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)
Israel’s Future Blessing
14 O Israel, return [in repentance] to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled and fallen [visited by tragedy], because of your sin.
2
Take the words [confessing your guilt] with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him, “Take away all our wickedness;
Accept what is good and receive us graciously,
So that we may present the fruit of our lips (gratitude).(A)
3
“Assyria will not save us;
We will not ride on horses [relying on military might],
Nor will we say again to [the idols who are] the work of our hands,
‘You are our gods.’
For in You [O Lord] the orphan finds love and compassion and mercy.”
4
I will heal their apostasy and faithlessness;
I will love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from Israel.
5
I shall be like the dew to Israel;
He will blossom like the lily,
And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
6
His shoots will sprout,
And his beauty will be like the olive tree
And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
7
Those who live in his shadow
Will again raise grain,
And they will blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8
O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
It is I who have answered and will care for you and watch over you.
I am like a luxuriant cypress tree;
With Me your fruit is found [which is to nourish you].
9
Whoever is [spiritually] wise, let him understand these things;
Whoever is [spiritually] discerning and understanding, let him know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
And the righteous will walk in them,
But transgressors will stumble and fall in them.(B)
Sabbath Questions
12 At that particular time Jesus went through the grainfields on the [a]Sabbath, and His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them.(A) 2 But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what [b]is unlawful on the Sabbath.”(B) 3 He said to them, “Have you not read [in the Scriptures] what David did when he was hungry, he and those who accompanied him—(C) 4 how he went into the house of God, and they ate the [c]consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests only? 5 Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break [the sanctity of] the Sabbath and yet are innocent?(D) 6 But I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 And if you had only known what this statement means, ‘I desire compassion [for those in distress], [d]and not [animal] sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.(E)
Lord of the Sabbath
8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
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