Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

All Nations Will Follow the Lord

56 The Lord said these things, “Be fair to all people. Do what is right, because soon my salvation will come to you. My goodness will soon be shown to the whole world.

⁶ “Some foreigners have chosen to follow the Lord. They do this so that they can serve him and love his name and be his servants. They keep the Sabbath as a special day of worship, and they will continue to follow closely my agreement. ⁷ So I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them happy in my house of prayer. The offerings and sacrifices they give me will please me, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” ⁸ The Lord God said these things.

The Israelites were forced to leave their country, but the Lord will gather them together again. He says, “I will bring them back together again!”

To the director: With instruments. A song of praise.

God Has Not Forgotten His People

11 So I ask, “Did God force his people to leave him?” Of course not. I myself am an Israelite. I am from the family of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. ² God chose the Israelites to be his people before they were born. And he did not force them to leave. Surely you know what the Scriptures say about Elijah. The Scriptures tell about Elijah praying to God against the people of Israel. He said,

²⁹ God never changes his mind about the people he calls. He never decides to take back the blessings he has given them. ³⁰ At one time you refused to obey God. But now you have received mercy, because the Jews refused to obey. ³¹ And now they are the ones who refuse to obey, because God showed mercy to you. But this happened so that they can also receive mercy from him. ³² All people have refused to obey God. And he has put them all together as people who don’t obey him so that he can show mercy to everyone.

¹⁰ Jesus called the people to him. He said, “Listen and understand what I am saying. ¹¹ It is not what people put in their mouth that makes them wrong.^[a] It is what comes out of their mouth that makes them wrong.”

¹² Then the followers came to Jesus and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees are upset about what you said?”

¹³ Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. ¹⁴ Stay away from the Pharisees. They lead the people, but they are like blind men leading other blind men. And if a blind man leads another blind man, both of them will fall into a ditch.”

¹⁵ Peter said, “Explain to us what you said earlier to the people.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Do you still have trouble understanding? ¹⁷ Surely you know that all the food that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body. ¹⁸ But the bad things people say with their mouth come from the way they think. And that’s what can make people wrong. ¹⁹ All these bad things begin in the mind: evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual sins, stealing, lying, and insulting people. ²⁰ These are the things that make people wrong. Eating without washing their hands will never make people unacceptable to God.”

Jesus Helps a Non-Jewish Woman^(A)

²¹ Jesus went from there to the area of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A Canaanite woman from that area came out and began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, please help me! My daughter has a demon inside her, and she is suffering very much.”

²³ But Jesus did not answer her. So the followers came to him and said, “Tell her to go away. She keeps crying out and will not leave us alone.”

²⁴ Jesus answered, “God sent me only to the lost people^[a] of Israel.”

²⁵ Then the woman came over to Jesus and bowed before him. She said, “Lord, help me!”

²⁶ He answered her with this saying: “It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.”

²⁷ The woman said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the pieces of food that fall from their master’s table.”

²⁸ Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! You will get what you asked for.” And right then the woman’s daughter was healed.