Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A psalm by Asaph.
50 The Lord, the only true God, has spoken.
He has summoned the earth
from where the sun rises to where it sets.
2 God shines from Zion,
the perfection of beauty.
3 Our God will come and will not remain silent.
A devouring fire is in front of him
and a raging storm around him.
4 He summons heaven and earth to judge his people:
5 “Gather around me, my godly people
who have made a pledge to me through sacrifices.”
6 The heavens announce his righteousness
because God is the judge. Selah
7 “Listen, my people, and I will speak.
Listen, Israel, and I will testify against you:
I am God, your God!
8 I am not criticizing you for your sacrifices or burnt offerings,
which are always in front of me.
9 ⌞But⌟ I will not accept ⌞another⌟ young bull from your household
or a single male goat from your pens.
10 Every creature in the forest,
⌞even⌟ the cattle on a thousand hills, is mine.
11 I know every bird in the mountains.
Everything that moves in the fields is mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
because the world and all that it contains are mine.
13 Do I eat the meat of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
14 Bring ⌞your⌟ thanks to God as a sacrifice,
and keep your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in times of trouble.
I will rescue you, and you will honor me.”
16 But God says to wicked people,
“How dare you quote my decrees
and mouth my promises! [a]
17 You hate discipline.
You toss my words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you want to make friends with him.
You keep company with people who commit adultery.
19 You let your mouth say anything evil.
Your tongue plans deceit.
20 You sit and talk against your own brother.
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 When you did these things, I remained silent.
⌞That⌟ made you think I was like you.
I will argue my point with you
and lay it all out for you to see.
22 Consider this, you people who forget God.
Otherwise, I will tear you to pieces,
and there will be no one left to rescue you.
23 Whoever offers thanks as a sacrifice honors me.
I will let everyone who continues in my way
see the salvation that comes from God.”
13 On that day the Book of Moses was read while the people were listening. They heard the passage that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be admitted into God’s assembly. 2 (After all, they didn’t welcome the Israelites with food and water. Instead, they hired Balaam to curse the Israelites. But our God turned the curse into a blessing.) 3 After the people heard this Teaching, they separated the non-Israelites from the Israelites.
Nehemiah Dissolves Marriages to Foreigners
23 In those days I saw some Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. 24 Half their children spoke the language of Ashdod or one of the other languages, but they couldn’t understand the language of Judah well enough to speak it. 25 So I reprimanded those Jews, cursed them, beat some of them, and pulled out their hair. I made them swear by God: “We won’t allow our daughters to marry their sons, and we won’t allow their daughters to marry us or our sons.” 26 I said, “Wasn’t it because of marriages like these that King Solomon of Israel sinned? There wasn’t a king like him among all nations. God loved him, and God made him king of all Israel. But his non-Israelite wives led him to sin. 27 Should we follow your example, commit such a serious crime against our God, and be unfaithful to him by marrying non-Israelite women?”
28 Even one of Joiada’s sons was a son-in-law of Sanballat from Beth Horon. (Joiada was the son of the chief priest Eliashib.) I chased Joiada’s son away from me.
29 ⌞Nehemiah prayed,⌟ “Remember them, my God, because they have contaminated the priestly office and the promise [a] you made to the priests and Levites.”
30 So I cleansed them from everything that was foreign. I assigned duties to the priests and Levites. Each one had his own assignment. 31 I also arranged for delivering wood at regular times and for bringing the first produce to be harvested.
⌞Nehemiah prayed,⌟ “Remember me, my God, for my benefit.”
9 In my letter to you I told you not to associate with people who continue to commit sexual sins. 10 I didn’t tell you that you could not have any contact with unbelievers who commit sexual sins, are greedy, are dishonest, or worship false gods. If that were the case, you would have to leave this world. 11 Now, what I meant was that you should not associate with people who call themselves brothers or sisters in the Christian faith but live in sexual sin, are greedy, worship false gods, use abusive language, get drunk, or are dishonest. Don’t eat with such people.
12 After all, do I have any business judging those who are outside ⌞the Christian faith⌟? Isn’t it your business to judge those who are inside? 13 God will judge those who are outside. Remove that wicked man from among you.
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