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The Prophet Mourns for the People

¹⁸ My joy is gone, grief is upon me,
   my heart is sick.
¹⁹ Hark, the cry of my poor people
   from far and wide in the land:
‘Is the Lord not in Zion?
   Is her King not in her?’
(‘Why have they provoked me to anger with their images,
   with their foreign idols?’)
²⁰ ‘The harvest is past, the summer is ended,
   and we are not saved.’
²¹ For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt,
   I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me.

²² Is there no balm in Gilead?
   Is there no physician there?
Why then has the health of my poor people
   not been restored?

9^*O that my head were a spring of water,
   and my eyes a fountain of tears,
so that I might weep day and night
   for the slain of my poor people!

Psalm 79

1  O God, the heathen have come into your heritage; ♦︎
   your holy temple have they defiled
      and made Jerusalem a heap of stones.
2  The dead bodies of your servants they have given
      to be food for the birds of the air, ♦︎
   and the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the field.
3  Their blood have they shed like water
      on every side of Jerusalem, ♦︎
   and there was no one to bury them.
4  We have become the taunt of our neighbours, ♦︎
   the scorn and derision of those that are round about us.
5  Lord, how long will you be angry, for ever? ♦︎
   How long will your jealous fury blaze like fire?
6  Pour out your wrath upon the nations that have not known you, ♦︎
   and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon your name.
7  For they have devoured Jacob ♦︎
   and laid waste his dwelling place.
8  Remember not against us our former sins; ♦︎
   let your compassion make haste to meet us,
      for we are brought very low.
9  Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; ♦︎
   deliver us, and wipe away our sins for your name’s sake.

Instructions concerning Prayer

2First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, ²for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. ³This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, ⁴who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵For
there is one God;
   there is also one mediator between God and humankind,
Christ Jesus, himself human,
⁶   who gave himself a ransom for all
—this was attested at the right time. ⁷For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth,^* I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

16Then Jesus^* said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. ²So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” ³Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” ⁵So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” ⁶He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” ⁷Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.” ⁸And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. ⁹And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth^* so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.^*

10 ‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. ¹¹If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth,^* who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? ¹³No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’^*