Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us,
Do it (A)for Your name’s sake;
For our backslidings are many,
We have sinned against You.
8 (B)O the Hope of Israel, his Savior in time of trouble,
Why should You be like a stranger in the land,
And like a traveler who turns aside to tarry for a night?
9 Why should You be like a man astonished,
Like a mighty one (C)who cannot save?
Yet You, O Lord, (D)are in our midst,
And we are called by Your name;
Do not leave us!
10 Thus says the Lord to this people:
The People Plead for Mercy
19 (A)Have You utterly rejected Judah?
Has Your soul loathed Zion?
Why have You stricken us so that (B)there is no healing for us?
(C)We looked for peace, but there was no good;
And for the time of healing, and there was trouble.
20 We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness
And the iniquity of our (D)fathers,
For (E)we have sinned against You.
21 Do not abhor us, for Your name’s sake;
Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory.
(F)Remember, do not break Your covenant with us.
22 (G)Are there any among (H)the idols of the nations that can cause (I)rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
(J)Are You not He, O Lord our God?
Therefore we will wait for You,
Since You have made all these.
The Blessedness of Dwelling in the House of God
To the Chief Musician. (A)On[a] an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
84 How (B)lovely [b]is Your tabernacle,
O Lord of hosts!
2 (C)My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the Lord;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
And the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young—
Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,
My King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your (D)house;
They will still be praising You. Selah
Paul’s Valedictory
6 For (A)I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of (B)my departure is at hand. 7 (C)I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me (D)the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous (E)Judge, will give to me (F)on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
16 At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. (A)May it not be charged against them.
The Lord Is Faithful
17 (B)But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, (C)so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered (D)out of the mouth of the lion. 18 (E)And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. (F)To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 Also He spoke this parable to some (A)who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee (B)stood and prayed thus with himself, (C)‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; (D)for everyone who exalts himself will be [a]humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.