Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
A Prayer for Rescue
43 Judge me, O God, and plead my case
against[a] an unfaithful[b] nation.
From a man of deceit and wickedness rescue me,
2 because you are the God of my refuge.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Send your light and your truth;
they shall lead[c] me.
They shall bring me to your holy mountain[d]
and to your dwelling places.
4 Then[e] I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my surpassing joy,[f]
and I will praise you with lyre,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you in despair,[g] O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, because I will again praise him,
my salvation[h] and my God.
An Oracle Against the Temple Priesthood
6 “A son honors his father, and a slave his master;[a] but if I am a father, where is my honor, and if I am a master,[b] where is my reverence?” says Yahweh of hosts to you, O priests, who despise[c] my name. “But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ 7 You are presenting defiled food on my altar! But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ By saying that the table of Yahweh is despised! 8 When you offer a blind animal for sacrifice, is that not wrong?[d] And when you offer the lame and the one who is ill, is that not wrong?[e] Present it, please, to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Will he show you favor?”[f] says Yahweh of hosts. 9 So then, implore the favor of God[g] so that he will be gracious to us. “This is what you have done.[h] Will he show favor to any of you?”[i] says Yahweh of hosts. 10 “Who also among you will shut the temple doors so that you will not kindle fire in vain on my altar? I take no pleasure in you,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and I will not accept[j] an offering from your hand. 11 From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is being presented to my name, and a pure offering. For my name is great among the nations,” says Yahweh of hosts. 12 “But you are profaning it by saying the table of the Lord is defiled, and its fruit—its food[k]—is despised! 13 And you say, ‘Look! This is a weariness,’ and you sniff with disdain at it,” says Yahweh of hosts. “And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the one that is sick—this you bring as the offering! Should I accept it[l] from your hand?” says Yahweh. 14 “Cursed is the one who cheats, who has in his flock a male and vows it, but instead sacrifices a blemished one to the Lord! For I am a great king,” says Yahweh of hosts, “and my name is awesome among the nations.”
2 “And so then, O priests, this command is for you: 2 If you will not listen, and if you will not take it to heart[m] to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of hosts, “then I will send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings; moreover I have already cursed them because you are not taking it to heart.[n] 3 Look! I am going to rebuke your offspring,[o] and I will scatter offal on your faces, the offal of your religious feasts, and you will be carried to it.[p]
4 “Then you will know that I have sent to you this command, that my covenant with Levi continues,”[q] says Yahweh of hosts. 5 “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. This required reverence, and he revered[r] me and stood in awe before[s] my name. 6 The instruction of truth[t] was in his mouth, and wickedness was not found on his lips. In peace and in uprightness[u] he walked with me, and he brought back many from sin.[v] 7 For the lips of the priest should guard knowledge, and they should seek instruction[w] from his mouth, for he is the messenger of Yahweh of hosts. 8 But you, you have turned from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction;[x] you have ruined the covenant of Levi,” says Yahweh of hosts. 9 “And in turn I have made you despised and humbled before all the people, inasmuch as you are not keeping[y] my way, but are favoring your own instruction.”[z]
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you shut the kingdom of heaven before people! For you do not enter, nor permit those wanting to go in[a] to enter.[b]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you travel around the sea and the dry land to make one convert, and when he becomes one,[c] you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are!
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing! But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath.’[d] 17 Fools and blind people! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold holy? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing! But whoever swears by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.’[e] 19 Blind people! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? 20 Therefore the one who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything that is on it. 21 And the one who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And the one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you pay a tenth of mint and dill and cumin, and neglect the more important matters of the law—justice and mercy and faithfulness! It was necessary[f] to do these things while not neglecting those.[g] 24 Blind guides who filter out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish,[h] so that the outside of it may become clean also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees—hypocrites!—because you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean! 28 In the same way, on the outside you also appear righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
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