); Isaiah 49:13-23 (God comforts the suffering); Matthew 18:1-14 (Become like a child) (New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition)
Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 148
Praise for God’s Universal Glory
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his host!(A)
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the heavens!(B)
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded and they were created.(C)
6 He established them forever and ever;
he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.[a](D)
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,(E)
8 fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!(F)
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!(G)
10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike,
old and young together!
13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted his people
and will have compassion on his suffering ones.(A)
14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me;
my Lord has forgotten me.”(B)
15 Can a woman forget her nursing child
or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these might forget,
yet I will not forget you.(C)
16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.(D)
17 Your builders outdo your destroyers,[a]
and those who laid you waste go away from you.(E)
18 Lift up your eyes all around and see;
they all gather; they come to you.
As I live, says the Lord,
you shall put all of them on like an ornament,
and like a bride you shall bind them on.(F)
19 For your wastelands, your desolate places,
and your devastated land—
now you will be too crowded for your inhabitants,
and those who swallowed you up will be far away.(G)
20 The children born in the time of your bereavement
will yet say in your hearing:
“The place is too crowded for me;
make room for me to settle.”(H)
21 Then you will say in your heart,
“Who has borne me these?
I was bereaved and barren,
exiled and put away—
so who has reared these?
I was left all alone—
where, then, have these come from?”(I)
22 Thus says the Lord God:
I will soon lift up my hand to the nations
and raise my signal to the peoples,
and they shall bring your sons in their bosom,
and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.(J)
23 Kings shall be your foster fathers
and their queens your nursing mothers.
With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you
and lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.(K)
True Greatness
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a child, whom he put among them, 3 and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.(A) 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.(B)
Temptations to Sin
6 “If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,[a] it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.(C) 7 Woe to the world because of things that cause sin![b] Such things are bound to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!(D)
8 “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin,[c] cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire.(E) 9 And if your eye causes you to sin,[d] tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell[e] of fire.(F)
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
10 “Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.[f](G) 12 What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of your[g] Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
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.