Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Davidic Song
A Prayer for Maturity
141 Lord, I call to you,
be quick to listen to me when I cry out!
2 Let my prayer be like incense offered before you,
and my uplifted hands like the evening sacrifice.
3 Lord, set a guard over my mouth;
keep watch over the door to my lips.
4 Don’t let my heart turn toward evil
or involve itself in wicked activities
with men who practice iniquity.
Let me not feast on their delicacies.
5 Let one who is righteous strike me;
It is an act of gracious love.
Let him rebuke me,
because it is oil for my head;
do not let my head refuse it.
My prayers continuously will be
against their wicked activities.
6 When their judges are thrown off the cliff,
the people[a] will hear my words,
for they are appropriate.
7 Just as one plows and breaks up the earth,
our[b] bones are scattered
near the entrance to the place of the dead.[c]
8 Nevertheless, my eyes are on you, Lord God,
as I seek protection in you.
Don’t leave me defenseless!
9 Protect me from the trap laid for me
and from the snares of those who practice evil.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I come through.
21 ‘I’m going to display my glory among the people, and every nation will see the judgment that I administer by my own hand among them. 22 The house of Israel will learn that I am the Lord their God from that day forward! 23 The nations will also learn that because of Israel’s sin the house of Israel went into captivity, since they were unfaithful in their behavior toward me. As a result, I hid my presence from them, turned them over to the control of their enemies, and they died by violence.[a] 24 It was because of their defilement and transgression that I treated them this way by hiding my presence from them.’”
The Final Restoration of Israel
25 “Therefore this is what the Lord God has to say: ‘I’m going to restore the resources of Jacob and show mercy to the entire house of Israel. I’ll be zealous for my own reputation[b] and for my holiness. 26 They’ll forget their shame and all of their unfaithfulness by which they behaved so unfaithfully toward me. They will live on their land in confidence, not in fear. 27 When I bring them back from the nations and gather them together from the lands that belong to their enemies, I will demonstrate my holiness through them right in front of the eyes of the world,[c] 28 and they will learn that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into exile and who gathered them back to their land. I will not leave any of them remaining in exile. 29 I’ll no longer hide my presence from them again when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel,’ declares the Lord God.”
The Vision of Jerusalem
40 At the beginning of year 25 of our captivity, on the tenth day of the fourteenth year after the destruction of Jerusalem[d]—on that very day—the Lord grabbed me in his hand and took me there. 2 God brought me in a series of visions to the land of Israel and placed me on top of a very high mountain, where to the south there was something that looked like the outline of a city. 3 That’s where he took me. All of a sudden, there was a man whose appearance resembled glowing[e] bronze! He had a measuring reed and line in his hand as he stood in the city gate. 4 This is what the man told me: “Son of Man, watch carefully,[f] listen closely,[g] and remember[h] everything I’m going to be showing you, because you’ve been brought here to be shown what you’re about to see. Be sure that you tell the house of Israel everything that you observe.”
All to the Glory of God
23 Everything is permissible, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permissible, but not everything builds up. 24 No one should seek his own welfare, but rather his neighbor’s.
25 Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without raising any question about it on the grounds of conscience, 26 for “the earth and everything in it belong to the Lord.”[a] 27 If an unbeliever invites you to his house and you wish to go, eat whatever is set before you, raising no question on the grounds of conscience. 28 However, if someone says to you, “This was offered as a sacrifice,” don’t eat it, both out of consideration for the one who told you and also for the sake of conscience. 29 I mean, of course, his conscience, not yours. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I eat with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of what I am thankful for?
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 32 Don’t become a stumbling block to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I myself try to please everybody in every way. I don’t look out for my own benefit, but rather for the benefit of many people, so that they might be saved.
Be Imitators of Me
11 Imitate me, as I do the Messiah.[b]
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