Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Privileges of the Covenant
4 Now, Israel, pay attention to the statutes and ordinances[a] I am about to teach you, so that you might live and go on to enter and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors,[b] is giving you. 2 Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I am delivering to[c] you.
6 So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding[a] to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, “Indeed, this great nation is a very wise[b] people.” 7 In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him? 8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just[c] as this whole law[d] that I am about to share with[e] you today?
Reminder of the Horeb Covenant
9 Again, however, pay very careful attention,[f] lest you forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren.
Psalm 15[a]
A psalm of David.
15 Lord, who may be a guest in your home?[b]
Who may live on your holy hill?[c]
2 Whoever lives a blameless life,[d]
does what is right,
and speaks honestly.[e]
3 He[f] does not slander,[g]
or do harm to others,[h]
or insult his neighbor.[i]
4 He despises a reprobate,[j]
but honors the Lord’s loyal followers.[k]
He makes firm commitments and does not renege on his promise.[l]
5 He does not charge interest when he lends his money.[m]
He does not take bribes to testify against the innocent.[n]
The one who lives like this[o] will never be shaken.
17 All generous giving and every perfect gift[a] is from above, coming down[b] from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.[c] 18 By his sovereign plan he gave us birth[d] through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Living Out the Message
19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters![e] Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. 20 For human[f] anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.[g] 21 So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly[h] welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves. 23 For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone[i] who gazes at his own face[j] in a mirror. 24 For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets[k] what sort of person he was. 25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there,[l] and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out—he[m] will be blessed in what he does.[n] 26 If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before[o] God the Father[p] is this: to care for orphans and widows in their adversity[q] and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Breaking Human Traditions
7 Now[a] the Pharisees[b] and some of the experts in the law[c] who came from Jerusalem gathered around him. 2 And they saw that some of Jesus’ disciples[d] ate their bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing,[e] holding fast to the tradition of the elders. 4 And when they come from the marketplace,[f] they do not eat unless they wash. They hold fast to many other traditions: the washing of cups, pots, kettles, and dining couches.[g])[h] 5 The Pharisees and the experts in the law asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat[i] with unwashed hands?” 6 He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart[j] is far from me.
7 They worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.’[k]
8 Having no regard[l] for the command of God, you hold fast to human tradition.”[m]
21 For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. 23 All these evils come from within and defile a person.”
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