Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

BETH

²¹ If you promise to give something to the Lord your God, be careful to bring your gift soon. If you do not bring it, that is a sin. The Lord will certainly demand it from you. ²² You may choose not to promise any gift. That is not a sin. ²³ But whatever you promise to do, you must be careful to do it. If you choose to promise a gift to the Lord your God, give it soon.

²⁴ If you go into your neighbour's vineyard, you may eat some of the grapes. You may eat as many grapes as you want, but do not carry any away in a basket. ²⁵ If you go into your neighbour's field of grain, you may eat some of it. You may pick some grain with your hands, but do not use a knife to cut it down.^[a]

Rules about marriage and other things

24 Perhaps a man will marry a woman and then he discovers something that brings shame on her. So she does not please him any more. He must write a letter to say that they are no longer married. He gives the letter to his wife. Then he can send her away from his house. ² After she has left his house, she might marry another man.

³ Later, her second husband may also not like her any more. So he also gives her a letter to finish the marriage. He sends her away from his house too. Or perhaps her second husband dies. ⁴ If that happens, her first husband must not marry her again. That is because she has had sex with another man. To marry her again would be a sin that the Lord hates. You must not do sins like that in the land that the Lord your God is giving to you as your new home.

¹⁰ If you lend something to your neighbour you may take something from him as a guarantee.^[a] But do not go into his house to take it. ¹¹ You must wait outside the house. Then your neighbour can bring out what he has chosen to give you. ¹² If the person is poor, do not take his coat and keep it with you all night. ¹³ You must always give his coat back to him before sunset. Then he can sleep in it to keep himself warm. He will ask God to bless you because you have been kind. The Lord your God will know that you have done the right thing.

¹⁴ Do not be cruel to any poor or helpless person who works for you. Be kind to him, whether he is an Israelite or a foreigner who lives in one of your towns. ¹⁵ You must pay him for his work every day before sunset. Remember that he is poor. He needs the money to stay alive. If you do not pay him, he may complain against you to the Lord. The Lord would say that you are guilty of a sin.

Every person has equal value

2 My Christian friends, you must be kind to everyone. You trust the Lord Jesus Christ, who is great in heaven. So do not think that anyone is more valuable than any other person.

² When you are meeting together as believers, maybe two men will come to join with you. One of them is wearing beautiful clothes, and he has gold rings on his hands. The other man is poor, and he is wearing old clothes that are dirty. ³ You are kind to the man who is wearing beautiful clothes. You say to him, ‘Please sit here in this good place.’ But you say to the poor man, ‘Go and stand over there.’ Or you may say to him, ‘Sit on the floor near my feet.’ ⁴ If you do that, you are thinking bad thoughts. You have decided that one person among you is better than another person. You must not do that.

⁵ My Christian friends, listen to me. God has chosen to bless people who are poor in this world. He has helped them to trust him. So really they are rich. God will give to them a place in his kingdom. He has promised to do that for all people who love him. ⁶ But you have not been kind to people who are poor. You have caused them to feel ashamed. Who causes you to have troubles? It is the rich people! They are the people who want the judges to punish you. ⁷ It is the rich people who say bad things against the good name of Jesus Christ. And you are called Christians because you belong to him.

⁸ But the message of God's kingdom is this: ‘Love other people as much as you love yourself.’ That is what the Bible says. If you really do that, you do well. ⁹ But if you are kind to some people and you are not kind to others, then you are doing a bad thing. God's Law shows that you are wrong. ¹⁰ Even if you fail to obey only one rule in God's Law, it means that you are guilty. It is the same as if you fail to obey all God's Law. ¹¹ For example, God has said in his Law, ‘You must not have sex with anyone who is not your husband or your wife.’ But God has also said, ‘Do not kill another person.’ Perhaps you do not have sex in a wrong way like that. But if you then murder someone, God's Law shows that you are still wrong.

¹² Remember that God will judge you one day. When he does that, he will use a law which makes us free. So remember this in everything that you say and in everything that you do. ¹³ God will not forgive anyone who has not forgiven other people. But God is kind! He judges us, but even more than that, he forgives us!