Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 141
Prayer for Preservation from Evil
A Psalm of David.
1 I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;
give ear to my voice when I call to you.(A)
2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you
and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.(B)
3 Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Do not turn my heart to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with those who work iniquity;
do not let me eat of their delicacies.(C)
5 Let the righteous strike me;
let the faithful correct me.
Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,[a]
for my prayer is continually[b] against their wicked deeds.(D)
6 When they are given over to those who shall condemn them,
then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.
7 Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land,
so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.[c](E)
God Will Restore Israel
14 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 15 Mortal, your kinsfolk, your own kin, your fellow exiles,[a] the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, “Stay far from the Lord; to us this land is given for a possession.”(A) 16 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: Though I removed them far away among the nations and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while[b] in the countries where they have gone.(B) 17 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord God: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.(C) 18 When they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations.(D) 19 I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them;[c] I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,(E) 20 so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.(F) 21 But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations,[d] I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord God.(G)
22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.(H) 23 And the glory of the Lord ascended from the middle of the city and stopped on the mountain east of the city.(I) 24 The spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the spirit of God into Chaldea, to the exiles. Then the vision that I had seen left me. 25 And I told the exiles all the things that the Lord had shown me.
Rules for the New Life
25 So then, putting away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth with your neighbor, for we are members of one another.(A) 26 Be angry but do not sin;[a] do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not make room for the devil. 28 Those who steal must give up stealing; rather, let them labor, doing good work with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29 Let no evil talk come out of your mouths but only what is good for building up,[b] as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.(B) 31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice.(C) 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.[c](D) 5 1
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.