Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Human Faithlessness and God’s Faithfulness
For the music director; on the Sheminith.[a] A psalm of David.[b]
12 Save, O Yahweh, for the pious have ceased to be;
for the faithful have vanished
from among the children of humankind.
2 They speak falseness to each other.[c]
With flattering lips,
with a double heart[d] they speak.
3 May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips,
the tongue speaking great boasts—
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail.
Our lips are on our side.
Who is master over us?”
5 “Because of the oppression of the afflicted,
because of the groaning of the poor,
now I will rise up,” Yahweh says.
“I shall put them in the safety for which they[e] long.”
6 The words of Yahweh are pure words
like silver refined in the crucible on the ground,
refined seven times.
7 You, O Yahweh, will protect them.
You will preserve him[f]
from this generation always.
8 The wicked prowl about
when vileness is exalted among the children of humankind.
10 The soul[a] of the wicked desires evil;
his neighbor will not find mercy in his eyes.
11 With the punishment of a scoffer, the simple will become wise,
and with the instruction of the wise, he will obtain knowledge.
12 The righteous observes the house of the wicked;
he throws the wicked to ruin.
13 He who closes his ear from the cry of the poor,
he also will cry out and not be heard.
14 A gift in secret[b] will avert anger,[c]
and a concealed bribe,[d] strong wrath.
15 It is a joy to the righteous to do justice,
but dismay to those who do evil.
16 Whoever wanders from the way of understanding,
in the assembly of the dead[e] he will rest.
Warning to Beware of the Scribes
45 And while[a] all the people were listening, he said to the disciples,[b] 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like walking around in long robes and who love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets, 47 who devour the houses of widows and pray lengthy prayers for the sake of appearance. These will receive more severe condemnation!”
A Poor Widow’s Offering
21 And he looked up and[c] saw the rich putting their gifts into the contribution box, 2 and he saw a certain poor widow putting in there two small copper coins.[d] 3 And he said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow put in more than all of them. 4 For these all put gifts[e] into the offering out of their abundance, but this woman out of her poverty put in all the means of subsistence that she had.”
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