Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Futility of Boastful Wickedness.
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you (A)boast in evil, O mighty man?
The (B)lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue devises (C)destruction,
Like a (D)sharp razor, (E)O worker of deceit.
3 You (F)love evil more than good,
(G)Falsehood more than speaking what is right. [c]Selah.
4 You love all words that devour,
O (H)deceitful tongue.
5 [d]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and (I)tear you away from your tent,
And (J)uproot you from the (K)land of the living. Selah.
6 The righteous will (L)see and fear,
And will (M)laugh at him, saying,
7 “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But (N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And (O)was strong in [e]his evil desire.”
Joshua Reviews Israel’s History
24 Then (A)Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel and for their heads and their judges and their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the [a]River, namely, (B)Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.
11 (A)You crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho; and the citizens of Jericho fought against you, and (B)the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. Thus (C)I gave them into your hand. 12 Then I (D)sent the hornet before you and it [a]drove out the two kings of the Amorites from before you, but (E)not by your sword or your bow. 13 (F)I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’
“We Will Serve the Lord”
14 “Now, therefore, [b](G)fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and [c]truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the [d]River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or (H)the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
16 The people answered and said, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17 for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of [e]bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. 18 The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”
19 Then Joshua said to the people, “You will not be able to serve the Lord, (I)for He is a holy God. He is (J)a jealous God; (K)He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. 20 (L)If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.” 21 The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord.” 22 Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that (M)you have chosen for yourselves the Lord, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 “Now therefore, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and (N)incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” 24 (O)The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and we will [f]obey His voice.” 25 (P)So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26 And Joshua (Q)wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, (R)this stone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke [g]to us; thus it shall be for a witness against you, so that you do not deny your God.” 28 Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to his inheritance.
9 What then? [a](A)Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both (B)Jews and (C)Greeks are (D)all under sin; 10 as it is written,
“(E)There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
13 “(F)Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“(G)The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “(H)Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
15 “(I)Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 Destruction and misery are in their paths,
17 And the path of peace they have not known.”
18 “(J)There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the (K)Law says, it speaks to (L)those who are [b]under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and (M)all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because (N)by the works [c]of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for [d](O)through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
Justification by Faith
21 But now apart [e]from the Law (P)the righteousness of God has been manifested, being (Q)witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the (R)righteousness of God through (S)faith (T)in Jesus Christ for (U)all those [f]who believe; for (V)there is no distinction;
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