Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Prayer for Help in Despondency
A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
88 O Lord, my God, I call for help[a] by day;
I cry out in the night before thee.
2 Let my prayer come before thee,
incline thy ear to my cry!
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am reckoned among those who go down to the Pit;
I am a man who has no strength,
5 like one forsaken among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom thou dost remember no more,
for they are cut off from thy hand.
6 Thou hast put me in the depths of the Pit,
in the regions dark and deep.
7 Thy wrath lies heavy upon me,
and thou dost overwhelm me with all thy waves.Selah
8 Thou hast caused my companions to shun me;
thou hast made me a thing of horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9 my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon thee, O Lord;
I spread out my hands to thee.
10 Dost thou work wonders for the dead?
Do the shades rise up to praise thee?Selah
11 Is thy steadfast love declared in the grave,
or thy faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are thy wonders known in the darkness,
or thy saving help in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O Lord, cry to thee;
in the morning my prayer comes before thee.
14 O Lord, why dost thou cast me off?
Why dost thou hide thy face from me?
15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer thy terrors; I am helpless.[b]
16 Thy wrath has swept over me;
thy dread assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in upon me together.
18 Thou hast caused lover and friend to shun me;
my companions are in darkness.
The Holiness of Priests
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them that none of them shall defile himself for the dead among his people, 2 except for his nearest of kin, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself). 4 He shall not defile himself as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 They shall not make tonsures upon their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. 6 They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offerings by fire to the Lord, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 They shall not marry a harlot or a woman who has been defiled; neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.
10 “The priest who is chief among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, nor rend his clothes; 11 he shall not go in to any dead body, nor defile himself, even 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 consecration 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 one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a harlot, these he shall not marry; but he shall take to wife a virgin of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his children among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctify him.”
Commendation of Titus
16 But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus. 17 For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord. 18 With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel; 19 and not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work which we are carrying on, for the glory of the Lord and to show our good will. 20 We intend that no one should blame us about this liberal gift which we are administering, 21 for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of men. 22 And with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker in your service; and as for our brethren, they are messengers[a] of the churches, the glory of Christ. 24 So give proof, before the churches, of your love and of our boasting about you to these men.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.