Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord Helps the Poor

113 Praise the Lord! Praise Him, O you who serve the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. ² Let the name of the Lord be honored, now and forever. ³ The name of the Lord is to be praised from the time the sun rises to when it sets. ⁴ The Lord is high above all nations. His shining-greatness is above the heavens.

⁵ Who is like the Lord our God? He sits on His throne on high. ⁶ He looks down upon the heavens and the earth. ⁷ He raises the poor from the dust. He lifts those in need from the ashes. ⁸ He makes them sit with rulers, with the rulers of His people. ⁹ He gives a home to the woman who could not give birth and makes her the mother of children. Praise the Lord!

It Is Bad for the Sinful

⁸ It is bad for those who join house to house and field to field until there is no empty space, and you have to live alone in the land. ⁹ The Lord of All has sworn in my ears, “For sure, many houses will be laid waste. Large and beautiful houses will be empty. ¹⁰ For ten fields of vines will give only eleven large bottles of wine. And 110 jars of seed will give only eleven jars of grain.” ¹¹ It is bad for those who get up early in the morning to run after strong drink! It is bad for those who stay up late in the evening that they may get drunk! ¹² They have harps, a noise-maker, a horn, and wine at their special suppers. But they do not think about the works of the Lord. They do not think of the work of His hands.

¹³ So My people are taken away to strange lands because they have not been wise. Their men of honor are dying because they are hungry. Their people are dried up because they are thirsty. ¹⁴ So the grave has become larger and has opened its mouth wide. And Jerusalem’s greatness, her people, her sounds of wild joy, and those who are happy with sin go down into it. ¹⁵ Man’s pride will be taken away. Important men will be put to shame. The eyes of the proud also will be put to shame. ¹⁶ But the Lord of All will be honored in what is right and fair. The holy God will show Himself holy in what is right and good. ¹⁷ Then the lambs will eat as in their field. And strangers will eat in the waste places of the rich.

¹⁸ It is bad for those who pull sin along with ropes of lies, who pull wrong-doing as with a wagon rope, ¹⁹ who say, “Let Him hurry. Let Him be quick to do His work, that we may see it. Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel be done, that we may know it!” ²⁰ It is bad for those who call what is sinful good, and good sinful, who say dark is light and light is dark, who make bitter sweet, and sweet bitter! ²¹ It is bad for those who are wise in their own eyes, and who think they know a lot! ²² It is bad for those who are good at drinking wine, and are proud as they mix strong drink! ²³ They take money in secret for saying that bad people are good. And they take away the rights of those who are not guilty.

The Woman Whose Husband Had Died Gave All She Had ^(A)

⁴¹ Jesus sat near the money box in the house of God. He watched the people putting in money. Many of them were rich and gave much money. ⁴² A poor woman whose husband had died came by and gave two very small pieces of money.

⁴³ Jesus called His followers to Him. He said, “For sure, I tell you, this poor woman whose husband has died has given more money than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave of that which was more than they needed for their own living. She is poor and yet she gave all she had, even what she needed for her own living.”