Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God Sustains His Servant.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
40 I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
2
He brought me up out of a horrible pit [of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock, steadying my footsteps and establishing my path.
3
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear [with great reverence]
And will trust confidently in the Lord.(A)
4
Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who makes the Lord his trust,
And does not regard the proud nor those who lapse into lies.
5
Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of your wonders,
They would be too many to count.
6
Sacrifice and meal offering You do not desire, nor do You delight in them;
You have opened my ears and given me the capacity to hear [and obey Your word];
Burnt offerings and sin offerings You do not require.(B)
7
Then I said, “Behold, I come [to the throne];
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8
“I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your law is within my heart.”(C)
25 ‘Now if a woman has a flow of blood for many days, not during the time of her menstruation, or if she has a discharge beyond that period, as long as the impure discharge continues she shall be as she is in the days of her [normal] menstrual impurity; she is unclean.(A) 26 Every bed on which she lies during the time of her discharge shall be to her like the bed of her menstrual impurity, and whatever she sits on shall be unclean, like the uncleanness of her monthly period. 27 And whoever touches those things shall be unclean, and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 28 When she is cleansed from her discharge, then she shall count off for herself seven days, and after that she will be clean. 29 Then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting; 30 and the priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering; and he shall make atonement for her before the Lord for her unclean discharge.’
31 “Thus you shall [a]separate the Israelites from their uncleanness, so that they do not die in their uncleanness by their defiling My tabernacle that is among them.”
Various Rules for Priests
22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy things (offerings, gifts) which the children of Israel dedicate to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name; I am the Lord. 3 Say to them, ‘Any one of your descendants throughout your generations who approaches the holy things which the Israelites dedicate to the Lord, while he is [ceremonially] unclean, that person shall be cut off from My presence and excluded from the sanctuary; I am the Lord. 4 No man of the descendants of Aaron who is a leper or has a discharge may eat the holy things [the offerings and the showbread] until he is clean. And whoever touches any person or thing made unclean by contact with a corpse or a man who has had a seminal emission, 5 or whoever touches any crawling thing by which he is made unclean, or any person by whom he is made unclean, whatever it may be,(A) 6 the person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water.(B) 7 When the sun sets, he will be clean, and afterward he may eat the holy things, for it is his food. 8 He shall not eat that which dies [of natural causes] or is torn by a predator, becoming unclean by it; I am the Lord. 9 Therefore the priests shall observe My ordinance, so that they will not bear sin because of it and die if they profane it; I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
14 Do not be unequally bound together with unbelievers [do not make mismatched alliances with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial (Satan)? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said:
“I will dwell among them and walk among them;
And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.(A)
17
“So come out from among unbelievers and be separate,” says the Lord,
“And do not touch what is unclean;
And I will graciously receive you and welcome you [with favor],(B)
18
And I will be a Father to you,
And you will be My sons and daughters,”
Says the Lord Almighty.(C)
Paul Reveals His Heart
7 Therefore, since we have these [great and wonderful] promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, completing holiness [living a consecrated life—a life set apart for God’s purpose] in the fear of God.
2 Make room for us in your hearts; we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one.
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