Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 50
God as Judge
A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 Yahweh, the God of gods[a] speaks;
He summons the earth from east to west.[b](B)
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God appears in radiance.[c](C)
3 Our God is coming; He will not be silent!
Devouring fire precedes Him,
and a storm rages around Him.(D)
4 On high, He summons heaven and earth
in order to judge His people.(E)
5 “Gather My faithful ones to Me,
those who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”(F)
6 The heavens proclaim His righteousness,(G)
for God is the Judge.(H)
7 “Listen, My people, and I will speak;
I will testify against you, Israel.
I am God, your God.(I)
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices
or for your burnt offerings,
which are continually before Me.(J)
9 I will not accept a bull from your household
or male goats from your pens,(K)
10 for every animal of the forest is Mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains,[d]
and the creatures of the field are Mine.(L)
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and everything in it is Mine.(M)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?(N)
14 Sacrifice a thank offering to God,(O)
and pay your vows to the Most High.(P)
15 Call on Me in a day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you will honor Me.”(Q)
16 But God says to the wicked:
“What right do you have to recite My statutes
and to take My covenant on your lips?(R)
17 You hate instruction
and turn your back on My words.[e](S)
18 When you see a thief,
you make friends with him,
and you associate with adulterers.(T)
19 You unleash your mouth for evil
and harness your tongue for deceit.(U)
20 You sit, maligning your brother,
slandering your mother’s son.(V)
21 You have done these things, and I kept silent;
you thought I was just like you.(W)
But I will rebuke you
and lay out the case before you.[f](X)
Nehemiah’s Further Reforms
13 At that time(A) the book of Moses(B) was read publicly to[a] the people.(C) The command was found written in it that no Ammonite or Moabite(D) should ever enter the assembly of God,(E) 2 because they did not meet the Israelites with food and water. Instead, they hired Balaam against them to curse them,(F) but our God turned the curse into a blessing.(G) 3 When they heard the law, they separated all those of mixed descent(H) from Israel.
23 In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.(A) 24 Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or the language of one of the other peoples but could not speak Hebrew.[a](B) 25 I rebuked them, cursed them, beat some of their men, and pulled out their hair.(C) I forced them to take an oath(D) before God and said: “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or yourselves!(E) 26 Didn’t King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations. He was loved by his God and God made him king over all Israel, yet foreign women drew him into sin.(F) 27 Why then should we hear about you doing all this terrible evil and acting unfaithfully against our God by marrying foreign women?”(G)
28 Even one of the sons of Jehoiada, son of Eliashib the high priest,(H) had become a son-in-law to Sanballat the Horonite.(I) So I drove him away from me.(J)
29 Remember them, my God, for defiling the priesthood as well as the covenant of the priesthood and the Levites.(K)
30 So I purified them from everything foreign(L) and assigned specific duties to each of the priests and Levites.(M) 31 I also arranged for the donation of wood at the appointed times and for the firstfruits.(N)
Remember me, my God, with favor.(O)
Church Discipline
9 I wrote to you in a letter not to associate(A) with sexually immoral people.(B) 10 I did not mean the immoral people of this world or the greedy(C) and swindlers(D) or idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world.(E) 11 But now I am writing[a] you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer[b](F) who is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard(G) or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. 12 For what business is it of mine to judge(H) outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside? 13 But God judges outsiders. Put away the evil person from among yourselves.(I)[c]
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