Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

19 And the Lord said to Moses,

² Say to all the assembly of the Israelites, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.^(A)

¹⁵ You shall do no injustice in judging a case; you shall not be partial to the poor or show a preference for the mighty, but in righteousness and according to the merits of the case judge your neighbor.

¹⁶ You shall not go up and down as a dispenser of gossip and scandal among your people, nor shall you [secure yourself by false testimony or by silence and] endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.

¹⁷ You shall not hate your brother in your heart; but you shall surely rebuke your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.^(A)

¹⁸ You shall not take revenge or bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.^(B)

Book One

Psalm 1^[a]

¹ Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.

² But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night.^(A)

³ And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].^(B)

⁴ Not so the wicked [those disobedient and living without God are not so]. But they are like the chaff [worthless, dead, without substance] which the wind drives away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked [those disobedient and living without God] shall not stand [justified] in the judgment, nor ^[b]sinners in the congregation of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God].

⁶ For the Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly [those living outside God’s will] shall perish (end in ruin and come to nought).

2 For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming among you was not useless and fruitless.

² But though we had already suffered and been outrageously treated at Philippi, as you know, yet in [the strength of] our God we summoned courage to proclaim to you unfalteringly the good news (the Gospel) with earnest contention and much conflict and great opposition.

³ For our appeal [in preaching] does not [originate] from delusion or error or impure purpose or motive, nor in fraud or deceit.

⁴ But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the glad tidings (the Gospel), so we speak not to please men but to please God, Who tests our hearts [^[a]expecting them to be approved].

⁵ For as you well know, we never resorted either to words of flattery or to any cloak to conceal greedy motives or pretexts for gain, [as] God is our witness.

⁶ Nor did we seek to extract praise and honor and glory from men, either from you or from anyone else, though we might have asserted our authority [stood on our dignity and claimed honor] as apostles (special missionaries) of Christ (the Messiah).

⁷ But we behaved gently when we were among you, like a devoted mother nursing and cherishing her own children.

⁸ So, being thus tenderly and affectionately desirous of you, we continued to share with you not only God’s good news (the Gospel) but also our own lives as well, for you had become so very dear to us.

³⁴ Now when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced (^[a]muzzled) the Sadducees, they gathered together.

³⁵ And one of their number, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him.

³⁶ Teacher, which ^[b]kind of commandment is great and important (the principal kind) in the Law? [Some commandments are light—which are heavy?]

³⁷ And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect).^(A)

³⁸ This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment.

³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.^(B)

⁴⁰ These two commandments ^[c]sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets.

⁴¹ Now while the Pharisees were still assembled there, Jesus asked them a question,

⁴² Saying, What do you think of the Christ? Whose Son is He? They said to Him, The Son of David.

⁴³ He said to them, How is it then that David, under the influence of the [Holy] Spirit, calls Him Lord, saying,

⁴⁴ The Lord said to My Lord, Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet?^(C)

⁴⁵ If then David thus calls Him Lord, how is He his Son?

⁴⁶ And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day did anyone venture or dare to question Him.