Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Wisdom or the Meaning of Our Destiny as Human Beings[a]
The Covenant with Death
Born by Chance and Destined for Oblivion?[b]
16 But the godless by their words and deeds summoned death,
regarded it as a friend, and longed for it.
They made a covenant with it
since they deserve to be in its company.[c]
Chapter 2
1 These people said to themselves with deluded reasoning:
“Brief and burdensome is our life,
and there is no remedy when death summons,
nor has anyone been known to have returned[d] from the netherworld.
12 Let us wait in hiding for the righteous man,
for he inconveniences us and opposes our deeds.
He reproaches us for our sins against the law
and accuses us of failures in what we have been taught.
13 He claims to have knowledge of God
and refers to himself as a child of the Lord.
14 He has become for us a reproof to our manner of thinking,
and the very sight of him is a source of pain to us.
15 For his life is unlike that of others,
and his ways are just as different.[a]
16 He considers us to be counterfeit,
and he steers clear of our ways as unclean.
He proclaims the final end of the righteous as blessed,
and he boasts that God is his Father.
17 Let us see if what he says is true,
and let us probe what will happen at the conclusion of his life.
18 For if the righteous man is a child of God,[b] he will defend him
and deliver him from the power of his enemies.
19 Let us test him with insults and torments
so that we may be able to measure his gentleness
and ascertain the depths of his forbearance of evil.
20 Let us condemn him[c] to a shameful death,
since, according to his words, he will be protected.”
The Horrible Face of Death[d]
21 Such was their reasoning, but they were wrong,
for their own malice blinded them.
22 They did not discern the hidden plans of God,
or hope for the recompense of holiness
or recognize the reward destined for innocent souls.
Jeremiah’s Persecution[a]
18 I was aware of this, O Lord,
because you had made it known to me
then you revealed to me their evil deeds.
19 I had been like a trusting lamb
that was being led to the slaughter.
And I was not aware about the schemes
that they were plotting against me, saying,
“Let us destroy the tree and its fruit;
let us cut him off from the land of the living
so that his name will no longer be remembered.”
20 O Lord of hosts, you who judge righteously
and test the heart and the mind,
allow me to behold your vengeance on them,
for to you I have committed my cause.
Psalm 54[a]
Prayer in Time of Danger
1 For the director.[b] On stringed instruments. A maskil of David. 2 When the Ziphites came to Saul and said, “David is hiding among us.”
3 O God, save me by your name;[c]
vindicate me by your power.
4 Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
5 Strangers[d] have risen against me;
those who are ruthless seek my life,
and they have no thought of God. Selah
6 Surely God is my helper;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
7 May their own evil recoil on my foes:
you who are faithful, destroy them.[e]
8 [f]I will freely offer sacrifice to you,
and I will praise your name, O Lord, for it is good.
9 For you have rescued me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies.
13 True Wisdom and Its Opposite.[a] Who among you is wise and understanding? Prove by your good life that your works are done with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if your hearts are filled with bitter envy and selfish ambition, do not be boastful in defiance of the truth.
15 Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disharmony and every type of wickedness.
17 However, the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, and considerate, full of mercy and good fruits, without any trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who are peacemakers.
Chapter 4
The Need To Control Passions.[b] 1 What is the source of these conflicts and quarrels among you? Are they not the result of your passions[c] that are at war within you? 2 You want something that you cannot have, so you commit murder. And you covet something but cannot obtain it, so you engage in quarrels and fights. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 When you ask, you do not get what you want because you do not ask for it with the proper motives, seeking rather to indulge your passions.
7 Hence, be subject to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you waverers.
30 Jesus Predicts His Passion a Second Time.[a] They proceeded from there and began to journey through Galilee, but Jesus did not want anyone to know about it 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man[b] will be handed over into the power of men. They will kill him, and three days after being killed he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand what he was saying, and they were afraid to ask him about it.
33 The Greatest in the Kingdom.[c] They came to Capernaum, and once they were in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about during the journey?” 34 But they remained silent, for on the way they had been arguing about which one of them was the greatest.
35 Then he sat down, summoned the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he must become the last of all and the servant of all.” 36 He then took a child, placed it in their midst, and put his arms around it as he said, 37 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me receives not me but the one who sent me.”
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