Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Hymn of Thanksgiving
A psalm of David.
138 Lord, I will thank you with all my heart;
I will sing to you before the gods.
2 I will bow down facing your holy Temple,
and I will thank you for your love and loyalty.
You have made your name and your word
greater than anything.
3 On the day I called to you, you answered me.
You made me strong and brave.
4 Lord, let all the kings of the earth praise you
when they hear the words you speak.
5 They will sing about what the Lord has done,
because the Lord’s glory is great.
6 Though the Lord is supreme,
he takes care of those who are humble,
but he stays away from the proud.
7 Lord, even when I have trouble all around me,
you will keep me alive.
When my enemies are angry,
you will reach down and save me by your power.
8 Lord, you do everything for me.
Lord, your love continues forever.
Do not leave us, whom you made.
11 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: 12 “Human, sing a funeral song for the king of Tyre. Say to him: ‘This is what the Lord God says:
You were an example of what was perfect,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You had a wonderful life,
as if you were in Eden, the garden of God.
Every valuable gem was on you:
ruby, topaz, and emerald,
yellow quartz, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire, turquoise, and chrysolite.
Your jewelry was made of gold.
It was prepared on the day you were created.
14 I appointed a living creature to guard you.
I put you on the holy mountain of God.
You walked among the gems that shined like fire.
15 Your life was right and good
from the day you were created,
until evil was found in you.
16 Because you traded with countries far away,
you learned to be cruel, and you sinned.
So I threw you down in disgrace from the mountain of God.
And the living creature who guarded you
forced you out from among the gems that shined like fire.
17 You became too proud
because of your beauty.
You ruined your wisdom
because of your greatness.
I threw you down to the ground.
Your example taught a lesson to other kings.
18 You dishonored your places of worship
through your many sins and dishonest trade.
So I set on fire the place where you lived,
and the fire burned you up.
I turned you into ashes on the ground
for all those watching to see.
19 All the nations who knew you
are shocked about you.
Your punishment was so terrible,
and you are gone forever.’”
Judging Problems Among Christians
6 When you have something against another Christian, how can you bring yourself to go before judges who are not right with God? Why do you not let God’s people decide who is right? 2 Surely you know that God’s people will judge the world. So if you are to judge the world, are you not able to judge small cases as well? 3 You know that in the future we will judge angels, so surely we can judge the ordinary things of this life. 4 If you have ordinary cases that must be judged, are you going to appoint people as judges who mean nothing to the church? 5 I say this to shame you. Surely there is someone among you wise enough to judge a complaint between believers. 6 But now one believer goes to court against another believer—and you do this in front of unbelievers!
7 The fact that you have lawsuits against each other shows that you are already defeated. Why not let yourselves be wronged? Why not let yourselves be cheated? 8 But you yourselves do wrong and cheat, and you do this to other believers!
9 - 10 Surely you know that the people who do wrong will not inherit God’s kingdom. Do not be fooled. Those who sin sexually, worship idols, take part in adultery, those who are male prostitutes, or men who have sexual relations with other men, those who steal, are greedy, get drunk, lie about others, or rob—these people will not inherit God’s kingdom. 11 In the past, some of you were like that, but you were washed clean. You were made holy, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.