Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 31[a]
Prayer of Trust and Thanksgiving
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 [c]In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me.
3 Turn your ear to me,
and act quickly to save me.
Be to me a rock[d] of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
4 You are truly my rock and my fortress;
for the sake of your name,[e] lead and guide me.
5 Deliver me from the snare that has been set for me,
for you are my refuge.
19 Let their lying lips be struck dumb,
lips that speak insolently against the righteous
with pride and contempt.
20 [a]How great is your goodness, O Lord,
which you have stored up[b] for those who fear you
and which you bestow on those who take refuge in you,
in the presence of all the people.
21 You hide them in the safety of your presence
from those who conspire against them;
you keep them safe in your shelter,
far away from contentious tongues.
22 Blessed[c] be the Lord,
for he has manifested his wondrous kindness to me
when I was under siege.
23 I had cried out in terror,
“I have been cut off from your sight.”
But you heard my plea
when I cried out to you for assistance.
24 Love the Lord, all his saints.[d]
The Lord protects his loyal servants,
but the arrogant he repays beyond measure.
Chapter 24
The People of God Ratify the Covenant.[a] 1 He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. 2 Moses alone shall approach the Lord, but the others shall not draw near and the people shall not go up with him.”
3 Moses went to tell the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances. All the people answered together and said, “We will keep all the commands that the Lord has given.”
4 Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 He sent some of the young men of Israel to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord.
6 Moses took half of the blood and placed it in bowls and the other half of the blood he poured out on the altar. 7 He then took the book of the covenant and read it in the presence of the people. They said, “All that the Lord has commanded, we will do and obey.”
8 Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people saying, “Behold, the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
17 [a]You call yourself a Jew and rely on the Law and are proud of your relationship to God, 18 and you know his will and are able to distinguish between right and wrong because you have been instructed in the Law, 19 and you are confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light for those in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, and a teacher of the simple because in the Law you have the embodiment of knowledge and truth.
21 You, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, are you yourself a thief? 22 You who forbid adultery, are you yourself an adulterer? You who abhor idols, do you commit sacrilege? 23 You who boast of the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking it? 24 As it is written, “Because of you the name of God is reviled among the Gentiles.”
25 Circumcision and the Heart.[b] Circumcision has value if you obey the Law. However, if you break the Law, you have become as if you had never been circumcised. 26 In the same way, if one who is not circumcised keeps the precepts of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then the man who is not physically circumcised but nevertheless observes the Law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the Law.
28 A man is not a Jew who is only one outwardly, nor is true circumcision external and physical. 29 Rather, the Jew is one who is a Jew inwardly, and true circumcision is of the heart—spiritual, not literal. He receives his praise not from human beings but from God.
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