Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

88 O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried 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 draweth nigh unto the grave.

⁴ I am counted with them that go down into the pit; I am as a man that hath no strength,

⁵ cast among the dead like the slain that lie in the grave, whom Thou rememberest no more, and who are cut off from Thy hand.

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

⁷ Thy wrath lieth 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 mine eye mourneth 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 lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or Thy faithfulness in destruction?

¹² Shall Thy wonders be known in the dark? 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 castest Thou off my soul? Why hidest Thou Thy face from me?

¹⁵ I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up; while I suffer Thy terrors I am distraught.

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

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

¹⁸ Lover and friend hast Thou put far from me, and mine acquaintances into darkness.

21 And the Lord said unto Moses, “Speak unto the priests the sons of Aaron, and say unto them: ‘There shall none be defiled for the dead among his people,

² except for his kin who 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 sister, a virgin who is nigh unto him, who hath had no husband; for her may he be defiled.

⁴ But he shall not defile himself, being a chief man 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 who 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 offereth 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 any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father. She shall be burned with fire.

¹⁰ “‘And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured and who 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 shall he not take; but he shall take a virgin of his own people for a wife.

¹⁵ Neither shall he profane his seed among his people, for I the Lord do sanctify him.’”

¹⁶ But thanks be to God who put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you.

¹⁷ For indeed he accepted the exhortation, but being even more zealous, 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 churches.

¹⁹ And not that only, but he was also chosen by the churches to travel with us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and to declare your ready mind.

²⁰ For we are avoiding having any man blame us in this abundance which is administered 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 to be diligent in many things, but now much more diligent because of the great confidence which I have in you.

²³ If any should inquire about Titus, he is my partner and fellow helper concerning you. Or if our brethren be inquired about, they are the messengers of the churches and the glory of Christ.

²⁴ Therefore show ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf.