Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

All Nations Will Obey the Lord

56 This is what the Lord says:

Everyone Should Praise God

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A song of praise.

God Shows Mercy to All People

11 So I ask: Did God throw out his people? No! I myself am an Israelite. I am from the family of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. ² God chose the Israelites to be his people before they were born. And God did not leave his people. Surely you know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he prayed to God against the people of Israel. Elijah said,

²⁹ God never changes his mind about the people he calls and the things he gives them. ³⁰ At one time you refused to obey God. But now you have received mercy, because those people refused to obey. ³¹ And now the Jews refuse to obey, because God showed mercy to you. But this happened so that they also can^[a] receive mercy from God. ³² All people have refused to obey God. God has given them all over to their stubborn ways, so that God can show mercy to all.

¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him. He said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. ¹¹ It is not what a person puts into his mouth that makes him unclean. It is what comes out of his mouth that makes him unclean.”

¹² Then his followers came to Jesus and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees are angry because of what you said?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted himself will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Stay away from the Pharisees. They are blind leaders.^[a] And if a blind man leads another blind man, then both men will fall into a ditch.”

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain the story to us.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “You still have trouble understanding? ¹⁷ Surely you know that all the food that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then that food goes out of the body. ¹⁸ But what a person says with his mouth comes from the way he thinks. And these are the things that make him unclean. ¹⁹ Out of the mind come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, stealing, lying, and saying bad things against other people. ²⁰ These things make a person unclean. But eating with unwashed hands does not make him unclean.”

Jesus Helps a Non-Jewish Woman

²¹ Jesus left that place and went to the area of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A Canaanite woman from that area came to Jesus. The woman cried out, “Lord, Son of David, please help me! My daughter has a demon, and she is suffering very much.”

²³ But Jesus did not answer the woman. So the followers came to Jesus and begged him, “Tell the woman to go away. She is following us and shouting.”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “God sent me only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel.”

²⁵ Then the woman came to Jesus again. She bowed before him and said, “Lord, help me!”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.”

²⁷ The woman said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the pieces of food that fall from their masters’ table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! I will do what you asked me to do.” And at that moment the woman’s daughter was healed.