth from the field year by year. And before the
LORD your God, in the place which he will choose, to
make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of
your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the
firstlings of your herd and flock; that you may learn to
fear the LORD your God always. And if the way is too
long for you, so that you are not able to bring the
tithe, when the LORD your God blesses you, because the
place is too far from you, which the LORD your God
chooses, to set his name there, then you shall turn it
into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and go
to the place which the LORD your God chooses, and spend
the money for whatever you desire, oxen, or sheep, or
wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves; and
you shall eat there before the LORD your God and
rejoice, you and your household. And you shall not
forsake the Levite who is within your towns, for he has
no portion or inheritance with you.
"At the end of every three years you shall bring
forth all the tithe of your produce in the same year,
and lay it up within your towns; and the Levite, because
he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the
sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within
your towns, shall come and eat and be filled; that the
LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your
hands that you do. "At the end of every seven years you
shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the
release: every creditor shall release what he has lent
to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor,
his brother, because the LORD's release has been
proclaimed. Of a foreigner you may exact it; but
whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall
release. But there will be no poor among you (for the
LORD will bless you in the land which the LORD your God
gives you for an inheritance to possess)
___________________
Second Reading:
Joshua
6:27-7:15
Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and
stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and what
comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it
and spirit to those who walk in it: "I am the LORD, I
have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by
the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to
the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes
that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the
dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am
the LORD, that is my name; my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to graven images. Behold, the former
things have come to pass, and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth I tell you of them." For a long
time I have held my peace, I have kept still and
restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in
travail, I will gasp and pant. I will lay waste
mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbage; I
will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools.
And I will lead the blind in a way that they know not,
in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I
will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough
places into level ground. These are the things I will
do, and I will not forsake them. They shall be turned
back and utterly put to shame, who trust in graven
images, who say to molten images, "You are our gods."
_________________
Epistle:
Romans 8:12-27
But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation,
into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires
that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love
of money is the root of all evils; it is through this
craving that some have wandered away from the faith and
pierced their hearts with many pangs. But as for you,
man of God, shun all this; aim at righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight
the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal
life to which you were called when you made the good
confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the
presence of God who gives life to all things, and of
Christ Jesus who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate
made the good confession, I charge you to keep the
commandment unstained and free from reproach until the
appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this will be
made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only
Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who
alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable
light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be
honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
As for the rich in this world,
charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on
uncertain riches but on God who richly furnishes us with
everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in
good deeds, liberal and generous, thus laying up for
themselves a good foundation for the future, so that
they may take hold of the life which is life indeed. O
Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the
godless chatter and contradictions of what is falsely
called knowledge, for by professing it some have missed
the mark as regards the faith. Grace be with you.
_____________________
Gospel: Matthew 21:23-46
And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and
the elders of the people came up to him as he was
teaching, and said, "By what authority are you doing
these things, and who gave you this authority?" Jesus answered them, "I also will ask you a
question; and if you tell me the answer, then I also
will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From
heaven or from men?" And they argued with one another,
"If we say, `From heaven,' he will say to us, `Why then
did you not believe him?' But if we say, `From men,' we are afraid of
the multitude; for all hold that John was a prophet." So they answered Jesus, "We do not know."
And he said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what
authority I do these things. "What do you think? A man had two sons; and he went
to the first and said, `Son, go and work in the vineyard
today.' And he answered, `I will not'; but afterward
he repented and went. And he went to the second and said the same;
and he answered, `I go, sir,' but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his
father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them,
"Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots
go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of
righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax
collectors and the harlots believed him; and even when
you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe
him. "Hear another parable. There was a householder who
planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a
wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to
tenants, and went into another country.
When the season of fruit drew near, he sent
his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat
one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the
first; and they did the same to them. Afterward he sent his son to them, saying,
`They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said
to themselves, `This is the heir; come, let us kill him
and have his inheritance.' And they took him and cast him out of the
vineyard, and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard
comes, what will he do to those tenants?" They said to him, "He will put those
wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard
to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their
seasons." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in
the scriptures: `The very stone which the builders
rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the
Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken
away from you and given to a nation producing the fruits
of it." When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard
his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about
them. But when they tried to arrest him, they feared the
multitudes, because they held him to be a prophet.
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