Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

⁷ “Son of man, I have chosen you as a watchman for the people of Israel. So when I give you the word, you must tell them of the danger. ⁸ When I tell a sinful man that he will die for sure, and you do not speak to him about the danger of his way, that sinful man will die in his sin. But your blood must be given. ⁹ But if you tell a sinful man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his sin. But you have saved your life.

God Judges Well

¹⁰ “Son of man, say to the people of Israel, ‘You have said, “Our sins are upon us, and we are wasting away in them. How then can we live?”’ ¹¹ Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I am not pleased when sinful people die. But I am pleased when the sinful turn from their way and live. Turn! Turn from your sinful ways! Why will you die, O people of Israel?’

³³ O Lord, teach me the way of Your Law and I will obey it to the end. ³⁴ Give me understanding. Then I will listen to Your Word and obey it with all my heart. ³⁵ Make me walk in the path of Your Word, for I find joy in it. ³⁶ Turn my heart toward Your Law, so I will not earn money in a wrong way. ³⁷ Turn my eyes away from things that have no worth, and give me new life because of Your ways. ³⁸ Keep Your promise to Your servant, the promise You made to those who fear and worship You. ³⁹ Turn away the shame that I do not want to come to me, for Your Law is good. ⁴⁰ O, how I desire Your Law! Give me new life because of Your right and good way.

⁸ Do not owe anyone anything, but love each other. Whoever loves his neighbor has done what the Law says to do. ⁹ The Law says, “You must not do any sex sin. You must not kill another person. You must not steal. You must not tell a lie about another person. You must not want something someone else has.” The Law also says that these and many other Laws are brought together in one Law, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Anyone who loves his neighbor will do no wrong to him. You keep the Law with love.

¹¹ There is another reason for doing what is right. You know what time it is. It is time for you to wake up from your sleep. The time when we will be taken up to be with Christ is not as far off as when we first put our trust in Him. ¹² Night is almost gone. Day is almost here. We must stop doing the sinful things that are done in the dark. We must put on all the things God gives us to fight with for the day. ¹³ We must act all the time as if it were day. Keep away from wild parties and do not be drunk. Keep yourself free from sex sins and bad actions. Do not fight or be jealous. ¹⁴ Let every part of you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not allow your weak thoughts to lead you into sinful actions.

What to Do with a Brother Who Sins Against You

¹⁵ “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him what he did without other people hearing it. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back again. ¹⁶ But if he will not listen to you, take one or two other people with you. Every word may be remembered by the two or three who heard. ¹⁷ If he will not listen to them, tell the trouble to the church. If he does not listen to the church, think of him as a person who is as bad as one who does not know God and a person who gathers taxes.

¹⁸ “For sure, I tell you, whatever you do not allow on earth will not have been allowed in heaven. Whatever you allow on earth will have been allowed in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I tell you this: If two of you agree on earth about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am with them.”