Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Davidic
A Man of Integrity Pleads for Justice
26 Vindicate me, Lord,
because I have walked in integrity;
I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.
2 Examine me, Lord, and inspect me!
Test my heart and mind.[a]
3 For your gracious love precedes me,
and I continuously walk according to your truth.
4 I do not sit with those committed to what is false,
nor do I travel with hypocrites.
5 I hate the company of those who practice evil,
nor do I sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands innocently.
I go around your altar, Lord,
7 so I may praise you loudly with thanksgiving
and declare all your wondrous acts.
8 Lord, I love the dwelling place that is your house,
the place where your glory resides.
9 Do not group me[b] with sinners,
nor include me[c] with men who shed blood.
10 Their hands are filled with wicked schemes,
and their right hands with bribes.
11 But as for me,
I walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be gracious to me!
12 My feet stand on level ground;
among the worshiping congregations
I will bless the Lord.
17 “But there will be a delivered remnant on Mount Zion.
There will be holiness,
and the house of Jacob will take back their possessions.
18 “The house of Jacob will be a fire,
and the house of Joseph a flame,
but the house of Esau will be kindling.
Then Jacob and Joseph[a] will burn and consume Esau,[b]
and no survivor will remain from the house of Esau.”
Indeed, the Lord has spoken it.
19 “Those in the Negev[c] will possess Esau’s Mountain,
and those in the Shephelah[d] the Philistines.
They will possess the fields of Ephraim
and the fields of Samaria,
while Benjamin will possess the territory of[e] Gilead.
20 The exiles, the Israeli host,
will possess the territory of the[f] Canaanites all the way to Zarephath.
The exiles of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad[g]
will possess the cities of the Negev.[h]
21 Deliverers will assemble on Mount Zion to judge Esau’s Mountain,
and to the Lord will the kingdom belong!”
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “Once there was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and live in great luxury every day. 20 A beggar named Lazarus, who was covered with sores, was brought to his gate. 21 He was always trying to satisfy his hunger with what fell[a] from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs used to come and lick his sores.
22 “One day, the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In the afterlife,[b] where he was in constant torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus by his side. 24 So he shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool off my tongue, because I am suffering in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham said, ‘My child, remember that during your lifetime you received blessings,[c] while Lazarus received hardships.[d] But now he is being comforted here, while you suffer. 26 Besides all this, a wide chasm has been fixed between us, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot do so, nor can they cross from your side to us.’
27 “The rich man[e] said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus[f] to my father’s house— 28 because I have five brothers—to warn them, so that they won’t end up in this place of torture, too.’
29 “Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets. They should listen to them!’
30 “But the rich man[g] replied, ‘No, father Abraham! But if someone from the dead went to them, they would repent.’
31 “Then Abraham[h] told him, ‘If your brothers[i] do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded, even if someone were to rise from the dead.’”
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