Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Ways of the Righteous and the Wicked
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the advice of the wicked;
nor does he stand in the way of sinners;
nor does he sit in the assembly of mockers.
2 Instead, in the law of Yahweh is his delight,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 And so, he is like a tree planted by streams of water
that gives its fruit in its season;
its leaf also does not wither.
Therefore all that he does prospers.
4 Not so the wicked.
Instead, they are like the chaff that the wind scatters.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6 for Yahweh knows the way of the righteous,[a]
but the way of the wicked will perish.
2 And Moses summoned all of Israel and said to them, “You saw all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt and to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land; 3 that is, the great trials that your eyes saw, and those great signs and wonders. 4 But Yahweh has not given to you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear, even to this day.[a] 5 And I have led you forty years[b] in the desert; your clothes have not worn out on you,[c] and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.[d] 6 You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine and strong drink, so that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. 7 And when you came to this place then Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out to meet you for battle, and we defeated them. 8 And we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites[e] and to the Gadites[f] and to the half-tribe of Manasseh. 9 And you must diligently observe the words of this covenant,[g] so that you may succeed in all that you do.
10 “You are standing today,[h] all of you, before[i] Yahweh your God, your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officials, all the men of Israel, 11 your little children, your women and your aliens[j] who are in the midst of your camp, from the choppers[k] of your wood to the drawers[l] of your water, 12 in order for you to enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God,[m] and into[n] his oath that Yahweh your God is making with you[o] today,[p] 13 in order to establish you today[q] to himself[r] as a people and so that he may be for you as God, just as he promised[s] to you and just as[t] he swore to your ancestors,[u] to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
14 “Now I am not making this covenant[v] and this oath with you alone.[w] 15 But with whoever is standing here[x] with us today[y] before[z] Yahweh our God, and with whoever is not standing here[aa] with us today.[ab] 16 For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we traveled through the midst of the nations that you traveled[ac] through. 17 And you have seen their detestable things and their idols of wood and stone, silver, and gold that were among them, 18 so that there is not[ad] among you a man or a woman or a clan or a tribe whose heart[ae] turns today[af] from being with Yahweh our God to go to serve the gods of these nations, so that there is not among you a root sprouting poison and wormwood. 19 And then when he hears the words of this oath, then[ag] he will assure himself[ah] in his heart, saying,[ai] ‘Safety shall be mine even though I go in the stubbornness of my heart,’[aj] thereby destroying the well-watered land along with the parched.[ak] 20 Yahweh will not be willing to forgive him, for by then the anger of Yahweh will smoke, and his passion against that man and all the curses written in this scroll will descend on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under heaven.
Not Peace, But a Sword of Divisiveness
34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth! I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And the enemies of a man will be the members of his household.[a] 37 The one who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and the one who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 The one who finds his life will lose it, and the one who loses his life because of me will find it.
On Rewards
40 “The one who receives you receives me, and the one who receives me receives the one who sent me. 41 The one who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, truly I say to you, he will never lose his reward.”
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