Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

112 Blessed is the man who fears the LORD and delights greatly in His Commandments.

² His seed shall be mighty upon Earth. The generation of the righteous shall be blessed.

³ Riches and treasures shall be in his house and his righteousness endures forever.

⁴ To the righteous arises light in darkness. He is merciful and full of compassion, and righteous.

⁵ A good man is merciful and lends. He will measure his affairs by judgment.

⁶ Surely, he shall never be moved. The righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance.

⁷ He will not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is fixed, believing in the LORD.

⁸ His heart is established. He will not fear, until he sees his desire upon his enemies.

⁹ He has distributed, given to the poor. His righteousness remains forever. His horn shall be exalted with glory.

¹⁰ The wicked shall see it and be angry. He shall gnash with his teeth and melt away. The desire of the wicked shall perish. Praise the LORD

⁶ The LORD also said to me in the days of Josiah the king, “Have you seen what this rebel Israel has done? She has gone up upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.

⁷ “And I said, when she had done all this, ‘Turn to Me.’ But she did not return, as her rebellious sister Judah saw.

⁸ “Then I saw how that for all the occasions rebellious Israel had played the harlot, and I had cast her away and given her a bill of divorcement, yet her rebellious sister, Judah, was not afraid. And she also went and played the harlot.

⁹ “So that because of the lightness of her whoredom, she has even defiled the land. For she has committed fornication with stones and trees.

¹⁰ “Nevertheless, for all this, her rebellious sister Judah has not returned to Me with her whole heart, but deceptively,” says the LORD.

¹¹ And the LORD said to me, “The rebellious Israel has justified herself more than the rebellious Judah.

¹² “Go and cry these Words toward the North, and say, ‘You disobedient Israel, return,’ says the LORD, ‘and I will not let My wrath fall upon you.’ For I am merciful,” says the LORD, “and I will not always keep My anger.

¹³ “But know your iniquity. For you have rebelled against the LORD your God, and have scattered your ways to the strange gods under every green tree. But you would not obey My Voice,” says the LORD.

¹⁴ “O you disobedient children, turn again,” says the LORD, “for I am your LORD. And I will take you, one from a city, and two from a tribe, and will bring you to Zion.

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said to those of old time, ‘You shall not commit adultery’.

²⁸ “But I say to you that whoever looks on a woman, to lust after her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

²⁹ “So if your right eye causes you to offend, pluck it out and cast it from you. For better it is for you that one of your members perish than that your whole body should be cast into Hell.

³⁰ “Also if your right hand makes you offend, cut it off, and cast it from you. For better it is for you that one of your members perish than that your whole body should be cast into Hell.

³¹ “It has been said also, ‘Whoever shall divorce his wife, let him give her a bill of divorcement’.

³² “But I say to you, whoever shall divorce his wife (except for promiscuity) causes her to commit adultery. And whoever shall marry her who is divorced, commits adultery.

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old time, ‘You shall not swear false oaths, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord’.

³⁴ “But I say to you do not swear at all, neither by Heaven (for it is the throne of God)

³⁵ “nor by the Earth (for it is His footstool), nor by Jerusalem (for it is the city of the great King).

³⁶ “Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.