Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
To the director: With the sheminith. A song of David.
12 Save me, Lord!
We can no longer trust anyone!
All the good, loyal people are gone.
2 People lie to their neighbors.
They say whatever they think people want to hear.
3 The Lord should cut off their lying lips
and cut out their bragging tongues.
4 Those people think they can win any argument.
They say, “We are so good with words,
no one will be our master.”
5 They took advantage of the poor
and stole what little they had.
But the Lord knows what they did, and he says,
“I will rescue those who are poor and helpless,
and I will punish those who hurt them.”[a]
6 The Lord’s words are true and pure,
like silver purified by fire,
like silver melted seven times to make it perfectly pure.
7 Lord, take care of the helpless.
Protect them forever from the wicked people in this world.
8 The wicked are all around us,
and everyone thinks evil is something to be praised!
10 Evil people always want to do more evil, and they show no mercy to people around them.
11 When you punish a proud person who laughs at what is right, even fools will learn something.[a] But a little instruction is enough for the wise to learn what they should.
12 God is good. He knows what the wicked are doing, and he will punish them.
13 Those who refuse to help the poor will not receive help when they need it themselves.
14 If anyone is angry with you, give them a gift in private. A gift given in secret will calm even the strongest anger.
15 A decision that is fair makes good people happy, but it makes those who are evil very afraid.
16 Whoever leaves the path of wisdom will be on their way to an early death.
Warning Against the Teachers of the Law(A)
45 While all the people were listening to Jesus, he said to his followers, 46 “Be careful of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around wearing clothes that look important. And they love for people to show respect to them in the marketplaces. They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47 But they cheat widows and take their homes. Then they try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers. God will punish them very much.”
True Giving(B)
21 Jesus looked up and saw some rich people putting their gifts to God into the Temple collection box. 2 Then he saw a poor widow put two small copper coins into the box. 3 He said, “This poor widow gave only two small coins. But the truth is, she gave more than all those rich people. 4 They have plenty, and they gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had to live on.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International