Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
11 Please, for the sake of your good name, Lord, forgive my sins, which are many!
12 Where are the ones who honor the Lord?
God will teach them which path to take.
13 They will live a good life,
and their descendants will possess the land.
14 The Lord counsels those who honor him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
15 My eyes are always looking to the Lord
because he will free my feet from the net.
16 Turn to me, God, and have mercy on me
because I’m alone and suffering.
17 My heart’s troubles keep getting bigger—
set me free from my distress!
18 Look at my suffering and trouble—
forgive all my sins!
19 Look at how many enemies I have
and how violently they hate me!
20 Please protect my life! Deliver me!
Don’t let me be put to shame
because I take refuge in you.
Absence of justice
24 Why doesn’t the Almighty establish times for punishment?[a]
Why can’t those who know him see his days?
2 People move boundary stones,
herd flocks they’ve stolen,
3 drive off an orphan’s donkey,
take a widow’s ox as collateral,
4 thrust the poor out of the way,
make the land’s needy hide together.
5 They are like the wild donkeys in the desert;
they go forth at dawn searching for prey;
the wasteland is food for their young.
6 They gather their food in the field,
glean in unproductive vineyards,
7 spend the night naked, unclothed,
in the cold without a cover,
8 wet from mountain rains,
with no refuge, huddled against a rock.
Don’t show favoritism
2 My brothers and sisters, when you show favoritism you deny the faithfulness of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has been resurrected in glory. 2 Imagine two people coming into your meeting. One has a gold ring and fine clothes, while the other is poor, dressed in filthy rags. 3 Then suppose that you were to take special notice of the one wearing fine clothes, saying, “Here’s an excellent place. Sit here.” But to the poor person you say, “Stand over there”; or, “Here, sit at my feet.” 4 Wouldn’t you have shown favoritism among yourselves and become evil-minded judges?
5 My dear brothers and sisters, listen! Hasn’t God chosen those who are poor by worldly standards to be rich in terms of faith? Hasn’t God chosen the poor as heirs of the kingdom he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Don’t the wealthy make life difficult for you? Aren’t they the ones who drag you into court? 7 Aren’t they the ones who insult the good name spoken over you at your baptism?
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible