Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 113
God the Helper of the Needy
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord;
praise the name of the Lord.(A)
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time on and forevermore.(B)
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised.(C)
4 The Lord is high above all nations
and his glory above the heavens.(D)
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
who is seated on high,(E)
6 who looks far down
on the heavens and the earth?(F)
7 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!(G)
Social Injustice Denounced
8 Woe to those who join house to house,
who add field to field,
until there is room for no one,
and you are left to live alone
in the midst of the land!(A)
9 The Lord of hosts has sworn in my hearing:
Surely many houses shall be desolate,
large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.(B)
10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath,
and a homer of seed shall yield a mere ephah.[a](C)
11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning
in pursuit of strong drink,
who linger in the evening
to be inflamed by wine,(D)
12 whose feasts consist of lyre and harp,
tambourine and flute and wine,
but who do not regard the deeds of the Lord
or see the work of his hands!(E)
13 Therefore my people go into exile for lack of knowledge;
their nobles are dying of hunger,
and their multitude is parched with thirst.(F)
14 Therefore Sheol has enlarged its appetite
and opened its mouth beyond measure;
the nobility of Jerusalem[b] and her multitude go down,
her throng and all who exult in her.(G)
15 People are bowed down, everyone is brought low,
and the eyes of the haughty are humbled.(H)
16 But the Lord of hosts is exalted by justice,
and the Holy God shows himself holy by righteousness.(I)
17 Then the lambs shall graze as in their pasture;
fatted calves and kids[c] shall feed among the ruins.
18 Woe to those who drag iniquity along with cords of falsehood,
who drag sin along as with cart ropes,(J)
19 who say, “Let him make haste;
let him speed his work
that we may see it;
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel hasten to fulfillment,
that we may know it!”(K)
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!(L)
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and shrewd in their own sight!(M)
22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine
and valiant at mixing drink,(N)
23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe
and deprive the innocent of their rights!(O)
The Widow’s Offering
41 He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums.(A) 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.(B) 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.