Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 101[a]
Norm of Life for a Good Ruler
1 A psalm of David.
I will sing of kindness and justice;
to you, O Lord, I will offer praise in song.
2 I will walk in the path of blamelessness;
when will you come to me?[b]
Within my house[c] I will act
with integrity of heart.
3 I will not allow any shameful act
to be done before my eyes.
[d]I will refuse to associate
with people who do evil.
4 Let the perverse of heart remain far from me;
I will not tolerate the wicked.
5 [e]Anyone who secretly slanders a neighbor
I will reduce to silence.
Anyone with haughty glances and an arrogant heart
I cannot endure.
6 The faithful in the land are the ones
whom I will choose to be my companions.
Only the one who follows the path of integrity
will be allowed to be my servant.
7 No one who practices deceit
will be permitted to remain in my house.
No one who utters lies
will be numbered among my companions.[f]
8 Morning after morning[g] I will banish
all the wicked from the land,
removing all evildoers from the city of the Lord.
24 Foreigners Deported to Samaria.[a] The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and he settled them in the cities of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities.
25 When they first began to dwell there, they did not fear the Lord, so the Lord sent lions among them which killed some of them. 26 The king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you deported and settled in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the God of the land. This is why he sent lions among them to kill them, because they did not know the law of the God of the land.”
27 The king of Assyria commanded, “Carry one of the priests there whom you deported. Let him go and dwell there to teach them the law of the God of the land.”
28 One of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria went and dwelt in Bethel. He taught them how to fear the Lord. 29 But all the nations still made their own gods, and they placed their shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had made, each nation in their own cities where they dwelt. 30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, 31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak. The Sepharvites burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of the Sepharvaim.
32 They also feared the Lord, and they appointed priests for the high places from their lowliest classes. They performed sacrifices for them in the shrines on the high places. 33 So they feared the Lord but they also served their own gods in the tradition of the nations from which they had been carried away. 34 Up to the present they still follow their previous traditions. They do not fear the Lord, and they do not observe the statutes or the ordinances or the law or the commandment that the Lord had given to the children of Jacob to whom he gave the name Israel.
35 The Lord made a covenant with them and ordered them, “You shall not fear other gods,[b] nor shall you bow yourselves down to them, nor shall you serve them, nor shall you offer sacrifices to them. 36 You shall fear the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm. You are to fear him, and you are to worship him, and you are to offer sacrifice to him. 37 You will always carefully observe the statutes, the ordinances, the laws, and the commandments that he wrote for you. You are not to fear other gods. 38 You will not forget the covenant that I made with you, and you are not to fear other gods. 39 You will fear the Lord, your God. He will deliver you out of the hands of all of your enemies.”
40 However, they would not listen; they practiced their previous traditions. 41 The nations thus feared the Lord, but they also served their graven images. Their children and their grandchildren did what their fathers had done, up to the present day.
14 Greatness of the Divine Majesty. While I am hoping to come to you soon, I am writing to you about these matters 15 so that if I am delayed, you will know how to regulate your conduct in God’s household—that is, in the Church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth. 16 Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is great:
He was made visible in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,[a]
seen by angels,
proclaimed to the Gentiles,
believed in throughout the world,
taken up in glory.
General Regulations[b]
Chapter 4
False Asceticism. 1 The Spirit clearly says that during the last times some will abandon the faith. They will run after deceitful spirits and demonic doctrines, 2 through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences have been branded as with a burning iron. 3 They forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods[c] that God created to be accepted with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided that it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and by prayer.[d]
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