Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the Overcomer: to sing upon Mahalath, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.

¹ ¶ O LORD God of my saving health, I cry day and night before Thee;

² let my prayer come before thee; incline thine ear unto my cry;

³ for my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near unto Sheol.

⁴ I am counted with those that go down into the pit; I am as a man that has no strength:

⁵ Freed among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou dost remember no more; and they are cut off from thy hand.

⁶ Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.

⁷ Thy wrath lies hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.

⁸ Thou hast put away mine acquaintances far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them; I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

⁹ My eye mourns by reason of affliction; LORD, I have called daily upon thee; I have stretched out my hands unto thee.

¹⁰ ¶ Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.

¹¹ Shall thy mercy be declared in the grave? or thy truth in hell?

¹² Shall thy wonder be known in darkness? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³ But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer come before thee.

¹⁴ LORD, why dost thou cast off my soul? why dost thou hide thy face from me?

¹⁵ I am afflicted and destitute; from my youth up I have feared thee and been in awe of thee.

¹⁶ Thy fierce wrath goes over me; thy terrors have cut me off.

¹⁷ They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.

¹⁸ Thou hast put lover and friend far from me, and placed my acquaintances into darkness.

21 ¶ And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto the priests, the sons of Aaron, and tell them to not be defiled for the dead among his people.

² But for his kin, that is near unto him, that is, for his mother and for his father and for his son and for his daughter and for his brother

³ and for his virgin sister, that is near unto him, who has had no husband; for her he may be defiled.

⁴ He shall not defile himself for the prince among his people, to profane himself.

⁵ They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

⁶ They shall be holy unto their God and not profane the name of their God; for the offerings of the LORD made by fire and the bread of their God they do offer; therefore, they shall be holy.

⁷ They shall not take a wife that is a whore or profane; neither shall they take a woman put away from her husband; for he is holy unto his God.

⁸ Thou shalt sanctify him, therefore, for he offers the bread of thy God; he shall be holy unto thee; for I the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy.

⁹ And the daughter of the man who is a priest, if she begins to fornicate, she profanes her father; she shall be burnt with fire.

¹⁰ ¶ And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head nor rend his clothes;

¹¹ neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or for his mother;

¹² neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am the LORD.

¹³ And he shall take a wife in her virginity.

¹⁴ A widow or a divorced woman or profane or a harlot, these he shall not take, but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.

¹⁵ Neither shall he profane his seed among his people, for I AM he that sanctifies him.

¹⁶ ¶ But thanks be to God, who put the same diligence into the heart of Titus for you.

¹⁷ For indeed he accepted the exhortation, but being more diligent, of his own accord he went unto you.

¹⁸ And we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the congregations, {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones}

¹⁹ and not that only, but who was also ordained by the congregations {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} to travel with us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord and declaration of your ready desire,

²⁰ avoiding that anyone should blame us regarding this abundance which is ministered by us,

²¹ providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.

²² And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, upon the great confidence which we have in you.

²³ Regarding Titus, he is my partner and fellowhelper concerning you; or regarding our brethren, they are the apostles of the congregations {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} and the glory of Christ.

²⁴ Therefore show ye unto them before the congregations, {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} the proof of your charity and of our glorying regarding you.