Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Waw
41 Lord, show me your faithful love.
Save me, as you promised.
42 Then I will have an answer for those who make fun of me
for trusting what you say.
43 Let me always say what is true.
I depend on your judgment to be fair.
44 I will follow your teachings forever and ever.
45 So I will live in freedom,
because I do my best to know your instructions.
46 I will discuss your rules with kings,
and no one will embarrass me.
47 What joy your commands give me!
How I love them!
48 Not only do I love your commands, but I also honor them.
I will study your laws.
Always Love and Obey God
6 “These are the commands, the laws, and the rules that the Lord your God told me to teach you. Obey these laws in the land that you are entering to live in. 2 You and your descendants must respect the Lord your God as long as you live. You must obey all his laws and commands that I give you. If you do this, you will have a long life in that new land. 3 Israelites, listen carefully and obey these laws. Then everything will be fine with you. You will have many children, and you will get the land filled with many good things[a]—just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised.
4 “Listen, people of Israel! The Lord is our God. The Lord is the only God. 5 You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 Always remember these commands that I give you today. 7 Be sure to teach them to your children. Talk about these commands when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road. Talk about them when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them on your hands and wear them on your foreheads to help you remember my teachings. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
Teach Your Children the Things God Did
20 “In the future, your children might ask you, ‘The Lord our God gave you teachings, laws, and rules. What do they mean?’ 21 Then you will say to them, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his great power. 22 The Lord did great and amazing things. We saw him do these things to the Egyptian people, to Pharaoh, and to the people in Pharaoh’s house. 23 He brought us out of Egypt so that he could give us the land that he promised our ancestors. 24 The Lord commanded us to follow all these teachings. We must respect the Lord our God. Then he will always keep us alive and doing well, as we are today. 25 If we carefully obey the whole law, exactly as the Lord our God told us to, he will say that we have done a very good thing.’[a]
8 One law rules over all other laws. This royal law is found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor[a] the same as you love yourself.”[b] If you obey this law, you are doing right. 9 But if you are treating one person as more important than another, you are sinning. You are guilty of breaking God’s law.
10 You might follow all of God’s law. But if you fail to obey only one command, you are guilty of breaking all the commands in that law. 11 God said, “Don’t commit adultery.”[c] The same God also said, “Don’t kill.”[d] So if you don’t commit adultery, but you kill someone, you are guilty of breaking all of God’s law.
12 You will be judged by the law that makes people free. You should remember this in everything you say and do. 13 Yes, you must show mercy to others. If you do not show mercy, then God will not show mercy to you when he judges you. But the one who shows mercy can stand without fear before the Judge.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International