Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Alef [a]
Living in the Law of God
119 How blessed are those whose life[b] is blameless,
who walk in the Law of the Lord!
2 How blessed are those who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all of their heart,
3 who practice no evil
while they walk in his ways.
4 You have commanded concerning your precepts,
that they be guarded with diligence.
5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast,
so I may keep your statutes.
6 Then I will not be ashamed,
since my eyes will be fixed on all of your commands.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart,
as I learn your righteous decrees.
8 I will keep your statutes;
do not ever abandon me.
34 Then the land will finally be pleased with its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time, the land will rest and take its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate, it will have rest that it will not have had during your Sabbaths when you were living in it.
36 “As for the remnants among you, I’ll bring despair in their hearts in the land of their enemies so that even the sound of a blown leaf will chase them and they flee as though pursued by the sword and fall when no one is pursuing. 37 They’ll stumble over each other as though fleeing before the sword, even though no one is pursuing.
“You won’t have power to resist your enemies. 38 You’ll perish among the nations and the land of your enemies will consume you. 39 The remnants among you will waste away in the land of your enemies due to their iniquity. Indeed, they’ll also waste away on account of the iniquities of their ancestors with them.”
Return from Captivity
40 “Nevertheless, when they confess their iniquity, the iniquity of their ancestors, and their unfaithfulness by which they acted unfaithfully against me by living life contrary to me— 41 causing me to oppose them and take them to the land of their enemies so that the uncircumcised foreskin of their hearts can be humbled and so that they accept the punishment of their iniquity— 42 then I’ll remember my covenant with Jacob, my covenant with Isaac, and my covenant with Abraham. I’ll also remember the land. 43 They will leave the land so it can rest while it lies desolate without them. That’s when they’ll receive the punishment of their iniquity, because indeed they will have rejected my ordinances and despised my statutes. 44 Yet, despite all of these things, when they’re in the land of their enemies, I won’t reject or despise them so as to completely destroy them and by doing so violate my covenant with them, because I am the Lord their God. 45 Instead, on account of them, I’ll remember my covenant with their ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt right before the eyes of the nations, so that I could be their God. I am the Lord.”
46 These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws that the Lord made between himself and the Israelis on Mount Sinai, as recorded by the hand of Moses.
We Must Obey God’s Commandments
7 Dear friends, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning. This old commandment is the word you have heard. 8 On the other hand, I am writing to you a new commandment that is truly in him and in you. For the darkness is fading away, and the true light is already shining.
9 The person who says that he is in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10 The person who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no reason for him to stumble. 11 But the person who hates his brother is in the darkness and lives in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12 I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins have been forgiven
on account of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you have known the one who
has existed from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young people,
because you have overcome the evil one.
14 I have written to you, little children,
because you have known the Father.
I have written to you, fathers,
because you have known the one who
has existed from the beginning.
I have written to you, young people,
because you are strong
and because God’s word remains in you
and you have overcome the evil one.
15 Stop loving[a] the world and the things that are in the world. If anyone persists in loving the world, the Father’s love is not in him. 16 For everything that is in the world—the desire for fleshly gratification,[b] the desire for possessions,[c] and worldly arrogance—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world and its desires are fading away, but the person who does God’s will remains forever.
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