Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Song of Praise
101 I will sing of loving-kindness and of what is right and fair. I will sing praises to You, O Lord. 2 I will be careful to live a life without blame. When will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a right and good heart. 3 I will set no sinful thing in front of my eyes. I hate the work of those who are not faithful. It will not get hold of me. 4 A sinful heart will be far from me. I will have nothing to do with sin. 5 I will stop whoever talks against his neighbor in secret. I will not listen to anyone who has a proud look and a proud heart.
6 My eyes will look with favor on the faithful in the land, so they may serve me. He who walks without blame will help me. 7 He whose ways are false will not live in my house. He who tells lies will not stand in front of me. 8 I will destroy all the sinful in the land every morning. I will cut off all those who do wrong from the city of the Lord.
Assyrians Live in Israel
24 The king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sephar-vaim. He had them live in the cities of Samaria in place of the people of Israel. So they took Samaria for their own, and lived in its cities. 25 At the beginning of their living there, they did not fear the Lord. So the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. 26 They said to the king of Assyria, “The nations you have carried away to the cities of Samaria do not know the way of the god of the land. So He has sent lions among them to kill them because they do not know the way of the god of the land.”
27 Then the king of Assyria told them, “Take to Samaria one of the religious leaders you brought from there. Let him go and live in Samaria. And let him teach them the way of the god of the land.” 28 So one of the religious leaders they had taken away from Samaria came and lived at Bethel. And he taught them how they should worship the Lord.
29 But every nation still made gods of its own. They put them in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made. The people of every nation did this in the cities where they lived. 30 The men of Babylon made the false god Succoth-benoth. The men of Cuth made the false god Nergal. The men of Hamath made the false god Ashima. 31 The Avvites made the false gods Nibhaz and Tartak. And the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adram-melech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 32 They feared the Lord also, and yet they chose from among themselves religious leaders of the high places. These leaders gave the gifts for them in the houses of the high places. 33 So the people feared the Lord, but they worshiped their own gods also. They followed the way of the nations from which they had been taken away.
34 To this day, they follow the ways of times past. They do not honor the Lord. They do not follow the Laws or the Word which the Lord told the sons of Jacob, whom He gave the name Israel. 35 The Lord had made an agreement and told them, “You must not fear other gods. You must not put your faces to the ground in front of them, or worship them, or give gifts to them. 36 But fear the Lord, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong arm. Put your faces to the ground before Him. And give Him your gifts. 37 Obey forever the Laws and the Word which He wrote for you. Do not fear other gods. 38 Do not forget the agreement I have made with you. And do not honor other gods with fear. 39 Fear the Lord your God and He will save you from those who hate you.” 40 But they did not listen. They followed the ways of times past. 41 These nations feared the Lord, but they worshiped their false gods also. Their children and grandchildren did the same, and they do as their fathers did to this day.
Why Paul Writes to Timothy
14 I hope to come to you soon. I am writing these things 15 because it may be awhile before I get there. I wanted you to know how you should act among people in the church which is the house of the living God. The church holds up the truth. 16 It is important to know the secret of God-like living, which is: Christ came to earth as a Man. He was pure in His Spirit. He was seen by angels. The nations heard about Him. Men everywhere put their trust in Him. He was taken up into heaven.
False Teaching in the Last Days
4 The Holy Spirit tells us in plain words that in the last days some people will turn away from the faith. They will listen to what is said about spirits and follow the teaching about demons. 2 Those who teach this tell it as the truth when they know it is a lie. They do it so much that their own hearts no longer say it is wrong. 3 They will say, “Do not get married. Do not eat some kinds of food.” But God gave these things to Christians who know the truth. We are to thank God for them. 4 Everything God made is good. We should not put anything aside if we can take it and thank God for it. 5 It is made holy by the Word of God and prayer.
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