Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 12
For the music leader. According to the Sheminith.[a] A psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord, because the godly are all gone;
the faithful have completely disappeared
from the human race!
2 Everyone tells lies to everyone else;
they talk with slick speech and divided hearts.
3 Let the Lord cut off all slick-talking lips
and every tongue that brags and brags,
4 that says, “We’re unbeatable with our tongues!
Who could get the best of us with lips like ours?”
5 But the Lord says,
“Because the poor are oppressed,
because of the groans of the needy,
I’m now standing up.
I will provide the help they are gasping for.”[b]
6 The Lord’s promises are pure,
like silver that’s been refined in an oven,
purified seven times over!
7 You, Lord, will keep us,[c]
protecting us from this generation forever.
8 The wicked roam all over the place,
while depravity is praised by human beings.
10 Wicked people desire evil;
their neighbors receive no mercy from them.
11 When a mocker is punished, the naive person gains wisdom;
when insight comes to the wise, knowledge increases.
12 The righteous one observes the house of the wicked,
turning the wicked toward trouble.
13 Those who close their ears to the cries of the poor
will themselves call out but receive no answer.
14 A secret gift calms anger,
and a hidden bribe removes[a] furious wrath.
15 Acting justly is a joy to the righteous,
but dreaded by those who do evil.
16 People who wander from the path of insight
will rest in the company of the dead.
Jesus condemns the legal experts
45 In the presence of all the people, Jesus said to his disciples, 46 “Watch out for the legal experts. They like to walk around in long robes. They love being greeted with honor in the markets. They long for the places of honor in the synagogues and at banquets. 47 They are the ones who cheat widows out of their homes, and to show off they say long prayers. They will be judged most harshly.”
A poor widow’s offering
21 Looking up, Jesus saw rich people throwing their gifts into the collection box for the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow throw in two small copper coins worth a penny.[a] 3 He said, “I assure you that this poor widow has put in more than them all. 4 All of them are giving out of their spare change. But she from her hopeless poverty has given everything she had to live on.”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible