Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Praise for God’s Kindness
113 Praise the Lord!
Praise him, you servants of the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord.
2 The Lord’s name should be praised
now and forever.
3 The Lord’s name should be praised
from where the sun rises to where it sets.
4 The Lord is supreme over all the nations.
His glory reaches to the skies.
5 No one is like the Lord our God.
He rules from heaven.
6 He bends down to look
at the skies and the earth.
7 The Lord lifts the poor from the dirt.
He takes the helpless from the ashes.
8 And he seats them with princes,
the princes of his people.
9 He gives children to the woman who has none.
He makes her a happy mother.
Praise the Lord!
Laws About Fairness
23 “You must not tell lies. You might be a witness in court. Don’t help a bad person by telling lies.
2 “You must not do wrong just because everyone else is doing it. You might be a witness in court. Then you must not ruin a fair trial. You must not tell lies just because everyone else is. 3 A poor man might be in court. You must not take his side just because he is poor.
4 “You might see your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering away. Then you must return it to him. 5 You might see that your enemy’s donkey has fallen because its load is too heavy. You must not leave it there. You must help your enemy get the donkey back on its feet.
6 “You must not be unfair to a poor man when he is in court. 7 You must not lie when you accuse someone in court. Never allow an innocent or honest person to be put to death as punishment. This is because I will not treat guilty people as if they were innocent.
8 “You must not accept money from a person who wants you to lie in court. Such money will not let you see what is right. Such money makes good people tell lies.
9 “You must not mistreat a foreigner. You know how it feels to be a foreigner. You were foreigners in Egypt.
3 So, do Jews have anything that other people do not have? Is there anything special about being circumcised? 2 Yes, of course, there is in every way. The most important thing is this: God trusted the Jews with his teachings. 3 It is true that some Jews were not faithful to God. But will that stop God from doing what he promised? 4 No! God will continue to be true even when every person is false. As the Scriptures say:
“So your words may be shown to be right.
You are fair when you judge me.” Psalm 51:4
5 When we do wrong, that shows more clearly that God is right. So can we say that God is wrong to punish us? (I am talking as men might talk.) 6 No! If God could not punish us, then God could not judge the world.
7 A person might say, “When I lie, it really gives God glory, because my lie shows God’s truth. So why am I judged a sinner?” 8 It would be the same to say, “We should do evil so that good will come.” Some people find fault with us and say that we teach this. Those who say such things about us are wrong, and they should be punished.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.