Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
The Concluding Hallel—Pss 146–150[a]
Psalm 146[b]
Trust in God, Creator and Redeemer
1 [c]Alleluia.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.[d]
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God throughout my life.[e]
3 Do not place your trust in princes,
in mortal men who have no power to save.
4 When the spirit departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day all their plans come to naught.[f]
5 [g]Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,[h]
whose hope is in the Lord, his God,
6 the Maker of heaven and earth,[i]
the sea, and everything in them—
the one who keeps faith forever.
7 He grants justice to the oppressed[j]
and gives bread to the hungry.
The Lord releases prisoners
8 and opens the eyes of those who cannot see.[k]
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the stranger
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,[l]
but he blocks the way of the wicked.
10 The Lord will reign forever,[m]
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Alleluia.
3 A needy man[a] who oppresses the poor
is like a drenching rain that destroys the crops.
4 Those who forsake the law[b] praise the wicked man,
but those who observe the law are in constant opposition to him.
5 Evildoers simply cannot comprehend justice,
but those who seek the Lord[c] understand it completely.
6 It is far better to be poor and beyond reproach
than to become rich through dishonest means.
7 A wise son obeys the law,
but a companion of gluttons shames his father.
8 Whoever increases his wealth by charging exorbitant interest[d]
amasses it for another who will be generous to the poor.
9 When anyone turns a deaf ear to the law,
even his prayer is detestable.[e]
10 Whoever tempts the upright into following evil ways
will fall into his own pit,
but the blameless will have a good inheritance.
Chapter 2
Christ Brought Us from Death to Life.[a] 1 You formerly were dead as a result of your transgressions and sins, 2 which were your way of life in this worldly era,[b] obeying the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit that is now at work among the children of rebellion. 3 We too were all numbered among them at one time. We were ruled by our sinful nature, succumbing to the temptations of the flesh and desires. And like all others, we were by nature children of wrath.
4 But God is rich in his mercy, and because he had such great love for us, 5 he brought us to life with Christ when we were already dead through sin—it is by grace that you have been saved. 6 He raised us up in union with Christ Jesus and enthroned us with him in the heavens, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace evidenced by his mercy to us in Christ Jesus.
8 [c]For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith. This has not come from you but from the gift of God. 9 It does not come from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for a life of good works that God had prepared for us to do.
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