Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
This is a song that David wrote.
The love of God[a]
103 I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
Everything that is in me, praise his holy name!
2 I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
Never forget all the good things that he has done for you!
3 He forgives all my sins.
He makes me well again when I am ill.
4 He saves me from the deep hole of death's power.
He always loves me and he is kind to me.
That is how he blesses me so much!
5 He gives me many good things for my life here.
So I become strong again, with the strength of a young eagle.
6 The Lord does what is right and fair.
He helps poor people who suffer.
7 He showed Moses how he works to help his people.
He showed the Israelites the great things that he could do.
8 The Lord is kind to people and he forgives them.
He is slow to get angry and his love always continues.
9 He will not always tell us that we are wrong.
He will not always continue to be angry.
10 We should receive much punishment for the bad things that we do.
But the Lord does not punish us so much.
11 For people who worship him, his faithful love is very great.
How far is the sky above the earth? His love is greater than that!
12 How far is the east from the west?
The Lord has taken our sins further away than that!
He no longer says that we are guilty.
13 As a father is kind to his children, the Lord is kind to us.
He is kind to people who worship him.
22 Yes, everything that the Lord has made,
in all the places that he rules over,
praise the Lord!
I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
53 But one day I will cause Sodom and her daughters to enjoy life again. I will also cause Samaria and her daughters to enjoy life again. And I will also do that for you, Jerusalem. 54 You will be sorry and ashamed that you did such wicked things. Your sisters will be happy that their punishment was less than yours. 55 Sodom and her daughters will become as happy as they were before. Samaria and her daughters will become as happy as they were before. And you and your daughters will also become as happy as you were before.
56 In the days when you were proud of yourselves, you did not respect your sister Sodom. 57 But now everyone can see how wicked you are. So the other nations around you laugh at you. The people of Syria and Philistia and the nations near to them all insult you. 58 You must accept your punishment because of the disgusting things that you have done. You have not been faithful to me. That is what the Almighty Lord says.
59 This is what the Almighty Lord says: You have not done the things that you promised to do when I made a covenant with you. So I will punish you as you deserve. 60 But I will remember the covenant that I made with you when you were still young. I will make that covenant strong and it will continue for ever. 61 Then you will remember the wicked things that you have done and you will be ashamed. You will welcome again your sisters, Sodom and Samaria. I will make them like daughters for you. But they will not share in the same covenant that I make with you. 62 I will cause the covenant that I make with you to be strong. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 63 I will forgive you for your sins so that you are no longer guilty. Then you will remember your sins. You will be too ashamed to say anything. That is what the Almighty Lord says.” ’
53 [Then everyone went to his own home.][a]
8 [b][But Jesus went to the hill which is called the Mount of Olives.
The Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus
2 Early the next morning, Jesus returned to the temple in Jerusalem. All the people came to him. He sat down and he began to teach them. 3 The Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law brought a woman to him. They had found her with another man. She was having sex with a man who was not her husband. They made her stand in front of all the people there. 4 They said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we found this woman. She was having sex with a man who was not her husband. 5 In God's Law Moses says that we should throw stones at this kind of woman, to kill her. What do you say about this?’ 6 They asked this question for a reason. They wanted Jesus to say something wrong, so that they could punish him. But Jesus bent himself down. He started to write on the ground with his finger.
7 The Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law continued to ask Jesus questions. So he stood up and he said to them, ‘Any person among you who is not guilty of any sin may throw the first stone to kill her.’ 8 Then he bent himself down again and he wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard what Jesus said, the people began to go away. They went one by one. The older people went first. After some time, only Jesus remained with the woman. She was still standing there. 10 Jesus stood up. He said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Is there nobody still here who wants to punish you?’ 11 She said, ‘There is nobody, sir.’ So Jesus said, ‘I also do not want to punish you. Go away now and change the way you live. Do not do wrong things again.’]
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