Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise to the God of Love
Of David.
103 All that I am, praise the Lord.
Everything in me, praise his holy name.
2 My whole being, praise the Lord.
Do not forget all his kindnesses.
3 The Lord forgives me for all my sins.
He heals all my diseases.
4 He saves my life from the grave.
He loads me with love and mercy.
5 He satisfies me with good things.
He makes me young again, like the eagle.
6 The Lord does what is right and fair
for all who are wronged by others.
7 He showed his ways to Moses
and his miracles to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord shows mercy and is kind.
He does not become angry quickly, and he has great love.
9 He will not always scold us.
He will not be angry forever.
10 He has not punished us as our sins should be punished.
He has not repaid us for the evil we have done.
11 As high as the sky is above the earth,
so great is his love for those who respect him.
12 He has taken our sins away from us
as far as the east is from west.
13 The Lord has mercy on those who fear him,
as a father has mercy on his children.
22 Everything the Lord has made
should praise him in all the places he rules.
My whole being, praise the Lord.
44 “‘Everyone who uses wise sayings will say this about you: “The daughter is like her mother.” 45 You are like your mother. She hated her husband and children. You are also like your sisters. They hated their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite. And your father was an Amorite. 46 Now your older sister is Samaria. She lived north of you with her daughters. And your younger sister Sodom lived south of you with her daughters. 47 You followed their ways. And you did what they did. But you were even worse than they were in everything you did. 48 As surely as I live, says the Lord God, this is true. Your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.
49 “‘This was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were proud. They had plenty of food. They lived in great comfort. But she did not help the poor and needy. 50 So Sodom and her daughters were proud. And they did things I hate in front of me. So I got rid of them when I saw what they did. 51 Also, Samaria did not do half the sins you do. You have done more hated things than they did. So you make your sisters look good because of all the hated things you have done. 52 You will suffer disgrace because you have provided an excuse for your sisters. They are more right than you are. Your sins were even more terrible than theirs. Be ashamed and suffer disgrace because you made your sisters seem right.
Correcting False Teachings
1 From Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ.
To you who have received a faith as valuable as ours. You received that faith because our God and Savior Jesus Christ is fair and does what is right.
2 Grace and peace be given to you more and more. You will have grace and peace because you truly know God and Jesus our Lord.
God Has Given Us Blessings
3 Jesus has the power of God. His power has given us everything we need to live and to serve God. We have these things because we know him. Jesus called us by his glory and goodness. 4 Through his glory and goodness, he gave us the very great and rich gifts he promised us. With those gifts you can share in God’s nature. And so the world will not ruin you with its evil desires.
5 Because you have these blessings, you should try as much as you can to add these things to your lives: to your faith, add goodness; and to your goodness, add knowledge; 6 and to your knowledge, add self-control; and to your self-control, add the ability to hold on; and to your ability to hold on, add service for God; 7 and to your service for God, add kindness for your brothers and sisters in Christ; and to this kindness, add love. 8 If all these things are in you and are growing, they will help you never to be useless. They will help your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ make your lives better. 9 But if anyone does not have these things, he cannot see clearly. He is blind. He has forgotten that he was made clean from his past sins.
10 My brothers, God called you and chose you to be his. Try hard to show that you really are God’s chosen people. If you do all these things, you will never fall. 11 And you will be given a very great welcome into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That kingdom continues forever.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.