Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Salvation for All People

56 This is what the Lord says:

⁶ And ⌞I will remember⌟ the foreigners who have joined the Lord to worship him, to love the Lord’s name, and to be his servants. All of them will keep the day of rest—a holy day, from becoming unholy and will faithfully observe the conditions of my promise. ⁷ Then I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them happy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, because my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.

⁸ The Almighty Lord, who gathers the scattered people of Israel, declares, “I will gather still others besides those I have already gathered.”

For the choir director; on stringed instruments; a psalm; a song.

God’s Continuing Love for Jewish People

11 So I ask, “Has God rejected his people Israel?” That’s unthinkable! Consider this. I’m an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. ² God has not rejected his people whom he knew long ago. Don’t you know what Elijah says in the Scripture passage when he complains to God about Israel? He says,

²⁹ God never changes his mind when he gives gifts or when he calls someone. ³⁰ In the past, you disobeyed God. But now God has been merciful to you because of the disobedience of the Jewish people. ³¹ In the same way, the Jewish people have also disobeyed so that God may be merciful to them as he was to you. ³² God has placed all people into the prison of their own disobedience so that he could be merciful to all people.

¹⁰ Then he called the crowd and said to them, “Listen and try to understand! ¹¹ What goes into a person’s mouth doesn’t make him unclean.^[a] It’s what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean.”

¹² Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you realize that when the Pharisees heard your statement they were offended?”

¹³ He answered, “Any plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Leave them alone! They are blind leaders. When one blind person leads another, both will fall into the same pit.”

¹⁵ Peter said to him, “Explain this illustration to us.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Don’t you understand yet? ¹⁷ Don’t you know that whatever goes into the mouth goes into the stomach and then into a toilet? ¹⁸ But whatever goes out of the mouth comes from within, and that’s what makes a person unclean. ¹⁹ Evil thoughts, murder, adultery, ⌞other⌟ sexual sins, stealing, lying, and cursing come from within. ²⁰ These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating without washing one’s hands doesn’t make a person unclean.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman^(A)

²¹ Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

²² A Canaanite woman from that territory came ⌞to him⌟ and began to shout, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.”

²³ But he did not answer her at all. Then his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away. She keeps shouting behind us.”

²⁴ Jesus responded, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”

²⁵ She came to him, bowed down, and said, “Lord, help me!”

²⁶ Jesus replied, “It’s not right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁷ She said, “You’re right, Lord. But even the dogs eat scraps that fall from their masters’ tables.”

²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, you have strong faith! What you wanted will be done for you.” At that moment her daughter was cured.