Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer of Repentance and Plea for Mercy
For the music director. A psalm of David.
When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.[a]
51 Be gracious to me, O God, according to your loyal love.
According to your abundant mercies,
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and from my sin cleanse me.
3 For I myself know[b] my transgressions,[c]
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, only you, I have sinned
and have done this evil[d] in your eyes,
so that you are correct when you speak,
you are blameless when you judge.
5 Behold, in iniquity I was born,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward parts,
and in the hidden parts you make me to know wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and all my iniquities blot out.
10 Create a clean heart for me, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.[e]
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and with a willing spirit sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
the God of my salvation;
then my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
16 For you do not delight in sacrifice or I would give it.
With a burnt offering you are not pleased.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good in your favor toward Zion.
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices,
burnt offering and whole burnt offering.
Then bulls will be offered on your altar.
True Fasts and Sabbaths
58 “Call with the throat; you must not keep back!
lift up your voice like a trumpet,
and declare[a] to my people their rebellion,
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet[b] they seek me day by day,
and they desire the knowledge of my ways
like a nation that practiced[c] righteousness,
and had not forsaken the judgment of its God;
they ask me for righteous judgments,[d]
they desire the closeness of God.
3 ‘Why do we fast, and you do not see it?
We humiliate our soul, and you do not notice it?’
Look! You find delight on the day of your fast,
and you oppress all your workers!
4 Look! You fast to quarrel and strife,
and to strike with a wicked fist.[e]
You shall not fast as you do today,[f]
to make your voice heard[g] on the height.
5 Is the fast I choose like this,
a day for humankind to humiliate himself[h]?
To bow his head like a reed,
and make[i] his bed on sackcloth and ashes;
you call this a fast
and a day of pleasure to Yahweh?
6 Is this not the fast I choose: to release the bonds of injustice,
to untie the ropes of the yoke,
and to let the oppressed go free,
and tear[j] every yoke to pieces?
7 Is it not to break your bread for the hungry?
You must bring home[k] the poor, the homeless.
When you see the naked, you must cover him,
and you must not hide yourself from your relatives.[l]
8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall grow quickly.
And your salvation shall go before you;
the glory of Yahweh will be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer.
You shall cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am!’
If you remove from among you the yoke,
the finger-pointing[m] and evil speech,[n]
10 if[o] you offer your soul to the hungry,
and you satisfy the appetite of the afflicted,
then[p] your light shall rise in the darkness,
and your darkness will be like noon.
11 And Yahweh will lead you continually, and satisfy your soul in a barren land,
and he will strengthen your bones,
and you shall be like a well-watered garden,
and like a spring of water whose water does not fail.
12 And they shall rebuild ancient ruins from you;
you shall erect the foundations of many generations,[q]
and you shall be called[r] the bricklayer of the breach,
the restorer of paths to live in.
The Question About Who Is Greatest
18 At that time the disciples came up to Jesus, saying, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling a child to himself, he had him stand in their midst 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you turn around and become like young children, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven! 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child, this person is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, 5 and whoever welcomes one child such as this in my name welcomes me. 6 But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him that a large millstone[a] be hung on[b] his neck and he be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of causes for stumbling, for it is a necessity that causes for stumbling come; nevertheless, woe to the person through whom the cause for stumbling comes.
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