Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Mem
97 How I love your law, Lord![a]
I study it all day long.
98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my foes,
as it is forever with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
because I ponder your testimonies.
100 I have more understanding than my elders,
because I keep your precepts.(A)
101 I keep my steps from every evil path,
that I may observe your word.
102 From your judgments I do not turn,
for you have instructed me.
103 How sweet to my tongue is your promise,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!(B)
104 Through your precepts I gain understanding;
therefore I hate all false ways.
Chapter 9
Public Confession of Sin. 1 [a](A)On the twenty-fourth day of this month, the Israelites gathered together while fasting and wearing sackcloth, their heads covered with dust. 2 (B)Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all who were of foreign extraction, then stood forward and confessed their sins and the guilty deeds of their ancestors. 3 When they had taken their places, they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God, for a fourth of the day, and during another fourth they made their confession and bowed down before the Lord their God. 4 Standing on the platform of the Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, who cried out to the Lord their God, with a loud voice. 5 (C)The Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said,
“Arise, bless the Lord, your God,
from eternity to eternity!”
“And may they bless your glorious name,
which is exalted above all blessing and praise.”
6 [b]“You are the Lord, you alone;
You made the heavens,
the highest heavens and all their host,
The earth and all that is upon it,
the seas and all that is in them.
To all of them you give life,
the heavenly hosts bow down before you.
7 (D)You are the Lord God
who chose Abram,
Who brought him from Ur of the Chaldees,
who named him Abraham.
8 (E)You found his heart faithful in your sight,
you made the covenant with him
To give the land of the Canaanites,
Hittites, Amorites,
Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites
to him and his descendants.
You fulfilled your promises,
for you are just.
9 (F)You saw the affliction of our ancestors in Egypt,
you heard their cry by the Red Sea;
10 (G)You worked signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
against all his servants and the people of his land,
Because you knew of their insolence toward them;
thus you made for yourself a name even to this day.
11 (H)The sea you divided before them,
on dry ground they passed through the midst of the sea;
Their pursuers you hurled into the depths,
like a stone into the mighty waters.
12 (I)With a column of cloud you led them by day,
and by night with a column of fire,
To light the way of their journey,
the way in which they must travel.
13 (J)On Mount Sinai you came down,
you spoke with them from heaven;
You gave them just ordinances, true laws,
good statutes and commandments;
14 (K)Your holy sabbath you made known to them,
commandments, statutes, and law you prescribed for them,
by the hand of Moses your servant.
15 (L)Food from heaven you gave them in their hunger,
water from a rock you sent them in their thirst.
You told them to enter and occupy the land
which you had sworn to give them.
Wives and Husbands. 21 [a]Be subordinate to one another(A) out of reverence for Christ.[b] 22 Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.(B) 23 For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body.(C) 24 As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her(D) 26 to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word,(E) 27 that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.(F) 28 So [also] husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body.(G)
31 “For this reason a man shall leave [his] father and [his] mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.”(H)
32 This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.(I) 33 In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself, and the wife should respect her husband.
Chapter 6
Children and Parents. 1 Children, obey your parents [in the Lord], for this is right.(J) 2 “Honor your father and mother.”(K) This is the first commandment with a promise, 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life on earth.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up with the training and instruction of the Lord.(L)
Slaves and Masters. 5 Slaves, be obedient to your human masters with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ,(M) 6 not only when being watched, as currying favor, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,(N) 7 willingly serving the Lord and not human beings, 8 knowing that each will be requited from the Lord for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. 9 Masters, act in the same way toward them, and stop bullying, knowing that both they and you have a Master in heaven and that with him there is no partiality.(O)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.