Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
4 Say to those with anxious hearts,
‘Be strong, do not be afraid!
Here is your God—
he will bring[a] vengeance,
he will bring[b] divine retribution,
and he will save you.’
5 “Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unblocked;
6 then the lame will leap like deer,
and the tongues of speechless people will sing for joy.
Yes, waters will gush forth in the wilderness,
and streams will run[c] through the desert;
7 the burning sands will become a pool,
and the thirsty ground fountains of water.
In the haunts of jackals there will be
a verdant resting place with[d] reeds and rushes.”
Praise to God the Help of Israel
146 Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord, my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live,
singing praises to my God while I exist.
3 Do not look to nobles,
nor to mere human beings who cannot save.
4 When they stop breathing,
they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans evaporate!
5 Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 maker of heaven and earth,
the seas and everything in them,
forever the guardian of truth,
7 who brings justice for the oppressed,
and who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord frees the prisoners;
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down.
The Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord stands guard over the stranger;
he supports both widows and orphans,
but makes the path of the wicked slippery.[a]
10 The Lord will reign forever,
your God, Zion, for all generations!
Hallelujah!
Do Not Show Partiality
2 My brothers, do not let your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[a] be tainted by favoritism. 2 Suppose a man wearing gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly,[b] and a poor man in dirty clothes also comes in. 3 If you give special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Please take this seat,” but you say to the poor man, “Stand over there” or “Sit on the floor at my feet,”[c] 4 then you will have made false distinctions among yourselves and will have judged from evil motives, will you not?
5 Listen, my dear brothers! God has chosen the poor in the world to become rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who keep on loving him, has he not? 6 But you have humiliated the man who is poor. Are not rich people the ones who oppress you and drag you into court? 7 Are not they the ones who blaspheme the noble Name[d] by which you have been called?
8 Nevertheless, you are doing the right thing if you obey the royal Law in keeping with the Scripture, “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”[e] 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and will be convicted by the Law as violators. 10 For whoever keeps the whole Law but fails in one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
11 For the one who said, “Never commit adultery,”[a] also said, “Never murder.”[b] Now if you do not commit adultery, but you murder, you become a violator of the Law. 12 You must make it your habit to speak and act like people who are going to be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For the one who has shown no mercy will be judged without mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Faith is Shown by Actions
14 What good does it do, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith but does not prove it with actions? This kind of faith cannot save him, can it? 15 Suppose a brother or sister does not have any clothes or daily food 16 and one of you tells them, “Go in peace! Stay warm and eat heartily.” If you do not provide for their bodily needs, what good does it do? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it does not prove itself with actions, is dead.
A Canaanite Woman’s Faith(A)
24 Jesus[a] left that place and went to the territory of Tyre and Sidon.[b] He went into a house, not wanting anyone to know he was there. However, it couldn’t be kept a secret. 25 In fact, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman happened to be a Greek, born in Phoenicia in Syria. She kept asking him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 But he kept telling her, “First let the children be filled. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.”
28 But she answered him, “Yes,[c] Lord. Yet even the puppies under the table eat some of the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “Because you have said this, go! The demon has left your daughter.” 30 So she went home and found her child lying in bed, and the demon was gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf Man with a Speech Impediment
31 Then Jesus[d] left the territory of Tyre and passed through Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the territory of the Decapolis.[e] 32 Some people[f] brought him a deaf man who also had a speech impediment. They begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 Jesus[g] took him away from the crowd to be alone with him. Putting his fingers into the man’s[h] ears, he touched the man’s[i] tongue with saliva.
34 Then he looked up to heaven, sighed, and told him, “Ephphatha,”[j] that is, “Be opened!” 35 The man’s[k] hearing and speech were restored at once, and he began to talk normally. 36 Jesus[l] ordered the people[m] not to tell anyone, but the more he kept ordering them, the more they kept spreading the news.
37 Amazed beyond measure, they kept on saying, “He does everything well! He even makes deaf people hear and mute people talk!”
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