Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Song of Praise

138 I will give You thanks with all my heart. I will sing praises to You in front of the gods. ² I will bow down toward Your holy house. And I will give thanks to Your name for Your loving-kindness and Your truth. For You have honored Your Word because of what Your name is. ³ You answered me on the day I called. You gave me strength in my soul.

⁴ O Lord, all the kings of the earth will give thanks to You when they have heard the words of Your mouth. ⁵ And they will sing of the ways of the Lord. For the shining beauty of the Lord is great. ⁶ For even if the Lord is honored, He thinks about those who have no pride. But He knows the proud from far away. ⁷ Even if I walk into trouble, You will keep my life safe. You will put out Your hand against the anger of those who hate me. And Your right hand will save me. ⁸ The Lord will finish the work He started for me. O Lord, Your loving-kindness lasts forever. Do not turn away from the works of Your hands.

Song of Sorrow for the King of Tyre

¹¹ The Word of the Lord came to me saying, ¹² “Son of man, sing a song of sorrow for the king of Tyre, and tell him, ‘The Lord God says, “You were once the mark of what is perfect, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. ¹³ You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every stone of great worth covered you: ruby, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, chrysolite, turquoise, and emerald. And you had beautiful objects of gold. They were made for you when you were made. ¹⁴ You were the cherub who kept watch, and I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God. You walked among the stones of fire. ¹⁵ You were without blame in your ways from the day you were made until sin was found in you. ¹⁶ Through all your trading you were filled with bad ways, and you sinned. So I have sent you away in shame from the mountain of God and I have destroyed you and driven you out from the stones of fire, O cherub who kept watch. ¹⁷ Your heart was proud because of your beauty. You made your wisdom sinful because of your beauty. So I threw you to the ground. I laid you in front of kings for them to see you. ¹⁸ By all your wrong-doing and sinful trading you made your holy places sinful. So I made a fire come out from you, and it has destroyed you. I have turned you to ashes on the earth in the eyes of all who see you. ¹⁹ All the nations who know you are filled with wonder and fear because of you. You have come to a bad end, and you will be no more forever.”’”

Going to Court Against Christians

6 Why do you go to court when you have something against another Christian? You are asking people who are not Christians to judge who is guilty. You should go to those who belong to Christ and ask them. ² Did you not know that those who belong to Christ will someday judge this world? If you judge the people of the world as guilty, are you not able to do this in small things? ³ Did you not know that we are to judge angels? So you should be able to take care of your problem here in this world without any trouble.

⁴ When you have things to decide about this life, why do you go to men in courts who are not even Christians? ⁵ You should be ashamed! Is it true that there is not one person wise enough in your church to decide who is right when people argue? ⁶ Instead, one Christian takes another Christian to court. And that court is made up of people who are not Christians! ⁷ This shows you are wrong when you have to go to court against each other. Would it not be better to let someone do something against you that is wrong? Would it not be better to let them rob you? ⁸ Instead, you rob and do wrong to other Christians.

The Body Is to Be Holy

⁹ Do you not know that sinful men will have no place in the holy nation of God? Do not be fooled. A person who does sex sins, or who worships false gods, or who is not faithful in marriage, or men who act like women, or people who do sex sins with their own sex, will have no place in the holy nation of God. ¹⁰ Also those who steal, or those who always want to get more of everything, or who get drunk, or who say bad things about others, or take things that are not theirs, will have no place in the holy nation of God. ¹¹ Some of you were like that. But now your sins are washed away. You were set apart for God-like living to do His work. You were made right with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God.