Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
God is my Hope during Times of Trouble
43 [a]You be my judge,[b] God,
and plead my case against an unholy nation;
rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man.
2 Since you are the God who strengthens me,
why have you forsaken me?
Why do I go around mourning under the enemy’s oppression?”
3 Send forth your light and your truth
so they may guide me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain and to your dwelling places.[c]
4 Then I will approach the altar of God,
even to God in whom my joy finds its source.[d]
Then I will praise you with the lyre,
God, my God,
5 Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God,
because I will praise him once again,
since his presence saves me
and he is my God.
God’s Second Complaint: Against His Priests—A Despised Offering
6 “A son honors his father and a servant his master. So if I’m a father, where is my honor? And if I’m a master, where is my respect?” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies to you priests who are despising my name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7 By presenting defiled food on my altar. And you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ By saying, ‘The Table of the Lord is contemptible.’ 8 When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? And when you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals,[a] is that not wrong? Offer that to your governor—would he be pleased with you or receive you favorably?” asks the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. 9 “And now, go ahead and implore God by saying, ‘Be gracious to us.’ Will he receive you favorably and accept offerings like that from your hand?” asks the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
Useless Offerings and Useless Altar Fires
10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the Temple[b] doors and not light useless fires on the altar! I’m not pleased with you,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, “and I’ll accept no offerings from you.[c] 11 Even so, from where the sun rises to where it sets my name will be great among the Gentiles. Incense will be brought to me[d] everywhere, along with pure offerings, because my name will be great among the Gentiles,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. 12 “But you are profaning my name[e] by saying that the Table of the Lord is defiled and that its fruit and its food are contemptible.
13 “And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and sniff contemptuously at it,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, “when you present maimed, crippled, and diseased animals,[f] and when you bring the offering. Should I accept this from your hand?” asks the Lord. 14 “Cursed is the deceiver who has an acceptable[g] male in his flock, and vows to give it,[h] but sacrifices a mutilated one to the Lord. Indeed, I am a great king,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, “and my name is feared among the Gentiles.”
God’s Third Complaint: Against His Priests—Failing to Honor Him
2 Now this commandment is for you priests: 2 “If you don’t listen, and if you don’t choose[i] to give honor to my name,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, “then I’ll curse both you and your blessings.[j] I’ve even cursed them[k] already, because none of you are taking it to heart. 3 Look! I’m rebuking your descendants because of you, and I’ll spread waste[l] on your faces, the waste of your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.
4 “You will know that I sent this commandment to you in order to continue my covenant with Levi,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. 5 “My covenant with him was for life and peace, and I gave the commandments[m] to him so he would fear me. He did fear me as he stood in my presence.[n] 6 True teachings were in his mouth, and falsehood was not found on his lips. He walked with me peacefully and righteously, and he turned many from sin. 7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he’s the messenger of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies.
8 “But you priests[o] turned aside from the way, and by your teaching you caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. 9 “So I also made you despised, humiliating you before all of the people, because you aren’t following my ways and are showing partiality when you teach.”
13 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door to the kingdom from[a] heaven in people’s faces. You don’t go in yourselves, and you don’t allow those who are trying to enter to go in.
14 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and say long prayers to cover it up. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation![b]
15 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make a single convert, and when this happens you make him twice as fit for[c] hell[d] as you are.
16 “How terrible it will be for you, blind guides! You say, ‘Whoever swears an oath by the sanctuary is excused,[e] but whoever swears an oath by the gold of the sanctuary must keep his oath.’[f] 17 You blind fools! What is more important, the gold or the sanctuary that made the gold holy? 18 Again you say,[g] ‘Whoever swears an oath by the altar is excused,[h] but whoever swears by the gift that is on it must keep his oath.’[i] 19 You blind men![j] Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? 20 Therefore, the one who swears an oath by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 The one who swears an oath by the sanctuary swears by it and by the one who lives there. 22 And the one who swears an oath by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
23 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your mint, dill, and cummin, but have neglected the more important matters of the Law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness.[k] These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides! You filter out a gnat, yet swallow a camel!
25 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but on the inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,[l] so that its outside may also be clean.
27 “How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead people’s bones and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
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