Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Tests in Life
4 When a sieve is shaken, the refuse appears;
so does a person’s waste when he speaks.
5 The kiln tests the potter’s vessels,
and the test of a person is in his conversation.(A)
6 Its fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree;
so does speech[a] the thoughts of the human mind.(B)
7 Do not praise anyone before he speaks,
for this is the way people are tested.
10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,(A)
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.(B)
12 For you shall go out in joy
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.(C)
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle,
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.(D)
Psalm 92
Thanksgiving for Vindication
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath Day.
1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High,(A)
2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning
and your faithfulness by night,(B)
3 to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.(C)
4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
12 The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.(A)
13 They are planted in the house of the Lord;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
14 In old age they still produce fruit;
they are always green and full of sap,(B)
15 showing that the Lord is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.(C)
51 Look, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die,[a] but we will all be changed,(A) 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.(B) 53 For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When this perishable body puts on imperishability and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”(C)
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.(D) 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.(E)
39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?(A) 40 A disciple is not above the teacher, but every disciple who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.(B) 41 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.
A Tree and Its Fruit
43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit;(C) 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a bramble bush.(D) 45 The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.(E)
The Two Foundations
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?(F) 47 I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them.(G) 48 That one is like a man building a house who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built.[a] 49 But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it quickly collapsed, and great was the ruin of that house.”
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.