Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

^40-42 I long to obey them! Therefore in fairness renew my life, for this was your promise—yes, Lord, to save me! Now spare me by your kindness and your love. Then I will have an answer for those who taunt me, for I trust your promises.

⁴³ May I never forget your words, for they are my only hope. ^44-46 Therefore I will keep on obeying you forever and forever, free within the limits of your laws. I will speak to kings about their value, and they will listen with interest and respect.

⁴⁷ How I love your laws! How I enjoy your commands! ⁴⁸ “Come, come to me,” I call to them, for I love them and will let them fill my life.

6 “The Lord your God told me to give you all these commandments which you are to obey in the land you will soon be entering, where you will live. ² The purpose of these laws is to cause you, your sons, and your grandsons to reverence the Lord your God by obeying all of his instructions as long as you live; if you do, you will have long, prosperous years ahead of you. ³ Therefore, O Israel, listen closely to each command and be careful to obey it, so that all will go well with you, and so that you will have many children. If you obey these commands, you will become a great nation in a glorious land ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ even as the God of your fathers promised you.

⁴ “O Israel, listen: Jehovah is our God, Jehovah alone. ⁵ You must love him with all your heart, soul, and might. ⁶ And you must think constantly about these commandments I am giving you today. ⁷ You must teach them to your children and talk about them when you are at home or out for a walk; at bedtime and the first thing in the morning. ⁸ Tie them on your finger, wear them on your forehead, ⁹ and write them on the doorposts of your house!

²⁰ “In the years to come when your son asks you, ‘What is the purpose of these laws which the Lord our God has given us?’ ²¹ you must tell him, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with great power ²² and mighty miracles—with terrible blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people. We saw it all with our own eyes. ²³ He brought us out of Egypt so that he could give us this land he had promised to our ancestors. ²⁴ And he has commanded us to obey all of these laws and to reverence him so that he can preserve us alive as he has until now. ²⁵ For it always goes well with us when we obey all the laws of the Lord our God.’

⁸ Yes indeed, it is good when you truly obey our Lord’s command, “You must love and help your neighbors just as much as you love and take care of yourself.” ⁹ But you are breaking this law of our Lord’s when you favor the rich and fawn over them; it is sin.

¹⁰ And the person who keeps every law of God but makes one little slip is just as guilty as the person who has broken every law there is. ¹¹ For the God who said you must not marry a woman who already has a husband also said you must not murder, so even though you have not broken the marriage laws by committing adultery, but have murdered someone, you have entirely broken God’s laws and stand utterly guilty before him.

¹² You will be judged on whether or not you are doing what Christ wants you to. So watch what you do and what you think; ¹³ for there will be no mercy to those who have shown no mercy. But if you have been merciful, then God’s mercy toward you will win out over his judgment against you.