Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

23 ⌞The Lord continued,⌟ “Never spread false rumors. Don’t join forces with wicked people by giving false testimony. ² Never follow a crowd in doing wrong. When you testify in court, don’t side with the majority to pervert justice. ³ Never give special favors to poor people in court.

⁴ “Whenever you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering loose, be sure to take it back to him. ⁵ Whenever you see that the donkey of someone who hates you has collapsed under its load, don’t leave it there. Be sure to help him with his animal.

⁶ “Never deny justice to poor people in court. ⁷ Avoid telling lies. Don’t kill innocent or honest people, because I will never declare guilty people innocent. ⁸ Never take a bribe, because bribes blind those who can see and deny justice to those who are in the right.

⁹ “Never oppress foreigners. You know what it’s like to be foreigners because you were foreigners living in Egypt.

Everyone Is a Sinner

3 Is there any advantage, then, in being a Jew? Or is there any value in being circumcised? ² There are all kinds of advantages. First of all, God entrusted them with his word.

³ What if some of them were unfaithful? Can their unfaithfulness cancel God’s faithfulness? ⁴ That would be unthinkable! God is honest, and everyone else is a liar, as Scripture says,

⁵ But if what we do wrong shows that God is fair, what should we say? Is God unfair when he vents his anger on us? (I’m arguing the way humans would.) ⁶ That’s unthinkable! Otherwise, how would God be able to judge the world? ⁷ If my lie increases the glory that God receives by showing that God is truthful, why am I still judged as a sinner? ⁸ Or can we say, “Let’s do evil so that good will come from it”? Some slander us and claim that this is what we say. They are condemned, and that’s what they deserve.