Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
Prayer for Help and Praise to God
40 I waited expectantly[a] for the Lord,
and he took notice of me
and heard my cry.
2 He plucked me out of a pit of confusion,[b]
even out of the quicksand;
he placed my feet on a rock
and established my steps.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
praise to our God!
Many will watch and be in awe,
and they will place their trust in the Lord.
4 How blessed is that strong person
who places his trust in the Lord,
and who has not acknowledged the proud
nor resorted to lies.
5 Lord, my God,
You have done great things:
marvelous works and your thoughts toward us.
There is no one who compares to you!
I will try to recite your actions,[c]
even though there are too many to number.
6 You take no delight in sacrifices and offerings—
you have prepared my ears to listen—[d]
you require no burnt offerings or sacrifices for sin.
7 Then I said, “Here I am! I have come!
In the scroll of the book it is written about me.
8 I delight to do your will, my God.
Your Law is part of my inner being.”
A Call to Repentance
14 [a]“Return, Israel, to the Lord your God,
for you have fallen due to your own iniquity.
2 Bring a prepared speech with you
as you return to the Lord. Say to him:
‘Take away all our[b] iniquity,
and accept what is good.
Then we will present the fruit[c] of our lips.
3 Assyria won’t save us;
we won’t be riding on horses,
Nor will we be saying anymore to the work of our hands,
“You are[d] our God.”
Indeed, in you the orphan finds mercy.’
4 “I will correct their apostasy,
loving them freely,
since my anger will have turned away from them.[e]
5 I will be like the dew to Israel;
Israel[f] will blossom like a lily,
growing roots like the cedars of[g] Lebanon.
6 Israel’s[h] branches will spread out,
and its beauty will be like an olive tree,
with its scent like that of Lebanon.
7 Those who live under its protection[i] will surely return.
Their grain will flourish;
they will blossom like a vine,
and Israel’s[j] scent will be like wine from Lebanon.
8 “Ephraim, what have I in common with idols?
I have listened and will pay attention to him.
I am like a flourishing cypress;
in me will your fruit be found.”
Concluding Counsel
9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things.
Whoever is discerning, let him know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right:
the righteous follow his example,
but the rebellious stumble in them.
Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath(A)
12 At that time, Jesus walked through the grain fields on a Sabbath.[a] His disciples became hungry and began picking heads of grain to eat. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they told him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!”
3 But he told them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 How is it that he went into the house of God and ate the Bread of the Presence, which was not lawful for him and his companions to eat but was reserved[b] for the priests? 5 Or haven’t you read in the Law that on every Sabbath[c] the priests in the Temple violate the Sabbath[d] and yet are innocent?[e] 6 But I tell you, something greater than the Temple is here! 7 If you had known what ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice’[f] means, you would not have condemned the innocent, 8 for the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
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